Why I experience cravings
Many people still believe that giving into cravings is a weakness, lack of will power or determination. I’m here to tell you that is not at all the case. There are so many other factors that influence our ability to give in to cravings, or ignore them – see the list below.
If you are ready to explore your cravings, I highly recommend keeping a cravings journal, making notes on your phone, or in your calendar to see if there are any patterns, habits, autopilots, or any of the below at play. The most common one by far for the majority of my clients is busyness and a heavy mental load.
I’ve made a short video on the notes below, which you can download and listen to as a reminder to check in.
- Inadequate time outdoors
- Boredom / habit
- Comfort or emotional needs
- Tiredness – need to rest
- Busy mind looking for a break / Stress
- Lack of good quality sleep – causing reduced leptin release & increases ghrelin
- Gut flora imbalance
- Infections like candida / thrush
- Perceived as a treat / reward – crave a
- Being under nourished – not enough nutrients, even though you are eating regular meals – not enough fat, protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals etc.
- Not having enough body fat
- Not being able to eat mindfully
Signal of pleasure doesn’t register with your brain – pleasure from food vitamin P - Lack of leptin production
- Hormonal fluctuations – 2nd half of menstrual cycle, often need more carbs, use cravings journal to help with this
- Peri-menopause, puberty, PMS, pregnancy, breast feeding
- Memories, advertising, images, smells, tastes of food / drink, places like going to the beach, Dun Laoghaire etc..
Practice listening to what’s going on – what is your body really craving?