Spring Break
How to fight those unwanted cravings
Issue date: 2/21/08
When do your cravings strike - late at night, while watching TV, when you see or smell your temptation?
Most of us have experienced cravings of some sort, whether it is for sweets, salty snacks or a steak dinner.
Giving in to your cravings can interfere with your fitness goals by leading to unwanted pounds.
It is important to understand what is causing cravings and to implement ways of curbing them without feeling deprived of foods you enjoy.
Our appetites are controlled by hormones in the body called leptin and ghrelin. Leptin is responsible for telling you when you're full and ghrelin sends the signal to your brain to eat. These hormones are affected by different behaviors and hormonal changes.
Drinking more water throughout the day quells cravings. Your body recognizes water as a nutrient, so by drinking it you feel fuller and eat less. Try drinking a glass of water before and after meals to fill up - the stomach can only store so much.
Keep berries or grapes around to snack on when your sweet-tooth demands attention - they're healthy and packed with water.
Stress causes an increase in cortisol levels, which can increase your appetite and cravings for fatty and high calorie foods.
Think giving in to stress cravings by taking a spoon to a carton of Ben & Jerry's will make you feel better and calmer? Sure, you get a short moment of Chunky Monkey-fueled nirvana, but overall you actually just increased the stress because now you're left feeling guilty and bloated.?
Try taking a walk or run or doing a quick 20-minute exercise routine at the gym. The increase in blood flow and oxygen to your brain gives you more energy, releases relaxing endorphines and gives you time to calm down.
The amount of shut eye you're getting each night can effect your levels of leptin and ghrelin. When you don't get enough sleep, your leptin?
levels may decrease, making you less sensitive to feeling full - while your?
Most of us have experienced cravings of some sort, whether it is for sweets, salty snacks or a steak dinner.
Giving in to your cravings can interfere with your fitness goals by leading to unwanted pounds.
It is important to understand what is causing cravings and to implement ways of curbing them without feeling deprived of foods you enjoy.
Our appetites are controlled by hormones in the body called leptin and ghrelin. Leptin is responsible for telling you when you're full and ghrelin sends the signal to your brain to eat. These hormones are affected by different behaviors and hormonal changes.
Drinking more water throughout the day quells cravings. Your body recognizes water as a nutrient, so by drinking it you feel fuller and eat less. Try drinking a glass of water before and after meals to fill up - the stomach can only store so much.
Keep berries or grapes around to snack on when your sweet-tooth demands attention - they're healthy and packed with water.
Stress causes an increase in cortisol levels, which can increase your appetite and cravings for fatty and high calorie foods.
Think giving in to stress cravings by taking a spoon to a carton of Ben & Jerry's will make you feel better and calmer? Sure, you get a short moment of Chunky Monkey-fueled nirvana, but overall you actually just increased the stress because now you're left feeling guilty and bloated.?
Try taking a walk or run or doing a quick 20-minute exercise routine at the gym. The increase in blood flow and oxygen to your brain gives you more energy, releases relaxing endorphines and gives you time to calm down.
The amount of shut eye you're getting each night can effect your levels of leptin and ghrelin. When you don't get enough sleep, your leptin?
levels may decrease, making you less sensitive to feeling full - while your?
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