Tag: stress management

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Triggers for Common Food Cravings

Food cravings can be caused by many factors, ranging from being stressed and tired to actually needing nutrition. For example, a lack of sleep can augment fatigue and release the hormone cortisol, which can trigger hunger. Dieting and limiting calories can elevate ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and simultaneously can lessen the hormone leptin which provides a sensation of satiety. Additionally, if you are exercising a lot, this will naturally raise your calorie and nutrient requirements, of course. Even just simply being bored, doesn’t that often trigger food cravings?

How to Put an End to Food Cravings

  • Get adequate sleep. Consistent good-quality sleep is needed for your body to repair and your brain to clean itself of toxins. Being well-rested will help you a great deal too when it comes to having the needed willpower to bypass the unhealthy sugary snacks that can be so tempting when one is tired.
  • Manage stress the best you can. The more you can manage stress daily with simple but effective strategies, the more you will be able to control your food intake. My post, 5 Strategies to de-Stress Like Never Before, will walk you through the basics.
  • Put unhealthy foods out of sight or simply do a pantry purge. The main idea is to have at home only foods that work well with your metabolism and that you are going to feel good eating whether you have a craving or not. Having a “good food environment” is key to long-term success.
  • Stock up on healthy foods and snacks. The Primal Blueprint template works well for my metabolism. See which foods work best for you (as we are all unique individuals with specific requirements and sensitivities) and buy accordingly after consulting your personal physician of course.
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More Strategies

  • Consume enough protein each day. Consuming enough protein every day provides a host of health benefits. Among other things, it enhances muscle mass, aids with managing our weight, helps with stabilizing our blood sugar levels, and betters our mood.
  • Keep a food diary. This will allow you to be more mindful of what you are eating every day. You can become more aware of what triggers food cravings the most (emotions, times of day, etc.).
  • Get up and move. If you experience a food craving, sometimes just taking a walk or stretching, for instance, can help with getting rid of that craving. As mentioned in a previous post, we are meant to be active, engaging in regular physical activity throughout the day, each day. This means any type of movement depending on your preferences and routine. Regular physical activity is shown to help with heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and several cancers. It further helps with hypertension, keeping a healthy body weight, and enhancing mental health, quality of life, and well-being.
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On a Final Note

All of the above strategies will help you a great deal in putting an end to food cravings this new year. To these strategies, I want to add Ketone-IQ, which are exogenous ketones. I take one serving mid-afternoon, in general, and this allows me to control the amount of food I eat at the end of the day much better. I think this is a big help, because it is usually at the end of the day when we become most fatigued, that we are more easily tempted to eat unhealthy foods. You may want to give it a try too!

Have an Amazing New Year!

Reference

Zerbe, L. (2023, November 13). How to Stop Food Cravings: 9 Ways. Ancient Nutrition | Dr. Axe. https://ancientnutrition.com/blogs/all/how-to-stop-food-cravings

You can also find me on Instagram.

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Biohacking

Last Saturday, I attended the first-ever Virtual Biohacking Conference. This was a very enriching day filled with talks by numerous renowned speakers. As explained by Dave Asprey, “Biohacking is the art and science of changing the environment around you, and inside of you, so you have full control of your own biology.” Biohacking goes hand in hand with human resilience. Anything you can do to help better (or maintain) your health and wellness can qualify as biohacking. It can be about focusing on improving your sleep, diet, exercise, and/or emotional balance. Tim Gray, one of the conference speakers, said that first, you need to ask yourself why you want to biohack, and then what you need to do, and finally, how.

What You Can Do

Biohacking doesn’t have to be expensive. In a blog post about Biohacking on a Budget: Affordable Upgrades You Can Do Right Now, Dave Asprey lists seven basic “hacks” for anyone to implement:

  • Change your bedtime routine. Here the main things are not to drink coffee after 2 p.m. (for most people), limit your exposure to blue and bright light at night (different software -like f.lux– and blue-blocking glasses are available), and sleep in a room that is fairly cold (around 60 to 67-68 degrees Fahrenheit) and pitch-dark. 
  • Take a cold shower. This gets your body to raise your metabolism in order to heat yourself back up. I like to do two minutes of cold water at the end of each shower and love how energized I feel after that.
  • Experiment with styles of intermittent fasting. There are different options when it comes to eating less often. I like to simply have a couple of cups of Bulletproof coffee (with ghee and MCT C8 oil) in the morning. Then a really light lunch and a regular meal for dinner. See what works best with your biology and your routine.
  • Pay attention to your gut. Your gut health is definitively linked to the types of food you eat, and even if it’s a bit gross, check your poop regularly to see how well your digestion is going. 
  • Move more, especially in the sun (light is a nutrient).

In Summary

Biohacking seems to me like a non-negotiable way of life if you want to keep your energy levels near-optimal as you get older. It’s a way of life to adopt if you want to keep on performing better, whatever your short-term and long-term goals may be. It’s about being more grounded, more in touch with nature and your biology. It’s about being happy to be alive and full of energy to do the things you want to do.

Until next time!

References

Amen, Daniel G. Feel Better Fast and Make It Last : Unlock Your Brain’s Healing Potential to Overcome Negativity, Anxiety, Anger, Stress, and Trauma. Carol Stream, Illinois, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 2018, p. 217.

Asprey, Dave. “Biohacking on a Budget: Affordable Upgrades You Can Do Right Now.” Dave Asprey Blog, 27 Feb. 2019, blog.daveasprey.com/biohacking-budget/. Accessed 11 Oct. 2020.

You can also find me on Instagram.