{"id":10607,"date":"2022-02-02T12:01:42","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T04:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paulstokes.com.au\/?p=10607"},"modified":"2022-04-04T14:32:30","modified_gmt":"2022-04-04T06:32:30","slug":"how-to-avoid-food-temptation-tactics-to-resist-craving-junk-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paulstokes.com.au\/how-to-avoid-food-temptation-tactics-to-resist-craving-junk-food\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Avoid Food Temptation | Tactics to Resist Craving Junk Food"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you’re a fitness enthusiast or just beginning a diet, you’ve probably come across urges and cravings at some point. Junk food won’t help you progress toward your health and fitness goals. It tastes good though. Marketing companies know that. Your brain knows that. So how can we avoid the temptation to eat unhealthy food and stop craving junk food?<\/p>\n

Here are a few strategies and ideas to try.<\/p>\n

To avoid food temptation, we need to understand how it comes about<\/h2>\n

We become tempted by food that’s easily accessible and within easy reach.<\/p>\n

Take the following example, imagine this is your day:<\/p>\n

You’ve finished work for the day and you arrive home tired and hungry. It was a long day, things didn’t go to plan and became pretty stressful. Your energy is low and you just feel like sitting on the couch. You definitely don’t feel like cooking.<\/p>\n

Your roommate\/partner\/family member has just walked in the door with a pizza. It’s from your favourite local restaurant. You can smell it, you’re salivating as it smells amazing!<\/p>\n

There’s more than they can eat on their own.<\/p>\n

Now, given this situation, you only really have one choice. One decision to make:<\/p>\n

To eat the pizza, or to not eat the pizza.<\/p>\n

Most people, under normal circumstances, would choose to eat it.<\/p>\n

You’ve literally been FORCED to make this decision.<\/p>\n

You probably weren’t even thinking about pizza on your way home from work. It wasn’t on your mind when you walked in your front door.<\/p>\n

But when you see and smell the pizza, \u00a0you’re forced to think about it. You are forced to make a decision.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

READ ALSO: <\/strong>Healthy meals made easy: Organise your pantry cupboards<\/a><\/p>\n

Circumstances make it difficult to avoid food temptation<\/h3>\n

I’ve gone on record before to say that junk food has its place in a healthy diet. You don’t need to never eat pizza again. And, eaten occasionally, a little bit of what you like can be good for your adherence to your diet or meal plan.<\/p>\n

However, once you see and smell food, you’re forced<\/strong> to make a choice about eating it. It becomes hard to avoid food temptation when you can see and smell it and are salivating over it.<\/p>\n

To eat the pizza, or to not eat the pizza<\/p>\n

In the above example, your situation is making you think about pizza. It’s even convenient for you – it’s been brought to you. And it’s warm and ready to eat.<\/p>\n

It would take a truckload of willpower to turn it down.<\/p>\n

Now, think about the following situation:<\/p>\n

You arrive home from work after another tough day.<\/p>\n

This time, you’re home alone and no one is bringing any food your way.<\/p>\n

You have flour in your pantry along with a packet of active dried yeast. There’s a tin of tomatoes sitting on the shelf too. In your fridge, you have cheese and some vegetables. There are also some packets of deli meat too.<\/p>\n

Now, given this scenario, you could still enjoy a lovely fresh pizza. However, you are much more likely not to.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

READ ALSO: <\/strong>How to Order a Healthy Takeaway | Guilt-Free Takeout Food Options<\/a><\/p>\n

Why is it easier to avoid food temptation this time?<\/h3>\n

Firstly, you might not even think of pizza. It’s not on your mind. There’s nothing around you forcing you to think about pizza.<\/p>\n

Secondly, there’s considerably more effort involved in making a pizza from scratch.<\/p>\n

Given this situation, your surroundings are not making you think of pizza.<\/p>\n

Even if you were to crave pizza, it would take time and effort to make. It’s inconvenient for you.<\/p>\n

You’re more likely to consider an easier option, even if it’s less delicious.<\/p>\n

Human nature is to go for the easier option, not necessarily the best option.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

READ ALSO: <\/strong>Understanding Portions | Managing your food intake to match activity level<\/a><\/p>\n

Using human psychology to avoid food temptation and resist cravings<\/h2>\n

We can use what we know about how our brain works to our advantage.<\/p>\n

If we are watching what we eat and looking to make our diet healthier, we can manipulate our brain.<\/p>\n

We can manage our surroundings and environment to make sticking to our diet easier.<\/p>\n

Ideally, we can avoid getting ourselves into a situation where we’re forced to make a choice.<\/p>\n

Managing and manipulating your circumstances allows you to:<\/p>\n