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Want to learn how to stop junk food cravings?
Learning how to stop junk food cravings may seem daunting, but you are in the right spot my friend!
Now tell me, does this sound familiar?
“I did so well all day and then everything went out the window after dinner”
That was a regular occurrence for me, for years… In today’s video, we’re going to talk about how to stop junk food cravings…
Trying to cut down on junk food cravings can be difficult, but understanding why we crave unhealthy snacks and making simple changes to our diet and lifestyle can help us break the cycle.
Learn these five tricks that can help you say no to those unhealthy cravings:
- Stay Hydrated to Help Stop Junk Food Cravings
- Get Rid Of Ultra Processed Trigger Food
- Eat More Healthy Food Than Junk Food
- Get Enough Sleep at Night
- Finding Alternatives to Comfort Eating
**Numbers 4 & 5 are bonuses and were added in after the video was recorded 🙌 🙌
1. Stay Hydrated to Help With Cravings
Drinking more water is one way you can combat cravings.
Dietitian Beth Czerwony, RD from the Cleveland Clinic says that sometimes you are just thirsty when you think you’re hungry.
If you’re feeling hungry, drink a glass of water and wait a few minutes. You might find that the craving has passed because you were actually just thirsty. Water can also regulate your hunger and thirst cues throughout the day – helping you make smarter, healthier food choices.
Dietitian Beth Czerwony, RD
Like I always tell my kids when they ask for a snack: “did you drink any water today? (and then they roll their eyes at me of course lol). I tell them “if you have a drink and are still hungry after a few minutes, then you are probably hungry and can have a snack”.
To make sure I stay on track with my water intake I ordered this gallon water bottle. I highly recommend it!
It makes getting my water in super fun. I love it because you get to compete with yourself during the day.
I just grabbed it off Amazon, you can check it out in Canada here or the USA here.
2. Get Rid Of Ultra Processed Trigger Food
A great way to limit your junk food cravings is to cut out the trigger foods. This doesn’t mean you have to go cold turkey and never enjoy a piece of candy or an indulgent treat.
However, if you’re consistently finding yourself reaching for ice cream or chips, it might be helpful to remove these items from your pantry completely.
One of the reasons I started to cut out as many ultra-processed flavors, colors, and sugars as I could was that I wanted to eat a little better.
When I started looking into (and feeling) the benefits I couldn’t help but keep up with my new process.
According to Harvard Health, ultra-processed foods can trigger the reward centers in our brain causing us to crave those things:
Animal and human studies have shown that foods that stimulate the reward regions of the brain influence our food choices and eating behaviours
Harvard Health
Also, after a while your tolerance level goes up, meaning you’ll need more of that food to satisfy future cravings; they become addicting.
I was there for sure, but I wanted to see if I could get to a place where I didn't crave all these things anymore so I kept it up. ** Check out the post all about the healthy food swaps I made when first starting if you want to check it out.
3. Eat More Healthy Food Than Junk Food (and eat enough of it)!
Ok, so eating enough food was a huge deal for me.
Before I started leading this healthier lifestyle, I would get up in the morning and I would drink a cup of coffee, and then maybe I wouldn’t have lunch until 1 or 2 o’clock or something like that.
By that time I was starving and I would just grab the first thing that was there, and available which would end up being something that was junky. I waited too long to eat and was now in extreme hunger mode, so I wasn’t making the healthiest choices, I just making quick choices.
If you are interested in reading more about hunger, check out the book Intuitive Eating by RDN Evelyn Tribole, MS, & RDN Elyse Resch, MS (Amazon CA/ Amazon US). I really loved this book and it has so many insights and a ton of knowledge in getting more in tune with your body, and listening to its signals.
How To Stop Junk Food Cravings Bonus:
4. Get Enough Sleep at Night
Sleep has a huge impact on our cravings.
Not getting enough sleep can disrupt your hormones and lead to more cravings for unhealthy snacks… not to mention those hormones that tell us when we are hungry and full.
Making sure that you get enough restful sleep (7+ hours) is important for your overall well-being, as well as managing cravings for unhealthy food.
And remember to test it out… 7.5 is what I aim for, but that may not work for you, everyone is different.
5. Find Alternatives To Comfort Eating
Eating junk food is a common way to comfort oneself, but there are healthier alternatives. Try writing down what triggers your cravings and look into different activities that could fulfill the same need.
We all know the old cliches – try reading a book, visiting a friend, or going for a walk when temptations strike. But, stay mindful of how you’re feeling during these kinds of moments, so that over time, unhealthy snacking won’t be your go-to pick-me-up.
Do you need more help in the area of stress, comfort, or emotional eating? Check out my Emotional Eating Workshop in the free community here.
Challenge, Recipes, & Habit Tracker Too
The habit tracker I mentioned in the video above is in my Free Resource Library.
I just put all my free resources in one place for easy access, here are some things in there currently:
- Tracker & Coloring Sheets For Kids
- 25 Healthy Recipes Ebook
- 21 Day Health Habit Tracker
- 14+ Full-Length Workouts
- 15 Kids Snack Recipes
- Free Community
- And So Much More…
Check out the free resource library here!!!