I know how HARD cravings feel #recoveringsugaraddict . They say the average craving only lasts 3 minutes…but that was never my experience. It was the monkey on my back it seemed like all. the. time. I tried the whole eating “healthier” treats to resolve the craving (paleo desserts, fruit, Rxbars)…but as Melissa Hartwig Urban says in Food Freedom Forever – sugar is sugar is sugar and all my brain knew was that it wanted a sweet hit and it got one. (Ps – this is just as true if your cravings are salty).

And first let me also say, I’m not talking about when you are legitimately hungry. This is not about when you are trying to eat nothing because someone told you calorie counting is a good idea and you are trying to avoid eating “too much” to get skinny. NO. One of the first game-changing steps to helping with my sugar cravings was to get OFF the 1200 calorie train and eat good meals with enough food to keep my body nourished, especially those healthy fats. You can read more about how I build my plate to stay truly nourished here.  And here’s a graphic that I had on my fridge for a while that helped me navigate that difference between hunger/craving:

The answer to your problems is not in the fridge/pantry/etc. Most the time we have a craving, it’s not out of physical hunger but from being emotionally off somehow – stressed, tired, frustrated, bored, etc. Eating food fixes those for a split second, but not in the long run. It’s like putting a band-aid on a broken arm.

So what DOES help? Filling your cup. Call it #selfcare #buzzword but basically, you need nourishment outside of food. This is my comprehensive list of things that have helped me. Things I could reach for instead of FOOD. I have successfully used all of them. Obviously, it depends where you are as to how doable these are. But you can’t tell me you can’t take some deep breaths, paste on a smile until it’s sincere, pray, say some affirmations in your head…there’s always something.

I challenge you to do at least 5 of these the next time you feel that craving dragon roaring. Want to know more about how I battled my sugar addiction and cravings head on? Read the 5 Steps That Were Crucial in My Healing here.

Click here for a printable PDF of “Things to do instead of eating the cookie”