Hi everyone! I hope you’re all having a fruity and fun weekend =D I promised to give you a blog post every week for the next 60 days and I’m determined to keep my promise. I really do enjoy writing and I’ve got plenty of things that I would love to share with you, so it shouldn’t be too hard.
Today I want to talk about cravings. This is one of the biggest issues for most people going raw or vegan or vegetarian. Cravings for the things you used to eat, but in sound mind, don’t want to eat anymore.
Do I still have cravings? Sure. If I smell something vegan I will think about how wonderful it must taste. If I smell something non-vegan I think about how great the vegan version of it would taste.
So how do I move beyond the moment of the craving and decide to have a delicious banana smoothie instead? It does take some practice, but like most things, the more you do it the better you get and the easier it becomes.
Here are the top 3 ways that I personally use to combat cravings:
1. Focus on your goals or set a goal for yourself that will require you to perform at your best. When I am trying to beat my last mile time, run a longer distance than before, look my best for an upcoming video, or finish a project within a limited time frame, I have to perform at my best. I can’t give into a craving that I know is going to stop me from accomplishing my goal. If I make myself accountable in these ways and focus on the end result and the joy it will bring me it will override what I know is a temporary pleasure with an unwanted overall outcome.
2. Don’t let yourself get too hungry and always bring extra food with you if you go out. It’s a natural survival mechanism for our bodies to give us cravings. The problem is that we have foods available to us now that would not be available in the wild. Our body has a rolodex, if you will, of things we’ve eaten, how nutritious they are and how calorie dense they are. If our blood sugar becomes too low we can feel like we NEED to eat that piece of cake we see or the hamburger we smell. This is our body letting us know we need calories and those foods are a good source of calories. When we eat regularly and do not calorie restrict ourselves we are more rational when meal time comes. Then we are able to look at fruits and vegetables and choose which one our body is craving based on nutrients. Some people might say it’s all just based on taste, but then why is it that when we eat a certain food until we are incredibly full our body stops us from craving it in the moment. It still tastes the same but we’ve had enough. You body does know what is in certain foods and cravings are ultimately to our benefit when we have a healthy body.
3. Find your go-to raw food replacement. If you’re craving something chocolaty then come up with your go-to replacement. Mine is a banana, carob, and date smoothie. If you’re craving hummus, put a little tahini on your salad. If you’re craving indian food, make a nutty dressing for some zucchini noodles with some fresh cilantro, ginger, basil, and sage. If you’re having a salty craving, add some dried nori or celery flakes to what you’re eating. One time I was really wanting some spaghetti with tomato sauce, so I made a savory sun dried tomato sauce, put it on zucchini noodles, and added broken up pieces of nori. I had that three nights in a row and then was done with it for a while. Come up with your own list ahead of time of what your go-to food can be for different cravings that you have often. This way, you know if you have a craving that you have something special to eat that is different from your everyday meal.
Every time you’re able to avoid giving into a bad craving you make another step in the right direction and your body learns what the real solution is.
Thanks for reading! I hope what I shared has been helpful. Please comment below if you have any additional tips you think would be helpful. Also let me know what other topics you’d like me to write about different from what you want to see in videos 
Hi Megan! I am loving your videos! It looks amazing to be raw in a hot climate like where you are! It is very cold here in Scotland, despite that it is still the only way to go! :) I will def. be following you! Have a great day! :) Zoë x
Fantastic post! Cravings are difficult for me, and this is going to help (my worst craving is salty)
I remember Paul Nison mentioning adding peppermint oil to water to curb overeating/cravings! Also stay hydrated. Having raw juices on hand helps to give you a little bit of time to prepare something healthy vs grabbing something not healthy. When you juice, juice some extra and refrigerate it for the rest of the day. Or have smoothie ingredients washed and waiting for you :) I have a combinations that I am saying I must eat first: Apples, salt, nut butter. It hits the sweet/salty/crunchy/creamy cravings. You can put cacao on it for chocolate. Even if I don't want to eat it, I do, and when I take my first bite it tastes so good that I forget my cravings! I agree with you, I like mock raw foods! It is said that we really only eat a rotation of 10 meals, so find 10 mock raw meals to substitute.
Hey Megan! You should do a video/blogpost about mono eating, when (what meal) it's best to do it, what foods are best to do it with, and what sort of benefits come from it. Keep up the great work!
I have major cravings for salt, especially at night. Do you have a remedy for this? Please advise. Thanks!