By: Rashi Chaudhary
Here’s How I Had Put An End To My Junk Food Cravings
Everybody loves to eat after all food is the basic need of human beings. I am a big-time foodie as well. I love exploring different cuisines and devour in the flavour of various decadent dishes. However, I was a little bit more inclined towards junk food until I discovered how it was wreaking havoc on my overall health.
I used to have processed food on a daily basis. Sometimes it would have been a whole packet of potato chips other times it would have been a pizza and a chilled cup of carbonated soda by its side. My sedentary lifestyle added to the increased risk of more health issues. Before starting with, I would like you to know the bad effects that I have been struggling with because of the uncontrolled junk intake. Have a quick look below:
- Rapid weight gain
- Feeling sluggish and tired throughout the day
- Digestive issues
- Less productive
- Feeling hungry in short intervals
- Poor sleep cycle
- Less stamina to workout
How I Started My Healthy Journey?
As the Novel coronavirus hit across the nation, experts suggested the emergent need to intake a nutritious homemade diet regularly to get a stronger immunity and avoid unhealthy junk food to stay safe from any illness. Besides exercising, diet plays an important role to keep us healthy and protected from any infectious disease. What we eat plays a huge role in what we feel too.
Taking these advices into consideration, I decided to control my junk food cravings and start a home workout routine, and rigorously stick to it. Honestly, it was a bit difficult in the starting. Having a massive sweet tooth, the toughest part was to cut down my sugar intake. Even with the best intentions, I struggled to say no to my Junk Food addiction. After a little bit of research and experimenting with various effective tips, I have successfully learned to subdue my junk food cravings.
So, if you are craving junk food too often, here’s a little good news for you. I have found out some of the many strategies that will help you to curb the cravings and maintain a healthy diet.
Don’t Starve Yourself
Due to the daily hustle bustle of life, many people tend to skip meals. I have also seen a lot of people skipping meals when they are on diet and want to rapidly lose weight. Eating late also increases the hunger pangs. Actually, it’s a BIG NO. It’s a proven way that when you go a long time without eating you end up overeating. It also makes you hungrier and you crave some specific food.
In such circumstances, people look for quick ways to keep hunger pangs at bay which is mostly store-bought or ready to eat carb food. Therefore, eat proper homemade meals that will keep your stomach feel full for longer and provide your body with important nutrients.
Healthy Snacks On the Go
Snacking is essential to curb little hunger between the gaps of main meals. During snacking, many people look for a quick fix to curb hunger and end up choosing chips, tetra pack juices, biscuits, and whatnot. Such unhealthy foods are high in salt or sugar that not only makes you feel hungry within short intervals but also resulted in making you feel less energized and tired.
On that note, healthy snacks are the best substitute to feel full on one hand, and also reap out maximum health benefits. I would suggest having nuts, dry fruits, freshly pressed juices, fruits, makhana, sprouts, oats. etc. handy to satiate food cravings that especially occur in the middle of stressful work. These snacks will keep you energetic & full without adding extra pounds to your weight.
Pick Healthier Sweet Alternatives
When most people feel sugar cravings, they reach out to processed food that is high in fat and sugar. People who tend to eat sugary food frequently are more likely to have obesity, diabetes, increased risk of heart diseases, tiredness, bloated, or mood swings and I am sure none of you wants to face any of these ill-effects that sugary food causes.
So, the next time you are in the mood to eat something sweet, consider the following best substitutes to limit your sugar cravings while satisfying your sweet tooth –
- Fruits
- Fresh chemical-free juices
- Yoghurt
- Sugar-free chewing gums
- Honey
- Coconut sugar
- Maple syrup
- Dry fruits
- Sweet potatoes
- Smoothies
Don’t Eat On The Go
Many people have the habit of moving and talking while eating. Besides what you eat, how you eat also plays an equal role in keeping you healthy. Eating on the move can result in overeating. Overfeeding is the direct cause of adding an extra kilo to your waistline. It can also make you feel sluggish, less energized, bloated, and indigestion.
There are many problems linked with rushing while eating. So, to have a healthy lifestyle, sit peacefully and eat. Pay a little more attention to what you eat and the potion control. Slowly chew your food and stop at the time you feel you are not hungry anymore. Don’t let your taste buds fool you!
Never Give Up
Whenever you feel like giving up, think about “Why” you have started. Think about all the benefits that you are going to get just by making this healthy change a part of your daily diet. In the tough times of COVID, many people struggled to get beds in hospitals, important medicines, and even a healthy diet to eat to boost immunity. Now see how lucky you are to be able to easily afford a healthy diet.
Convince your body and mind to stick to a healthy diet and avoid such distractions that will make you sick and unhealthy. Remember that you have come a long way. Don’t let one mistake ruin all your long time efforts. No matter how hard it gets, there are plenty of good reasons to eat healthy for living healthy. Keep that in mind, always!
Final Thoughts
It’s common to get addicted and craving for Junk food. You may experience a strong desire to eat something specific to satisfy your taste buds. This feeling is uncontrollable and makes it hard to lead a healthier life. But, if you will follow the effective ways that I have shared above, you will soon learn to beat junk food cravings and feel way better than before.
It’s not a big deal to follow a healthy lifestyle, just some simple changes can make you feel fit and protected from illness in the long run. Let me know what you guys did to break your habit of excessively indulging in Junk food!