I’ve been doing a bit of an experiment lately, which to you may not seem like much of an experiment at all. I’ve been learning to tune into my body and what it physically needs, so- only eating when I’m hungry, choosing foods that my body is asking for, and sleeping whenever I feel tired (this one I love ..and it’s a little easier for me because I work from home).
So I’ve said “screw that” to the structure of eating breakfast when I wake up, lunch at the “usual” time of 12-3pm and dinner after 6. Instead when I wake up I have a cup of herbal tea and do stuff until I feel hungry. And when I feel hungry I listen to what my body is asking for and give it what it needs.
This means I’m often eating a lot of small meals and snacky things throughout the day. But half the time I’ll eat a proper lunch and I’ll always end up eating a proper dinner. I love it this way, I feel like I’m really beginning to tune into what my body needs.
And I’m doing a similar thing with food cravings too, by working out what my body is asking for at any given time.
So if I’m craving sweet, I made a cacao banana smoothie which is sweet but still healthy. And if I’m craving carbohydrate I eat some gluten free bread or something like toast and avocado. If I’m craving savory I’ll make some eggs with Celtic sea or Himalayan crystal salt, or have something with dulse flakes (my favorite easy to use seaweed).
And most importantly, I’ll only eat until I’m satisfied. If you’re like me then you were brought up with your parents saying “Eat your dinner or go to bed” and we learned that we had to eat all our food or we’d be in trouble. It’s taken me a bit of rewiring to teach myself to only eat enough food to satisfy my hunger or craving, not fill up my belly until it feels like it’s about to explode. This can be a little tricky if the food is VERY delicious but it’s important for a healthy liver (and therefore healthy skin) to only eat until you’re just satisfied.
I believe that tuning into your body is an important way to provide your body with what it needs. Say for example that I have a meat craving. Being a vegetarian it’s likely that I’m lacking in something like iron so I therefore need to eat something high in iron or take a supplement. The craving is simply a way my body is telling me that I need to ingest more of a certain type of food.
I’ve heard that another common craving is salty foods. A lot of us don’t get enough good salts into our diet because we were raised to believe that salt is bad. Not true! In fact some salts are good for us and essential in our diet. Celtic sea and Himalayan crystal salts are two very beneficial salts that are great incorporated into your diet. So say you’re craving chips for example, it may just be that your body needs more salt. So try preparing a dish with some of those good salts I just mentioned, like gluten free toast with avocado and celtic sea salt, yum!
Really what I’m just doing is forgetting all those “rules” about when to eat and what to eat in favor of choosing to do what my body is asking for. So *shock* if I feel like drinking a big green smoothie instead of the typical Australian lunch of a sandwich, then I’ll have one! Or if I feel like cooking up a big hearty meal, I’ll do that too.
Expanding and Contracting foods
Another reason for food cravings can be the Traditional Chinese Medicine concept of “expanding” and “contracting” foods ..which is very yin and yang really.
You see, anything salty is thought of as contracting to the body, and anything sweet is thought of as expanding. This is why you often get a craving for sugary foods after you eat something salty. Great example is craving chocolate after you eat pizza. So if you’re aware of this and aware of why these cravings are occurring it can make it a lot easier to eat better and understand why your body is asking for a particular food.
So now if I crave chocolate after I’ve eaten something very salty, I’ll realize that it’s actually the sweet flavor and the expanding nature of the food that my body wants. So I’ll eat something healthy and sweet like some fruit or some raw cake instead and 99% of the time the cravings will go away instantly.
I just love this way of working with ME! And I’d love to hear what you think about it too. So write a message in the response box below and let me know what you think too.
8 responses ↓
Wow, this is a really good article Fran! And I agree with you, we should more often listen to our own bodies, eat only when we are hungry and satisfy the sweet/salty cravings but trying to satisfy them in the healthiest way possible.
I’ll try this too, but I can’t cook so it will be hard preparing things for my body’s needs. But it is weird how you can actually, if we shut up for a minute and focus, get a feel of what your body wants to eat. It’s like a friend you’re helping by giving it what it wants and not denying it. Think of your stomach like a little child filled with wisdom, who will only share it with you if you treat it properley.
This is something I need to work on more. It’s hard when I’m busy or on the go and only have a small window for “mealtime”. It does take some work to break habitual eating routines and really listen to what your body really wants or needs.
Great article. I’ve been trying to tune in to my body for a while, the only obstacle being long work hours, long driving hours to my current jobs then trying to fit in all the organisition of the other aspects of my life like research and writing my book and fitting in TV I want to watch – I’ve become very aware that my body runs almost entirely on nervous energy, and this makes me hungry, ravenous even, all the time and craving lots of carbohydrates, sugars etc.
On the maybe one day a week I have free I’ll make a point of sleeping until I’m ready to wake, then doing housework and walking to the fruit and vege shop to buy ingredients for breakfast meaning I may not even eat until 10 and I barely feel hungry at all. I assume because I have given my body a chance to rest and begin running properly.
I’m so glad someone else does this! I live with my family-in-law, and most days it’s “it’s past 10 am, why have you not eaten” or “why aren’t you clearing off your plate” or “three meals a day is best, it’s silly to snack like you do”.
I’ve just discovered over recent years that my stomach is smaller than I thought. Not on the outside, but my actual digestive stomach. I eat alot, but I eat it in small portions throughout the day. If I try to eat a “normal” dinner, I get sick, but if I snack before dinner and then snack during dinner, I feel healthier. I also, like you, listen to exactly what my body wants. As a vegetarian, I sometimes crave a big juicy steak. That’s my cue to grab a veggie burger or some beans and rice for protein. Craving chips? I grab some whole grain bread. And as for sweets, berry smoothies with a spoonful of honey laced thoughout it always does the trick.
We definitely have to change the way we were raised, eating huge portions at structured times of day. I find I can’t eat breakfast as soon as I wake up, takes me about an hour to get hungry. But I like coffee in the morning, have to work on that since I know caffeine isn’t great for me! I eat supper quite late actually, usually after 9 or even 10, so that’s probably not great but old habits die hard I suppose.
I’m vegan and NEVER ever crave meat, ugh! The idea of eating meat makes me physically sick and want to vomit actually.
haha, my fiance has forced me to try fish for him once. I almost vommited. I can’t imagine what I’d do if I actually ate a steak. But because I was raised to believe that meat is where our primary source of protein lies, my body is still adjusting to thinking otherwise.
I don’t and won’t eat meat for the sake of a healthier mind, body, and environment, and of course for the sake of the poor animals. But I do sometimes crave it when I need what little nutrition meat provides. it’s not so uncommon honey
It’s always important to have some healthy and sweet snack handy. Otherwise, I have to eat chocochip cookie after eating some salty stuff!
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