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cravings

Your cravings are simply clues: How to work with them, not against them

By Jen

Oh, I am so done with the shame game when it comes to my health, my weight, my eating habits. Who’s with me?! Along my journey, I made a powerful shift from LABELING (“I have no willpower”, “I’m an emotional eater”, “I’m simply addicted to cookies”) to LEARNING (“Hmmm, why was I craving #allthejunk today?”, “Why is my appetite different this week than last?”). I went from despising myself for eating the entire party-size bag of Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips to instead, finally figuring out WTF my body needed to feel satiated and energized. 

I realized that cravings aren’t something to beat myself up over. They are simply the body and brain’s way of shouting at us when we’re not giving ourselves what we need. 

Unfortunately, our bodies can’t speak to us more directly:

“Hey Girl, you don’t need that fifth cookie, that fourteenth Netflix episode. Stop it with the Lean Cuisines. Add more protein and veggies throughout the day, and give yourself some legit, unscheduled downtime to recharge.” 

Nope, the cravings don’t come through with that kind of clarity and encouragement.

Instead, cravings are the cranky equivalent of a screaming toddler out to dinner well past bedtime. Impossible to tune out, and will. not. back. down. until needs are met. 

When cravings strike, it’s NOT time to give yourself an emotional beatdown. 

Put down the boxing gloves. 

Instead, play detective.

Grab your magnifying glass and your thinking cap and nonjudgmentally examine and observe what’s going on.

  • Objectivity instead of judgment
  • Curiosity instead of shame
  • Compassion instead of criticism
  • Solutions instead of “screw it”


Cravings aren’t inherently good or bad. They simply are.

Cravings are our biology’s “code red” system, alerting us of risk. All of those urges are built-in protective mechanisms to save us from famine, undernourishment, physical danger, and all sorts of risks out there in the world. Which is actually a good thing. Your body is wired to help you survive. 

Reframe, and try to see your cravings for the extraordinarily helpful (though crabby) tool they are. Only then can you begin to learn from your body and what it’s telling you, instead of falling into a shame spiral. Resist the urge to simply “fight” your cravings, because in doing so, you are basically fighting against your biology (which is the product of millenia of human evolution). I think you know who’s going to win that one. 

Sometimes cravings guide us to obviously helpful things, like when you crave squash, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes because your body just knows you need some more carbs and beta-carotene.

Sometimes cravings steer us to junky, highly refined foods like donuts, muffins, corndogs, and whatever-other-junk-you-can-think-of. There are plenty of causes of cravings:

Maybe you’ve been underfueling for too long. (Oh, yeah, you bet I’m bolding this one. So many of us aim to undereat at mealtime and it is possibly the number one driver of cravings. A 300-calorie “meal” isn’t your solution. It’s part of your problem.)

Maybe you’re sleep deprived.

Maybe you’re dealing with an extraordinary amount of unmanaged stress. 

Maybe you’ve been eating more highly processed foods than real foods, leaving you nutrient-depleted.

These are all situations in which your body is going to compel you to seek out very quick-acting, energy-dense food sources. Your body is demanding energy, stat, and it’s going to crank up your cravings to get you to seek out those foods. And highly refined foods like donuts and Cheez-Its provide just that. They are easy for our bodies to digest, so they give us a quick, intense hit of energy. Feels great for a moment, but repeating that day in and day out leaves us feeling pretty crappy.

A better solution to prevent that kind of craving is to preemptively meet your biological needs before the “must-eat-all-the-Swedish-Fish” cravings kick in.

But first, your biology.

So, does this “listen to cravings” thing mean “Oh, my body just wants donuts all the time, so that’s clearly my biology speaking. Time for a Krispy Kreme or Dunky’s run!”. Uhm, no. 

Yes, it’s true, our bodies are rather hard-wired to seek out that stuff, especially when we are shortchanging ourselves on our biological needs.

But you’ve probably learned that you can’t willpower your way out of wanting donuts every day. 

Of course, it’s totally normal to desire and enjoy a donut now and then. That’s part of life, and nothing to freak out over. But if you’re seeking them out every single day 24-7/365 and feeling like your craving is totally controlling you, then maybe you’ve got some unmet biological needs.

Fortunately, real, whole or minimally refined foods, in a balance of protein, fat, and slow-acting carbs are very effective at meeting our biological needs. 

