Dearest chocolate,
Why do I crave you so?
There are times in my life when I think of you day and night. I’m like a ravenous lioness that just found her prey and there is nothing that will distract me from devouring every bite of you.
I try to ignore you, I do. I block you out of my life with distractions but you keep coming back to haunt me dear chocolate. You are there in my psyche waiting around as I do everything I can to be present in my moments and you are tapping on my taste buds with a flirty laugh.
I think you know that I will give into you. I do eventually. It takes every ounce of my willpower to walk away from you after one taste. I let go to my craving and let your sweetness in and it’s all over for me.
I crave you chocolate and I do feel that I love you. Sometimes I feel that I cannot live without you. This scares me. As much as I love you chocolate, I know in my heart that it doesn’t feel healthy to need you and give into you the way that I do. I’m torn chocolate and I really love to hate you sometimes.
Love,
Renee
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Truth.
{First, that was fun to write a love letter to my dark chocolate bar. I really need to do that more often!}
I’m going to give you a list of why we crave what we crave below and in another post I’m going to dive in deeper into the psyche and psychology of craving. Then we’ll talk about how to break the habits that you desire to break…
I’ve also heard from a lot of you that you do too.
If you haven’t heard a bit of my story, I’m a former sugar addict. It is one of my passions to help people heal from sugar addiction because I know what gifts can come from the healing now.
It’s divine and oh…the chocolate that I still crave doesn’t include sugar.
The key.
What you crave is like this perfect key that unlocks the messages of what is going on throughout your body.
What if I don’t crave anything?
I don’t think you are listening all the time then. You may not crave stuff every day and that is a good thing. There will be times when you do and it’s important to listen in those moments. Be aware of anytime you say, I never have this happen to me because likely you are in denial of your craving.
Sometimes it’s good to give into a craving. Sometimes it’s not.
Cravings are sometimes emotionally related.
Cravings are often based on acquired habits.
Cravings can come from childhood, conditioning or cultural upbringing.
Cravings can be clues into internal distress.
Cravings can be our best teachers to understand the nutrients we need.
Cravings teach us about the balance of our body.
Cravings can teach us about our sensuality.
Cravings can clue us into blocks in our energy and creativity.
The craving journey.
I realized that this topic is so broad that I couldn’t do it in just one post and keep your attention.
Thanks for being along for the ride this month while we chat about cravings. Inspired by my sister who just gave birth to Emma a few months ago (my adorable niece). Sara noticed a strange craving. Thank you Sara for being one of my best coaching clients.
So your mission should you choose to accept it is as follows…
Decide to get into alignment with what your body is telling you.
Notice what you are wanting and craving to eat.
Listen to the emotional stuff that is going on with you when you are craving.
Keep this list handy so you can use it as your guide.
Write to me in the comments below so we can chat about your cravings.
One more thing.
Before we travel this road to the center of your cravings together, there is something you may want to know.
It’s not hopeless. You don’t have to ignore cravings or simply cave to them. There are other options available that don’t include depriving yourself or giving in all the time.
You do not have to feel needy, uncontrollable or obsessive about your cravings any more.
I’ll clue you in that it has a lot more to do with you creating a desire to change your habits than it does your taste buds.
Caffeine.
This craving often means you are in need of a painkiller. It could be both emotional and physical. A common migraine medicine includes caffeine for a reason. Caffeine is a stimulant and it is said to decrease mild depression. So as you reach for that cup of coffee know that it is in many ways deadening some pain. Withdraw from caffeine is super tough as it will cause headaches, sometimes cold sweats or body pain at first. Bottom line is that caffeine, although addictive is more about the habit and looking forward to the feeling that it gives you. You crave the consistency of the feeling.
Chocolate.
You crave chocolate to get high. Yes, it’s a little safe drug that makes you feel blissful. I’ve read that there is over 380 chemicals in chocolate that all contribute to the trigger of this high feeling. To be blunt, it’s the drug of choice for most people and it tastes damn good.
Salt.
This often means you are dehydrated so go drink some water first. It might also clue you in to look at your adrenal glands or thyroid. You might need iodine from other sources. We might crave salt more in the fall or winter and when we are living in colder climates. It’s not bad to crave salt but it’s important to use it as insight into learning why you are. Sitting around each day devouring the pickle and olive jar isn’t going to help you if you don’t get to the root cause.
Sugar.
You are likely craving sugar because your body is in withdrawal. Sugar is highly addictive, as much as cocaine. That is a fact. Both white powders and both just as addictive and not to be taken likely (even though it is legal). It’s found in everything from ketchup to cereal. You also might be craving it because you haven’t eaten enough food that day so your body is needing that glucose to get you going (processed sugar is not the way to do it either). You also might be thirsty. Try drinking a tall class of water first and have some fruit. There is also a chance you are not getting enough protein in your diet if you are vegetarian.
Milk, cheese, breads, fast food, peanut butter.
You need to eat more throughout the day. You are likely not eating enough at your meals and you need good healthy fats in your diet. You’ve been depriving yourself throughout the day likely, missing meals or eating on the run and your body is becoming ravenous for something to fill the calorie void. You can go through dairy withdrawal as well. Also, sometimes you might need more good healthy fats, but often you need consistent and nourishing meals 3 times per day.
Protein.
Simple, eat more protein. This isn’t the case for the average American who usually gets too much protein. Hard boiled eggs, nuts, seeds, greens and some veggies are all examples of additional protein. It doesn’t mean you necessarily have to have a steak.
Ice.
You might be low in iron if you crave this constant cold and ice. Room temperature water is best for you on average and if you can only tolerate ice cold then you might want to get your iron checked and begin adding in more dark green leafy veggies and a green powder to your beverages.
Comfort food.
It’s emotional. Something psychological is coming up for you. No right or wrong, it just is. It also might be the time of year and a cultural habit that you’ve come to expect. You must be really careful with these because this is when emotional eating can get out of control and we regret it big time later. It also contributes to really poor relationships with food in general.
Spicy.
This tells you that you have more heat than you might need in your body. Maybe you are in a warm climate or maybe there is something internal that is going on that is causing too much heat. Craving spicy tells you that you need to cool down. Think about it, the spicy makes you sweat and the sweat actually cools down your body. If this is a constant, I would look to flushing out the lymphatic system, supporting digestion and helping to heal the liver.
Remember to leave a comment below on your cravings.
I’ll see you next week to dive in deeper into cravings.
My goal is to offer you some tools to help you shift habits and heal some stuff that is holding you back on this topic. No better time to notice these things than around the holidays!
