Wrong!

Another fitness misconception we can debunk right now.

This is too often an excuse people give to avoid addressing their long-term health.

At Concentric Fit, we often tell our students to enjoy food as it is one of the many pleasures of life. This isn’t about binging, it is about satisfying and nourishing ourselves in all the ways. Remember, long-term health and wellness is really a balancing act. Too much restriction will make us feel deprived so when we finally unleash our cravings, it will likely be extreme and unhealthy. This make us feels bad and is an unsustainable cycle.

Instead, can we find an alternative that satisfies us but doesn’t harm our health?

For example, chips are a favorite snack of ours. So instead of Doritos or another similar highly processed brand, we go for yummy sweet potato chips with 3 simple ingredients and guacamole with few natural ingredients. It’s delicious and satisfying. There’s so many ways to do it.

Instead of Cold Stone, try dark chocolate covered frozen bananas. Or frozen berries blended with honey. Instead of sugary chemical rich Starbucks, try a sugar-free plant based morning creamer for morning coffee. You may come to find that your new snack is way more satisfying than whatever you were eating/drinking before. I know this has been true for us.

We sometimes find with cravings that there is a lack of nutrient variety in the diet and so a person may be craving more food because of the lack of nutrients (so they may be calorie-full but nutrient-starved) and/or there is an emotional/psychological need (like the need for more sweetness in life so they crave sweets or using carby foods to calm and sooth themselves). So taking a note if either of these can be the cause of our cravings is important too.

Once these factors are addressed, most cravings are harmless if we keep them in alignment with our overall health and wellness. There are a million ways to create health-enriching substitutes for our various cravings so we can enjoy our favorite foods even more because they help, heal, and nourish us instead of hurting us.

If you have a favorite health or nutrient focused snack, please share with us in the comments below. We love new ideas and you help out your fellow fitness enthusiasts.