How many of us get hit with a sugar craving at least once a day? Or for some of us (like me...) its more like every other hour. And it can kill our best efforts to stay healthy. So I've developed a kind of system for myself that I thought I would share with you in case it works for someone else too. (If you crave stuff like chips, the same idea can work for that as well.)
It starts with taking all visible junk food and getting it out of sight. No dishes of candy on the table. Anything I bake is put in the cupboard. Just this helps by eliminating the sight trigger. If the cookies are in the cupboard, you have to think of them on your own instead of seeing them when you walk in a room and all of a sudden wanting a cookie. Its easy to do and it does help.
The other thing I do takes a little bit more practice and willpower. Whenever I want a cookie, I first have a healthy snack. If I want something sweet or chocolaty, I have an apple with natural peanut butter or some other fruit. If suddenly I want chips or something salty, I'll have carrots or bell peppers dipped in hummus. Both peanut butter and hummus are high in fat, but they are the healthy fats that your body needs. If you don't go crazy, both are good to have in your diet. A note on peanut butter though: if the ingredient label has anything more than peanuts and a little salt, its more of a dessert than a healthy snack. Its weird at first to switch to natural peanut butter but it is absolutely worth it, healthwise. Then, after I have had my healthy snack and some water, if I still feel like I would just love that cookie or a couple little pieces of candy, I go for it. By first fueling my body with the good stuff, it is a lot easier to just have one and be done.
Now, some of you may think, well its better to not eat that junk food at all. You should just never ever eat it. Well yes, you are right. There is nothing healthy about a cookie. But honestly, I like cookies. If I sit here and forbid myself from ever eating a cookie, eating healthy gets a lot harder because all I want is that stinking cookie that I can't have. So by having that one cookie IF I still even want it after my healthy snack, I can happily carry on with my normal healthy eating. (I should add that after the healthy snack, stick with one cookie/ brownie/ whatever or a few hersheys kisses or something...not like a whole candy bar. That defeats the purpose...)
Its hard to make the first leap and say I'm going to eat an apple before candy. Once you start doing it, I promise it becomes natural. And more often, you will find that you forget that you wanted that junk food in the first place because you have given your body what it needs, so it's not craving anything anymore. Eating is like fueling your car...your body works best when you give it the proper fuel.
To get you started I made a list of a few favorite healthy snack ideas:
-One sliced apple with about 2 Tbsp of natural peanut butter
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| Sam's After Work Snack- Bananas with Cinnamon! |
-One banana sprinkled with cinnamon (cinnamon is SUPER good for you! It may even help keep your tummy flat. I don't know how, but scientists think it might.)
-Sliced veggies (carrots, celery, bell peppers) with about 2 Tbsp Hummus
-1 cup of plain greek yogurt with apple pieces and a few raisens in it (my current favorite. Yum!)
-Any piece of fruit with a small handful of nuts
- A few whole grain crackers and a couple slices of cheese.
Whats your favorite healthy snack?
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