Temptation – the voice in your head telling you to just go ahead and eat it, it’s often the one thing that ruins healthy eating. So here are a few tips on how to overcome it, say no to that unhealthy craving and pick up something healthy instead.

Reduce temptation

If we don’t buy tempting foods, we won’t eat them – simple. Fill the kitchen with healthy foods and reduce the temptation of going and getting that unhealthy snack in the first place.

Stop the cravings

Before you give in to your cravings, first try and identify what it is that you’re actually craving. Sometimes the texture and taste associated with the unhealthy foods you are craving can be found in much healthier foods.

Crave the saltiness of crisps? Try some nuts. Crave the sweetness of sweets? Try fruit instead. Crave the texture of chocolate? Dark chocolate might be a better alternative.

Keep your mind and body active

Cravings often arise when we are bored too, so keeping yourself busy can help to combat this. Are you hungry, or just bored?

Exercise can be a great distraction and research has found that exercise may actually help to reduce food intake by suppressing the incentive to eat and lowering appetite.

Eat fresh and healthy foods

Eating fresh whole foods not only taste good and are beneficial for your health but they will also make you feel great too. Take advantage of healthy foods, pack your meals out with veg and snack on fruit.

Make sure you eat a variety of foods to keep your diet exciting and enjoyable. Try cooking new meals and trying new foods.

Eating healthy foods is particularly important, research has suggested that artificial sweeteners found in unhealthy foods might actually contribute to sugar cravings, sugar dependence and weight gain too.

Is it sustainable?

We are more likely to give in to cravings if our diet isn’t sustainable. Restricting calories and cutting out lots of foods from our diets can just increase temptation in the long run and can sometimes lead to ‘binging’.

If you don’t think you can stick to your diet or healthy eating plan for more than a good few months then the chances are that you probably won’t sustain it for long at all. A treat every so often isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and it doesn’t have to be unhealthy one.

Train your taste buds

Once you start eating healthily, you’ll probably want to continue. Processed, sugar loaded and chemical laden foods just don’t give the same satisfaction as eating healthy and fresh whole foods.

Goals

When you feel like giving in, remind yourself of your goals (and if you don’t have any, why not set some?) Visualise yourself achieving your goal and focus on staying on track.

If you do give in to temptation and for example you eat that slice of cake, it’s not an excuse to give up and have another slice ‘because you may as well start eating healthy again tomorrow’. In fact it gives you the complete opposite; more of a reason to get back on track again without losing your focus.

Indulge yourself in nutrition

Instead of indulging in sweet treats, indulge yourself in nutrition. Learn about it, enjoy it and live it. The more you surround yourself with things related to a healthy lifestyle, the more likely you are to live one too and reading this blog is a great way to start!

Adie Blanchard – Researcher

References

Cornier, M. A., Melanson, E. L., Salzberg, A. K., Bechtell, J. L., & Tregellas, J. R. (2012). The effects of exercise on the neuronal response to food cues. Physiology & Behavior, 105(4), 1028-1034.

Evero, N., Hackett, L. C., Clark, R. D., Phelan, S., & Hagobian, T. A. (2012). Aerobic exercise reduces neuronal responses in food reward brain regions. Journal of Applied Physiology, 112(9), 1612-1619.

Yang, Q. (2010). Gain weight by “going diet?” Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings: Neuroscience 2010. The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, 83(2), 101.0