Knocking Out The Cravings

Your Step-By-Step Guide To Knocking Out Those Food
Cravings
Beat the endless cycle of needless snacking the healthy way—forever!
® 2015 All Copyrights Reserved by Ironbuttz
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Table Of Contents
Introduction: Begin By Understanding Your Own Nutritional Needs
Chapter 1: Understanding Biology, Obesity And The Body: Are You A
Food Junkie?
Chapter 2: Solving The Junk Food Cravings And Living Fuller And
Healthier
Chapter 3: What Happens To The Brain When You Eat Junk Food?
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Introduction: Begin By Understanding Your Own Nutritional
Needs
The facts are real, there never has been more of a profound time in history in regards to
the awareness of food and nutrition by doctors, nutritionists, dieticians PT’s, and even the
individuals who want to live healthier today. It can be so very difficult because there are
food companies which continue to push bad food choices into our faces, riddled with
high cholesterol, fat, sugar and sodium!
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Due to the fact that many people have extremely hectic lifestyles today, poor food
choices are much higher risks. Turning to junk food for energy has become far too easy
as well, but this isn’t sustainable. Even when you become preoccupied with cutting back
on fat or sodium, you still have to worry about sugar content. It can all become
extremely confusing.
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It’s a fact too, even foods you once thought were healthy for you—you might be
discovering these really aren’t, and in fact, might even be contributing to your addictive
lifestyle as well. You never want to allow food to have power over you, but once you
cave in to a craving that is exactly what you’re doing. You can tell yourself all day long:
“Today is the day, I’m going to break the cycle—I’m going to succeed,” but it is so easier
said than done. Do you have the commitment?
If you’re going to win the fight against obesity and if you’re going to achieve your aims,
goals and ambitions for fitness you have to develop a personal awareness about food and
how it impacts you. When you consider the fact that more than 2/3rds of Americans
alone are obese, finding solid ground and developing a nutritional awareness can be hard.
If it were easy there wouldn’t be the issue of obesity all across the globe. This is why we
want to discuss the issues with junk food and those cravings too, because these are
exactly the problem in the war on obesity.
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If yourself, or anyone you know has a BMI that is under 25 then this is a healthy
classification. However, if you have a BMI 25 to 29 or over, you are running a risky line
with your health, and definitely classified as obese. If you don’t begin to understand
these facts and begin developing an awareness of nutritional awareness for yourself, you
could fall into those statistics that just aren’t good—which are all about poor food choices
and unwanted poor health due to obesity.
According to the Food Research And Action Centre, obesity and poor nutritional habits is
one of the biggest concerns among medical professionals and parents especially. Since
junk food eating normally begins in childhood, it’s somewhat embedded into a lifestyle.
So, what can an individual do? How can you break poor nutritional habits, cravings for
junk food and finally stop exacerbating health problems due to these bad habits? If you
started as a child, and your parents never enforced healthier eating habits upon you, this
is going to be an uphill battle. Still, it is achievable and something to be proud of when
you make it!
What is the bottom line for you, as an individual? You want to live
healthy!
If you haven’t been living the healthiest life, it can be extremely hard to break the endless
cycle of bad snacking and wrong food choices. We believe we’ve made this very clear.
You’ve possibly read a lot of material about this and of course, without any doubt, there
have been many digital sources alongside paper books about the importance of living and
eating healthy. Why? Because, the facts are clear--you’ll never feel really great about
yourself if you’re doing all the wrong things.
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If you are finding you are constantly giving excuses for living wrong, eating wrong and
never engaging in exercising like you should, it is time to change your ways! You need
to begin determining the best times to eat, what to eat, where to eat and how much to eat.
Further, you should become accustomed to water in your life because it is the best thing
you can do for cleansing the body and breaking a bad food cycle. So, do you really know
where to get started, what you should consider?
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Have you weighed in on how you, as an individual should really begin to appreciate a
healthy lifestyle? It’s time now to quit asking how individuals who are accustomed to
reaching for the potato chips when hungry begin reaching for the nuts or fruit bowl
instead? Remember, the first step lies in understanding what hunger is all about; or
rather, what those intensive cravings really mean. Why does your body crave those bad
foods in the first place? They aren’t fuelling your body properly and you’d think your
body would reject them, right? Well, guess what…Your body has been trying to reject
them for a long time, in a multitude of ways.
