Hi lovelies,
If you’re like most people, you can point to many times in your life when you have experienced cravings. For some people, it’s a rare occurrence or something that happens during major life events, like pregnancy. For others, it’s a daily struggle. Your body tells you that it desperately wants things. And you feel like there’s nothing you can do to stop it.
Every year, thousands of people go to American Addiction Centers to deal with their cravings. And the problem is getting worse. We’re becoming more hooked on the goodies that society doles out over time, not less.
So what’s going wrong. Fundamentally, the challenges we all face on a personal level come from our societal setup. Getting people hooked on certain types of foods and activities provides massive financial rewards. Social network entrepreneurs are collectively worth hundreds of billions. And their pile of wealth keeps on growing because we simply can’t get off our phones.
The same is true for fast-food restaurants. We don’t eat at them because we’re hungry. We go to them because we want something that makes us feel good. Brands know exactly how to light up our brain’s pleasure centers and give us what we want.
So how can you beat cravings? Is there a way to fight back?
Examine Your Focus
The first thing to do when battling cravings is to examine your focus. Why are you thinking about them right now instead of at some other time in the day?
Usually, you’ll find that cravings start emerging when you have time for yourself. They rarely crop up half-way through giving a presentation or having sex. Instead, they appear when you’re alone with your thoughts, wondering how you can make your day better.
If you know the problem is your focus, then you can change it. You can adjust where you direct your attention so that the cravings disappear. Desperate for fast food? Start reading a book or go for a brisk walk in the cold.
Find A Healthier Feel-Good Outlet
As humans, we all need pleasure. It’s just a question of where we get it from. Securing it from healthy sources can be a great thing in our lives and enrich them immensely. Getting it from something destructive, on the other hand, can harm us enormously.
Think carefully about what actually makes you feel good. Does it have to be something unhealthy? Or could you get the same feeling from something positive in your life?
For instance, on the subject of food, do you have to go to the fast-food outlet? Or could you experience a similar level of pleasure making something at home?
Or could you replace your need to feel good via illicit substances with another, healthy activity, like yoga or exercise?
It is often just a question of training your brain to associate new activities with pleasure. When it does, you’ll start “craving” them and forget all about your destructive habits.
Whenever you face cravings, you always need to have a plan in place so that you can stay in control.
