subject: Taking care of your food yearnings: the game of suppression and indulgence [print this page] Nearly everyone gets food cravings on occasion. Science has proven it is just a typical phenomenon and is not really something to be embarrassed of. Exactly what seems less clear is what to do when you're getting one. Some people simply give in more often than not, while others feel guilty and not allow themselves the enjoyment of greedily eating whatever non grata piece of food they happened to want. Which method is right? If you undertake belong to the quite unexclusive membership of cravers, exactlty what can you do when you catch your self moving in the direction of the refrigerator?
As it usually is with severe and opposing views, the simple truth is somewhere in between. To start with, the current understanding amongst dieticians is that a complete suppression of cravings leads in fact to an elevated food consumption afterwards. You build a dam around your own cravings and at certain point it cannot hold any longer, which then leaves you at mercy of your desires. In scientific terms, the actual suppression of these types of thoughts leads to their subsequent hyperaccessiblity. This implies that trying to entirely ignore your food cravings really reinforces all of them, something that is actually called "the ironic cognitive process". This reinforcement is later on transferred to the actual food consumption, or "rebound eating". Consequently, contrary to what several women mags may well be telling you diet-wise, giving in on occasion is fine, so long as this behaviour is kept in check. Will still be essential to not overindulge, but rather to handle your natural impulses in a manner that creates a healthy balance.
In brief, we can place the food craving problem management mechanisms in a couple of distinct strategy groups. The first group comprises "control-based" coping strategies. These strategies imply a cognitive control of unhealthy food behaviour, not only by suppressing the cravings, but furthermore by an array of other tricks, such as not keeping undesirable foods both at home and work, removing your food triggers from sight etc.
The second group of coping strategies is called "acceptance based". Different to the former type, acceptance-based strategies do not particularly aim to reduce the number of cravings or alleviate the sensation of guilt triggered by the food cravings. Instead, the concept is to stimulate the actual readiness to accept the experience that cannot be controlled, simultaneously implementing behaviour that is beneficial with regards to ideal goals. Simpler put, one accepts his / her current state of mind, which includes dietary dispositions; having established this as a solid departure point, one begins regularly working towards envisioned goals and values.
Apart from managing your food cravings through a more self-aware and calculated approach to food kinds high in fat and sugar, there are more strategies that might come in handy.
Positive thinking
When the Dalai Lama advises to stay away from damaging thoughts and to cultivate and reinforce good states of mind, it is not easy to instantly link that advice to the wold of dieting. However, the leap may not be that great after all. Research shows that food yearnings are heavily mediated by our emotions, even on the level of neurological pathways in the brain. Specifically, remember that it is 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 negative emotional state. Coupled with the addictive nature of the food urges, this is often quite problematic in terms of overweight and individual health in general.
Luckily, there's a workaround, and the psychologists have been pointing it out all along. If damaging emotions are a cause of bad dietary behaviour, it is then feasible to decrease the effects of their mediation by operating with them directly. Several techniques are available, varying from breathing exercises, yoga exercise and meditation to more traditional psychological methods, such as cognitive therapy. Research shows that a mindful and savouring strategy to eating helps handle bad dietary behaviours and results in weight decrease. In addition, good emotions may well initiate other good modifications in individual dispositions and routines, thus resulting in an upward spiral of helpful change, including dietary aspects, as another study claims.
Concluding this article you should add, that foods cravings are caused by a complicated interplay in between several aspects on both mental and physical levels. This suggests that methods of dealing with them should take this Janus-like character in consideration. The essential message is to keep things in stability and have a positive outlook on yourself and your life.
Taking care of your food yearnings: the game of suppression and indulgence
