Cravings?!

Hello readers (especially females!),

I don’t know about you, but I struggle with food cravings ESPECIALLY around that time of month.  Its very easy to cave in and go for the ice cream sundae with chocolate syrup, or the salty chips with cheese dip, but is it worth it in the end? 500+ calories for a snack attack… It will add up. One pound is 3,500 calories.

My First trick: If I am craving something and I know I am not hungry, I will drink water and go to the gym, or even just a quick power walk down the street and back. Sometimes its psychological, and you just need to get your mind off of it.  What better way, then physical activity? You don’t give in to bad food, and you get your heart rate up!

My Second Trick: If you are actually hungry and craving something, shoot for the healthier version, or what your body is trying to tell you it wants.

If you crave this…	What you really need is…	Here are healthy foods that have it…
Chocolate	Magnesium	Raw nuts and seeds, legumes, fruits
Bread/Toast	Nitrogen	High protein foods
Oily Snacks, Fatty Foods	Calcium	Mustard and turnip greens, broccoli, kale, cheese, legumes
Chewing Ice	Iron	Meat, fish, poultry, seaweed, greens, black cherries
Cool Drinks	Manganese	Walnuts, almonds, pecans, pineapple, blueberries
Burned Foods	Carbon	Fresh fruits
Pre-menstrual cravings	Zinc	Red meats (especially organ meats), seafood, leafy vegetables, root vegetables

For a more detailed chart: http://www.naturopathyworks.com/pages/cravings.php

Are you a sugary drink person? Try flavoring your water with different fruits! – Raspberries, pineapple, grapefruit, strawberries.

Craving chocolate? My favorite thing to fix this is either a few squares of dark chocolate or a 100calorie pack of cocoa dusted almonds! Yum!

Need a high protein snack? Try chobani greek yogurt! They have so many different delicious flavors such has apple cinnamon, blood orange, lemon, pomegranate and so many more! They pack about 14g of protein, in a 6oz cup! So refreshing!

That time of month?

During that time of month our body’s cortisol levels (stress hormone) increase and that increases your hunger! Also your serotonin levels decrease (happy hormones), and if you already have depression as a trigger—this can increase your decision to give in to sweets/salt. ( You already don’t feel good about yourself, so why not have the sweets?!) DON’T CAVE IN. YOU WANT TO FIGHT IT! I can’t stress enough to go for the healthier versions (salted peanuts, baked chips, few squares of dark chocolate). To help stabilize your hormones before your period, try to avoid alcohol (it makes you bloated and dehydrates you) and no excess soy, this is an estrogen/hormone type that will contribute to potential imbalance.

Thedoctorstv.com – My favorite show!

Thanks for reading!