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September 4, 2009

3 Reasons You Crave Carbohydrates (And How To Stop!)

Q: Every night around 9pm (and especially on nights that I work late),  I get a craving for carbohydrates that seems to only go away after a bowl of cereal or some chips. Any tips on how to fight the carb craving?

A: There are several possible reasons why you tend to crave carbohydrates at night, and I’ve outlined each of these below.  Often our cravings are a combination of 2 or 3 of these reasons, so experiment with each solution until you find something that works for you.  And let me know in the comments if you have any solutions of your own to cut those cravings!

Reason #1: You Need Sleep, Not Chocolate

Personally, I find that I my most intense cravings are at night when I’m tired.  When we are exhausted (either physically or emotionally), our bodies often have low serotonin levels.  Serotonin is a neurotransmitter – a chemical that functions to transmit nerve impulses between brain cells.  Although serotonin plays many roles in the body, it is thought to have significant influence on food intake (especially carbohydrates), mood, and sleep.

When serotonin levels are normal, they control your appetite and regulate your mood.  When you are overly tired, stressed out, or depressed, your serotonin levels drop and you end up craving carbohydrates to “pick you up.”  But in actuality, what you really need to do is sleep.  Rest is necessary for the body to repair and recharge.  You should aim for 7-8 hours of sleep each night when possible.  If you are dealing with some emotional stress, then you should try to get in a few extra hours of sleep.

If you find it difficult to come home from work and go straight to bed (or to stay awake and not eat anything), then try drinking a cup of herbal tea.  Warm tea is soothing and relaxing, and a natural appetite suppressant.  Plus the wide variety of tea flavors available guarantee you’ll be able to find a few that will curb your craving.  Just make sure it’s caffeine-free!

Continue reading “3 Reasons You Crave Carbohydrates (And How To Stop!)” »

Print This Post Print This Post | Email This Post Email This Post | Comments (4) | posted by Nicole in Ask the Trainer
April 27, 2009

Techniques For Controlling Your Cravings

I know you’re working hard at eating less, choosing the right foods, and fitting in sessions at the gym.  You’re on your game and losing weight – until those cravings hit you.  You say, “Just one – I deserve it.”  Then you eat another, and another.  By the time you’re done you’ve eaten the whole bag of whatever it was and will spend the rest of the night feeling guilty.  At this point, you’re more likely to continue to eat the wrong things because you’ve convinced yourself that your diet is already “ruined.”  I’ve seen clients go through an entire weekend like this… sometimes weeks.

Weight Loss is NOT All or Nothing

So first off, let me dispel that myth once and for all.  When you choose to eat something “bad” you haven’t ruined all your efforts!  You’ve just eaten a few more calories than you intended to that day.  True, sometimes it’s a lot more than you intended, but the number doesn’t matter at that point.  What’s done is done.  The best thing you can do is get right back on the horse so to speak.  Continue eating right and working out – and praise yourself for doing so, rather than all those feelings of guilt and disappointment!  We all have cravings for certain foods and we ALL succumb to them sometimes (I happen to LOVE roasted marshmallows and will definitely eat more than my share at a cookout!).

Rising Above the Cravings

Because I know we all have these cravings, and I’ve dealt with my own over the years, I have a few suggestions on how to deal with them.  Sure it’s okay to give in to them once in awhile, but if you are craving chocolate every night then you’re going to have to draw a line at some point.  You won’t reach your weight loss goals with that kind of regular behavior.  So to help you control your cravings, I’ve put together some of the techniques I use to rise above and stay on track.

My Strategies:

If you’re hungry between meals or late at night:

-    Drink a diet soda or seltzer water to help fill you up.

-    Drink hot herbal tea for comfort (it’s also an appetite suppressant).

If you’re craving something sweet:

-    Eat apple slices (or other fruit).

-    Make some sugar-free jello.

If you’re craving something salty:

-    Try Orville Redenbachers 97% fat-free Kettle Korn (it’s tastier than other low-fat popcorns).

-    Steam about 1 cup of frozen edamames (soy beans) and salt them.

If you’re craving chocolate:

-    Make some low-sugar hot chocolate.

-    Drink mocha-flavored or chocolate raspberry coffee.

-    Buy some low-sugar Fudgicles.

What techniques do you use to control your cravings?

For more on weight loss: “10 Ways to Make Weight Loss Work for You.”

For more on meal strategies:

Strategies For Controlling Your Portion Sizes

Switch Lunch With Dinner

Eat More (Often) to Weigh Less

Print This Post Print This Post | Email This Post Email This Post | Leave a comment | posted by Nicole in Meal Ideas
April 24, 2009

Eat More (Often) to Weigh Less

Portion control is one thing but you also need to be eating enough throughout the day to keep your blood sugar levels steady and your energy up.  This can be accomplished simply by eating several smaller meals throughout the day (as opposed to the standard three big meals).

I aim for five to six “mini” meals each day.  Sometimes this means eating slightly less at breakfast, lunch, and dinner and adding two snacks.  Other days this means literally eating six small meals spaced throughout the day.  Those choices depend on my schedule but the underlying principle is the same – eat consistently to fuel your body and prevent those mid-day energy slumps.

Regulating Blood Sugar

What do I mean when I talk about keeping blood sugar levels stable?  Your blood must always have a certain level of glucose contained within it – the concentration is highly regulated by hormones in your body (like insulin, which regulates how much sugar is taken from the bloodstream and transferred into cells).

