Pizza, potato chips, pretzels, cookies, ice cream, candy… the list of foods people crave goes on and on.We hear about pregnant women having crazy cravings at all hours of the night. Personally, I craved ice cream as well as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches throughout my pregnancy (Halo Top’s PB&J ice cream was HEAVENLY).
Even after giving birth to my daughter, I still find myself dealing with cravings from time to time. I know I’m not the only one. Cravings happen and not just to pregnant women. Whether it is something sweet or something savory, everyone gets cravings at one point or another.
I could ask you what you crave, but I know you’re here seeking advice about your cravings. The real question is how to avoid food cravings?
Why Cravings Happen
Cravings are not a character flaw and they are not proof that you lack discipline. They usually come from something practical, and most of the time it is one of these five things.
You are underfed, not undisciplined. Skipping breakfast and eating a sad little salad for lunch does not make you strong. It makes you ravenous at 4pm, when the office candy jar is the closest food.
Not enough protein or fiber. Both slow digestion down and keep you full. A meal that is mostly quick carbs leaves you hungry again within the hour.
You are tired. Short sleep changes the hormones that regulate appetite and makes sugar look a lot more appealing. Some of the worst craving days start the night before.
You are stressed, bored or lonely. Food is a fast, reliable way to feel better for ten minutes. That is real, and pretending otherwise does not help anybody.
Habit and environment. If you eat chips on the couch every night at nine, nine o’clock on the couch becomes the craving. Nothing to do with hunger at all.
What Actually Works
Eat enough earlier in the day. This is the single biggest one. Build meals around protein and vegetables, and most evening cravings quietly disappear.
Drink some water first. Thirst and hunger are easy to confuse. Have a glass, wait ten minutes, then decide.
Use the ten minute rule. When a craving hits, tell yourself you can have it in ten minutes, then go do something else. Plenty of cravings do not survive the wait. The ones that do were probably real hunger.
Do not keep your kryptonite in the house. Willpower is a limited resource. You will win that fight more often if you are not fighting it at 10pm in your own kitchen.
Plan the treat instead of banning it. Total restriction usually ends in a binge. A planned dessert a few nights a week, eaten slowly and without guilt, does far less damage than the white-knuckle approach followed by a blowout.
Look at your sleep and your stress. If you are running on six hours and adrenaline, no amount of meal prep will fix the cravings.
Brush your teeth, go for a walk, call somebody. Boredom and stress cravings need a replacement behavior, not a lecture.
When It Is Worth Getting Help
If you have tried all of this and still feel like food runs your evenings, there is nothing wrong with you. It usually means the plan around it is not built for your real life. That is exactly what nutrition coaching is for: a plan built around the food you actually eat, with a coach who sees your logs and helps you adjust.
We build that into every online coaching program, and it is part of training at the studio too. And if cravings are the main thing standing between you and your goals, our post on curbing junk food cravings goes deeper on the practical tricks.
Cravings never disappear completely. They just stop being the thing that decides how your week goes.