13 tips on how to avoid food cravings

If it weren't for those stupid food cravings... out of nowhere they grab you and you suddenly get hungry for sweets. Sometimes you manage to resist. But sometimes you just give in and stray from your eating goals.

This doesn't have to happen! There are a few things you can do to avoid cravings or deal with them in a way that you will be happy with.

Always eat at about the same times

Your body is a creature of habit. If you always eat at the same times, you will become hungry just before those meals. You are conditioning your body. However, if you don't have regular meal times, then you may well get hungry long before the next meal - maybe even starving.

Plan your meals for the next day

If you have to think about food less often, the chance that you'll have a food craving will decrease. You can achieve this by thinking the evening before about exactly what you will eat the next day and when you will eat it.

Then the next day there is no need to think about what your next meal will be. It's even best to cook meals in advance.

Eat less sugar and more complex carbohydrates and vegetables

Although sugar itself is not unhealthy, too much sugar can cause you to get cravings. Too much sugar in a meal leads to strong fluctuations in blood sugar. This is bad because if your blood sugar level drops too much, you will crave sweets.

Your body is crying out for quick energy in the form of (simple) carbohydrates to get your blood sugar levels back up. However, if you eat more complex carbohydrate sources and vegetables, you'll have fewer blood sugar fluctuations and therefore fewer cravings.

For example, replace white bread with whole-grain bread, white rice with brown rice, and cornflakes with oatmeal. Also, make sure to eat plenty of fiber-rich vegetables such as broccoli, zucchini, and bell peppers.

Eat more protein

Protein is the most satiating macronutrient. One calorie coming from protein curbs appetite more than one calorie coming from fat or carbohydrates.

This is probably also the reason why Rains et al. (2015) found that the study participants with more protein in their breakfast ate fewer calories overall during the day. Aim for 0.8 to 1.2g of protein per pound of body weight.

How can you get more protein in your diet? For example, eat more low-fat cottage cheese and less oatmeal in the morning, less gravy and more lean meat at lunch, and fewer fries and more tofu, fish, or eggs in the evening.

Drink more water

The great thing is that the feeling of hunger depends not only on the calories supplied, but also on the stretching of the stomach. You can take advantage of this. Just drink more water. This will cause your stomach to stretch and you will feel less hungry.

As soon as you feel hungry, drink two cups (about half a liter) of water. If you like fizzy drinks, you can also try carbonated water. For many people, this curbs their appetite even more.

Drink diet beverages

Sweet drinks can satisfy a craving for something sweet even without calories or sugar. Diet beverages do contain sweeteners, but according to current studies, sweeteners do not seem to be harmful to health - as long as you don't overdo it.

If you get the munchies, drink a glass of Fanta Zero, Sprite Light, or Diet Coke/Coke Zero.

Drink coffee or other caffeinated beverages

Caffeine has an appetite-suppressing effect. This is often observed in practice and has also been observed in several studies. Although this effect does not seem to occur for everyone, it is certainly worth a try.

Drink a cup of coffee, a Diet Coke, or some black tea as soon as you feel cravings (just not in the evening).

Distract yourself

When you have a food craving, try to take your mind off of all the delicious foods you might be thinking of. The best way to do this is to distract yourself - ideally with an activity that makes you as happy (or close to it) as food.

If your thoughts are still only revolving around food, then go for a walk, clean your apartment, or take a shower.

Don't go shopping when hungry

If you're standing in the supermarket with a growling stomach, you're not thinking according to your long-term goals. Your body wants to eat - preferably immediately.

Therefore, there is a good chance that you will choose the ready-to-eat pizza (or ready-to-eat pizzas?) rather than the vegetables. The ready-to-eat pizza is (for most) tastier and quicker to prepare than the vegetables.

That's why it's best to eat BEFORE you go shopping so that you don't run around the supermarket starving and end up buying some stuff that will seem stupid in the context of your goals.

Don't keep sweets in your home

You've probably heard this tip many times before, and it's super important! If you don't have any sweets at home and suddenly feel like something sweet, then you'll have to think twice about buying yourself sweets.

Because that would be connected with quite a lot of effort. You would have to get up from the sofa, put on shoes and clothes, go out, and possibly even drive to the store, and you would have to exchange your money for the sweets - possibly with a guilty conscience.

So much effort for a few sweets? In this scenario, you will probably leave it alone and make do without.

Brush your teeth early in the evening

When do most people err? That's right: when their willpower is largely exhausted, in front of the TV in the evening. To avoid this, it's best to brush your teeth soon after dinner.

If you snack afterwards, you will have brushed your teeth for nothing and will have to sacrifice another 5 minutes of your precious time. That would involve a lot of effort. Effort in the evening? No! In this case, it's better to just not have sweets in the evening.

Avoid too much stress

There are several studies showing that many people eat more and especially eat less nutritious things when they are stressed. If you can identify with this, it is important that you avoid getting stressed in the first place.

There are countless methods for minimizing stress. For example, you can meditate regularly, take a more relaxed approach to life, or plan your daily routine precisely. It's best to find out for yourself what works well for you.

Sleep more and better

Do you remember how you felt during the day the last time you slept only 4 hours? You probably didn't feel so well. You probably also had a craving for sweets. Many people have that when they haven't slept enough.

Too little sleep leads to a change in your hormone balance, so that you have more appetite - especially more appetite for fast carbohydrates (i.e. fast energy). Your body lacks energy due to the sleep deficit.

The body tries to compensate for this lack of energy in the form of calories. It signals this to you through an increased appetite.

You will also burn more calories during the day (because you will be inactive in bed for less time). But most likely you will still end up eating a lot more than you burn through this higher activity level.

This is also shown in a study by Markwald et al. (2013). The study participants with a sleep deficit burned about 5% more calories than the long sleepers, but still gained a little under 0.9 pounds per week. This indicates that they were in a decent calorie surplus overall.

So make sure you sleep more and with higher sleep quality.