How To Stop Craving The Wrong Foods

You wake up each morning with every intention of eating "good" today.

You'll skip the drive thru line on your way to work. You'll refuse to get fast food with co-workers at lunch. You'll boycott the vending machine in the mid-afternoon. And you won't even think about having dessert after dinner.

But then your cravings win.

Your friend drops by with a big fluffy muffin and a latte for breakfast. A group of co-workers invite you to that greasy spoon down the street for lunch. Cake is passed around at the mid-afternoon staff meeting. And after dinner your honey surprises you with a bowl of your favorite ice cream.

You tell yourself that tomorrow will be different.

Tomorrow you won't give in to food cravings.

But then tomorrow comes with its own special circumstances, and cravings get the best of you once again.

Why Do Food Cravings Always Win?

Let's face it, we live in a world where food temptations are everywhere...which lead to cravings, which lead to you eating things that you shouldn't. Again. And again. And again. Until you're so fed up with your body that you don't even know where to begin to get yourself back on track.

Stores display the most tantalizing junk food items right where you could easily reach them. TV commercials for greasy, fattening foods portray them so scrumptiously that you literally salivate. Sugary snack items have full-page, glossy pictures in your favorite magazines. And as if all of these weren't enough, the people in your daily life are another, constant source of food temptation.

To make matters worse, you've been conditioned since childhood to have a positive association with the act of indulging in your cravings. You use food as a reward. You use food as a source of emotional comfort. You use food as a way to relieve stress. And quickly these associations and uses of food become habit. A habit not easily broken.

New Technique to End Food Cravings

Food cravings don't need to have the upper hand on you anymore. Here's how you can fight back using your most powerful asset: your brain.

Remember that your mind is an amazing thing. Once your mind is made up about something it's nearly impossible to change it.

Try This Powerful Mind Exercise: Imagine that you are peacefully floating down a river on a raft. The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and you are having a fun, relaxing time.

You feel wonderful about the river because it's making you feel happy.

Now change perspectives for a moment. You're now in a plane flying over the river and the raft. Instantly our eye is drawn to an enormous rocky waterfall. Then you look back to the person floating on the raft, having a wonderful time, headed straight for the treacherous falls.

With this new perspective of the river, do you think that you'd agree to get on a raft and take your chances floating toward the falls? Laughable, right? You've seen the hidden danger of the river. You know it leads to pain and suffering.

Now your negative association (watery death) with the river has replaced your initial positive association (relaxing fun).

This is the key to overcoming food temptations and putting an end to food cravings: building negative associations in place of existing positive ones. I'll break this process down for you in two steps:

Step One: Create a STRONG Negative Association with Unhealthy Food

You may not have realized it, but up until this point you've placed unhealthy, fattening foods on a pedestal in your mind. As long as the wrong foods are on that pedestal you'll continue to give into your cravings and will continue to gain fat.

Take the wrong food off that pedestal by listing off everything negative about them...

·       These foods make you unhealthy.

·       These foods cause weight gain.

·       These foods drain your energy.

·       These foods kill your confidence.

·       These foods lessen your quality of life.

·       These foods damage your love life.

Every time that you feel tempted to eat an unhealthy food, focus on your list of negatives. Kick the junk off the pedestal and put something healthy in its place.

Step Two: Create a STRONG Positive Association with wholesome foods

Now that your mental food pedestal has been cleared, put truly wholesome food items on it. Juicy fresh fruit, crispy vegetables and savory lean meats are the place to start.

List off the things that you love about healthy food...

·       These foods make you healthy.

·       These foods promote fat loss.

·       These foods boost your energy.

·       These foods build your confidence.

·       These foods improve your quality of life.

·       These foods enhance your love life.

I encourage you to immerse yourself into the world of healthy, wholesome foods. Browse the aisles of your local natural foods store. Stroll through a farmer's market. Pack healthy snacks to bring to work. Clear your kitchen of junk.

Use the technique above consistently and you will soon find that healthy, wholesome foods are your favorite.

And craving the wrong foods will be a thing of your past.

The Ripple Effect

When you put time and energy into exercise it makes it easier to eat healthy. And when you eat healthy it makes you more likely to exercise.

It's the ripple effect. When you make positive strides in one area of your life, other areas will soon follow.

Keep in mind that while nutrition is extremely important for weight loss, lasting results are achieved through a combination of both healthy eating and challenging exercise. 

Blackberry Chicken

This recipe makes a wonderfully healthy family meal. Use organic berries and chicken to get the most from your meal nutritionally and flavor-wise. Serve your chicken on a bed of steamed veggies or on a dark leafy green salad. Servings: 4 

Here's what you need: 

For the Chicken:

• 1.5 pounds organic, skinless, boneless chicken tenders
• 1 cup organic blackberries
• 1/4 cup coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
• 1/4 cup plum vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/8 cup yellow onion, minced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 packet Stevia

1. Rinse the chicken tenders and pat dry. Place in a large ziplock bag.
2. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth.
3. *optional* Strain the seeds from marinade (If you don't mind the crunch, then leave the seeds in!)
4. Pour the marinade into the bag of chicken, seal and place in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place the marinated chicken in a baking pan and bake for 30 minutes.
6. Remove from oven, drain off excess marinade, then place under high broil for 4 minutes, watching closely. Remove when golden.

For the Blackberry Sauce:

• 1 TBL coconut oil
• 1 cup organic blackberries
• 1 packet Stevia
• 1 Tbl plum vinegar

1. In a skillet over medium low heat, combine all of the ingredients and bring to a simmer.
2. Simmer, stirring often, until the blackberries become bright and the sauce reaches desired consistency.
3. If you wish to thicken the sauce more, add 1/2 teaspoon of arrowroot powder.
4. *optional* Strain the seeds from the sauce (If you don't mind the crunch, then leave the seeds in!)
5. Serve over the cooked chicken.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving equals: 287 calories, 7g fat, 655mg sodium, 15g carbohydrate, 5g fiber, and 36g protein 

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