Here are just a few of their superpowers:

Balance hunger and satiety hormones (ghrelin and leptin), leaving you you feeling full and satisfied

Boost energy

Reduce brain fog

Boost fat loss, enhance muscle building

Balance blood sugar (no more “hangry” crashes)

Reduce inflammation (and along, with that, can minimize aches and pains)

Improved health markers (lipid profile, blood glucose levels, blood pressure, etc.)

Help you better meet your overall nutrient needs

And you know what else our bodies respond VERY well to? 

Sleep

Movement 

Strength Training

Self Care

Stress Relief

Connection

When we meet our true needs with our food choices and lifestyle habits, our biology is IN THE ZONE.

We have more energy.

We have more patience. (I find I yell at my kids 50% less when I meet my biological needs!)

We have more strength and stamina, less aches and pains (which makes everything else feel easier).

We feel pretty darn vibrant (due to each cell in your body finally having what it needs to do-its-thang, and do it well!).

We can think more clearly.

We can build muscle more easily.

We can burn stored fat as needed, instead of riding a spike-and-crash wave of hunger.

Maybe you’re thinking, “But, Jen, I am SUCH an emotional eater! I just know it’s my feelings driving the bus here”.
Until you are in the ballpark of meeting your biological needs consistently, avoid labeling yourself an “emotional eater”. 

Is it possible that emotions might be driving some of your eating behaviors? 

Yes, of course that’s possible. And some degree of emotional eating will probably always exist in your life and that’s totally normal. But you can’t totally bypass your biological needs and go straight to uncovering and examining your emotional ball of wax. 

First, you need to minimize the white noise of plain-old biological cravings. Only then do you have a much clearer picture of any underlying emotional eating behaviors. 

Here’s the first question to ask yourself:

AM I MEETING MY BIOLOGICAL NEEDS??

So many of us are convinced that most of our cravings are “emotional eating” and lack of willpower. That was me, too. I used to think I just sucked in the willpower department, and that I would always be in a constant wrestling match for control over my eating habits.

I was convinced that I would never be able to keep Oreos in the house without feeling the NEED to eat an entire sleeve in one sitting. 

In high school, I felt guilty when I would come home from soccer practice and feel the need to eat at least half of an entire box of Cheez-Its. 

When I was a sleep-deprived mama just trying to keep up with my toddler and infant, I was hungry for snacks every single hour.

And I used to label ALL of that as stress eating or emotional eating. I did not know then what I know now. Instead of LABELING, I could have been LEARNING:

I’ve learned that my insatiable appetite for Oreos was the result of not meeting my body’s needs through my overall diet. I was eating more refined foods than my body (specifically my blood sugar response!) can handle, and I wasn’t eating enough protein for my body’s needs. These nutrient inadequacies led me to crave lots of fast-acting energy dense junk foods like Oreos. 

I now know that I was often underfueled in my teen years, especially during my highly active sports seasons. I didn’t know then that my monster craving for all-the-Cheez-Its wasn’t a moral failing. It was simply my body’s way of desperately doing what it needed to compel me to give myself more food, more fuel as quickly as possible. 

I’ve learned that my snacking-on-the-hour habits while parenting a two-year-old and an infant wasn’t solely about stress. Yes, pure old stress was definitely a driver of my snacking habit back then (terrible twos PLUS a colicky baby, ‘nuff said). But I now know that the utter lack of sleep for months on end was also playing a huge role. As you can imagine, the chronic sleep deprivation dialed down my satiety hormones and dialed up my hunger hormones, leaving me feeling always hungry. Again, a great example of how our body is wired for survival. My body perceived lots of wakefulness and, hence, a greater need for constant energy. Right on cue, my hormones responded in a way that would encourage me to keep the fuel coming in, 24/7. Great for survival, but not the most helpful thing when you’re living in a world that’s telling you it’s time to “get your body back” (whatever that means, but that’s a NOVEL for another day, ha!).

