How to control constant cravings

processed foods that you start to crave them. A lot of this habitual behaviour has to do with dopamine, a type of neurotransmitter and hormone which causes feelings of pleasure and satisfaction.

But habits are not created equally – and the ones that churn out the most dopamine are, in turn, the most habitforming. This is one big way addictions are born.

For example, smoking triggers a big hit of dopamine. It doesn’t take many cigarettes to pick up the practice before you’re hooked. Eating sugar also signals a dopamine burst. Compare these habits to, say, flossing your teeth, which doesn’t provide any such dopamine surge.

Still, you can change your eating habits – and even balance dopamine releases – to curb your intake of sugar and junk food, and instead start habitually eating healthier foods like fruits and veggies.

As you do this more often, you will eventually override those previous pesky neural pathways with new ones, liberating you from entrenched poor eating habits.

Choosing healthy foods becomes a second-nature habit, and you do it automatically. Just try it.

Step 3 Reset

For managing hunger and cravings, resetting your natural circadian rhythm is paramount – and it’s what Step 3 is all about.

Normally, we feel tired at night and get hungry around specific times of the day. That’s because our bodies have a built-in process that governs sleep, hunger, and energy levels.

It’s called circadian rhythm, from the Latin words circa, meaning “around,” and diem, meaning “day”.

The circadian rhythm repeats roughly every 24 hours to maximise our body’s own resources.

This internal clock regulates the sleep–wake cycle, manages hunger, influences brainwave activity patterns, affects cell repair, controls body temperature, impacts hormone release, and is involved in our eating habits and digestion.

One of the best ways to help reset your circadian cycle is to expose yourself to the morning sunlight within an hour of waking. This helps stimulate regular cortisol production to provide you with energy for the day.

Because digestion and metabolism can play a role in your level of sleepiness and wakefulness, you may need to adjust when you eat and what you eat.

My version of fasting is called circadian fasting. Following this method, you avoid food between the hours of 8pm to 8am, or 7pm to 7am – a 12-hour fasting period.

Once you’re comfortable with, say, a 12-hour fast, you can work up to fasting 16 hours two to three times a week, from 8pm to noon the next day.

Step 4 Refresh

Sleep is a wonderful, natural appetite suppressant. Log in your zzzz’s and sleep well and you’ll effortlessly get your hunger and cravings in check. Honestly.

I love to exercise in the morning, but I also understand the importance of sleep – so I dug into my own lousy sleep schedule. I discovered if you’re in a situation in which you have to choose between getting a little sleep or getting a workout in, it’s better to opt for some sleep.

But it’s also not worth stressing if you can’t get a full seven hours every night. Ideally, aim for at least two good nights of sleep when life is busy – seven to eight hours each week, in other words. Sleeping well for two nights like this gives your body time to complete one full sleep cycle. Not only that, but you won’t be so groggy when you wake up. In fact, you’ll even feel refreshed the next day.

This strategy was a real game changer for me. I was relieved that I didn’t need to aim for a perfect sleep schedule of seven or more hours every single night.

Step 5 Retrain

Studies hint that if you select the right type of exercise – and stick with it – you can actually normalise your hunger levels and your cravings.

Exercise is much more than a calorie burner. It also influences hormones, neurotransmitters, and other bodily chemicals. In doing so, it impacts hunger and appetite.

Different types of exercise affect our hunger cues differently, so include cardio activity in your weekly routine.

It reins in hunger hormones and increases serotonin to help you fight cravings. Thirty minutes of cardio, two or three times a week, is a good start.

Consider strength training, perhaps twice a week, and work your entire body each time.

Yoga at least twice a week is excellent too, especially if you’re prone to stress or emotional eating or you are low in serotonin.