Summary: -------------------------------<br> ♦ Cravings are a Head Game ♦<br> -------------------------------<br> A client writes Scott, asking for advice to deal with food cravings. Are they physiological or psychological, or something else? How to successfully overcome them? Scott and Andy discuss the letter and offer practical, everyday ways to beat cravings.<br> <br> ♦Self-discipline over self-indulgence♦<br> <br> • Defensive dieting creates strain, thus, the "head game" comes into place.<br> <br> • Cravings that create stress result from the wrong mindset. Accept that cravings will come and go, and focus instead on the goal.<br> <br> • As the Anti-Diet Approach book explains: Cravings come and go. There’s a difference between hunger and craving.<br> <br> • Don’t devote energy toward thinking about a craving. Don’t fear a craving that may occur later.<br> <br> • “Stop ‘shoulding’ on yourself.” – Albert Ellis<br> <br> • Hunger is general, while cravings are specific. -i.e. wanting a particular food, not just any food.-<br> <br> • What you resist, persist; what you focus on, expands. Practice self-discipline over self-indulgence.<br> <br> • Sound diet strategies take decision-making out of the picture. Having too many decisions to make creates decision fatigue.<br> "Einstein dressed the same each day to decrease the number of decisions made during his day. Other famously successful people have done (or do) the same."<br> <br> • Eliminating choice is empowering and liberating, another reason the Cycle Diet works so well.<br> <br> • Proactive is better than reactive. Preparing meals ahead of time, maintaining a set routine. These keep the mind focused on what to do instead of what not to do.<br> <br> • Progress does not require perfection. You don’t need to be perfect to be magnificent.<br> <br> • With the right focus, you can be around food and appreciate it without indulging. As with sexual fidelity, there’s a big difference between just observing, and taking it further to “I want.”<br> <br> • When you choose a goal or lifestyle, you need to be all-in. You must accept and make peace with sacrifices, because being at war with them often results in never attaining, or maintaining, the rewards.<br> <br> <br> **You should be able to enjoy food without worrying about it. That’s food freedom. Just released this week, Scott’s Food Freedom course:<br> https://foodfreedomcourse.com/
