4 Quick & Easy Techniques to Stop Cravings
OK, so you’re having a bad day. Truth be told, your whole week isn’t so hot. And the only thing you are looking forward to doing is eating ice cream after work today. Sound familiar?
In the past, thoughts like these used to be firmly implanted in my mind.
When I was feeling bad, eating ice cream made me feel good. Even thinking about ice cream made me feel good. On those days I would go out, get a container of ice cream and happily and mindlessly eat the whole thing when I got home. I did feel good at the time. But afterwards I felt miserable. I had consumed 4000 calories of fat and sugar and nothing in my life had changed.
What was I thinking?
After doing this over and over, actually, for years and years, I finally understood that no amount of food will satisfy any of my negative emotions and feelings. On the contrary, when I ate like this, I DOUBLED my negative feelings. I felt worse about myself. I felt as if I had no control. And I felt lousy about my body.
This is what I learned:
FACT: Eating for emotional reasons isn’t helpful. Ever.
PROBLEM: How do I stop eating when I’m feeling _________________(fill in the blank with any negative feeling)
SOLUTION: Find a tool that will divert my thoughts from food – especially when I’m not hungry.
I learned that diverting my attention is an easy and effective way to eliminate cravings. I learned to CONSCIOUSLY divert my thoughts. You can too. Here’s how a typical conversation might sound like in my head:
Me: “I really want to eat ice cream.”
Me: “OK. Are you hungry?”
Me: “I don’t know and I don’t care”
Me: “OK. How do you want to feel?”
Me: “I don’t want to think about ice cream.”
Me: “OK. Quick. Think of something that you enjoy”
Me: “OK”
Me: “What are you thinking about?”
Me: “How great it would be if I were on a beach feeling relaxed without a care in the world.”
Me: “How does this thought feel?”
Me: “Much better…I’m going to stick with this thought for a while.”
A conversation like this provides the following benefits:
1) Stops me from eating in the moment and
2) Send messages to my subconscious that I want to respond to my emotions in a different way.
(Of course, your conversation may sound different…)
There are a number of ways to divert your mind. The important thing is that you decide IN ADVANCE what you want to do. Then when the need to implement this occurs, it will be easy.
BELOW ARE ADDITIONAL EFFECTIVE WAYS TO DIVERT YOUR THOUGHTS:
• When you feel the need to eat, take a deep breath and ask yourself “Am I hungry?” Check your stomach feelings.
• If you are not hungry, get a drink of water.
• Wear a rubber band on your wrist. Every time you go to reach for food, snap the band and ask yourself “Am I hungry?”
• Tap or rub on the karate chop part of your hand and say “Even though I really want to eat this ice cream (or whatever), I deeply accept myself. (You don’t have to believe this. Just say it to yourself or out loud) This is an Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).
Doing any of the above will make a difference in the moment. For deeper, long term changes, it’s important to go directly to the source of your emotions and feelings; your subconscious mind.
To do this, you can visit your local NGH Certified Hypnotist or you can
listen to Self Hypnosis Weight Loss MP3s to reprogram your mind and direct your thoughts.
If what you are doing isn’t working, it’s time to do something else.
Wendy Merron holds monthly Self Hypnosis Weight Loss Meetings at The Center of Success in Wayne, PA, a Main Line suburb of Philadelphia. She is a Certified Hypnotist, EFT Practitioner/Trainer, and the President of the Greater Philadelphia NGH Chapter.
The Center of Success radio show can be heard on WCHE 1520 AM, Sat. mornings at 10:00am. All shows are archived at http://wendymerron.com/weight-loss-cds/
For your free Weight Loss MP3, visit http://wendymerron.com/contact-wendy
1. October 2009 at 8:31 AM
I tried it and it really works!!!
1. October 2009 at 3:41 PM
Hi Wendy
Fantastic post!
Probably not dissimilar to what you’re suggesting but I often take these steps:
1. Establish the ultimate goal the client wants to achieve (ie healthier, lighter etc.)
2. Establish what happens immediately before the cravings. ie. a list of trigger points
3. Establish an alternative response to the trigger that also has an emotional charge thereby building a new pathway which diverts around the old response.
For instance, “whenever you walk into the kitchen you will feel excited about the fact you’re becoming so much healthier and energetic and you will also feel very curious about how this is happening. Whatever happens you will certainly find your mind now distracts you away from worries and distracts you naturally towards a fantastic feeling of optimism and energy”.
1. October 2009 at 3:41 PM
Hi Wendy
Fantastic post!
Probably not dissimilar to what you’re suggesting but I often take these steps:
1. Establish the ultimate goal the client wants to achieve (ie healthier, lighter etc.)
2. Establish what happens immediately before the cravings. ie. a list of trigger points
3. Establish an alternative response to the trigger that also has an emotional charge thereby building a new pathway which diverts around the old response.
For instance, “whenever you walk into the kitchen you will feel excited about the fact you’re becoming so much healthier and energetic and you will also feel very curious about how this is happening. Whatever happens you will certainly find your mind now distracts you away from worries and distracts you naturally towards a fantastic feeling of optimism and energy”.
Ed Lester
“The Hypnotherapy Report”