Top Dieting Tips - 5 Tips on How to Survive Food Cravings

Okay you started that diet yet again and yet again you're overwhelmed with food cravings. You want to continue, but your stomach growls and your mouth waters and you just can't stop thinking about food. It's like someone asking you to stop thinking about pink elephants and then all you can think about is pink elephants. This hub discusses how to cope with food cravings on a diet.

The first tip to how to cope with food cravings to set parameters for giving in. Not giving up, but giving in. Now, this may seem counterintuitive, but you know that the time will come sooner or later when you will breakdown and give in. So let's talk about that right off the bat. Make a plan for what you will allow yourself to eat when you give in. Jillian Michaels, former trainer of NBCs America's Biggest Loser, is an expert on diets and weight lose. One caution she gives is "Depriving a sweet tooth is a recipe for disaster. Don't cut things out so you binge later." She further advises to set aside one fifth of your daily calorie count to the favorite food of your choice. Know that you will give in and plan for it. Get ahead of the problem and you will have a better chance to control it. Overcome hunger pains with a predetermined plan.

The second for how to stop food cravings is to train your taste buds to enjoy low calorie fillers. Low calorie fillers are healthy vegetable snacks like carrots, celery, broccoli, green and red bell pepper, and the like. Your taste buds are very adaptable organs. They can be trained to enjoy must foods. Believe me I know, I have eaten many different types of foods. When I was growing up my parents use to advise me to keep trying things because one day my taste buds will adapt. I have put that advice into practice nearly all my life and it has paid off.

What does this have to with dieting and food cravings? Last year, I finally got too heavy and decided to go on my first official diet. My daughter told me she learned that celery is actually a negative calorie food because it takes more calories to digest it than it has in a stock. I was not fond of celery, but I decided to give it a try. At first, I did not like it, but in less than a week my taste buds adapted and I began to like it. I lost nearly 10 pounds over a couple months by substituting celery (or carrots) for my nightly bowl of ice cream.

A third tip for how to cope with food craving on a diet is to drink more water. Most people do not drink enough water in the first place, but water can also be used to temporarily fight back hunger pains.

A fourth tip is just say no. Your body needs to have time to adapt to your new calorie intake. You have developed a habit for a certain amount of food each day and your metabolism will continue to rev according to its normal daily intake. Usually, you will experience severe hunger pains over the course of the first three days, but then your body will begin to adapt to its new level of intake and the food cravings will begin lessen and subside.

A fifth tip to how to stop food cravings is to eat lighter smaller meals five times a day rather than bigger high calorie meals two or three times a day. Eating more often will obviously less than the frequency of hunger pains; it will also increase your metabolism which will help with the weight loss. Of course, the meals need to be comprised of low calorie and healthy food choices.