Bhubaneswar: If you are on a diet, food craving can be your worst enemy. Craving is basically the utmost and uncontrollable desire while one is on a diet. In the midst of eating restricted food and maintaining a tough diet, all of us fall short of that motivation and zeal to continue it.
The tastiest of pizzas and cakes, the mouthwatering delicacies catch us off guard. Don’t let this dishearten you as there are ways in which you can get over these desires and stay disciplined towards your goal. Here are some of them:
1) Drink more water
Yes! Drinking adequate amount of water not only makes you healthy and makes your skin glow but also helps you aid your food craving. Drinking water right before your meal is a very smart way to tackle binge eating and avoiding weight gain. Water is considered zero calories material. It makes your stomach full but you don’t gain any calories. So, drinking water just before having junk food is really beneficial.
2) Eat enough of dietary fibre
Dietary fibre, a type of carbohydrate, gets digested in the body very slowly. It helps to keep your gut healthy and reduces the risk of diseases such as diabetes and colon cancer. Most importantly, it gives you the feeling of satiety as it stays in your body for a longer period of time. It goes into our large bowel undigested and then starts the fermentation process. Hence it becomes a long process. As you feel full for a long period, the chances of eating any junk food are very low. The food items rich in dietary fibres are whole grains, vegetables and fruits (that’s one of the biggest reasons a lot of people run for salads). Consuming dietary fibre in an excess amount can lead to gas formation in your gut.
3) Eat more protein
Research has proven that having a high protein diet immediately reduces the food/sugar cravings by at least 60%. The thermic effect of food (TEF) of protein is the highest, which means it needs a high amount of energy to burn down high protein food leading to enhancing your body metabolism. So, having a high protein diet not only helps you build big muscles and but also helps you control your food craving.
4) Fight stress
More you stress, more are the chances of you eating junk food. People often find junk food as a stress buster and complain about bad food habits. You are prone to eating anything randomly when you are stressed or in a poor mood. So, keeping your mind cool and staying away from stress will obviously help you fight cravings. A proper sleep schedule and maintaining a healthy relationship with people around are key factors in avoiding stress.
5) Eat planned meals
A proper diet plan and eating food on time keeps your stomach occupied, as you aren’t hungry often and don’t eat anything that is in front of you. Planned meals are always prepared keeping your cravings in mind. Adequate amount of carbohydrates, fats and proteins always keep you full and your food cravings are eliminated permanently.
(The author is a nutrition science student)
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