Weight loss: 5 effective ways to deal with food cravings

Managing your diet is one of the biggest factors to achieve weight loss. This comes with not giving into your cravings every time you feel like eating ice-cream after dinner or mac and cheese at a cafe. But handling cravings is easier said than done. Some people are bravely able to handle their cravings for 3-4 days, and fail the next day when faced with a box of melt-in-mouth laddoos.

So is it even possible to win over your cravings? Here are some strategies to help you get a hang of your desire for eating all kinds of delicious, high-calorie foods.

Cravings are often not as simple as we think them to be. Sometimes, these are driven by emotional needs or other triggers learned by your body.

Many people tend to run towards “comfort food” when they are too happy, too sad, or even just bored. Why?

This is because of their unhealthy relationships with food and their feelings. You can stop this by slowly identifying your trigger every time you have a craving and finding alternative ways to fix your mood or reward yourself, instead of choosing high-calorie, tasty food.

We often see cravings as something beyond our control, but what if we are able to make an informed choice? This technique can be a bit hard to master, but once you are able to think your way to eat or not to eat, you will no longer feel “out of control”, and eat with consciousness.

How do we do that? Every time you have a craving, take a moment and think if there is some other way you can deal with this craving. If there is a chocolate bar in your fridge, you can literally reach it and eat it within seconds, followed maybe, by guilt. To avoid that, give yourself some cool down time to think before you act. Maybe you can eat a few dates instead or some raisins.

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Sometimes, your body may be trying to convey health signals in the form of food cravings. For example, during menopause, some people's bodies have more difficulty processing sugar. So, when you find yourself randomly craving a jam donut, it may be your body’s way of needing sugar.

Similarly, in case of iron deficiency, people may have cravings for iron-rich foods like beef, and even some nonfoods like dirt or chalk. If craving for protein-rich foods, there could be a chance that you're protein-malnourished.

A 2015 study of 619 people found that chronic stress significantly and directly affected people’s food cravings. This could be as chronic stress can harm hormone levels related to appetite control. If you are used to eating “something good”, every time you are feeling stressed, your body will get into the habit of craving food whenever under stress or pressure.

Studies have also associated chronic stress with a greater risk of being overweight or developing obesity.

To fix this issue, you need to be ready with alternative ways to bust your stress the next time you feel under pressure. Stop yourself before ordering junk food the next time you have a bad meeting. Instead, go for a walk, listen to music, rant in front of a colleague or friend, or maybe plan to do some fun activity in the evening.

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Many people manage to control their cravings throughout the day, only to fail at night before sleep. This could be linked to poor sleep quality.

A 2019 study of 256 children and teens associated poor sleep with more frequent food cravings. Another study of 24 women associated sleep deprivation with increased hunger and cravings.

Lack of sleep can affect your brain’s frontal cortex and amygdala, which can increase your desire for highly palatable and calorie-rich foods.

Fixing your sleep cycle by going to bed and waking up at the same time, avoiding screen time before sleeping, avoiding eating at least 2 hours before bed, sleeping in a clean room etc. are some effective techniques that can help you get a good night’s rest.