Sometimes junk food cravings feel like a monster under the bed. They loom in the dark, unseen and unheard and wait for the right opportunity to pounce. We tell ourselves that we will be better the next day but when the next day rolls around again, the junk food monster decides otherwise. He manages to convince us just one won’t hurt and the cycle begins.

Why we crave

People crave less than healthy food for several key reasons. Here are a few main ones.

Boredom

Find yourself staring at the open fridge for no particular reason? If you’re not actually hungry and you don’t remember the conscious decision of going there, you may be a bored eater.

Psychology Today theorizes that this phenomenon occurs when the person posses a subconscious desire to achieve a productive or at least interesting task but lacks the excitement to follow through. This also applies to procrastination over deadlines. People will often put off work to munch on a bag of chips. Psychology Today believes dopamine (the body’s happy, motivational chemical) is released into the bloodstream when people eat and therefore somewhat aids in the desire to achieve goals. Though the consequence on the body from over consumption, far outweigh any perceived benefits.

“Well it’s possible that when we’re in a malaise, so are our dopamine neurons. When we boredom-eat what we’re really doing is trying to wake them up so we can feel excited again.And in the absence of more stimulating fare—or a handy dopamine neuron-stimulating electrode in our brain that we can trigger with a lever when we fancy a thrill—food starts to look like a pretty effective way of doing this.”– Pshycology Today

Stressed/tired

This day has been so hard and I have so much homework and I still need to do that laundry…I wonder if there’s any ice cream left?

Sound familiar? It certainly is to me. Stress and lack of sleep especially persistent stress and lack of sleep tend to produce negative effects on the body.

“But if stress persists, it’s a different story. The adrenal glands release another hormone called cortisol, and cortisol increases appetite and may also ramp up motivation in general, including the motivation to eat. Once a stressful episode is over, cortisol levels should fall, but if the stress doesn’t go away — or if a person’s stress response gets stuck in the “on” position — cortisol may stay elevated.” – Harvard Health Publications

The Feels

This one gets made fun of a lot by modern media but remains a very serious problem for millions upon millions of people across the world. We often tend to eat away our problems in the hopes that our problems don’t eat away at us.

“Emotions are a common eating trigger. Happy? You might eat a treat to celebrate. Sad? You might eat to soothe yourself with comfort food. Angry? You might take it out with a fork instead of the person who really caused it. But if you turn to food for emotional reasons, you won’t resolve the underlying issues.”–Sparkpeople

As the quote mentioned, eating may sooth for the moment but will rarely fix problems in the long run.

The list goes on. People crave food when they see others eating it, when every day is considered a “special occasion”, when they want to reward themselves and much more. Below are a few ways to keep the cookie monster under your bed and out of your diet plan.

GET IT OUT!!!!

One of the best ways to avoid succumbing to cravings is to make sure there’s no junk food in the house. For example, I am much more likely to wander to the cupboard  in search of chips than to wander to the grocery store.  As a minor (at least for three more days) I know that we do not always have control of the things our parents decided to buy or not to buy. However, if it is at all in your power, I would suggest removing the temptation as far away as possible.

Mini snacks and proportions

Grab a handful of nuts, a bowl of berries or a cheese stick, anything to hinder junk food cravings. Remember to keep the proportions of these foods reasonable as well. Even too much of a good thing can be unhealthy.  Instead of taking the whole bag of nuts, grab a bowel or better yet a handful.

Drink water or Tea

Feel snacky but aren’t hungry? You may just be thirsty. Take a few sips of water or make a hot tea. Regardless, the liquid will fill your stomach and make you less likely to consume a whole bag of chips.  Plus you will reap the endless benefits of being fully hydrated.

Change the pace

If a person really is eating because they are bored or stressed out, it may be beneficial to find a different coping mechanism. Go for a walk for 15 minutes instead of spending it staring into the refrigerator glow. Listen to some music, take a cat nap or stretch a bit.

Big Picture

When the big picture is in mind a little bite of something or another seems less attractive. Ask whether the momentary gratification of the snack is worth it. The objective here is to desire the goal more than the snack.  View the snack as a step backwards and the refusal to eat it as a step forwards.

Regardless of your toleration of the cookie monster, remember to listen to your body. If you truly are hungry, meet that need. However, if snaking has become an addiction try some of these techniques.

The choice is yours. Will you be nutty about health?

For last weeks installment read Health Nut: How to derail a train in five easy steps.

This writer can be reached via Twitter:@skylerklee and via Email: Skyler Lee.