How to End Cravings for Fast Food,
Sugary Foods and More
by www.Sedona.com
The typical American eats three hamburgers and four orders of French fries each week, according to Eric Schlosser’s book “Fast Food Nation.” And if it’s not fast food we’re craving, we’re after cookies, candy, ice cream and any number of other sugary snacks.
In short, junk food has taken a hold of many Americans, to the point that one out of four Americans eats at a fast-food restaurant every day.
"Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos and recorded music -- combined," Schlosser writes.
What is it about junk food that has such a strong hold on so many of us … and how can we end cravings for fast food?
The Real Reasons You Crave Junk Food
When you eat a food you love, it activates your brain’s pleasure centers, making you feel good in that moment. This creates a memory that tempts you to come back for more of this instant “high” -- the same type of high activated by alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and even shopping.
A food craving is therefore you remembering how good a certain food made you feel, and desiring that feeling again. As nature would have it, up to 97 percent of food cravings are for foods that are “energy-dense” -- or in other words high in calories and often loaded with unhealthy fats, sugar and grease.
But while there is a definite chemical reaction at play in your body that makes eating junk foods taste and feel so good, there is often an underlying emotional component at play too. Remember, a food craving is really a desire to feel good more than it is a desire to eat a certain food.
“We crave junk food for the same reason we crave any food, especially the ones that aren't good for us,” says Hale Dwoskin, CEO and director of training of Sedona Training Associates. “We use food as a way to self-medicate in order to avoid uncomfortable feelings.”
“We also often associate foods we crave with giving ourselves approval or rewards for dealing with the same feelings we are using the food to get away from,” he continues. “That is why this loop is hard to break.”
In fact, the more we tell ourselves we can’t have a food, the more we want it. Then, when we indulge in fast food or junk food, we often feel guilty, angry and ashamed. The end result is an incredibly unhealthy relationship with food built on fear and lack of control, instead of healthy choices.
How to End Cravings for Fast Food and Other Junk Foods
At the most basic level, it is often your emotions that drive you to have unhealthy cravings and to overeat. We eat for comfort, for entertainment, to be social, and to soothe any number of unmet emotional needs.
This is why, even if you have the best intentions to avoid unhealthy cravings, your attempts will likely fail if you are still being controlled by your emotions (and the vast majority of people are).
The secret that many already use (and that you can too) to take back that control is called The Sedona Method. It works through the process of letting go.
“The best way to break any loop that is stuck on an emotion like overeating is to simply let go of the emotion or emotions that are causing you to lose control,” Dwoskin says. “It is also helpful to release your feelings or emotions about the pattern itself. Whichever you release on will help you to much more easily break the habit.”
As you use The Sedona Method to let go of your food cravings, you can also try these practical approaches to lessen your cravings:
- Don’t buy junk foods, or keep them stored away out of sight. Studies show that leaving tempting foods out where you can see them increases the amount people eat. If fast food is your biggest temptress, you may want to avoid driving by the restaurants you have trouble resisting.
- Eat only a taste. If you give in to a craving, don’t assume all is lost. Eating just a small amount is much better than eating the whole bag.
- Be mindful of your eating. When you’re out socializing, it’s easy to overeat without even realizing it. So take note of each item you decide to eat, and plan accordingly.
- Vary your diet with healthy foods. If you limit yourself too much, or only eat a few different foods, you’re more likely to crave sweet or salty foods (whichever you haven’t been eating).
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