"Putting An End To Food Cravings"
by Jill Langham
Publisher:www.fitover40.com
How Missing Nutrients Can Trigger Binge Eating - And How You Can End It
How many times have you had a craving, tried to suppress it and then finally gave in only to go on a binge? Well, I can tell you that it used to be a way of life for me, until a few years ago. My husband who was my trainer at that time helped me understand the theory of eating small, frequent meals. For 3 years I followed this religiously until last year when I began feeling more trusting of the process and began listening to my body.
The first food that began to "talk to me" was, of all things, peanut butter. I'd been given a new eating plan and cardiovascular program where I was to eat 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter with either my first or last meal of the day. Initially I'd eat exactly 2 tablespoons with my oatmeal and protein shake every morning.
As my body got used to the 2 sessions of cardio I was doing first thing in the morning before breakfast and last thing before my 7:00 p.m. meal, and the fat started coming off, I realized that I was starving, especially by the end of the day. So during my last meal, which was supposed to be just a whey protein shake, I started adding another 2 tablespoons of peanut butter.
Now, if you're like me and you've read the nutritional label of the food you're binging on, you know that peanut butter has 16 grams of fat and around 180 calories! Not exactly a low calorie food! As soon as I started eating the extra calories, the wildest thing began happening; I began losing more fat, and I started looking tighter and leaner.
As time went on, I began eating more and more peanut butter, close to a cup a day, and if you can believe it, my body fat plummeted. I was following the rest of the program to a tee and believe that my body was letting me know that I needed this source of good fat and was finally in a position to listen.
This got me thinking about some of the other foods I'd craved in the past. Back in the eighties, I craved raisins. I could eat a pound of raisins in two days. I'd keep them in the refrigerator, which made them very chewy, tasty and easy to eat. Over the last 5 years, my blood tests revealed a severe case of Folic Acid, Vitamin B-12 and Ferritin deficiency, (which is an indicator of the lack of stored Iron in the body). Suddenly, it made a lot of sense as to why I chose to binge on raisins and why I craved them. They are a rich source of Iron and that's what my body was having difficulty storing.
So, here's what I'd like you to think about: If you're following a safe, balanced eating and exercise program and you begin to crave certain foods, ask yourself if the craved food has something in it that you may actually need. Take the time to evaluate the main components of the food. Is it rich in a vitamin or mineral you may be lacking? Is it a healthy fat? Could it be that you're deficient in something and don't know it? Have you had your blood drawn lately or suggested to your doctor that you may need intra-cellular blood tests to evaluate your blood for vitamin & mineral deficiencies? Check on-line to see whom in your area does this kind of testing and do your body a favor. You might just find that you're not a weak person, but a deficient one. There's a big difference.
Editor's Note: Jill Langham, RN, CPT, is one of the nation's top experts on menopause, hormone balancing and female fitness. Jill's website is www.FittestFemaleAtFifty.com. You can get more tips about preventing menopausal weight gain and female fitness after 40 from Jill in her exclusive report called: "Menopause, Hormones and Fitness: One Woman's Incredible Journey To Become "The Fittest Female At 50." This amazing report is included absolutely free when you purchase a copy of the Fit Over 40 e-book from: www.fitover40.com
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