For years, just sticking to a heathy eating plan for more than 2 days in a row took a bucket load of willpower, that I often just did not have. I’d blame it on poor discipline or my lack of self-control. Id crave something sweet after most meals, or before I went to bed and even after exercising. Seriously its enough to make a sane girl go crazy!
Before I changed to a Pro-Metabolic way of eating and began to understand why I craved unhealthy food, sweet food, processed food, chocolate, pizza, caramel slice, Coca-Cola, clean eating became effortless and enjoyable. It was so liberating. Knowledge really is empowering. Which is why I now teach a better way.
With a modern lifestyle that includes a low carb diets, undereating, irregular eating, processed foods, poor quality sleep, artificial light, hormone imbalance and metabolic issues, it is no wonder so many of us struggle to consistently eat clean and minimise cravings.
But the good news – it’s actually not hard to manage this…. A few little tweaks and the struggle to eat clean all day every day will be no more! Here here I say!
So what makes us fall off the wagon and want to eat pizza, bowls of icecream, salted crisps or dip our spoon in the Nutella jar? And more importantly how to resist this urge? Read on my friend
1. YOU DON’T EAT ENOUGH CARBS OR SUGAR
Lets be honest. Our bodies are made for survival. Our bodies are intelligent and will crave what we need.
Despite the demonization of sugar by the media our bodies actually NEED sugar to survive Simple NATURAL sugars. Fruit is a simple sugar. Honey is a simple sugar. Milk sugar is a simple sugar. Simple sugars are easy to digest, they increase the metabolic rate (and subsequently fat burning) and provide our body with much needed energy. This is a fact based on science and human physiology.
Glucose is an absolutely essential energy source that is needed for metabolism and to fuel the cells in our body and brain. Did you know that your red blood cells and the retinas of your eyes can ONLY use sugar.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3900881/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7593952/
Your body runs better on sugar / glucose. It is actually our bodies preferred source of energy. When glucose (sugar) is not available (low carb diets) your body will make sugar/glucose out of non-carb substances (like proteins, glycerol, and lactate) In order to survive.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41430-019-0407-z
But do you know what else your body does when it does not get enough sugar? – IT SLOWS DOWN YOUR METABOLISM so you use less energy – and burn less fat.
Your brain is a huge consumer of sugar – almost 50% of consumed sugar is utilised by your brain. This is why people get headaches when they “detox” themselves from sugar. The headache is coming because your brain needs sugar, not because it is detoxifying of sugar.
Quite simply, your body cannot survive without sugar. So when you don’t eat enough sugar, your body craves it, and begs you to provide it with the fuel it needs!
If you want to eat to prevent cravings, if you want a meal plan that is delicious and balanced, if you want to find a way to eat that is nourishing and fulfilling, a way to eat that doesn’t prohibit fruit, quality chocolate, natural ice-cream, orange juice, cheese and butter – a way to eat that can become a lifestyle, that will help you get lean effortlessly – then consider the array of benefits of Pro-Metabolic Nutrition. I have done the work for you and set out meal plans and recipes to make this nutritional strategy effortless and effective.
https://www.prometaboliclife.com/meal-plans/
2. NOT ENOUGH SLEEP
It’s no secret how important sleep is. Most people I talk to these days are sleep deprived. Unfortunately, it goes along with weight problems and yes sugar cravings. Sleep deficiency has been linked to just about every chronic health problem, including fat gain and hormonal issues.
From a sugar craving perspective, sleep is vital for balancing blood sugar and maintaining the correct levels of the hormones that manage insulin. Did you know that just one night of interrupted or poor sleep can leave you with the blood sugar levels of a pre-diabetic. Treat sleep as a priority – if you value your health and your body
When you don’t get enough sleep the hormones that regulate your appetite are suppressed, which means your body has a hard time reading hunger signals.
Get this…When your circadian rhythms are out of whack you will feel tired and hungry even if you are NOT tired and hungry – and are far more likely to grab something processed for instant energy.
3. YOU ARE NOT EATING ENOUGH
When you don’t eat enough your body starts looking for fuel the quickest way it can. And Sugars always give us quick energy. I’ll write more on this later, but ultimately whenever you starve yourself your body will do all it can to get your attention to feed it.
Most of the client work I do to restore metabolism, and expedite faster fat burning is helping people realise they can eat more, if they eat MORE of the right food in the right combinations. By gradually increasing calories from Pro-Metabolic food, metabolism speeds up, health and hormonal balance improves, food sustains you, cravings disappear and fat loss becomes effortless. It’s about supporting fat loss not forcing fat loss and the reality is metabolism needs calories.
https://www.prometaboliclife.com/personal-nutrition-coaching/
https://www.prometaboliclife.com/meal-plans/
4. STRESS LEVELS ARE HIGH
Researches has found that sugar reduces cortisol, the stress hormone, which is why our bodies tend to crave sugar in times of stress.
“Under stressful conditions, cortisol provides the body with glucose by tapping into protein stores via gluconeogenesis in the liver. This energy can help an individual fight or flee a stressor.
-Wikipedia
When your body’s cortisol levels RISE your body needs MORE energy/glucose/sugar. A constant flow of glucose is needed, and when you are under stress the demand for glucose increases. So, if you are not eating sugars or lack liver glycogen, cortisol will rise to break down muscle tissue to turn into glucose. This is not a good thing. When cortisol rises, so does inflammation, hormones become imbalanced and body fat is stored,
When working with my clients to create leaner, healthier bodies, it is not just about nutrition. I always explore sleep, stress and environmental factors. They are just as important. And the wonders of Pro-Metabolic nutrition is that by the careful addition of healthy natural sugars we can use nutrition to decrease cortisol caused by stress and improve sleep
5. YOU EAT UNBALANCED MEALS
When blood sugar levels drop we experience an increased urge to eat. Eating meals that are not balanced can lead to blood sugar fluctuations that lead to cravings.
A study by scientists from Yale University has shown that falling glucose levels (resulting from not eating enough carbs/sugars) lead to a loss of self-control in the brain which subsequently lead to parts of the brain craving high-calorie food such as cakes, biscuits or crisps.
https://www.jci.org/articles/view/57873
https://www.nhs.uk/news/food-and-diet/low-blood-sugar-affects-food-cravings/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2039315/Sweet-cravings-triggered-falls-blood-sugar.html
Each meal in my Pro-Metabolic meal plans are balanced with proteins, carbs and fats and will keep your blood sugar levels stable, energy high and your body in a constant fat burning state – without craving sweet food and unhealthy food.
https://www.prometaboliclife.com/meal-plans/
WHAT KIND OF SUGARS?
Let’s be clear on what type of sugars I’m referring to here. There is a huge difference between natural, clean simple sugars from ripe fruit, organic milk, raw honey, fresh juices, root vegetables and the sugars found bikkies, donuts, pastries, cakes, chocolate bars.
My Message
Eating delicious food that will keep you in great shape AND help you stay energised and healthy should NOT be hard
Losing body fat should NOT be hard.
You should NOT put on weight easily after eating carbs
You should NOT experience food CRAVINGS
You should NOT need to experience bloating, low energy or digestive stress
You should be able to enjoy ALL foods as long as they are natural and additive free;
Listen to your own body, if what you have been doing isn’t working, or isn’t giving you results, if you’re tired, don’t sleep well, don’t lose weight easily, crave food, fall off the wagon, experience bloating or hormonal issues it’s time to start asking why.
Subscribe to My Blog
Increase heat to increase Metabolism
PRO METABOLIC EATING for weight loss success
