5 Techniques To Help You Avoid Cravings & Stick To Your Weight Loss Diet

If you’ve ever tried a weight loss diet at some point in your life, then I’m sure you know hard difficult it can be to stick to it. In fact, this is probably the biggest reason for many diet failures.

In this article, we will explain the 5 things you can do to help you stick to your diet, even when it’s becoming increasingly tempting to give in and eat the foods you’re craving.

That doughnut (or candy bar, or cake, or chocolate bar) has your name written all over it – and you’re you're having a difficult time trying to resist.

But what can you do? Will power only lasts so long, and dieting really isn’t very fun.

Is there anything you can do? Of course. Here are five powerful techniques you can use to help you stick to your weight loss diet.

Technique 1 - Distraction

Although distraction may seem difficult, when you get into the habit of this it becomes very effective. Distracting yourself will take your mind away from your food cravings and onto to other subjects. This means you’ll soon forget about your desire to cheat on your diet.

You can distract yourself simply by leaving the room and doing something else. You can't distract yourself if the food you’re craving is staring you in the face. Out of sight means you won't be thinking about it.

Another thing to try is taking a short break. A good is to read a book, work on a complex project or take up a new hobby. Often, you may be craving food simply out of habit or boredom.

The odds are you'll completely forget about the doughnut, candy bar, or whatever tempting food siren is calling to you. Distraction is an incredibly useful tool for helping you stick to your weight loss program.

Technique 2 - Delay

A good way of sticking to your diet is not to disallow your cravings, but simply delay them. What we mean by this is delay the gratification.

You can give yourself permission to eat that candy bar, but not now. Delay yourself, and say you’ll eat it in 15 minutes. 15 minutes is long enough for most cravings to pass. However, you don’t want to wait too much longer than this – that kind of waiting seems pretty much impossible, and is hard to stick to.

If 15 minutes passes go ahead and eat that food you crave. You could just eat half of that candy bar, and then wait another 15 minutes for the other half. This means you still get to eat the food you want – but you’ll make it last longer.

Technique 3 – Have a Glass Of Water First

Instead of giving into the temptation of your food cravings, simply substitute a tall cold glass of water. Sure, a glass of water isn’t as appealing as a candy bar – but the glass of water will give your mouth something to do besides eat.

An added benefit to this is that the water will fill you up. Even though it's only temporary that feeling of fullness is still satisfying, and will reduce your cravings. Often you can have a drink of water, and you want feel hungry for awhile afterwards. Sometimes dehydration can feel like you’re hungry.

If you're craving for something sweeter, then feel free to add a splash of fruit juice to the water. You can even change your choice of beverage if you like – but it’s a good idea to avoid the sugary drinks like sodas in most cases.

Technique 4 – Imagine What You’re Really Eating.

This technique may seem a little extreme, but the power of the mind has a big impact on how easy it is for you to lose weight.

Instead of imagining how great that candy bar tastes, picture the candy bar as what it really represents for you: fat.

This is the fat which plans on sticking to you for a long time.

To help you visualize this, imagine going to your local grocers and asking them to give you a pound of fat trimmings from beef. Now imagine that's what the doughnut will turn into after you’ve eaten it.

That pound of fat will take up more space than you might realize. Freeze that pound of fat. Whenever cravings hit, just get that pound of fat out of the freezer so it reminds you of what you're really eating.

Technique 5 - Dance

This technique simply means to dance instead of eating that candy bar you’re craving. If you're too embarrassed to dance that's okay. The point of this technique is to do a little exercise instead of eating. You could take a walk, climb the stairs, or break out in a set of jumping jacks.

This technique kills two birds with one stone. The results are two fold, you've added a bit of calorie burning to your day (which is always a good thing) and you've avoided the candy bar you’ve been craving.

These five tips, although simple, can be powerful tools to use in your progress of losing weight. If you can stick to your weight loss diet, then you’re already half way to becoming your ideal weight. These techniques will help you do just that.