Summary:  Are cravings controlling your eating habits? Well, they don’t have to anymore. Cravings are overrated. Learn how to use your mind to change what you crave and you’re likely to lose weight.

If I were to ask you which foods temp you, most likely they wouldn’t be ones that are very healthy.

  • Chances are… they’d be ice cream, potato chips, pizza, or something along those lines.
  • In fact, in your mind right now as you’re reading, you’re probably thinking about a food that isn’t healthy.

Well, aren’t you? Stop for a moment and think about it… The point I’m going to make is that you can change what you crave by changing how you think!

  • Most people that feel like they need to lose weight usually has a “craving problem.”
    • But I don’t see it as a problem at all. I see it as a solution!
    • Why?  Because I think we give our cravings too much power over us and we don’t have to be controlled by them.
    • We don’t have to feel temped by ice cream, cookies or 20-ounce prime ribs.
    • Instead, we can be tempted by watermelon, pineapple, oranges or apples; foods like that.
    • Think that sounds crazy? Well it isn’t and you’ll see why.

When most people really think about what exactly they eat and how they eat, the culprit to their weight problem usually boils down to snacking, picking, eating foods that are unhealthy or just plain over-eating.

And usually when they think about what fruits and vegetables they like, the majority of people don’t dislike every single fruit or hate every vegetable under the sun.

In fact, as a general rule… if they’re really honest with themselves…  they usually eat fruits and vegetables a lot less than the unhealthy stuff.

Now for a fun exercise…

Take a minute to close your eyes and lay back in a chair (if you have one nearby).

  • Think of a peaceful place and you’ll find that you start feeling very relaxed within minutes (like you’ve never been relaxed before).
  • Then imagine taking a bite of your favorite juicy, ripe fruit and to feel the juices tickling your taste buds.
  • Think to yourself “from now on… anytime I have a craving for food, I’ll think of a juicy, ripe piece of fruit.
  • And bingo!!! Next thing you know these are exactly the kinds of foods you’ll start desiring!

Why? Because anytime you close your eyes and bring yourself to a calm, relaxed place, your subconscious mind emerges, and it’s this part of the mind that controls what you crave.

Change your thoughts and you’ll change what you crave. Simple.

Let’s look at this from another perspective:

  • Let’s say pineapple is your favorite fruit.
    • Now, if you were sitting with me right now and I gave you a juicy chunk of it, you would enjoy it thoroughly – and you’d want more, right? Of course you would!
    • Now, let’s say I reached into my refrigerator, whipped-out a piece of chocolate cake and said, “choose one.”
    • Most likely you’d choose the pineapple because you just had a teaser-piece, which would make your mind want more.
    • The fact of the matter is this: you enjoy your favorite fruits just as much as you enjoy your favorite junk foods, you just believe otherwise.

Again, cravings are over-rated.

The mere mention of that devilish word always seems to bring-up images of high calorie, high fat foods only because these are the foods you are most exposed to in our media-driven world.  Your subconscious gets accustomed to this and just doesn’t know any better.  Change your minds images and you’ll change your cravings.

Here’s a quick 5-minute mental exercise you can begin doing now to help you start changing the way you crave food:

  • Step 1: Find a comfortable, quiet place where there are no distractions.
    • Begin breathing deeply until you are quite relaxed.
    • Next, count backwards from 10-1, slowly.
    • With each count, imagine that your mind is drifting deeper and deeper.
  • Step 2: After you’ve finished counting, imagine that you are relaxing by yourself in your favorite place.
    • A secluded beach or a log in the woods will do the trick.
    • Imagine yourself feeling so very relaxed and peaceful.
  • Step 3: Next, imagine a basket full of your favorite fresh picked fruit sitting right next to you.
    • See it clearly in your mind, the color, the feel, everything about that fruit.
    • Imagine taking a bite of that juicy fruit and enjoying it like never before.
  • Step 4: Repeat the following suggestion to yourself 10 times: “From now on, anytime I think of eating, I immediately feel a craving for fruit.”
  • Step 5: Count from 1 to 5, slowly, and when you reach 5 open your eyes.

Facebook Comments