by Anishametra Saravanan

You’ve received some bad news at work and you need a little break to recollect yourself. As you’re heading to the pantry, you pass by a jar of travel-sized bags of salted potato chips. Suddenly, you feel your arm reach out towards it and before you know it, your tummy is engaged in a salty love affair with those irresistible chips. 

We’ve all been there – trapped in a snack-time vortex, fighting off food cravings like they’re relentless culinary ninjas. But fear not, because in this article, we’re about to arm you with some ninja moves of your own to curb those cravings and regain control of your snack destiny.  

But before we break free from the cycle of perpetual snacking, it’s important to distinguish emotional and physical hunger. Emotional hunger can be powerful, so it’s easy to mistake it for physical hunger. However, there are clues you can look for to help you tell emotional and physical hunger apart. 

Once you’ve successfully distinguished between emotional and physical hunger, you’re on the path to conquering your food cravings like a boss. If you find yourself leaning towards emotional eating, here’s a handful of tricks to help you break up with those feelings and find your way to healthier snacking habits:  

Emotional eating tends to be automatic and virtually mindless. Before you even realise what you’re doing, you’ve reached for a tub of ice cream and polished off half of it. However, if you take a moment to pause and reflect when you’re hit with a craving, you give yourself the opportunity to make a different decision.  

If you still feel the need for a snack, consider opting for a healthier choice than what you might have chosen previously. Here are some nutritious snacks to consider for the next time your craving strikes: 

• Something sweet: Cut up an apple and spread some nut butter on it. The combination of carbohydrates, protein and healthy fat should help curb your appetite and satisfy your need for a sweet. 
• Something savoury: Consider adding hummus to deviled eggs for a lower-calorie, high-protein snack option. 

Rather than taking the entire box with you, serve a snack-sized portion on a plate. Check the package to determine the recommended serving size and aim to adhere to it. 

Allowing yourself to feel uncomfortable emotions can be scary. Much like Pandora’s box, you may fear what’s waiting on the other side of it once you’ve opened that door. But the truth is that when we don’t obsess over or suppress our emotions, even the most painful and difficult feelings subside relatively quickly and lose their power to control our attention. Practicing mindfulness and seeking support is important in your journey to coping with these difficult feelings.  

In the quest to conquer our food cravings, we’ve uncovered the secrets to regaining control over our snacking habits. Remember, cravings may still sneak up on us, but armed with these tips and tricks, we’re equipped to face them head-on. So, here’s to a future where we snack smarter, embrace healthier choices, and savour each bite guilt-free! 

Source:  

HelpGuide.org 

Johns Hopkins Medicine