After you eat and digest carbohydrates (which are really just sugar molecules linked together), those broken down sugars are absorbed into the bloodstream and the amount of sugar floating around in your blood is increased.  When your blood sugar levels are high like this (especially after you eat something that contains a lot of sugar, like cake or even a big bowl of fruit), you could experience a headache.  Your heart is constantly pumping blood to your brain for you to function and, as soon as your bloodstream is full of sugar, you’ll end up feeling the effect in the form of a headache because your blood sugar levels are higher than they should be.  Eating smaller meals, and combining protein with those carbohydrates, helps ensure that your blood sugar levels don’t rise so high at any one point during the day.  Instead, you are providing your body a constant supply of sugar and other nutrients.*

On the other hand, you also want to make sure those blood sugar levels don’t get too low.  If you get too busy during the day to stop and eat something (I know we’ve all been there), then your blood glucose levels drop and – no surprise here – you get a headache.  Your energy levels also drop significantly and you might have trouble concentrating.  Eating small meals or snacks at several points during the day prevents this state of deprivation and helps to regulate both blood sugar and energy levels.

Beyond that, when you “starve” yourself throughout the day you are more apt to eat a lot when you do have time for dinner.  Just think about the days when you skip lunch and get home late at night.  You end up standing in front of the fridge grabbing everything you can!  Definitely not the type of behavior that will help you reach your weight loss goals.

I know it seems strange to think that eating more frequently will help you lose weight, but I speak from experience when I say it works.  And more importantly, fueling your body in a steady manner is a healthy behavior that will serve you well for the rest of your life – long after you’ve reached your goal weight.   You’ll also find that it improves your energy levels and prevents those after-work binges (or at least most of them…).

Remember – there’s no strict rules here.  As long as you keep within your allotted calories for the day, you can split up your meals however works best for you.  Some days it works better for me to eat three regular meals (although I eat smaller portions) and add a couple snacks in between the meals.  A snack in this case would be maybe half an apple and an ounce of low-fat cheese, or half a protein bar.  Eventually you’ll find a system that works with your lifestyle.  When I do have the luxury of spreading my meals throughout the day, I aim for six smaller meals.  What do I eat?  I’ve put together some examples of my “small” meals below for you to work with.  Enjoy!

Examples of small meals (200-300 calories each):

1.    Salad with veggies and 2-3oz lean meat

2.    2-egg omelet with veggies and an apple

3.    1/3 cup low-fat cottage cheese and ½ cup fruit

4.    Low-sugar protein bar (about 200 calories)

5.    2 cups grilled veggies and 2-3oz lean meat

6.    ½ can tuna, ½ cup salsa, and ½ cup cubed pineapple

7.    2 eggs, 1 ounce low-fat cheese, and 1 whole grain sandwich thin (breakfast sandwich)

8.    2 tomatoes (chopped), basil, 2 ounces low-fat cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette

9.    1 soy burger and 1 cup low-sodium tomato soup

10.    1 cup oatmeal and ½ scoop protein powder

*This is where insulin comes in to regulate blood glucose levels – when there’s too much sugar in the blood, insulin signals cells to absorb some of the sugar.  This continues until blood glucose levels are back to normal.

For more on weight loss: “10 Ways to Make Weight Loss Work for You.”

For more on meal strategies:

Strategies For Controlling Your Portion Sizes

Switch Lunch With Dinner

Techniques For Controlling Your Cravings

Print This Post Print This Post | Email This Post Email This Post | Leave a comment | posted by Nicole in Meal Ideas
April 22, 2009

Switch Dinner With Lunch

This is such a simple tip that it is hard to believe how effective it can be!  Simply switch your lunch and dinner menus.  Lunch choices are often soups, salads, and sandwiches – usually light food with a high concentration of fruits and vegetables.  Dinners are usually heavier meals, focused around meat and pasta or potatoes.  (This statement is obviously geared towards Americans – I realize that it is common elsewhere to have a large mid-day meal.)

I suggest switching lunch with dinner because all of your activity occurs during the day.  You are running around, exercising, stressing, presenting…whatever your day consists of.  By the time you get home at night and finish eating, it’s time to sit and relax.  There is substantially less calorie-burning activity between dinner and bedtime then there is earlier in the day. Yet in contrast, we eat our lighter meal during the period where we’re burning the most calories, and our heaviest meal when we’re burning the least.  Doesn’t seem to make sense, right?

Additionally, it’s important to look at the ways in which these foods are being used by your body.  Fats and carbohydrates are major sources of energy for daily activities, while protein is primarily used to rebuild muscles, enzymes, and other necessary structures in the body.  During the day you are more active so there is a need for high-energy food items.  While you sleep, your body repairs and recovers from the day – activities that require protein.  By switching dinner with lunch you are fueling your body with the right nutrients for the right activities, while at the same time reducing the overabundance of carbohydrates eaten before bed.

For this reason I try to eat grains at breakfast and lunch time (breads, potato, pasta, cereal, etc).  Of course, I balance the meal with protein and vegetables too!  But my point is that lunch should be the meal with the heavier carbohydrates because your body will have time to utilize them properly during the day.  Dinner is best centered around vegetables (like a salad or grilled vegetables) and lean protein.  I try to limit the amount of grains I eat at night – which helps maintain my weight and also makes for a lighter meal prior to bed.

Switching dinner with lunch is a simple strategy that is oh-so-effective for controlling weight.  Try it and tell me what you think!

For more on weight loss: “10 Ways to Make Weight Loss Work for You.”

For more on meal strategies:

Strategies For Controlling Your Portion Sizes

Eat More (Often) to Weigh Less

Techniques For Controlling Your Cravings

Print This Post Print This Post | Email This Post Email This Post | Leave a comment | posted by Nicole in Meal Ideas
 
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