In reality, a good chunk of emotional eating is often driven by under-nourishment:

  • Not eating enough to fuel our body and brain’s needs day in and day out (cue the weekend binge, right??)
  • Depriving ourselves of entire macronutrients, entire food groups convinced they are the only obstacle getting in the way of fat loss (No, carbs and fat are not Satan.)
  • Shortchanging ourselves of 7-9 hours of sleep nightly
  • Not giving our body the daily dose of movement it needs to thrive. Movement has so many benefits, including regulating your blood sugar response after a meal. When your blood sugar response is less roller coaster and more even keel, you avoid those spikes and crashes that trigger cravings. Plus, a simple walk is also a great form of stress relief. Managing your stress through habits like walking (or meditation, focused breathing, knitting – whatever relaxes you) reduces your likelihood of reaching for food as a form of stress relief.
  • Going for too long without time to relax and recharge (Whatever that might mean for you – alone time with a good book? A walk? Time with friends who “get you”? 30 minutes without “Mom, Mom, Mom” interruptions? ) 

Figuring out what your body needs is a process, and it’s not going to happen overnight. There is no quick fix, just persistence and patience in figuring out what you truly need to thrive. 

Fortunately, the big rocks I’ve mentioned of real food, sleep, movement, stress relief, and self care are a very helpful starting point. If you need inspiration on getting started with those big rocks, poke around my blog for meal ideas, recipes, behavior change strategies, and more. If you’re looking for more support, shoot me a DM, send me an email, contact me however you’d like. Let’s chat about how we can work together so you can stop labeling, start learning, and start living a more energized, vibrant life.

Filed Under: Getting Started, Real Food, Real Health, The Other 3: Sleep, Stress Relief, & Movement, Why Real Food works Tagged With: behavior change, cravings, healthy habits

Feeling Nourished, Not Famished is the Real Secret to Getting Lean and Healthy

By Jen

If you’re working on getting leaner & improving your health, please know that the process does not have to include deprivation and hunger. In fact, any “diet” or meal plan that has you eating too little, or restricts you to a very narrow range of foods will, you guessed it, leave you feeling hungry and deprived. Though such a diet might give you an initial burst of weight loss and energy boost, ultimately, the deprivation will catch up with you, slowing your metabolism and stoking your cravings.

For most of us, when it comes to fat loss and improved health, the magic occurs when we nourish ourselves each mealtime with real, minimally refined foods, in a balance of protein, fats, and slow-digesting carbs. Amount matters, too – if you eat until you are no longer hungry (but not stuffed), you’ll probably notice that you feel more filled and fueled between one meal and the next (and you won’t need those 13 snacks in between!).

While elimination diets can be a very useful tool in determining food sensitivities and allergies, they typically are not intended to be a way of eating for life. While we all vary slightly from one person to the next in food preferences and intolerances, “you do you” is a very helpful mindset in figuring out what works best for you. For example, maybe your friend can’t tolerate dairy, but you do fine with a bit of cheese or Greek yogurt here and there. Or, maybe you have a friend who swears by going ultra low carb, but, for you, low carb results in low energy, stalled fat loss, disrupted hormones and raging cravings.

Bottom line? When it comes to determining *your* magic formula, eating meals of real, minimally refined foods (in a combination of protein, fat, and slow carbs), and eating to satiety are a great starting point. Fine tune from there to figure out what keeps your hunger, cravings, and energy levels in check.

Learn more here about how to get started.

Filed Under: Blog, Getting Started, Real Food, Real Health, Why Real Food works Tagged With: cravings, diet

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About Me:

Hi, I’m Jen, and welcome to Nourished Not Famished. Here you’ll find recipes, meal ideas, and wellness tips to get lean and healthy without deprivation, restriction, or calorie counting. Nourish yourself and your loved ones with the pleasures of eating real, whole foods, using familiar, easy-to-find ingredients and without spending endless hours in the kitchen. Healthy, made easy! Find out about more about me here.

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Meal Prep Sunday 🌞 . . . Don't think of it in t Meal Prep Sunday 🌞 . . . Don't think of it in terms of #mealprep and #mealplan . . . what you're really doing is *powering your life*!

 How can you budget a lil' bit of time today to:
👉Make a loose plan for the week, or even just for the next 2-3 days. Or simply make a list of a few ideas for the week. For inspiration, look at what you already have on hand in your kitchen.
👉 Batchcook one or two things. It's like stocking your own personal healthy convenience store, right there in your kitchen.

🌟It's all about making "healthy" the easier, more delicious choice throughout the week. This is how you set yourself up to feel and function your best all week long (plus, it's delicious!). #winning 🌟

Nourishing yourself with real, whole foods allows your health to serve your life and all you want to do rather than get in the way of it. 👊💪 .

