4 p.m. is the hour of temptation. And 10 p.m.? That is the hour delivered by the devil who conspires to thwart even the toughest Badass' healthy eating good intentions.
These are the times when cravings grab hold, when suddenly we long for the processed orange powder of Cheetos or we come up with all sorts of rationalizations for why a Snickers bar should be considered a good dairy snack (Well, there must be dairy in that creamy nougat!, you insist...)
These are the times when the Badass Army is tested. These are the times when we need SWAT team-like strategies. Badass Fitness reader Andy wrote me last week to deliver awesome news of his steady weight loss, but he also confessed that the toughest challenge is resisting cravings.
Well, this Badass blogger isn't going to just let him hang out there all alone. Besides, I know Andy isn't alone in battling cravings (obviously I have a Cheetos issue, as evidenced by my mouth and left hand being stuffed with them in the picture at left.)
So today I'm laying out a handful of strategies for defeating the cravings monster with a roundhouse Badass kick to the chocolate-covered cojones! This is a small list compared to all the possibilities, and I really hope you all will comment below to share your own Snickers Survival Tips.
Shannon's Badass Cravings Begone Manual
- Wait 20 minutes: When the craving hits, start your clock and force yourself to do something for 20 minutes that doesn't involve food. Fold laundry, catch up on e-mails, make a to-do list for Spring cleaning, call a friend. By the time 20 minutes have passed, the Cravings Monster might just have moved on to another unsuspecting Badass.
- Walk it off: If it's just a craving and not really hunger, what better way to resist the craving than to literally flee from it? In fact, that 20-minute waiting window is an ideal time to walk. And then if you do give in, at least you've burned some extra calories!
- Food log: Remember this? If you aren't logging what you eat, start! And then every time you grab for the potato chips, the task - and guilty feeling - of having to write it down might just stop you from munching.
- Chew gum or pop a mint: Sometimes cravings are more about the idea of munching something than actually wanting to munch something. So if you must keep your mouth in motion, keep it busy chewing sugar-free gum or enjoying a sugar-free mint. Hell, even a regular mint or gum is less damaging to your calorie counts than giving in to the office brownies.
- Have reinforcements at the ready: No, not those military MRE's that are heavy as bricks and taste like sawdust. I'm talking about healthy reinforcements. Single-serve, 100-calorie popcorn for when you crave salty. Low-fat, 100-calorie pudding cups for your sweet tooth. Small squares of chocolate to quench that urge for a bon-bon party. And ideally, you always have a stash of really healthy snacks like almonds, hummus and carrots, cheese sticks, low-fat or Greek yogurt, etc.
- Force portion control: I have mixed feelings about those 100-calorie packs of everything from Oreos to Goldfish because I think it makes it easy to forget HOW to exercise portion control. But I also know that they can be a saving grace for many Badasses. So by all means, if buying a regular back of pretzels means you'll eat the whole thing in a day, buy the single-serving packs.
- Give in and move on: Yes, you read that correctly. Sometimes, it's really OK to just give in to the chocolate cake or the big plate of hot wings. We all deserve occasional indulgences. And if you spend two hours trying to eat other things that don't seem so "guilty," only to still have that craving, you're not only torturing yourself but odds are you will ultimately eat the cake -- on top of whatever you ate in a futile attempt NOT to eat the cake.
So if the Cravings Monster is really acting fierce, don't have other stuff and your cake, too. Just have the cake, ditch the guilt, and move on. Remember: Balance. Moderation. If you fall down, get right back up.
Coming tomorrow: Choosing organic, on a budget
