Why You Should Listen to Your Junk Food Cravings
BUT, WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Should you be listening to your junk food cravings?
Are they telling you something?
CRAVINGS FOR DAYS
I know that I get food cravings ALL THE TIME – and the foods that I crave are usually chocolate and chips.
It’s important to listen to your “junk food” cravings because it’s usually your body’s way of telling you that it wants a specific nutrient.
For example, if you crave chips then your body might be needing salt or healthy carbs. Using sea salt and sweet potatoes to make chips (you can make them as thin & crispy as you like) will help you to satisfy your cravings so that your body is getting exactly what it needs. I often incorporate sweet potato chips into my dinner and will either eat chocolate oatmeal or a healthy chocolate smoothie for breakfast.
I LOVE chips more than anything and I ALWAYS crave chocolate. I find that when I make home made sweet potato fries with coconut oil & Himalayan sea salt it really helps to satisfy my chip cravings – and it’s totally healthy. I make them often!
And then as far as chocolate goes, to feed my cravings I like to make chocolate oatmeal and chocolate smoothies for breakfast. Using pure cacao powder is really healthy and it really helps me – if I feel like I need a “chocolate fix” then I have one of those for a meal and I’m good for the rest of the day.
Think of food cravings as your body’s way of asking for specific nutrients.
TAKE NOTE
That being said, there is a difference between listening to your body and going completely overboard with eating every food that you feel like eating every moment of the day. The latter could lead to serious weight gain. To maintain my weight while “feeding my cravings”, I like to incorporate healthy versions of my cravings into my meals.
I’ll be honest – snacking all day would make me fat, it would make anyone fat.
What “junk foods” do you crave the most? What healthy alternatives can you incorporate into your meals, so that your body gets the nutrients that it needs and wants?
Craving chocolate?
Your body may really be wanting magnesium which is found in natural unprocessed cacao. Get some raw cacao powder (unprocessed cocoa powder) which is unsweetened and doesn’t contain any artificial flavourants – use it make healthy chocolate smoothies, chocolate oatmeal porridge, healthy chocolate and other healthy chocolate treats!
Craving salt?
Your body might need more trace minerals. Invest in some pink Himalayan sea salt to use instead of table salt which naturally contains trace minerals.
Craving fried foods?
Your body is saying that it needs healthy fats! Eat avocados, coconut oil, cold-pressed oils, macadamia nuts, walnuts, flax seeds, raw nuts & seeds, fatty fish and eggs.
Craving carbs?
Instead of bingeing on white bread, pasta and fries which will only leave you feeling bloated and result in a sugar crash – eat quinoa, sweet potato, whole rolled oats or steel cut oats and bananas. If you are craving carbs all the time, it could also be because your blood sugar levels are going on a roller coaster ride (because of eating too many carbs too often). Consume healthy fats that contain amino acids like nuts, fish and eggs to help stabilise blood sugar levels as well as high-fibre carbs and grains like 100% wholegrain products or grains in their pure form like bulgar (wheat in it’s pure form), oats, quinoa, millet and rice.
Craving sweets, candy + sugar?
Try curing your cravings with fruits like berries! These sweet little treats are delicious and they’re very low in calories!
Craving soda, juice + fizzy drinks?
Your body is probably dehydrated – it needs pure water! The reason that you crave soda and fizzy drinks is probably because this is the only liquid that your body knows (or it is the liquid that it gets the most of). Leave soda and fizzy drinks in your past and drink lots of water. It may be strange to drink water for a while but you will get used to it and soon your body will crave it!
YOU CRAVE WHAT YOU EAT
While you feed your cravings in a healthier way, remember that you will always crave what you eat.
Whatever you eat the most of, your body will naturally crave.
If you make a conscious effort to change your diet into a healthier one, you will start to crave the healthier foods that you eat – But remember to listen to what your body is telling you, and give it the nutrients that it needs!
Ps. This is the healthy chocolate oatmeal that I make to feed my chocolate addiction – I’ll link the recipe here incase you want to make it!
I hope that this helps you to get happy & healthy!
Love Liezl Jayne xo
Ps. I’ve also got a 3 day eating plan for weight-loss that you can download here on my blog – this is what I used to lose 40 Lbs!
Photo’s by Ross Charnock – for liezljayne.com – styled by Liezl Jayne
