
Do you find it really hard to say no to a craving in the moment?
Read the transcript here or skip to watch the video below.
If you do, you are not alone.
Previously, I differentiated between tummy hunger and head hunger.
So we want to honor tummy hunger but, for head hunger, we want to start to identify it and try out some different strategies.
Head hunger is instant. For instance, we might’ve just finished lunch or dinner and we have an instant urge and craving. It’s like this tension in our body.
There’s actually a physical response in our body. We can’t stop thinking about it.
We might white knuckle our way through a craving, but let’s be honest – that’s only short term and it’s hard work!
Or we’ll have this conversation where it’s like the angel and the devil on our shoulder:
“Come on, have the chocolate!”
“No, you don’t need the chocolate.”
“I want the chocolate even more now!”
Again, it’s just a matter of time until we’re going to give into that craving!
Because it’s hard work.
It takes so much energy and it’s exhausting trying to white knuckle our way through and delay our craving.
Because delaying a craving just isn’t an effective strategy.
So what is an effective strategy when we experience a really strong craving?
The first thing to be aware of is that when we are experiencing a craving, often our awareness is in our head.
Now, our awareness can either be in our head or in our body. It is mutually exclusive.
It can’t be both.
Anytime we’re in our head, we’re not in our body.
Head hunger comes from our head.
If we stay in our head and keep our awareness in our head, it’s just a matter of time until we give in to that craving again. We can play a little game, dance around the issue, and white knuckle our way through it. But we are guaranteed to eat.
So if you stay in your head, you are guaranteed to eat.
What we want to do, instead, is actually facilitate the change from head to body.
This doesn’t come easily.
We have to facilitate this transition ourselves.
So the best way to get out of our head is to get into our body because it is mutually exclusive.
I want you to, even right now, press your feet really firmly on the ground, really, really hard.
Now you’re in your body. You’re not in your head.
So that’s step one.
There’s many ways to start to get into our body.
I love a body scan.
A five minute body scan is when you start by placing your feet firmly on the ground and you move your awareness up through your body, up through your head, and through the various parts.
Here, we’re increasing our awareness and placing our awareness in our body. We’re looking for tension, tightness and any information like that.
Basically, by using this body scan strategy or something similar, we’re taking ourselves off that automatic pilot where we might describe the food and we’re slowing things down.
After the body scan, we are tuned into our body and we have more of a choice.
“Do I still want the chocolate or not?”
If we stay in our head, we are going to eat the chocolate.
The body scan won’t stop a craving or stop us from eating. There’s nothing in the world that will do that.
What it does is it slow things down.
It allows you to tune in.
Because when we’re in our head, we’re tuned out. And we can start asking ourselves: “Do I actually really want it now?”
And often it’s no.
And then you can move on to something else.
Without all this noise in your head, there’s more calm and more peace around food.
So give that a go.
Whenever you are experiencing hunger, ask yourself if this is head hunger and if this is a strong craving?
And then start to facilitate that shift into your body
Place your awareness into your body.
Slow things down and see how you feel.
And ask yourself:
Do I still want the chocolate?
Do I still want the chips?
And if you do want them, it’s totally fine, we don’t judge it!
You just get a plate and you sit down, you savor it and you enjoy it.
You treat it like a mindful experience.
This is very different to a craving where we’re getting it fast in and just shoving it down.
So try that out and see how you go. I’d love to hear about it!
And if this is resonating with you and you want more strategies like this and learn the approach, then click below and I’d love to show you this Path to Food Freedom.
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How to manage cravings from Georgie Beames on Vimeo.