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| Hello,
I'm an ashtangi who is experiencing some SERIOUS food cravings. Mostly for chocolate (I can easily get through five or six bars a day) or for simple carbohydrates.
I'm sure this is because I'm having a stressful period in my life (I'm currently getting a divorce and struggling to find enough work in the recession). My regular early-morning mysore practice does help me stay calm, process my emotions and face my fear of change. But somehow it doesn't impact my food cravings.
Now the logical part of my brain knows that this is just a samskara, and an illusion, but there seems to be a bigger illogical part of my brain which just wants to EAT.
Does anyone have any advice? It goes without saying that I'm gaining enough poundage to start feeling quite uncomfortable in my body.
Thank you. |
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| Are you a vegetarian or do you get enough protein in your diet? |
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| I used to be a strict vegetarian, but for the last few years I've been eating fish and eggs. I have been craving chicken recently, but haven't eaten any. Do you think that's a clue? |
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| It could be protein.
I don't like to advise anyone on what is right for them to eat but I find if I don't get enough protein in my diet I will eat loads of carbohydrates and sugar and not satisfy my hunger.
If you don't want to eat meat go for the old nuts seeds and pulses.
As well if you have a lot of sugar in your diet it will set up a craving loop needing more and more sugar to feed the habit.
Even if the root of the craving is more emotional eating more protein and lowering carb sugars can only help you gain control and balance your natural body chemistry, helping you to gain more balance.
Hope this is a help.
Phil
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| Mine is also a related question. I have an urge to eat sweets whenever I set my eyes on it. Although I know that how much ever yoga I do will not help me lose my tummy if I don't give up eating sweets. Can anyone tell me how to put a stop to my urge. I know it has to be self-control but still....And yes, I do eat plenty of protein. |
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| Hey ZenYoga!
I had a bigger sweet tooth before then I do now, but one of the things I found really calmed my cravings for sugar was to absolutely quit drinking sugary soft drinks. I used to drink a lot of regular coke, but then I stopped short, mainly to "test" my self control on the matter and also because coke is BAD for your teeth. I craved it the first days, and felt cravings for maybe a month or so, but after wards I just stopped craving both sugary soft drinks AND sweets. Though I don't know much about why exactly this might be the case, my personal experience is that giving into the cravings only make you crave more. You could try quitting sweets cold turkey for a month, and maybe your cravings will diminish or maybe even stop.
And, if the cravings get too bad, you could try soothing them with ONE piece of dark (70 % cocoa) chocolate, which actually have some health benefits.  |
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| ZenYoga - 2009-05-30 4:17 AM
Mine is also a related question. I have an urge to eat sweets whenever I set my eyes on it. Although I know that how much ever yoga I do will not help me lose my tummy if I don't give up eating sweets. Can anyone tell me how to put a stop to my urge. I know it has to be self-control but still....And yes, I do eat plenty of protein.
Sugar is often an addiction just like alcohol and drugs (alcohol is sugar that has reacted with yeast to form alcohol). You get high on them and then they wear off and you feel terrible and "need" (want) more to get that good feeling back. You need to break the cycle and to understand that these substances are poison
for you. They are only a little bad for some people and extremely bad for others, depending on each person's unique body chemistry and how you metabolize them. Accept that they are bad for you and make sure that you eat enough protein foods, fresh fruits and fresh vegetables. Also remember that carbohydrates (especially white flour, white rice, white pasta etc) turn into sugars very quickly.
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| For years I got really bad food cravings, primarily for chocolate. I tried yogic solutions, moved my diet around, everything but I'd still wake up in the morning and my first thought was CHOCOLATE. For a while I was eating five chocolate bars a day and my weight increased a lot even with Ashtanga. Then one day I started taking supplements for my PMS (B vitamins and magnesium) and within one month all my cravings had disappeared. If you're having cravings it may be a deficiency within your body. I'd recommend visiting a nutritionalist as the first port of call. Good luck :-) |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
 
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | I find that adding minerals and vitamins to my diet helps me eliminate food cravings. |
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Regular
Posts: 86
Location: Jacksonville, Florida | I have the opposite problem, non-appetite. I have to even make sure I eat enough. (No I am not underweight, a little overweight, actually).
Come to think of it, supplements make me quite hungry.
Edited by yogabear 2010-04-17 9:26 AM
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| pureimagination - that is really interesting! I had started taking B vitamins, and magnesium calcium pills on the suggestion of my nutritionist (along with cutting out sugar/caffeine and some other things that tests showed I was allergic to), but I thought they weren't working so I stopped and in the last 3 weeks, I've been craving chocolate EVERYDAY! Wow. Talk about a revelation. Time to start taking those pills again I guess... |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
 
Location: A Blue State |
I have food cravings at least three times a day. So I have whole grain cereal with skim milk and coffee in the morning, something like chicken with black beans and rice for lunch, and pasta with low sodium marinara for dinner. I try to avoid chocolate (sat fat) and similar things. Simply don't eat beef (just disgusting the way it's raised, the e coli, the sat fat, the associations with colon cancer, heart disease, etc.), or pork (same issue), or soft drinks (liquid sugar). Yes, chicken also has an awful life cycle even if not as unhealthy as cow, and I will probably eliminate it from my diet eventually..
... bg |
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| i suffer from skin problems ( allopecia ,, and seborric dermatitis). please advice on the best yoga exercies for such problems |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | I'm getting ready to eliminate Seafood and Fish from my diet in honor of the horrific Oil Spill in the Gulf!!! |
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Regular
Posts: 86
Location: Jacksonville, Florida | Me, too. Though I am allergic to shellfish, anyways. But I will miss my Florida grouper sandwich. |
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New User
Posts: 3
| A food craving is an intense desire to eat a certain food, compared to hunger in general. Food cravings are especially common in people following structured diet plans, and may be difficult to overcome. One theory is that when a persons body is deficient in vitamins, minerals or other nutrients, look for foods that contain them. |
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Food Cravings