What are you planning and prepping today? 😊
#poweryourlife
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#realfood #everythingisconnected  #deepthoughts #nourishednotfamished #thatnourishedlife #ditchthediet #sunday #mealprepsunday #health #wellness #selfcaresunday #simplenutrition 
#nourished #batchcooking

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Reminder📣. . . it's these un-sexy, SIMPLE basi Reminder📣. . .  it's these un-sexy, SIMPLE basics that get the job done! Not just during the holidays, but *all year long*. And simple is just what you need right now, isn't it?

Resist the tempation to overthink things, and instead, just do your best to dial into these basic habits. No bells and whistles necessary - just the Big Rocks that actually work! 

Why do they work? 
👉 Because all of these habits focus on *giving yourself what you need to thrive*. 🌱

You might be thinking . . . 

"It can't really be that simple."

"Don't I need to count and weigh everything I put in my mouth?"

"Don't I need to take six different supplements?"

"Don't I need to hit the gym at least 6 times a week?"

I invite you to try this instead:
Spend a few months TRULY aiming to practice all of these simple habits most of the time. (Start small, and add as you feel ready.)

As you practice these habits, pause and observe:
🤔How do I feel? 
🤔How am I performing, physically and mentally? 
🤔How do my clothes fit?
🤔How have my longer-term health indicators like blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood glucose levels changed?

If you truly desire healthy changes that
✔️feel sustainable
✔️ yield results
✔️ and STICK,
stop relying on willpower!

🌟Focus your efforts on *meeting your needs*, rather than restricting and depriving.🌟
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Stay in a groove with these habits this month, and you might just discover come January 1st that you feel ready to tackle the new year, no over-the-top diet and intense workout plans necessary! 

👉By then, you'll have already established the habits you need that let your biology work for you for optimal wellness, instead of relying so heavily on willpower.👈

Who's with me?! Will you be KISS-ing your way through the holiday season?? 

#mistletoe #healthyhabits #nourishednotfamished #tinyhabits #atomichabits #wellness #healthy #realfood #sleep #stressrelief #circadianrhythm #movement #moveyourDNA #everythingisconnected #holidays #december #protein #veggies #christmas #nourished #honoryourhunger #ditchthediet
I've got Beef Barley Lentil Soup simmering on the I've got Beef Barley Lentil Soup simmering on the stove for the perfect bowl of feel-good comfort food to wrap up the weekend (recipe details coming this week!). And thanks to Melissa over at @thehale4life for the amazing bone broth that is simply perfect with this recipe.😋 #shoplocal

I'm rolling with my favorite meal prep strategy - Make It a Double.
👇
Tonight's soup is a double batch, which will cover us for another dinner this week. 

Yeah, I know, it doesn't really even sound like official meal prep. . . *but that's the point*!😀 
🌟Double or triple batching what you're already making is truly one of the easiest ways to make your mealtimes easier later in the week.🌟

Meal prep mythbusting: Healthy eating doesn't have to be hard!

What do you have planned for this week that you could double or triple batch to make healthy eating easier?
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#realfoodmadesimple #healthymadeeasier #healthymadeeasy #ditchthediet #honoryourhunger #poweryourlife #ilovefood #veggies #plantforward #plantslant #protein #fat #slowcarbs #feedingmyfamily #healthyhabits #mealprep #mealplan #tinyhabits 
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While dreams of our usual Thanksgiving celebration While dreams of our usual Thanksgiving celebrations have been squashed 😉 this year, we're grateful to savor the essence of Thanksgiving in the ways we can . . .

🌟 a delicious meal, enjoyed leisurely around the table (just the fam💗)
🌟 connecting with loved ones, even if it's via Zoom and heartfelt texts
🌟 pie! (homemade apple pie 😋)

❓How are you savoring this 2020 Thanksgiving?

Squash platter deets:
👉 roasted maple, brown butter, and aleppo chile Kabocha squash
👉 Tuscan kale (massaged to wilt it a bit)
👉 toasted walnuts
👉 drizzle of pomegranate molasses
👉 tangy yogurt dressing (Greek yogurt, lemon juice, pinch of cumin, salt & pepper)

#justoneyear #wecandothis #strongertogether #thanksgiving #grateful #connected #realfood #ilovefood #honoryourhunger #family #friends #health #squash #plants #veggies #omnivore 
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