4 Tips To Overcome Cravings and Binge Eating

So, you've decided to start a healthy diet plan. Eating healthy aka "eating for fuel, not pleasure" is definitely challenging in the beginning, especially since you are most likely accustomed to salt and to sugar, and we all know that eating without these condiments is no walk in the park. It's no surprise that eating healthy is challenging for most people and it's easy for the inexperienced dieter to fall of the wagon and binge eat the least healthiest item in the fridge. Ice cream, perhaps? These cravings and urges to binge are no different then a recovering drug addicts urge to use drugs again. The difference is that your drug is delicious food and you have to eat every day, so avoiding food like an alcoholic avoids beer isn't going to work. The most important thing is learning how to deal with these urges to binge and to develop some effective strategies to combat the desire to "pig out".

Here are 4 tips to overcome the cravings associated with dieting:

1. Space out your meals into 5 smaller meals throughout the day. It's a lot easier to binge eat when it's 8 pm and you haven't had a bite to eat since 7 am. By consistently eating small meals throughout the day, you are WAY less likely to be so hungry that you end up eating out of control. 
2. Certain foods you may feel you just can't live without. Ice cream, perhaps? The best thing to do is identify a healthy substitute. For ice cream, I blend frozen strawberries and blueberries with 2oz of water to make sorbet. add stevia  for sweetness. If you like something a little more like vanilla ice cream, you can use frozen bananas and vanilla extract. Like chocolate? Throw in some cocoa powder and voila, delicious guilt free sorbet. 
3. Plan your meals in advance. If you fail to plan, plan to fail! If you know you are going to be in Miami all day, then you better make sure to pack food for the day. That could certainly turn into fast food run if you aren't prepared.
4. Keep motivated! The best thing to do is put up your meal plan on the fridge next to a picture of the body you want. This will keep your eye on the prize every time you go to open the fridge. 

For more information about IntensityX3 and our P90X and INSANITY fitness classes, personal training and boot camps in Boca Raton, go to www.intensityx3.com