Cold and creamy. Sweet and Savory. Crunchy and salty. Late night urge for something sinfully delicious. Ah cravings, love them or hate them we all have them even if we have the most balanced diet in the world and take incredible care of our bodies. The mainstream advice for coping with cravings is to distract yourself from them: go for a walk, listen to music, say an affirmation, clean the house, go workout, journal about it, or will-power our way right through it. We’re told if we can’t master the will-power, then we should empty the cabinets of dangerous trigger foods and control our surroundings as much as possible so we’re tempted as little as possible.

Newsflash: Control is an illusion. We can’t control life; however, we can adapt. The scientifically proven biggest predictor of success in any area, even survival, is adaptability. So, is your way of doing things not working? Is will-power against your cravings eventually failing? Do you fall victim your urges more often than not? Hmmm soemthing needs to change then! Perhaps, we can use our cravings to show us more..

The problem with listening to the above advice is that by distracting your cravings or pushing through them it never allows you to look at the root cause and the actual reason for your food cravings. You’re not acknowledging the fears, emotions and beliefs that come up from the moment a craving strikes to the time that you’re sitting there with an empty bag or chips on your lap, or fingers searching for one last french fry at the bottom of the fast food bag.

One of my favorite Authors, Debbie Ford, coined the phrase the “beach ball effect”. Have you ever tried to hold a beach ball under water? You can do it for a little by fighting and struggling with the ball as it wiggles around slippery below your hands but eventually it escapes and explodes up to the surface. The same thing happens with your emotions, cravings and yearnings. In stuffing them down without acknowledging them for a length of time, they’re eventually going to blow up to the surface and oftentimes right in your face. This usually takes place in the form of self-sabotage. For example; something like uncontrollable binge or over eating.

So, what do we do? We listen…

Types of Cravings

Nourishing Cravings

These are cravings that support us, nourish our body, balance our body or heal our body in some way. I often crave citrus before I get sick. Then as I start feeling run down I can look and realize my body was craving vitamin C to fight off an infection. If I listen to my body and take care of myself in times like these I can usually avoid the infection all together. If I’ve worked out in the heat, I tend to crave light cold salads and fruit later that day that are nourishing, hydrating and cooling.

Some are a bit less obvious; I had a client who kept waking up and craving bananas at night. Turns out when we looked deeper and around her stress and energy levels, her adrenals were very fatigued. Adrenals regulate your potassium and sodium absorption, hence the banana cravings. You can see this in animals also. No one tells a dog to eat clay because of the high mineral content, or a cat to eat grass to aid in digestion; they are just experts in listening to their bodies.

Here are some common cravings and what your body is really calling out for:

• Chocolate; oftentimes when wanting to relax or check out mentally: Really need Magnesium which is also found in nuts, seeds and raw cacao
• Salty foods; oftentimes stressed (adrenal system overload): Really need healthy forms of sodium (sea vegetables, sea salt) and potassium
• Fried or heavy foods; oftentimes when running on empty and depleted: Really need healthy fats like coconut oil
• Starchy carbs and sugar; oftentimes when exhausted or going through caffeine withdrawl: Really need a balanced protein packed meal for lasting energy

Food cravings not only show you where your body may be off balance, but also where you may be off balance in life…

Draining Cravings

These are the not so fun cravings; the ones that call us towards foods that drain our energy and deplete our health. These are the cravings towards the processed foods, alcohol, coffee, sugar, fried food and junk food just to name a few. It might seem strange that our brilliant body that leads us to the exact nutrients our body needs for balance would also lead us to foods and chemicals that drain us energetically, but what if I told you that there was more to it?

Webster defines “craving” as: the powerful desire for something. What if your desire or craving was for something more beyond food? Life is actually full of hunger. Hunger for fulfillment, hunger for happiness, hunger for love, hunger for attention, hunger for stability, hunger for adventure, hunger for a spiritual connection, hunger for growth and more.

When we crave food for emotional comfort, because we’re stressed, or because of fear we are actually to getting told to will-power our way through our cravings, but to stop for a moment, get very present and look at our lives. It’s very common to look for something outside ourselves when some inside isn’t right. By looking deep when we receive message around food, we may be able to decipher where things are off in life.

This type of cravings also tend to come in the form of self-sabotage. Some of my clients(I’ve been here too) actually have subconscious beliefs ingrained so deeply they use food and extra weight is used to protect themselves. Fear of being rejected, fear of what others will think, fear of getting hurt, fearing of their own power and brilliance, fear of abandonment and more. These type of cravings are commonly rooted in fear. The only way to fight fear is with awareness, love and compassion.

Connection Cravings

Speaking of love, these type of cravings can oftentimes be rooted in love. Growing up love was commonly represented through food. At events you bring food to contribute, you share family time over a meal, to support a family or loved on in need you offer to cook for them, you take a loved one out to dinner to celebrate…to man of us, food is symbolic of love, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Ever walk into your Grandmas house and crave something that you haven’t since you were a child? Ever miss someone and randomly crave a food you associate with them? I do. Every time I eat rice crackers I think of my mom. She loves them. I tend to crave them at night when I’m alone and winding down for the evening. The same time I used to eat them with her.

With the phone, internet, social media, email and text, it is getting easier to communicate but more difficult to truly connect. Humans crave love. Humans crave connection. Maybe your cravings are urging you to drop the walls and connect on a deeper level with your loved ones around you.

The bottom line is; every craving comes with a message. I encourage you to really dig deep into yours, get present and listen to what they are trying to tell you. The answer to cravings is to nourish yourself from the inside out not only physically with balanced nutrition, but mentally, emotionally and spiritually with love and loving action.

If you need any support in this area, we are here for you!

Click the image below where I’ve got a special gift for you! We call them, “Craving Cards”, and they’re one of our most popular tools!

If you ever feel night time cravings, sugar cravings, the urge to just say “screw it I’m going to start my diet over tomorrow”, or like you need a little body confidence pick me up… 

Just grab a card, go through the prompts, and shift it instantly!

Click the image above and let me know where to send them!

You’ll also get mini demo video training sessions for each card where I share how to use the cards and some of my best tips for food freedom forever!

With our Craving Cards and Demo Series… 

You’ll learn how to stop cravings in their tracks, feel confident, and get back your power, fast! 

Love,
Brittany

PS: Want the exact freedom and ease with our foods that myself and thousands of our clients get to experience?

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Health & Love,