It’s been a busy summer and with that I have not blogged for the month of August! Did you miss me? I missed connecting with you!
I also missed writing and creating content for the last month, but I knew that I would be back at it once I had more time and the smoothie truck settled down and wrapped up for the season (check out our smoothie truck “the stash” over on Facebook and Instagram if you haven’t heard about it yet.) ?
Anywho back to the reason I’m sharing this blog with you today.
CRAVINGS.
They suck am I right? I used to be a slave to my cravings (hello sugary goodies, ice cream, or salty delicious chips), but I’ve been able to get control of them and for the most part I appreciate them as they now tell me things.
These days, when I find myself craving certain foods, I can usually figure out the reason:
Me: “Oh hey I’m totally stressed out today and now I’m craving sugar”, or “Oh that’s right… I didn’t eat for several hours and now I want to eat everythingggggg!.. My bad!”
This helps me to stay on top of keeping my blood sugar balanced and stress levels low. My cravings are waaaay better now that I can understand them and be proactive in keeping myself nourished in the mind, body and spirit departments (yep some woo woo for ya!).
Something to think about – Why do we get cravings?
There can be various reasons, and here are a few that I’d like to share:
Blood sugar crashes
(It’s essential that we keep our blood sugar levels balanced and sugary foods, imbalanced meals or lack of meal consistency can cause blood sugar fluctuations, blood sugar crashes and ahem.. strong as hell cravings for more sugar and sweets etc).
We didn’t eat enough food
(Ex: protein, fat, fibre) throughout the day and now we’re bingeing and craving junk at night (also comes back to blood sugar balance).
We could be lacking nutrients
(Our body is amazing and sometimes cravings may be signalling to us that we need more of certain nutrients ex: craving chocolate all the time can sometimes be connected to low magnesium levels).
Low moods, emotions + stress
(I think we all have experience with emotional eating after a bad day or reaching for less than healthy foods when we’re stressed and burnt out). Sugar and refined foods can give us a dopamine hit that boosts our mood for the short term and usually leaves us dealing with a lower mood afterwards ?
Hormonal changes
( Hello PMS cravings!).
So, we know that cravings can be triggered by many factors. I recommend that you try working on a couple of these suggestions today:
1) Balance your blood sugar with consistent meals (get your fat, protein and fibre into each meal)
Shoot to have regular meals 3-4 hours apart which include healthy protein, healthy fats (ex: nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil, ghee, coconut oil etc) and high quality carbohydrates (whole grains, rice, millet, and fibre fibre fiber from veggies and fruit!).
2) Ditch the sugar and refined foods (focus on whole foods and REAL food sista!) and make sure that you’re getting adequate nourishment
TIP: Avoid processed sugar – the more sugar we eat, the more we want (it’s extremely addictive)
3) Make sure you process your stress and emotions
(Ideas: Brain dump your stress via journalling or get support from a friend. Try exercising daily as it’s the biggest mood boosting stress reducing thing I can recommend. Go for a 30 min walk daily in nature and see how you feel!) #natureverydamnday
Believe me, you’re going to feel better if you go for a 30-60 minute walk in nature followed by a journal sesh and maybe even an epsom salt bath. Stress and a low mood are going to take a hike!
PS: Try this recipe!
If you’re feeling snacky or have cravings creeping up, whip up these craving crushers! (Fat-tastic Chocolate Bombs)
*I just named them that — This recipe is inspired by an awesome lady + nutrition expert over at Sexy Food Therapy – Melissa Ramos.
I’ve tweaked her recipe that she shared on Instagram and made it my own ?
This fatty-ilicious recipe is great as there are plenty of blood sugar balancing fats in this snack plus some protein from the nuts and delicious cacao which is rich in iron and magnesium!
Give it a try and let me know what you think ?
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Keeping cravings low and moods high,
