5 Ways to Overcome Unhealthy Temptations or Cravings

It's Tuesday and I am linking up with hosts Jessica Joy and Jill Conyers for their The Fit Dish Link-Up every Tuesday.

Today's topic is "How do you overcome unhealthy temptations or cravings?" What a great question as I sometimes still have problems with this. It will be great to read what others will be posting on this topic. Thinking about what to write for this question also reminded me a lot about the post I wrote back in October, Halloween Candy Craving Crushers. I am going to incorporate some of the reasons I gave on how to tame the sweet tooth for this post as I think they can apply here as well. 

Here are 5 ways that can help overcome those unhealthy temptations or cravings:

1) Don't buy it or don't eat out. If it's not there, you can't eat it. An example, I was naughty after Christmas and bought a bag of snack size Twix that was 75% off. I couldn't help it as when can you buy a bag of Twix for $0.90? When I knew it was there, it was easy for me to grab a piece. However, now that it is no longer there, I don't have the temptation. Lesson, don't buy it! If you do happen to buy candy or other treats you crave, you can also hide it. Have your spouse or a friend hide it so you won't know where it is! I would like to think out of sight out of mind on the unhealthy stuff. Instead buy healthier food when at the grocery. Skip on the Twix, chips and ice cream but rather get healthier snacks like pretzels, grapes, and strawberries. If you crave fast food don't eat out. Instead make your meals at home (maybe a healthier version of what you crave) where you know exactly what is going into your body.

2) Exercise or go for a run. I have found that if I exercise or go for a run, I won't think about unhealthy food. After exercise, I tend to not have bad cravings. I get in the healthy happy mode and no longer need the bad stuff. However, if I do happen to eat something unhealthy I don't feel so bad since I just exercised. :)

3) Drink water or tea. This helps as it keeps the cravings down. When I drink lots of water or tea, I feel fuller and it decreases the need for unnecessary and unhealthy foods.

4) Keep track or write it down. I have found that if you keep track of what you have eaten, it helps beat out the unhealthy temptations or cravings. Using the app MyFitnessPal is great for this as you can see all the calories in everything you eat. This will make you think about how many calories and fat/sugar etc. is in it. Looking at the ingredients and how many calories one little snack size chocolate bar or whatever unhealthy craving, can be an eye opener and deter you from eating it. It's happened to me lots of times, but sometimes I justify myself because I exercised hard or ran a certain number of miles that day. Either way, looking at the label can be good, just so you know what it is you are eating and exactly how many calories are in it.

5) Eat a small unhealthy treat. If you can't stop yourself from actually eating something unhealthy, limit yourself. Limiting the amount helps. Just pick out the one or two pieces (if candy) or cut/make a small portion, then take the rest of it away. Portion control can help you not eat the whole bag, whole cake, or tub of ice cream! :) 

Those are ways that help me beat the unhealthy cravings, what do you do?