How to Stop Cravings During Weight Loss

We’ve all been there: you decide to change your eating habits to reach a fitness or weight goal, and everything goes really well during the first few days. Then, sometime around day three or day four, the sh*t hits the fan. All you can think about is food. You know that you’d be fine if you just knew how to get rid of cravings. But, the drive to eat is unrelenting. The diet you chose no longer seems sustainable, and you give up.

Sound familiar? Yep, I’ve been there, and so have so many other people who are trying to lose fat, gain muscle, or maintain their healthy weight. Food cravings suck! However, there are some evidence-based strategies to stop food cravings during weight loss or during any diet change. The key is to figure out why they are occurring and then use a specific method to banish cravings for good.

7 Causes of Food Cravings with Simple Solutions

There’s good news when it comes to getting rid of cravings. Some experimental studies have suggested that food cravings are a conditioned response. That is, they are (sometimes) a learned behavior. This is great news because if a particular behavior is learned, then it can be unlearned as well with a little bit of work.

But, you can’t learn how to stop food cravings unless you know why they are happening. There are several different factors that may come into play when these annoying hankerings take hold. Your best defense is to use a targeted strategy based on the cause. Here are the top seven causes of food cravings and a remedy for each one.

Hunger

This craving monster is fairly obvious and very important. You should never ignore hunger. Instead, you should try to understand it. First, make sure you are getting enough calories throughout the day. Use a calorie calculator like the Body Weight Planner developed by the National Institutes of Health. Then track your caloric intake for several days to ensure you are meeting your needs.

If you are, then food choices may be to blame for the cravings. If you can fill your plate with hunger-crushing foods, then you will be able to stop your cravings as well.

Solution: The best foods to stop cravings are those that are full of fiber, contain some healthy fat (but not too much if your goal is weight loss!), and protein. Fiber-rich foods include whole grains and foods made with whole grains, whole fruits (rather than juice), and beans. All veggies contain fiber, so enjoy the ones you like best! Healthy fats are found in foods such as olives, olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds (all three of which also contain fiber!), and some seafood (like tuna and salmon). Protein can be found in foods like meat, poultry, eggs, tofu, soybeans, and seafood.

Boredom or STress

How often do you head to the refrigerator when you have nothing better to do? Do you reach for food when you are worried or anxious? During the COVID lockdown, most of us realized that this happens far too often. And many of us (me included) saw an increase on the scale as a result. Scientific studies have even shown that emotional triggers can cause physiological changes that might drive you to the refrigerator, like increased salivation, tummy rumblings, and neurological stimulation for a reward.

Thinking about eating, planning to eat, choosing foods to eat, and eating itself are easy cures for boredom or a miserable mood. But they aren’t always the healthiest option.

Solution: When you start looking for food or thinking about eating, ask yourself why you are doing so. Are you really hungry, or are you looking for relief from another sensation? An honest answer will guide you in the right direction. If hunger is not the cause, try to find an alternate activity to find relief. Better yet, if you know that you are prone to these triggers, make a plan in advance. Call a friend, journal, go for a walk, take deep breaths, or meditate for five minutes. Often, simple activities like these address the true cause of your cravings without adding unnecessary calories to your daily intake.

Toxic Food Environment

Researchers know that exposure to unhealthy, calorie-dense foods often leads to the overconsumption of those foods. Over time, the repeated pattern can lead to obesity and other related health problems. So if you find yourself eating when you are not hungry, a quick scan of your physical environment might be in order. If you are surrounded by food, particularly food that is low in nutrition but high in calories, you might be setting yourself up for weight gain.

Solution: In some cases, you may be able to change your environment. For example, in your kitchen, take snack foods like chips or cookies and put them on very high shelves so you don’t see them regularly. Also, it will take a bit of work to get to them, so you might think twice about snacking when you’re not really hungry. If you drive to work past donut shops and fast food restaurants, search out a different route that doesn’t include those food triggers. When you are less able to control your environment (like at your workspace), see what you can do to promote healthier options. Perhaps your current snack food vending machine can be swapped out with a healthier option like the yummy vending machines provided by Farmer’s Fridge. These brilliant machines are stocked with nutritious salads and other delicious goodies.

Timing Triggers

Sometimes, the triggering element for cravings isn’t your environment but your routine. Do you have a habit of snacking at a certain time of day, regardless of hunger or nutritional need? If you know you need to fuel up before a workout, that’s fine (and good!) But if you regularly head to the snack drawer in your office in the late morning without any real cause or if you start searching out snacks in the late afternoon for no apparent reason, it might be a habit you unwittingly created.

Solution: To stop cravings, start to notice when they hit. What is going on at that time? Are you avoiding certain chores or work tasks? Or is it just a “downtime” that you can occupy with food? Once you know the cause, find an alternate activity to fill that void. Also, remind yourself that you have food coming at whatever time you’ve chosen for your meals. You may even want to keep a fun, silly activity around to liven yourself up a bit when these cravings hit. Old-school jacks, a video game, or even a grown-up coloring book can work. Check out the coloring book options at ColorIt to find one that inspires you.

Poor Palate Habits

Are you a sugar junkie? Or do you crave salty crunchy snacks? If you eat highly salted or sugary foods regularly, you might be setting yourself up for cravings. Studies have shown mixed results regarding exposure to sugary or salty foods and your preferences for them, but some studies suggest that, especially with salty foods, the more you eat these foods, the more you desire them

Solution: Think twice before grabbing that bag of chips or a full sleeve of cookies. In fact, you may even want to reconsider the amount of sugar you add to certain foods (like oatmeal or breakfast cereal) or how frequently you use the salt shaker. These habits can have consequences. Try dialing back on salty or sugary foods for a couple of weeks and see if your cravings start to diminish. You may find that they disappear altogether and that you enjoy more wholesome foods even more.

Restrictive Dieting

Have you cut or severely limited a certain macronutrient? If so, you may be getting cravings for foods that contain that macro. For example, studies show that low-carb diets can increase cravings for carbs. The psychology isn’t so hard to understand: when we are told that we can’t have something, we often want it even more. But there may be physiological causes as well. If you aren’t getting enough carbohydrates to fuel your body properly, you are likely to crave foods that provide that nutrition.

Solution: Make sure you are eating a balanced diet. There is no good reason to eliminate or severely restrict any macronutrient unless your doctor (or a registered dietitian) tells you to do so to manage a medical condition. A diet based on balanced macronutrients, like the macro diet, will keep you feeling full and satisfied while also allowing you to eat foods that you love in moderation.

Finally, remember that cravings aren’t necessarily a “bad” thing. Yes, they can be annoying, so it is understandable that you’d want to get rid of cravings. But they are your body’s way of sending you a signal. Sometimes, that signal indicates that your body needs better nutrition. Want to learn more? Get a copy of Macro Diet for Dummies to learn how to build a personalized plan that you can stick to.