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Managing Your Cravings Going for the 3 Increases: Increase in Health, Increase in Happiness

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Title: Managing Your Cravings Going for the 3 Increases: Increase in Health, Increase in Happiness


1
Managing Your CravingsGoing for the 3 Increases
Increase in Health, Increase in Happiness
Increase in Energy
  • Strategies for Success in Weight Management
  • By James J. Messina, Ph.D.

2
It starts with the Neurotransmitters
  • Serotonin triggers cravings for sweets
  • NPY - triggers a desire for pancakes and waffles
    in the morning
  • Galanin - triggers cravings to sweet-and-creamy
    or meat-and-potatoes by mid-afternoon
  • Endorphins triggers eating desserts pleasurable


3
Eating to boost ones mood
  • Feel sad, down, disappointed, low?
  • Carbohydrates starches, pasta, or sweets, raise
    levels of serotonin in the brain
  • Carbohydrates boost mood but we need to eat them
    in moderation!

4
Craving differences between men women
  • Typically women crave - sugar-fat mixtures ice
    cream, chocolate, cookies, pies, doughnuts
    cake
  • Typically men prefer protein-fat mixtures -
    steak, meatloaf, potatoes and gravy, or
    hamburgers

5
These cravings have existed since the cavepeople
  • Researchers at Rockefeller University theorize
    that these are age-old craving differences
    between men women
  • These cravings were useful in days when
  • cavemen needed to maintain high levels of muscle
    mass to hunt
  • cavewomen needed to maintain body fat stores in
    the event of pregnancy

6
Cravings are mood related
  • Women have reported feeling bored, lonely or
    depressed when they indulged in their desired
    food
  • Men associated giving in to cravings with
    feelings of happiness and relaxation.
  • Less than 40 percent of cravers said they were
    hungry when they experienced cravings

7
You are born with a craving set
  • Each person is born with a unique nerve chemical
    profile set of cravings
  • This fact is not a license to binge
  • You cant change your genetic makeup
  • You can coax these neurotransmitters
  • Even small changes in balance of nerve chemicals
    can have far-reaching effects on your mood,
    energy levels appetite

8
PMS and Over Indulging Cravings
  • Cravings amplify during the two weeks prior to a
    womans period, probably because fluctuating
    estrogen levels have a domino effect on brain
    chemistry, sending many appetite control
    chemicals into a tailspin
  • But overeating sugar, salty or high-fat snack
    foods, or caffeine will only make PMS symptoms
    worse

9
Give in to it or let the craving pass
  • Sometimes a craving may pass after about 15
    minutes
  • Repeatedly resisting cravings may set you up for
    bingeing
  • Many dietitians recommend giving in when youve
    got it bad, it takes 100 calories of a craved
    food to quell the yearning e.g.Eight Nacho chips,
    14 Gummi Bears or one fun-size package of MMs.

10
Timing of Cravings
  • Skipping breakfast or lunch can cause blood sugar
    to drop - leading to afternoon cravings
  • 3-6 pm is prime time for cravings
  • Never let more than four hours go by between
    meals or snacks

11
Chocolate the Most Craved Food
  • Taste of chocolate on the tongue is likely to
    release endorphins in brain producing euphoric or
    pleasurable feeling
  • Sugar in chocolate may raise Serotonin levels
    soothe gloomy mood relax you
  • Creamy taste of chocolate may soothe need for fat
    fueled by Galanin
  • Aroma of chocolate may affect brain chemistry

12
Nothing curbs chocolate craving but chocolatefor
crave-prone times
  • Plan Late afternoon snack
  • 3 to 4 Hersheys Kisses, not entire bag or Five
    dried apricots dipped in chocolate or Slice
    chocolate angel food cake topped with
    raspberries
  • Plan In the evening snack
  • Two cups of oranges, bananas strawberries
    dipped in 1/4 cup dark chocolate syrup or cup of
    fat-free chocolate cocoa

13
Steps to control cravings 1. Listen to your
cravings
  • Theyre telling you something
  • Cravings for sweets are an unconscious effort to
    raise Serotonin or NPY levels
  • Desire for creamy or fatty foods ice cream to
    steak may be a basic need to satisfy Galanin or
    Endorphin levels

14
Steps to control cravings 1. Listen to your
cravings
  • Willpower wont work with these powerful brain
    chemicals, so work with them instead, by using
    nutritious foods to calm cravings and boost mood
  • If mid-afternoon you crave something sweet, turn
    to fig bars, graham crackers with peanut butter,
    air-popped popcorn, or a raisin bagel with
    all-fruit jam

15
Steps to control cravings 2. Cut back on sugar
and caffeine
  • These quick-fix solutions only amplify or
    aggravate cravings in the long run

16
Steps to control cravings 3. Give in to it
  • If the craving doesnt go away
  • Eat the desired food instead of stuffing yourself
    with everything but kitchen sink
  • Stop short of a binge
  • Buy single-serve food packages
  • Serve a reasonable portion and eat it outside of
    the kitchen

17
Steps to control cravings 4. Create a ritual
  • Make eating treats special
  • Instead of eating a half-gallon of ice cream in
    front of the freezer, spoon some into a nice
    bowl, sit in your favorite chair, eat slowly and
    savor each bite

18
Steps to control cravings 5. Exercise
  • People who exercise report fewer cravings than
    non-exercisers due in part to the mood altering
    Endorphins released during physical activity
  • Exercisers tend to feel more in control of their
    bodies may be less likely to binge
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