subject: Taking care of your food beseechings: the game of suppression and indulgence [print this page] Almost everybody gets food cravings occasionally. Science has proven it's a frequent phenomenon and is not something to be embarrassed of. What appears less clear is what to do when you get one. Some people simply give in usually, whilst other people feel guilty and deny themselves the pleasure of greedily consuming whichever non grata piece of cuisine they happened to desire. Which method is right? Should you choose belong to the quite unexclusive membership of cravers, exactlty what can you do next time you catch yourself drifting in the direction of the refrigerator?
As it usually is with intense and opposing views, the simple truth is someplace in between. To begin with, the current understanding between dieticians is that a complete suppression of cravings leads in fact to an elevated food intake soon after. You construct a dam about your own cravings and at particular point it can't hold any more time, which usually then leaves you at mercy of your desires. In scientific terms, the suppression of these ideas leads to their subsequent hyperaccessiblity. This suggests that trying to entirely disregard your food cravings in fact reinforces all of them, something that is called "the ironic cognitive process". This kind of reinforcement is later on shifted to the real food intake, or "rebound eating". Therefore, contrary to just what several women mags may be telling you diet-wise, giving in on occasion is fine, as long as this particular behaviour is retained in check. Will still be crucial to not overindulge, but instead to handle your natural desires in a fashion that creates a healthy balance.
In brief, we can place the actual food craving coping mechanisms within 2 distinct strategy groups. The first group comprises "control-based" coping strategies. These strategies imply a cognitive control of unhealthy food behaviour, not only through controlling the cravings, but also by an array of other tricks, such as not keeping undesirable foods both at home and work, removing your food triggers from sight and so forth.
The second group of coping strategies is called "acceptance based". Different to the former type, acceptance-based strategies do not particularly aim to reduce how many cravings or alleviate the feeling of shame triggered by the food cravings. Instead, the idea is to stimulate the actual willingness to accept the experience that cannot be controlled, concurrently applying behaviour that is beneficial when it comes to preferred goals. Simpler put, one accepts his or her current frame of mind, which includes dietary dispositions; having established this as a strong departure point, one starts regularly working in the direction of envisioned goals and values.
Apart from managing your food cravings by means of a much more self-aware as well as determined approach to food types high in fat and sugar, there are other strategies that might come in handy.
Positive thinking
When the Dalai Lama advises to refrain from damaging thoughts and to cultivate and enhance positive states of mind, it is not easy to instantly link that advice to the wold of dieting. However, the leap most likely are not that great after all. Research shows that food urges are heavily mediated by our emotions, even on the level of neurological pathways in the brain. Specifically, it has been established that negative emotions such as anger, loneliness, boredom and depression cause increased food intake. While the exact mechanisms at work are not entirely clear, it has been suggested that happiness hormones released with the food consumption provides a short-term coping strategy with the actual negative emotional state. Coupled with the enslaving nature of the food urges, sometimes it is quite problematic regarding overweight and individual health in general.
Luckily, you will find there's workaround, and the psychologists have been pointing it out all along. If negative emotions are a cause of unhealthy dietary conduct, it is then possible to lower the results of their mediation by working with them directly. A number of techniques are available, ranging from breathing exercises, yoga and meditation to more conventional psychological methods, such as cognitive therapy. Investigation shows that a conscious and savouring strategy to eating helps handle harmful dietary behaviours and results in weight decrease. In addition, positive emotions might initiate other positive changes in individual dispositions and behavior, thus resulting in an upward spiral of helpful change, including dietary aspects, as another study claims.
Concluding this article you want to add, that foods cravings are the consequence of a complicated interplay in between several elements on both physical and mental levels. This suggests that methods of dealing with them should take this Janus-like nature in consideration. The important concept is to retain things in balance and have a positive outlook on oneself and your life.
Taking care of your food beseechings: the game of suppression and indulgence
