How To Beat Food Cravings - Part 2

11 September 2009

Do you ever experience mid-to-late afternoon food cravings? I, for one, am not immune to a serious case of the munchies if I don't look after my diet properly. The end result is me hanging off the pantry door at around 5pm. And it's a far more common issue than you might think, my Mum was just telling me today that her biggest dietary issue is that window between 4pm to 6pm when things often go haywire for her (hope you don't mind me telling the world Mum? ... No she doesn't, I just rang and checked).

Craving Apples? I Don't Think So!

And of course by food cravings I don't mean at 5pm I'm running around the house desperately searching for an apple. No, indeed, if I'm not well fed by 5pm you'll find me searching (desperately) for the quickest, fattiest, sugar-loaded food fix you can find - perhaps potato chips or chocolate! 

It happened to me earlier this week, I was working away diligently at my desk all afternoon and didn't really feel hungry so I didn't stop for my usual mid-afternoon snack. But, then by 5pm I was suddenly desperate for food input and a quick scout around the pantry revealed half a packet of potato chips left there by he-who-shall-remain-nameless. So what did I do? Well I ate them of course! No plot twists or unexpected endings to this tale you see. But there is a moral to the story you'll be glad to know (there needed to be a point to this blog of course).

Moral Of The Food Cravings Story? Prevention Is Your Key To Success!

What my experiences this week reinforced for me, is that eating a healthy mid-afternoon snack can almost always prevent a case of my 5pm food cravings. If I'm well fed, i.e. I've eaten a good lunch and topped up with a healthy mid-afternoon snack, then I don't struggle at 5pm. Hunger is the enemy when it comes to food cravings (see How To Beat Food Cravings - Part 1 for more on this). Prevent the hunger and you prevent the downhill slide to unhealthy food cravings.

Look For Patterns Of Food Craving Failure - Then Plan To Prevent Them

Have you seen a food cravings pattern appearing in your week? Perhaps it's mid-morning that you struggle with, rather than afternoon. If so, take a look at your breakfast consumption - for example:

• Are you simply not eating enough at breakfast? Maybe an earlier rise in the morning in time for a bigger breakfast is needed.
  
• Or are you full after breakfast but starving by mid-morning? You may need a higher fibre, lower GI breakfast cereal to release energy more slowly throughout the morning. Or try including more protein-rich foods in your breakfast - protein is the most satiating of the macronutrients (following by carbohydrate and then fat). Try scrambled eggs on toast or an omelette for breakfast instead of muesli.

And if you regularly experience mid-to-late afternoon cravings (like me) then use the same thought processes above to assess your lunch consumption and consider whether a regular, healthy mid-afternoon snack (see healthy snack ideas) is required to prevent unhealthy cravings later on. I don't usually feel that hungry when I have my healthy mid-afternoon snack (at around 3.30pm). But, I've realised that missing it out is the cause of my problem - so whether I'm ravenous or not I now make a healthy snack part of my routine - to PREVENT unhealthy food cravings at 5-6pm!

Ditto the above if your food cravings occur after dinner - relook at your dinner intake - is it enough? the right types of foods? Have you starved yourself all day and that's why you crave after dinner? Look for causes earlier in your day, resolve the triggers and you can prevent post-dinner cravings. Many people following overly-restrictive diets (with no room for the odd food treat) find themselves craving at day's end and it's no wonder. Consider relaxing that restrictive diet a bit to give yourself room to breathe and enjoy your food.

Prevent Food Cravings From Occurring

The common element to all these strategies is that they involve prevention. So rather than placing an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff (i.e. trying to control unhealthy food cravings when you're in the midst of them - you'll never prise those potato chips out of my hands when I'm ravenous I tell you) we're placing a fence at the top of the cliff to stop ourselves falling off (i.e. preventing hunger with a healthy meal/snack at the appropriate time pre-cravings). Prevention is your key to success!

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About The Author

Jennifer Bowden Nutritionist, MSc (Dist), BSc (Hons) - Human Nutrition

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