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Once again, and never to forget: you should begin to understand your nutritional type in
order to start making the right eating decisions. There are times where these bad food
cravings and junk food addictions occur simply because individuals don’t understand
their own bodies and their own nutritional needs. Everyone is unique, but everyone
requires a properly balanced diet. If a junk food habit didn’t start when you were
younger, then this statement makes absolute sense!
It’s time to start discovering the best managed ways to begin a healthier lifestyle and
crunching those bad junk food desires. However, the first step to managing something
such as this and overcoming it is first beginning to understand it. That is what this
literature is all about.
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Understanding Biology, Obesity And The Body: Are You A
Food Junkie?
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Break away from overindulgence! This is the primary problem among most people, no
matter if you engage in fitness activity or not, just as mentioned earlier. No one should
constantly overindulge in eating! While it makes perfect sense to have a bad treat now
and then, it is simply the wrong choice if you consume unhealthy food sources on a
consistent basis. This is exactly what creates an addiction, and it happens with anything
in life.
You should clearly be seeing and learning what the causative factors for junk food
addictions and obesity clearly are today. With all the advertising in one’s face day in and
day out for bad food, or other bad choices in general, it can be too much for some, and
they find themselves in a constant struggle against obesity and poor nutritional choices
themselves. The psychological effects that come with all of this are truly terrifying, and
with a larger waistline come a whole host of other issues as well.
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Obesity opens the door to bullying when one is young, something that is truly awful.
Depression and mood swings are common as well. In fact, 8% of obese Americans are
severely depressed, specifically those over the age of 29. Some from the outside might
look in and blame it on the individuals themselves, but there is absolutely no one who can
be judged, or judge, when only that individual knows the full story.
Some good news here, to help those who are struggling with eating healthy is to begin
keeping that personal record of individual responses to specific food choices! This is an
important plan for most individuals seeking a guaranteed way to break the bad food habit.
It’s natural to see that only those who have been there and who have become educated
can really understand the battle against these adverse issues. No one wants to be obese,
or unable to run a mile, or worse—unable to walk their dog down the street, but for some,
this is life. There are cases where it isn’t just a lack of nutritional education creating the
problem—sometimes it is just a sluggish metabolism and an inability to turn away from
food’s that should be limited.
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So, this can all go back to the metabolism and how the digestive system works when
breaking down food. Too many processed foods create a desire within most to have more,
and it is just like any other addiction, as mentioned. Many of these processed food
choices are filled with unnatural ingredients as well, some possibly even toxic to the
body. While they are made up of many chemicals, fake flavourings, and high sugar
content, the body still digests them, but not as it does with whole grain foods.
Consider what this does to the brain as well and then you might have a very clear idea of
why yourself, or others go back to bad junk food. For starters, unhealthy food triggers
the release of dopamine in the brain, and this is a feel good chemical. Dopamine makes
you feel good, so it isn’t hard to understand why people might choose ice cream, potato
chips, or some snack cake for fast pleasure. This illustrates that junk food isn’t all about
any lack of will power, but more about the chemical make-up of the brain.
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Let’s give you an example here. You’re hungry, starving actually and you don’t feel like
slicing up an apple or peeling an orange, so you immediately reach for those flavourful
orange, fluffy cheese puffs. You don’t stop to consider the orange dye, or the excessive
salt, or not even the hydrogenated oil within them. They make you feel good for a little
while but you come down from that pretty fast and are hungry again.
It’s a vicious cycle, and one that can slowly destroy your body and lead to premature
ageing too. Also, you’re hurting your brain and once your mind believes it needs these
processed foods, it is extremely difficult to tell the mind it really doesn’t.
If you haven’t caught on already, this is what screws with a persons glucose levels
constantly, and this dietary habit actually creates the risk for many diseases such as
diabetes—diseases that could be prevented if these types of food cravings could be
controlled. Remember, it acts just like someone with alcoholism or a drug dependency.
Even caffeine can become something many depend on to function.
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Your body actually gets so it screams for these poor food choices and once you’re hooked
it is the hardest habit to break—some say harder than breaking the smoking habit!
Suddenly, before you realise it, over time your body needs more and more of these bad
foods, and you eventually become desensitised to what is happening. There have actually
been scientific studies carried out illustrating what happens to the mind when an
abundance of junk food is consumed.
