Why giving in to your cravings does not make you a lazy b*tch

If you spend enough time on Instagram, it’s easy to believe that cravings are the devil (unless of course you are pregnant, then they are cute).  And even worse is when we succumb to cravings.  We see so much perfect eating on social media that succumbing to cravings makes us feel like we are lazy b*tches with no willpower.  But I’m here to tell you that’s not true… and here are 3 reasons why:

1.      Craving foods can mean that we are feeling overwhelmed with life.  As humans we are lucky enough to be able to enjoy a wide range of food that tastes delicious!  And the foods that we crave when we are feeling stressed and overwhelmed are often the most delicious of them all.  So, if you are having sugar (or any) cravings when life feels tough, there are 2 options.  One is to deny the craving, call yourself a lazy b*tch and make yourself feel 10 times worse when life is crappy enough already (not my preferred option).  Or acknowledge that you are feeling overwhelmed, buy yourself the best version of whatever you are craving, and eat it mindfully.  Keep in mind though, that you hopefully have a life where this only happens occasionally.  If it’s happening regularly, you need to look at how to reduce stress in your life (my 6-month health coaching program will help with that!)

2.      Some cravings are related to dehydration.  We often feel hungry before we feel thirsty and actively feeling hungry can make it hard to crave veggies.  A simple fix is to drink a glass of water when you feel like you’ve gotta eat the cake.  And if in 30 minutes you still want the cake, then its probably not dehydration (so check out options 1 and 3).

3.      Some cravings are related to a general lack of nutrition in the diet.  I get it!  When life feels very busy it can seem like preparing nutritious meals is impossible.  So we start to lack nutrition and crave things like salty foods (because the body wants more minerals) or sugar (because the body wants to feel energy).  A simple solution can be adding a smoothie into your routine.  This is a super quick way to add a lot of nutrition into a meal option that takes 5 minutes to prepare.  Just make sure it’s made from whole foods like berries, cacao, dates and coconut water rather than the meal replacement thingos you get at the pharmacy. And if you are ALWAYS busy, you might need some help reducing your load which is something we cover in my 6-month health coaching program too!

So, I hope you see that craving food is perfectly normal and so is succumbing to cravings occasionally.  In Love Yourself to Health, the 6-month health coaching program I offer, we go through 8 causes of cravings and work out why they are happening for you and how to keep them to a minimum.  If you’d like to learn more about the program and how to book a free 15-minute discovery session with me, click here .