Ever feel like the donuts in your office lunch area are calling your name, even though they are 100 feet away? No doubt there are certain foods that you crave. Times of day, times of the month, or just based on your nutritional deficiencies, there are foods that you want and that you want now. Dont worry. You are probably not obsessed. There are many reasons why people crave foodmost commonly, junk food. Heres why:
1. Raging Hormones
Any woman knows that her period is coming when she cant keep her hands out of the cookie jar, and gets more exercise opening the fridge than from a trip to the gym. Hormones, especially fluctuating ones, will cause cravings to go into overdrive. Thats probably the reason why women seem to have many more cravings than men, and seem to need to satisfy them more than men do. Ever spent a few months with a pregnant woman? Maybe shes not eating pickles dipped in ice cream, but when she wants potato chips, she wants them now! Chart your cycle and keep cut up veggies and fresh fruit in the fridge for those crave-tastic days.
2. Fatigue
A long day at work typically makes you tired. It also makes the 3 oclock munchies roll in. And when they hit, the most common craving is for something sweet. Sugary coffee drinks, candy and vending machine binges alike, workplace snacking is commonplace for good reason. Sugar provides a quick burst of energy, which is what your body really craves. Try limiting your caffeine intake in the morning so you can indulge in a cup of joe in the afternoon. Or, trade it out for green tea for a little caffeine and some antioxidants. Go easy on the sweet stuff though youll probably find that the caffeine alone will do the trick.
3. Emotional Swings
You might crave certain foods to cure emotional issues like stress, sadness, depression, or just feeling a little under the weather. People tend to lean toward foods that provide comfort, which generally contain grease, fat, sugar or just tons of calories. You might also be inclined to eat junk food during happy times and social events. Certain foods become synonymous with comfort and happiness, triggering those cravings when you are looking to be in that mood. Try going for a walk somewhere that you enjoy, or calling a friend instead of indulging. Even a few minutes searching the web for your next vacation, looking at photos or emailing an old friend can help!
These emotional feelings may also be causing you to crave like crazy when you are dieting as well. Long-term healthy eaters may not feel this way, but intense, short-term diets characterized by quick weight loss cause people to feel deprived and to have a serious desire to satisfy it. Try transitioning to a balanced, healthy
diet to avoid those swings.
4. Nutritional Deficiencies
Although there is little scientific evidence to back it, many people attribute cravings to nutritional deficiency. The theory is that if you are low on calcium, youll crave ice cream. If youre anemic, youll crave meat. This theory is unfounded, though, so dont stress if you have a hankering for a steak!
Other psychological happenings could explain cravingssmelling cookies baking, seeing a commercial for cheeseburgers, etc.so try to combat them by satisfying them in more productive ways.
and the chocolate bingeing, I TOLD the Dr just remove the annoying uterus...... and he did
and my house would be cleaner! I clean when I'm mad. But every other emotion, I want food!!
welcome!
I have salty crunchy, then orange juice, then more salty crunchy, then cheese then orange juice then peanut butter. In that order. weird weird weird.
Hang in there! You need to focus on your kids right now. I hope everything works out and we are here if you need us!
