So hopefully you’ve seen my brekky post and are starting to get into a habit of eating a healthy and fulfilling breakfast because the cravings come hard and fast if you feel hungry by skipping brekky.
First, let’s start with the obvious about junk food cravings: The foods we typically crave taste so good and we usually have so many enjoyable memories associated with them. That history can be really powerful. If you’re a child of the 70’s like I am, I have been programmed from a very young age that I always have dessert after dinner.
I have fond memories of devouring Neopolitan icecream and when there was only vanilla left after my brothers and sisters and I had eaten all the chocolate and strawberry, we would give the boring vanilla a good dose of the Ice Magic. (Pure chemical evil but we loved it anyway) These cravings are hard to break after a lifetime but there are ways.
Here are a few of my junk food cheaters that really work!
If you feel life a Big Mac or burger…. try eating a Dill Cucumber or pickle with a slice of Swiss cheese wrapped around it. It definately tastes like that Big Mac special sauce without the calories
If you feel like ice-cream….try freezing 1 large banana overnight. Pop it in a food processor and blend very well until the banana mixture looks like soft serve. You can eat it immediately or pop back into the freezer for another time you have a craving. Of course you can freeze more than 1 banana for the family to share
If you feel like Chocolate…. try sticking to one square of 80% dark chocolate. It doesn’t have the sugar content that milk chocolate has so you won’t want to devour an entire block!
If you feel like a cheese plate and crackers …. try cutting a few slices ofHaloumi from the fridge and popping them into 2 pieces of sourdough orBurgen Soy Linseed and then onto your Breville or Sandwich Press for a low fat alternative
If you feel like hot chips…. try oven roasting sweet potato at 180 degrees for 30 mins to make chips or wedges with a little olive oil
If you feel like softdrink…. try mineral water with lemon juice or Mount Franklin lightly sparkling with a hint of lemon
If you feel like movie munchies…. try air popped natural popcorn (no flavours) in an individual packet or Microwave some Edamame soy beans
If you feel like something sweet but don’t know exactly what…. try a couple of tablespoons of evia greek yoghurt with cinnamon sprinkled on top. You can also sprinkle cinnamon into herbal tea to curb the sweet cravings!
The good news is the less junk you eat, the less you will crave it. Guaranteed. The more whole foods you eat and the less sugar, fat and salt you consume, your palate and taste buds become more receptive to new flavours. The best part of this is the change in sensation only takes 3 weeks!
Other tips to make sure you don’t turn to the dark side of eating are:
Always have celery, carrot and cucumber sticks in the fridge withYumis beetroot dip or Yumis hommus
Keep some Laughing Cow Lite cheese individual triangles for a go to emergency snack
Buy 2 cartons of eggs and hard boil 1 carton to keep a hard boiled egg snack in the fridge for when you’re starving before lunch or dinner. I am famous for my hard boiled eggs with Sharpie “HB” written on them sitting in my fridge so I know which ones to grab as I’m heading out the door
One of my ‘Lifestylers’ likes to brush her teeth at night after dinner so she doesn’t eat anything else
Give these alternatives a go and cut out junk food for 3 weeks in combination with drinking 3-4 bottles of water or 6-8 glasses of water a day and you will notice a big change in your skin, mood and those cravings!
Hope this helps!
Suzanne