Sugar Cravings

Weekends are a killer. When you are trying to follow a strict structure, they can throw you off. If you are a normal person (and doing what I ask you to do), :) you may start craving sweets later in the day. ESPECIALLY on the weekends.

I want to make this process as easy as possible for us and control your cravings. Today's blog will cover two issues. Education and solution. I want you to understand why you crave and how you can fix it.

First of all, lets answer why. Your blood sugar is touchy. It needs to be between a certain level. Meaning not too high and not too low. What happens when its too high? Your body has more than it can metabolize and you store the left over as fat. (We want to avoid this like it was the plague) When your blood sugar is too low, you are out of energy. You have probably skipped a meal, are not eating balanced meals (protein, fats, & carbs) or you haven't consumed enough carbohydrates for your body to maintain a healthy level of blood sugars. When its too low you will burn muscle for energy. Not only does this make you tired and cranky, but it makes you crave. You need instant gratification.........SUGAR. Thats why we crave so much. Your mind knows that the fastest way to get it back up is to eat sweets.

Solutions. If you are on a path of becoming a fat burning machine, you need to learn ways of controlling these cravings and understanding the difference between hunger and cravings. If you are following the diet structure I have laid out for you, not having enough carbohydrates is not the problem. If we want to burn fat, we need to eat less of them during the later hours of the day. So how do we help sugar cravings? There are several ways.

• Diet drinks are helpful for some, sugar free Kool-Aid or Crystal Light is helpful as well. One of my personal favorites has become the sugar free Popsicles.
• Thirst is often mistaken for hunger, so drink some more water.
  
• Out of sight, out of mind. If you have lots of sweets laying around, get rid of them.
• Make sure you are using your diet journal and check to make sure that you haven't gone more than 3 hours without eating.
• Make sure that all your meals are balanced. If you are leaving something out, this can cause problems.
  

Cravings and hunger can be very different things. If you are getting too full or too hungry, let me know. I am here to help :)