After Halloween, many of us may still have lots of candy around the house. If you have a sweet tooth/chocolate addiction, like I do, this can be dangerous. You may stray from your healthy lifestyle, and then before you know it the holidays will be here and you will be eating lots and lots of food. (And of course, most of it is not great for you.) You may be afraid that you will get off track and start to gain a little bit of unwanted weight. No worries! I have some simple solutions that will help you avoid those candy cravings.
-Are you the kind of person that when you walk by the candy bowl, you grab a piece, open it up, and eat it without even thinking about it? Before you know it, are you doing the same thing over and over? This happens to me all of the time and my tip to stop it is to try avoid the candy bowl. Put it away where you won't regularly see it (out of sight, sometimes out of mind!), or when walking from room to room, find another way to get there that will not come close to the candy bowl. If this isn't possible, try not to even acknowledge that the bowl is there. Ignore it like it doesn't even exist. If you still find that this is difficult, find something like a stress ball that you can hold/distract yourself with. You won't even think about the bowl being there.
-Now for the cravings. Especially for us girls going through that time of the month. Have you ever just sat down and gotten the idea that you are starving and need to eat some candy? You can't stop thinking about it until you give up and go get some candy. This is a huge problem as well and your mind is very tricky, making you think that it needs the candy. If you are hungry and the idea pops in your head, you need to take some deep breaths and take control. Drink a glass of water and wait 15 minutes. (Sometimes you are just a little dehydrated and the water can help make you feel fuller.) Another good thing to do at this time is, again, distract yourself by doing homework or maybe some yoga. (When the mind is occupied, it won't think about the cravings as much as it did.) After this, if your are still hungry, do not go for the candy. Have something healthy, and if you have a sweet tooth, drink some chocolate almond milk instead. (Less calories and still has the chocolatey flavor!) Plan out your meal and it will more beneficial for you.
-If you know for sure you aren't hungry, maybe just bored and can't distract yourself, cravings can be briefly controlled with some mint! Chew a piece of really minty gum, or even go brush your teeth. That strong minty flavor will make the candy unappealing, at least for a little while! In the meantime, find something to do as a distraction.
-So does this mean I can't have any candy at all? Well no, if you do that you will drive yourself insane. You need to just control how much and how often you have some. I believe in rewarding yourself for the good things you do, so if you did well on an exam (especially those hard ones) or you were able to meet one of your goals, please feel free to have some candy. But be responsible! Have a couple of small pieces of candy with something healthy like nuts or some with your coffee once in a while.
Doing these small things will not only help ease your cravings, they will help you as the holiday season comes around!
~Katrina
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