Now and again, we all have that urge for a snickers bar, bag of crisps, or cheesy pizza. Now they all seem like a great idea at the time, but afterwards, guilt starts to creep up, the sugar high has left you lethargic, and all of a sudden your pants feel extra tight from devouring that whole pizza. Cravings come down to what your body needs. Nutrient deficiencies, and imbalances in emotional/mental areas of your life, are the root cause of cravings. Sugar is related to hydration, rest, and love; if these are off, than chocolate, and sweet bursts will be your new best friend. Salty foods indicate your body is missing important minerals, and nutrient rich foods.

Here are my top 5 tips on how to deconstruct cravings

1) Love: A healthy relationship with yourself and others is by far the most important element you can do to prevent bad cravings. Self care and self love should be your number one priority, if you invest in your health and wellbeing, focus on positive thoughts, and dedicate time for relaxation, you will feel better about yourself. You cannot give your energy and love to others, if you don’t give it to yourself. So make healthy relationships top of your list, to get your cravings for chocolate and chips under control.

2) High on food: Including high quality nourishment into your lifestyle will significantly have a profound an effect on you’re eating habits. Your daily foods should include hydrating liquids, gluten free grains, fruits, veg, healthy fats, and lean protein. The better you eat, the better you will feel, and the worse you eat, the worse you will feel. I am still to this day a firm believer, in “you are what you eat”. Choose the best foods and you will feel the best, crowding out bad foods naturally.

3) Move your body: I cannot stress enough, how important it is to getting in at least 15o minutes a week of physical activity. I am not just talking about walking around your block, I’m talking about classes, circuit training, or cody app trainers in the comfort of your own home that will help you focus for at least 30 minutes of activity; whether it’s sweating like crazy, gaining strength, burning fat, or increasing cordination and flexibility, the more you raise your heart beat, the more seratonin aka feel good hormones you will produce, leading to healthier eating habits. Being active keeps bad cravings down… I swear its very unlikely you will crave a sundae ice-cream after intense soul cycle session 😉

4) Supplementation:
If you are one of those people who only allows one cheat meal a week, and the rest is high quality nutrition or if you are not, either way ; your body still has to break down those foods, process and assimilate them into your system. Around 50% of the vital nutrients are really only absorbed and thats why I highly reccomend essential supplements of vitamins and minerals to support and maximize your nutritional intake. I choose to eat mostly healthy, nourishing, real, whole foods, but still like to sip on wine, nibble on cheese, and graze on dark chocolate. For me its all about balance. So with healthy eating 80% of the time and adding the Juice plus + premium and some other supplements, I know I am maximizing my nutritional intake and the results feeling great, and little cravings for junk food.

5) Sleep: Whether you stayed out dancing until dawn, your partner kept you up from snoring, or a full moon was around. You hardly slept a wink, and now are cranky and craving that bagette with cheese, ham, bacon, mayo, chips, pop ect. Lack of sleep has a huge effect on eating habits and cravings. Try to aim for at least 8 hours a night of sleep, turn of your smart phones at least an hour before bed and get into the habit of a good beauty routine, lights out at 11pm, and up at 7am.. if you know you do have a big night out… than stock your fridge with carb friendly foods that will kick the craving, such as gf oatmeal with nuts/ seeds/ raw honey, gf toast with almond butter, or gf pancackes with berries and maple. Warm, carb friendly and comforting food… essentials with the sleep deprived syndrome cravings.

If your body is not in balance, cravings will slowly sneak in; so pay attention to inner thoughts, and check in with yourself to make sure you are filling your body with nourishing food to give you a lasting feel good effect.

Ashley xoxo