Wouldn’t it be great if you could just naturally crave healthy foods?
If you could wake up one day and have no desire for junk food?
I’ve spent decades fighting my cravings and have failed so many times in the past.
But over the years I figured out how I could train myself to crave healthier foods.
I’ve researched and read other people’s experiences and applied them to my own life. Along with my own trials and errors.
Eventually I figured it out.
And I want to share with you the 7-steps I took to break free of my unhealthy eating habits.
And the good news is that you don’t have to feel deprived.
Before we begin, let me take you back to 10 years ago.
This was when I was still eating junk food and drinking a few cans of coca-cola a day.
I would say to myself “I’ll start my diet tomorrow” but the days were always put off. And the weight would keep piling on.
I was a serial yo-yo dieter.
I used to be that person who bought pork pies, heated them in the microwave, then ate them by the dozens.
I would start a healthy eating plan and then give up. I honestly thought that I couldn’t do it.
That there was something wrong with me, and that I was a failure.
I’ve tried for over a decade and never succeeded long-term.
Fast forward to today. I’m 36 years old and have been on a mostly wholefoods plant-based lifestyle for 10 years now.
And I no longer crave junk foods. Healthy eating has become an automatic habit for me.
I don’t even have to think about it. And you can get there too! But it will take some time and patience.
My diet today is very simple and I won’t trade it for anything! Here’s how I did it.
Step 1: What Are Your Reasons?
You must first have a why. Without a reason you won’t be able to stick to it.
Take out a pen and paper, and write down the reasons why you want to change your diet. Here are some of my own reasons, which you might be able to relate to:
- To feel comfortable in my own body
- To have better skin
- To enjoy great health
- To break free from addictive foods
- To develop self-esteem
I was in a lot of pain and wanted to break free from addictive foods. I really felt like I had no control of my life as my eating habits were controlling me.
Using pain is a powerful motivator to change. I felt so uncomfortable in my own skin that I didn’t want to even leave my house.
I didn’t have a life.
I hated how the junk food I was eating made me feel. I always felt bloated and greasy. Yes, greasy! Because of the amount of fat I was eating.
Step 2: Change your Perception
Perception is everything! How you view a particular food can change how you feel towards it.
And those feelings will dictate what you’ll crave. And what you’ll end up eating.
Of course, your body will also crave what you keep giving it.
But the key is to change the words and pictures you use in your head first.
For example:
I stopped eating dairy when I started thinking of it as a lump of mucus.
I would imagine it as a block of mucus. And I would feel sick at the thought of eating it.
When I thought of alcohol, I would imagine it being used to clean laboratories and how toxic the stuff would be inside my body. It was about as attractive as Clorox bleach!
These are just some examples to help you get started. So pick a food that’s not serving you and change how you see it.
Then flip the words and pictures. This will help you to feel differently towards a particular food.
A friend of mine recently stopped eating fish because she found a parasite wiggling inside of it!
It has put her off that she no longer looks at it the same way.
Her mind has successfully linked pain to it.
This isn’t to say that eating fish is bad. It’s just an example of how you can go off certain foods.
Step 3: Read and Learn Something Every day
The reason you want to be learning something new everyday is to help you view things differently (this is changing your perception). When you learn why dairy isn’t good for you, it will give you the motivation to stop consuming it.
You’ll also be educating yourself along the way. When you educate yourself, you’ll have the knowledge and the motivation to change.
I recommend reading 10 pages of a good book a day to get started. Here’s a few books I’ve read and highly recommend that you do too:
The End of Dieting by Joel Fuhrman
Become Younger by Norman W. Walker
I would also pick one documentary to watch a week. You can easily find them on Netflix or Amazon:
Step 4: Eat Enough
The biggest reason why I failed over and over again, was because I kept restricting my calorie intake.
I thought if I could just eat less, then I’ll be thin. But that always backfired on me.
My focus was all wrong!
I would end up binge eating a few weeks or months down the line.
And inevitably, I’d gain all the weight back or even more each time.
When you let yourself get hungry, your body is going to crave calorie dense foods.
So make sure to eat enough! Fill yourself up with good healthy fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts and seeds. So you don’t have to be fighting any cravings.
Step 5: Find Healthy Alternatives/Recipes
If you take something out of your diet, you’re going to have to replace it.
There are plenty of great websites and blogs that provide you with free recipes online. Here are a few of my favourite ones:
Step 6: Eat Plenty of Greens
Dr Fuhrlman recommends eating greens for health benefits. I’m a fan of his books, so I took this advice and started to incorporate more greens.
I noticed when I started to include greens into my daily smoothie. I felt satiated and my cravings went away.
If I didn’t include any greens in a single day; I would notice how hungry I was at the end of the day.
I experienced this everytime I didn’t consume leafy greens. I never go without it now.
You can add leafy greens into your smoothie, like kale or spinach. Or you can even have a large salad for lunch or dinner.
Step 7: Focus on the feeling.
One of the biggest reasons I don’t go back to eating processed or junk foods is how it made me feel.
I can still remember how bloated I felt.
It felt like I was waddling through life.
At times it felt like I had a rock sitting in my stomach.
I hated the feeling so much—that the thought of eating cakes or anything unhealthy brings up such negative emotions.
When I think about eating fresh fruits and salad.
I think sweet, juicy, fresh and hydrating. I know I’m going to feel good in the moment and good afterwards.
Focus on how refreshing,hydrating and tasty those foods are. And you’ll find yourself craving more fresh fruits and whole natural foods.
Summary
Once you’ve learned to link pain to eating unhealthy food. You want to make sure to replace them with healthier alternatives. You’d want to find things you enjoy eating (check out the links I’ve provided for you in Step 5).
Never under eat because this will make your body crave foods that are heavy in calories. It’s very difficult to resist cakes, donuts or unhealthy stuff when you’re hungry!