Now, if you don’t want to turn into a habitual “junk-a-holic” do something now!
Hopefully you’ve begun to understand how it works, but there is so much more you need
to learn. A pertinent fact that is important to learn right now deals with the
socioeconomic circumstances. The CDC shows that the poorest nutritional choices
which create obesity begin with the African American race, then to Hispanics and thirdly
to Caucasians. Remember, even if you’re active, this doesn’t mean you’re the healthiest
or making the right nutritional choices for yourself either.
Believe it or not folks, just living the tasty life long enough can create binge eating, and
other eating disorders you just don’t want to have to battle. These are avoidable. While
this doesn’t happen to everyone who eats junk food, it is necessary to understand that it
does impact thousands. Obesity is extremely high all across the globe right now and this
has all been due to so many bad food choices, always in our faces.
Can you believe that some who have lived a very poor, unhealthy dietary style actually
exhibit brain wave patterns like those of a cocaine or crack addict? According to a recent
article in Nature Neuroscience, it’s a fact. One of the best ways to break the cycle is to
never start it, but that’s easier said than done. If you can somehow design yourself a plan,
such as planning menus, choosing healthy deserts to make and more, you’ll slowly begin
to adjust to a healthier way of eating.
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Seriously, let’s really make it clear here now. Food addiction is a very serious problem
and it can be far more complex than what people truly see it as. This is actually a very
unhealthy relationship with food, and it is quite common in many eating disorders, which
again, is another thing that was earlier pointed out. These food addictions can start for
any number of reasons, and it is a good idea to be able to identify the triggers that are
associated with unhealthy eating habits.
To understand what the signs and symptoms of a true junk food addiction might be, we
have listed several of these below. It is hoped that by actually visually seeing these,
individuals might better be able to identify what is triggering the desire and craving.
Furthermore, by seeing these characteristics of a junk food craving listed, an individual
who isn’t sure of they have one can identify the signs of this. So, here these extremely
common symptoms are now:
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1. If you have eaten but still struggling with hunger cravings and even dwelling on
poor food choices, this is not normal.
2. If you allow yourself to have a sweet treat, or a salty treat but don’t seem to know
when to stop eating it, this could lead to a serious addiction.
3. If you’re eating to an excessive point and feel you are constricted in your own
clothing, this is a serious problem.
4. If you become exhausted after eating this is a clear sign you’re overindulging and
should stop.
5. Excuses for eating bad is just bad—if you’re doing it there is an issue here.
6. Feeling guilt for eating something is a clear sign it might not have been the
healthiest of choices—you should not feel guilt for eating.
7. If your storing food in a hidden place no one knows about you definitely have an
addiction.
8. If you’re feeling out of control and don’t know how to stop it is time to figure out
what you can do to heal your body and mind.
9. If you notice swelling or what is known as “fluid retention” this is abnormal and
could signal an addiction to poor food choices.
10. If you’re lying to others about your eating habits because you feel ashamed, this
is just the same as guilt.
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If, at any time, anyone has had thoughts, feelings or emotions such as these listed
associated with food, their eating habits or their lifestyle in general, there is a strong
likelihood that a food addiction might be present. If this is the case, seeking counselling
or even speaking with your primary care provider might be a good idea, simply because
these behaviours can definitely lead into other health problems.
When you have an addiction such as this, even having junk food in moderation can be a
terrible idea. So, if you have read that having sugary treats occasionally, or having other
unhealthy or overly processed foods one time a week is okay—this isn’t okay if you truly
have a food addiction. The fact is you’ll never be able to break through this cycle if you
continue to put these very foods into your body.
While people without a food addiction can get by with having a cheat meal or some sweet
treats ever so often without complaint, those with junk food addictions just can’t do this.
You could compare this to someone with a smoking addiction as it works in a very
similar way. As mentioned earlier, any type of addiction is hard to break and sometimes
it takes concentrated effort with a food addiction.
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What Happens To The Brain When You Eat Junk Food?
The brain works in funny ways. When it comes to the desire for junk food, the brain is
exactly what is responsible for these cravings. It’s not always about will power at all,
which we might have mentioned. Sometimes your brain becomes accustomed to very
specific food choices and when the body doesn’t get these you actually go into a
withdrawal, just like other addictions.
