Cravings – Your biggest motivator

Everyone has always told you ‘Cravings are your worst enemy. You should learn to control your cravings, if you ever intend getting in shape’. I beg to differ…

Willpower v/s Cravings

What I have learnt from my experience is that, the more you try to avoid something, the more you want to have it. Ultimately, it’s your craving that wins. Truth of life!!

(image by: ginnerobot)

You keep telling yourself, you will not have that slice of pizza till you lose 10 pounds but all you can think of is the pizza slice. You keep looking at the weighing scale each day with increasing desire to have pizza. Ultimately, you lose your patience, get frustrated about not losing weight fast enough and start pitying yourself for the supreme sacrifice you have made and end up eating the whole pie!!

So, don’t even bother fighting your craving. We all know who wins in the end. Instead, use your craving to motivate yourself to work hard so you earn the little break that everyone deserves.

Don’t fight your cravings – Make them work for you

Food can be the single biggest motivator for most of us.

Here’s how I did it. Each week beginning Monday, I would think of one (otherwise forbidden) food item that I truly crave for. Then I would tell myself that I will eat that the following Sunday provided, I work out each day of the week and stick to my regular diet. This way, each day (of the week) when I got on the treadmill or ate salad and fruits for dinner, I knew there was a treat waiting for me that Sunday!

Believe me, it works, especially when I know I don’t have to stay away from good (read fatty) foods for weeks or months! And I think of a different item (the list is endless!) each week so I am not deprived of any of my favorite foods while my body is getting back in shape.

Sticking to the routine – Easier than ever!

One might argue that it will probably take a little longer to lose weight than it would if you were to stick to a very strict routine. Agreed! But, how many of us can follow a rigorous routine and achieve the goal while staying happy throughout? Plus the difference will be insignificant compared to the positive effects this method is going to have on you.

Most people give up their efforts after a while because they feel they are depriving themselves of all the good things in life without significant results or because they have cheated once (read: ate a piece of cake!) and don’t want to start the process all over again.

But, by using cravings to motivate you, you are consciously eating (not cheating) whatever you really like once a week. There is no doubt you are going to stick to your routine the rest of the week.

Enjoy your weight-loss journey guilt-free

You are going to look forward to each week of hard work. There will be no guilt when you bite into that slice of pizza at the end of the week. This will make the process so enjoyable that you will never want to quit. And you will actually reach your ultimate goal without ever realizing how painful it could have been otherwise!!

And, there is absolutely no temptation to binge since you now control when next you want to have that cheescake!!

It’s amazing isn’t it? So go ahead and enjoy the process. Don’t make it an ordeal!

Summary

• Acknowledge the fact that it’s always a losing battle with cravings
• Use your cravings to your advantage
• Stick to your weight-loss routine 6 days a week and enjoy your favorite food guilt-free on the 7th day
• There will never be any feeling of deprivation or temptation to binge.
• It’s a sure shot way to enjoy the weight loss process tremendously