subject: Controlling your food yearnings: the game of suppression and indulgence [print this page] Almost everyone gets food urges here and there. Research has proven this is a common phenomenon and is not necessarily something to be ashamed of. Exactly what seems less clear is where to start when you're getting one. Some people simply give in most of the time, although other people feel guilty and not allow themselves the pleasure of greedily eating what ever non grata piece of cuisine they happened to desire. Which method is right? If you do belong to the quite unexclusive membership of cravers, exactlty what can you do the next time you catch your self drifting in the direction of the refrigerator?
As it usually is with intense and opposing views, the truth is someplace in between. For starters, the current understanding among dieticians is that a complete suppression of cravings leads in fact to an elevated food consumption afterwards. You construct a dam about your own urges and at certain stage it can not hold any longer, which usually then leaves a person at whim of your desires. In scientific terms, the actual suppression of these types of ideas leads to their subsequent hyperaccessiblity. This implies that trying to entirely disregard your food urges basically reinforces all of them, some thing that is called "the ironic cognitive process". This particular reinforcement is afterwards shifted to the actual food consumption, or "rebound eating". Therefore, contrary to what several women magazines may well be telling you diet-wise, giving in on occasion is fine, as long as this particular behaviour is held in check. It is still crucial to not really overindulge, but instead to handle your normal urges in a way that creates a healthy balance.
In short, we can place the actual food craving dealing mechanisms within a couple of specific strategy groups. The first group comprises "control-based" coping techniques. These techniques imply a cognitive control of unhealthy food behaviour, not just by suppressing the cravings, but also by a range of other tricks, such as not keeping undesirable foods both at home and work, getting rid of your food triggers from sight etc.
The 2nd group of coping strategies is called "acceptance based". As opposed to the former type, acceptance-based methods do not particularly aim to decrease the number of cravings or alleviate the feeling of shame triggered by the food cravings. Instead, the idea is to stimulate the readiness to accept the experience that cannot be controlled, at the same time applying behaviour which is advantageous regarding preferred goals. Simpler put, one accepts their current way of thinking, which includes dietary dispositions; having established this as a strong departure point, one begins consistently working in the direction of envisioned goals and values.
Apart from managing your food cravings through a much more self-aware and calculated approach to food kinds high in fat and sugar, there are other strategies that might come in handy.
Positive thinking
When the Dalai Lama advises to stay away from damaging thoughts and to develop and enhance 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 cravings are seriously 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 actual negative emotional state. Coupled with the addictive nature of the food urges, sometimes it is quite problematic in terms of overweight and individual health in general.
Thankfully, you will find there's workaround, and the psychologists have been pointing it out all along. If negative feelings are a trigger of unhealthy dietary conduct, it is then feasible to decrease the results of their mediation by working with them directly. A number of techniques are available, varying from breathing exercises, yoga and meditation to more conventional psychological methods, such as cognitive therapy. Investigation shows that a conscious and savouring approach to eating helps handle unhealthy dietary behaviours and results in weight decrease. In addition, good emotions might initiate other positive changes in personal dispositions and routines, thus resulting in an upward spiral of advantageous change, including nutritional aspects, as another study claims.
Concluding this article we want to add, that food cravings are caused by a complex interplay between several elements on both both mental and physical levels. This suggests that methods of working with them should take this Janus-like nature in consideration. The crucial message is to maintain things in equilibrium and have a positive mind-set on your self and your life.
Controlling your food yearnings: the game of suppression and indulgence
