I've been bad lately. I've been craving carbs, excessive amounts of them, for a few days now. And I can tell you that nothing good has come from satisfying this craving. Normally, I'm a firm believer that cravings are highly indicative of nutrients that you body is lacking. Because of this, I typically listen to my cravings. However, I just couldn't fathom the idea that I wasn't getting enough carbs. It didn't seem plausible that I would be lacking any nutrients in carbohydrates when that is the bulk of my diet already.
So I did some research.
Turns out carbohydrate craving often are not indicative of a lack of physical nutrients but emotional nutrients. In fact, carbohydrate cravings are linked to decreased levels of dopamine and serotonin, the "happy" chemicals. This made me realize that not only was this where emotional eating comes from, but that I was doing it.
Yikes. Now that's a wake up call.
I don't need to wonder where my lack of happy chemicals comes from since I pretty much run on stress as a fuel. But I am sure it also has to do with the fact that I'm not dancing as much as usual lately. Something that makes me the most happy isn't happening as often as it should be. I must fix this.
This happens to everybody, and I want us all to be able to catch it before it gets bad, like stopping a old before it turns into the flu.
Craving carbs turns into emotional eating faster than you can spell carbohydrates. This is how we can end up sitting on the couch munching our way though an entire bag of cookies, a whole loaf of bread, or an extra large Sicilian pizza. And let's not forget the pint of ice cream, every woman's favorite wading pool of wallowing.
So I have an idea. No, I not going to chew gum all day, I'm not going to take an appetite suppressant, and I'm going to substitute anything I crave with diet soda. This is all bad, DON'T do any of it.
The next time I crave pizza crust, pasta, the discarded ends of sub rolls, and fresh-out-of-the-oven garlic knots (can you tell I work at an Italian restaurant?), I'm going to deter my cravings in a healthier way.
To start, I'm going to tell the cooks to stop giving me any of these foods I'm asking for. It's like offering sugar to a diabetic. Not good, guys.
Secondly, I'm going to bring healthier snacks with me so that I have something to munch on that isn't calorie laden, refined bread. Good idea, huh?
And more than anything, since I learned that the reason I'm craving these foods is that I'm lacking some "happy" in my life, I'm going to fix this problem at the source. I'm going to dance more, whether I have time for it or not. I'm going to try so hard to stress less, even with my last semester of school starting today and my wedding being only 89 days away. I'm going to do what I can to stop these carbocravings from taking over my life and ruining my healthy lifestyle.
If you're having massive carb attacks or finding yourself emotionally eating, you can do something to help yourself battle these cravings. Find something that makes you happy that doesn't fill your stomach. Have some friends over. Go for a bike ride. Paint. Do anything that makes you happy even just for 10 minutes a day. It will make all the difference.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go dance like an idiot around my living room for a bit :)
If you're craving
There's a pill for that!
ReplyDeleteLow levels of dopamine and/or serotonin often occur because your body doesn't have the chemical building blocks to make them. Both use B vitamins in their synthesis, so that's one place to start. Serotonin's precursor is called 5-HTP. Dopamine's is called levodopa. Both of these are available in pill form from vitamin and health food stores. In addition, EGCG, found in green tea and also available in pills helps ensure that these ingredients are used in your brain where they'll actually do some good.