2. See your emotions as something that is part of life and of being human. Instead of wishing them to change or go away, embrace them. ...
2. See your emotions as something that is part of life and of being human. Instead of wishing them to change or go away, embrace them. This way, you can adopt the attitude that these emotions can co-exist with you, rather than relying on food to make them go away.
3. Work hard to break the association. Whenever you feel the urge to eat in response to an emotion, mindfully notice the urge, but don’t actually eat. Eventually, after a few weeks, the association between emotion and food will weaken and the craving will be less powerful.
Q: Any recommended substitutions for a chocolate craving? I did not find any satisfactory.
Dr. Brewer: There is nothing wrong with eating chocolate. But if you say, “I eat too much chocolate”, then we can find a solution.
For my part, I used to eat chocolate without thinking. Now I really pay attention. Since dark chocolate contains less sugar, it creates less cravings. I suggest you ask yourself what kind of chocolate would give you the balance between the satisfaction of eating chocolate and the feeling of craving more. Milk chocolate, due to its high sugar content, is going to make you crave for more.
Try an experiment. Eat milk chocolate and dark chocolate and see which one makes you want more. Pay attention and ask yourself: how much is enough? When am I satisfied? You don’t need to find a substitute. You can satisfy the craving for chocolate and have some. You’ll feel better because you won’t feel guilty eating it, and there’s more chocolate for later.
Q: My craving isn’t specific to a food, but more to a specific time, like eating late at night. No suggestions?
Dr. Forman: In our modern life, we take in far more calories than we actually need, so it’s rare that we are truly and biologically starved. As a result, our diet tends to be influenced by factors other than hunger. The most common signal is time. If you want to stop eating at some point, you will need to make a committed decision in advance. You should then fully expect, and even rejoice, that every day at this time you will feel powerful urges to eat. This is how brains work! By embracing the craving, you can adopt the mentality that you will live alongside it, but not eat in response. For several weeks, you will notice the association between the temporal signal and the weakening of the urge to eat.
COMMENTS