There is a trick to prevent cravings! 8 ways to avoid binge eating

Don't confuse hunger with cravings; they are two completely different feelings. You may not be hungry, but you may be craving something sweet or salty. If you mistake your craving for hunger, you will eat again and again to satisfy your craving, but you will find that it is completely useless. The following unit is specifically designed to deal with cravings, so as to prevent cravings from ruining your weight loss efforts.

[Method 1/Playing a zero-sum game]

Think about the snack you have to digest and calculate how many hours of exercise you will have to do to burn off those calories. You can check a calorie counting app or a portable calorie counting book, and then imagine yourself exercising, burning about 10 calories per minute.

For example, if you eat a steakhouse fried onion florets, which has about 1,800 calories, you would need to run at least 11.2 kilometers per hour for about three hours to burn off all the calories, which is almost like running a marathon! I use this trick all the time to stop myself, and you'll be surprised how quickly it stops you from thinking about it. I don't want to spend 1.5 hours doing circuit exercises just to eat a burger!

【Method 2／Tea time】

This trick was shared by supermodel Naomi Campbell, who said the best way to eliminate hunger and overcome cravings is to drink tea. Here's why this approach works: First, many teas contain a little caffeine, which is a natural appetite suppressant.

For example, green tea has been shown to suppress hunger, increase energy, boost calorie expenditure by 4%, and increase the rate of fat oxidation (i.e., fat burning). Herbal tea (decaffeinated) can also suppress hunger because some herbs have properties that help maintain organs and boost metabolism.

Here are my top picks:

Herbal Tea Options

1. Dandelion Tea:

Dandelion has the effect of suppressing sugar cravings, boosting metabolism, detoxifying, and treating digestive issues. You can buy it in the grocery store or just make a dandelion root infusion. Drinking it three times a day can effectively suppress your appetite.

2. Acanthopanax Tea:

Acanthopanax can stabilize blood sugar levels, thereby suppressing cravings. People with a history of high blood pressure or anxiety should limit their use of Eleutherococcus senticosus or look for natural alternatives. This tea can be found in many online stores.

3. Licorice Tea:

This licorice tea supports healthy blood sugar levels, reduces sweet cravings, and curbs hunger.

4. Bilberry Tea:

Bilberry can curb cravings—especially at night, since it’s caffeine-free and protects against sugar-induced cravings. Bilberry, like the other herbs listed here, can help balance your blood sugar, which can help you avoid those midnight snacking cravings.

Caffeinated Tea Options

1. Green Tea:

This magical tea boosts your metabolism and burns fat while suppressing hunger and cravings. Studies have also shown that green tea can lower cholesterol, prevent diabetes and stroke, and avoid Alzheimer's disease.

2. Mate tea: can suppress hunger, promote metabolism and reduce fatigue.

3. Black tea: A study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that black tea can lower blood sugar levels by 10% and maintain that level for about 2.5 hours, so you’ll feel full faster and avoid feeling hungry too quickly afterwards.

[Method 3/Trick your taste buds with cinnamon]

You can add cinnamon to everything, it's good for you and it has a cheating effect. Because we often associate cinnamon with sugar, adding cinnamon to food can make us think we are eating something sweet and fattening - even if we didn't eat that food. I often sprinkle cinnamon on applesauce and peaches, and I even taught The Biggest Loser contestants to add cinnamon to Greek yogurt and chopped almonds as a snack or sprinkle it on coffee or tea.

【Method 4／Change the taste】

What's something that makes you itch? Salty, sweet, crunchy or sour? Or high-fat or high-calorie foods? If you can identify the foods your body craves, it will be easier to curb that craving or replace it with a low-calorie option. For example, if you're craving something sweet, try half a baked sweet potato or a slice of watermelon. If you're craving something crunchy, try coating apples with a thin layer of grainy almond butter.

If you're craving something salty, try 100-calorie seaweed snacks, roasted kale chips, or celery dipped in low-fat ricotta cheese (sprinkle with a little cayenne or chili powder for extra flavor). Plain popcorn is also a healthy, whole-grain, fiber-rich snack, but it's the added butter and salt that really make the calories spike.

If this substitution still makes you crave pizza or brownies, remember that's an option, but portion control is the key. Fortunately, you don’t need a lot to satisfy your cravings. You’ll see what I mean when you read the next tip.

【Method 5／Three bites are enough】

As you may have figured out, I’m not a fan of total abstinence, but I’m also not a fan of overindulgence. To find the golden mean, I have developed a strategy for managing my appetite, which is to eat in three bites.

I'm serious, take three bites of whatever you want, then stop eating it, do some chores or indulge in a hobby (see next tip), wait 10 to 15 minutes, and your craving for that food will probably be gone. By the time you get to your third bite, you might be tempted to finish it all and think, I must be an idiot, but I can promise you, if you can muster up the willpower to wait 15 minutes before going back to look at the rest of the thing, you’ll most likely forget you even wanted to finish it.

That's like satiety, the body needs time to digest the sugar before it feels satisfied, and when your body knows it has gotten something to satisfy your craving, you don't need to eat a whole box of cookies or a whole cup of ice cream.

【Method 6／Find something to do】

When you need to distract yourself, find something to do! Whenever I was busy with the contestants on the set of "The Biggest Loser", I didn't feel hungry at all. But when I work from home, I feel hungry almost every hour. Once you're busy, your mind won't be constantly thinking about how to entertain or please yourself. I hope you'll take the time to stay busy (which is not difficult for some people). If you don't have a job, volunteer or take up a hobby. I don't care what you do, just keep busy. Remember, "Idle people are easily possessed by evil spirits."

【Method 7／Make good use of your nose】

Aromatherapy has long been used to suppress hunger. You just need to pour 1-3 drops of pure essential oil and smell the aroma. I even put it on my wrists and behind my ears like perfume. Here are some weight loss scents recommended by aromatherapists: grapefruit, cinnamon, ginger, and coriander oil.

【Method 8／Smell the fragrance】

Here's another trick to use your nose to help you. Dr. Alan R. Hirsch of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago asked 3,000 volunteers to smell apples and bananas. He found that the more often the participants smelled the food, the less hungry they were and the more weight they lost.

His theory holds that the taste of food tricks your brain into thinking you've actually eaten that food, thereby helping to reduce your appetite. I’ve tried using other foods as a suppressant myself (since apples and bananas don’t necessarily whet my appetite), and while it’s not 100% successful, sometimes the smell of other sweets will stop me from eating a brownie or two.

For more information, please refer to Persimmon Culture's "Lose 9 kg in 7 days! America's No. 1 Fitness Queen Teaches You How to Create the Most Efficient Fat-Burning Environment