You can have mood swings, severe fatigue; lack of concentration, lost thoughts or
confusion, a lack of motivation, depression and even more. However, as soon as your
body receives that bad food you dissolve all of these adverse symptoms. Still, you’ll be
stuck in that junk food cycle as well. So, do you have to struggle through junk food
withdrawal to beat the vicious cycle?
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The sensations of the food, the flavour, the shape, the satisfaction, it all impacts the brain
and creates the desire for more. When you eat really good food it is pleasurable, but of
course that is your brain allowing you to gain pleasure. From the smell to the actual
crunchiness of some foods—it all plays a part. Research has shown that many brand
companies do this intentionally, because they know how the body responds and why
shouldn’t they? They had to eat junk food too, to know what emotional state one would
have from it.
You see, these advertisers are the very reason many people get addicted to junk food, and
regardless of how bad they know it is, it’s all about demand and control. It’s about money
too. You just have to learn a way to move away from all the bad hype and eat differently.
While healthy food choices are no where as entertaining as seeing a celebrity drink a can
of coke, or drinking it yourself, at least you know you’re resolved to stay healthy!
Solving The Junk Food Cravings And Living Fuller And
Healthier
Why not start a nutritional journal? Of course, there are already those like fitness pal and
others, but what is really meant here is to have a personal diet journal, one you can look
back on in privacy and see where the issues might be. This helps to develop the
awareness that has been being mentioned here, within these pages. If you don’t
remember, nutritional awareness implies you are an observer over your own emotions
and habits, monitoring mistakes and correct nutritional choices in hopes you can gain
some control over cravings and your health.
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All of this requires you being total honest with yourself because if you’re not then you’ll
truly have trouble making ground, whether it is with fat loss or muscle gains. You also
have to be thorough and document everything you put into your mouth, and down to
everything you drink. This can help you keep up with calories, fat, sugar and so much
more. Perhaps you can even discover what times you have the worst bad food cravings.
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Something new you all might not be familiar with has to do with the environment you eat
in. Science has shown if you eat alone, in a darkened environment you’re more apse to
eat more than you should and feel guilt following doing so. Perhaps if you can choose a
more open environment, and not consistently eat alone you have more of an opportunity
to be junk food cravings? It is a thought that just might give you some ground.
When you do eat, don’t eat fast, and never go and not have water. You can minimise just
how much food you might eat if you follow these specific tips. Remember too, this all
helps to support your well-being! It’s important to realise that you are going to be far
more apse to eat badly when you don’t take time with your food and really focus on the
benefits the right choices are providing to your body. Junk food eaters never stop to
consider what these bad foods are doing to their bodies, at least not when they are eating
them. Once you become more aware of your food choices as an individual you’ll be less
inclined to reach for the potato chips or cheese puffs and more likely to choose black
grapes and peanuts. Furthermore, you’ll hopefully soon discover the right attitude (one
such as this described) will finally keep you out of the yo-yo dieting so many fall prey
too. Developing a healthy lifestyle pattern changes everything, both physically and
mentally.
Truly, this is yet another proven way to help an individual begin to discover some reliable
ways to beat the junk food cravings, or poor food choices in general. There are also
specific exercises you might perform to help sharpen your mental awareness and keep
you focused on exactly what you’re putting into your body. You can learn to distinguish
between real hunger and just the desire to want something sweet or salty, which is known
as “mouth hunger”. You can also begin to use figures to determine your hunger level,
much like on a pain scale. It might seem strange, but it is effective.
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Another mental exercise you can do is notice things such as headaches. Begin to notice
when these come on. Do you develop them after eating or when eating, or perhaps
waiting too long too eat? Do you get them after eating a sugary snack? This all helps to
determine how your body is responding to specific food sources and it helps you to
understand how your metabolism works to digest various consumables.
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If your goal is to live healthier and begin developing a healthy body, these tips and the
advice above can be an extraordinary great starting point. It’s totally up to you though.
We understand it takes time for you to become accustomed to not eating bad food, but
you have to be consciously ready to take action and not cave into the cravings too. If you
read the section on exactly what happens to your brain when you eat junk food, you
should have a clear comprehension on why these habits are so hard to break for so many.
Though not impossible, as we’ve emphasised, it can take a long time to remove the desire
for potato chips and replace that with carrot strips.
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