Many people deal with food cravings that affect their weight loss plan or healthy diet. These could be chocolate cravings, late-night cravings, or even cigarette cravings. Even though when these cravings come you may feel out of control, there is actually a way of overcoming them!: Surfing!

What are food cravings?

Craving is a very powerful urge to do an action in order to fulfill a habitual or emotional need. It’s eating food in this case. Plus, most likely we will feel urges anytime we try to change a behavior.

In reality though, cravings are not a constant thought or a feeling. They come and go, similar to waves. The highest point of the craving can feel like you can’t survive if you don’t have that one thing. But if you can resist at that peak and not give in, you may actually be able to break the urge.

It’s easier than you think! Here is a step-by-step guide to breaking your urges starting from today!

Here is how to surf your cravings:

1-    Awareness

When you feel the urge to eat or go to the fridge, pay attention and just become AWARE of your craving. What makes you feel like eating at that moment? What are the reasons? Do you feel this urge following an argument, a thought, or an action? Be curious and open.

Most habits usually start the routine behavior with a trigger. What is your trigger?

2-    Know the craving

When you are in the midst of an urge, remember that it’s just a craving wave and it will eventually fade away. Your mind will eventually drift off to something else instead. Remember, at the highest point of your craving it might feel like you can’t survive if you don’t feed your craving but you actually CAN!

When you can resist that intense craving feeling, you will realize your urge loses its momentum. Just observe your craving before you feed it!

3-    Make the choice

After becoming aware, you will have a choice to make things different this time.

You have 2 choices: either feed the craving or don’t feed it. When you resist and don’t eat that chocolate, your cravings will get weaker and weaker. Next time when you have a similar urge, you will realize that the craving feeling leaves quicker and easier.

On the contrary, if you choose to feed the craving, your craving will get stronger and stronger each time. Next time when you have a similar urge the first thing your body tells you will be “GIVE UP”.

So this time, you can actually make the conscious choice for being healthy and reaching your goals.

4- Be proud

After you make the choice of not giving in to the craving (and also every single time you make this choice), be proud of yourself because you just learned how to surf your cravings! You can surf your cravings anytime, anywhere! They don’t control you, you control your cravings!

Did you know? 

If you have hard times in the ‘awareness’ or ‘Make the choice’ steps, hypnotherapy can help you! Hypnosis has been proven to increase self-esteem and self-worth. After hypnotherapy sessions, you will become more conscious of your choices. With awareness, you can initiate the change. To learn more about how hypnosis can help you to stop cravings and lose weight, contact me below!