How to cope with cravings when you are on a diet

Here is some advice on how to deal with cravings for certain foods when you are trying to lose weight.

• Avoid triggers – Change what you eat. The longer you avoid your trigger foods, the less likely you may be to want them. In fact, you’ll probably begin to crave the foods you eat, a real bonus if you’ve switched to fresh fruit.
• Destroy the temptation – If you have given in and bought a box of biscuits, and feel guilty when eating them, destroy them. Pour savoury sauce, water or something else over them to make them uneatable. Don’t think about the money you’re wasting. If the biscuits don’t go into the rubbish bucket, they’re going straight to your hips.
• Go nuts - Drink two glasses of water and eat an ounce of nuts (6 walnuts, 12 almonds or 20 peanuts). Within 20 minutes, this can extinguish your craving and dampen your appetite by changing your body chemistry.
• Remove stress from your life - Since stress is a huge trigger for cravings, learning to deal with it could potentially save you hundreds of calories a day. This will take some practice. You can try deep breathing or visualizing a serene scene on your own.
• Distract yourself - If only chocolate will do, it’s a craving, not hunger. Cravings typically last ten minutes. Recognize that and divert your mind: Call someone, make some tea, listen to music, run an errand, meditate or exercise.
• Plan or avoid - Vary your usual routine to avoid passing the bakery or pizzeria. If you know you’ll be face-to-face with irresistible cake at work, allocate enough calories to fit it into your diet.