What Your Food Cravings Are Trying To Tell You
Whether or not you’re on the pumpkin spice train, this time of year lends itself to delicious, warm, and cozy foods. I’m a big fan of soups, chilis, roasted veggies and hot drinks. I could easily eat nothing but pumpkin and pecan pie and be happy for the month of October.
However…while some of what we might crave during the fall and winter months is warming, satisfying, and nourishing, we’re also bombarded with all sorts of delicious foods that aren’t quite so helpful to our bodies. I’m looking at you, Christmas cookies.
This month I want to share a few ways you can start navigating cravings you might have for the not-so-healthy foods this holiday season. It’s not about deprivation or elimination. It’s about recognizing what your body is trying to tell you. And if the answer to that is to eat the pumpkin pie, go right ahead and enjoy every bite!
What you’ll read below is just a snippet from my 12-week program, The Exhausted Mom Solution. Registration for the next session is currently open, but only until October 14th, so if you’re curious, I invite you to join us!
It’s helpful to learn more about our cravings because a lot of the time the foods that we crave aren’t contributing to very good energy. So often, cravings are viewed as negative. I’d like to encourage you to start being grateful for them. Cravings are important messages that your body is sending you to help you maintain balance. So when you have cravings, I encourage you to ask yourself: “What does my body really want? What might it be trying to tell me right now?” Be curious!
Lack of Water
One cause of cravings is a simple lack of water. A lot of times dehydration manifests as hunger, so one of the best things you can do as soon as you have a craving is to drink a full glass of water. There's a general rule of thumb about how much water to drink (half your body weight in ounces each day), but you need to know your body and where you're at. You don't want to have too much water because you run the risk of flushing important nutrients out of your system…which can then cause cravings. You might be wondering, am I getting too little water or too much water?! Which is it? I encourage you to be patient, and whenever you’re starting to feel frustrated, turn it over to God. Ask Him to show you how to best care for this amazing body He's given you.
Time of Year or Seasons
Have you ever noticed that the time of year impacts the foods you might crave? We can have cravings associated with seasonal holidays, like turkey at Thanksgiving, or cookies at Christmas. Our bodies can also naturally crave foods depending on the seasons. In the spring we might crave lighter foods like leafy greens or citrus. When it’s hot in the summertime we can crave cooling foods like raw foods and ice cream. In the fall, as it gets cooler, we tend to crave grounding foods like squash, onions, and nuts. In the wintertime, we might crave warming foods like meat, oil, and fat. There isn’t necessarily a “good” or “bad” with these kinds of cravings. Sometimes it’s helpful to notice them and move on while other times we might notice them and enjoy the food we’re craving. With any craving, it’s helpful to have an awareness around it. Maybe you alter your behavior because of it and maybe you don’t. Either way, tuning into your body is always helpful.
“Inside Coming Out”
What on earth does “inside coming out” mean? This type of craving is all about foods that (1) we've recently eaten, (2) are from our family history, or (3) are from our childhood. Let's say you enjoy a piece of pumpkin pie after not having had it since Thanksgiving last year. Then for the next week, you have strong cravings for that pie. You might also crave foods you grew up with or even foods your ancestors ate. I kind of chuckle at this because I'm half Italian so when I crave pasta or bruschetta I think, “Thanks Italian ancestors!” Some of these cravings can be helpful if we’re craving nutritious foods from past generations who didn’t have all the processed foods we do today. For example, the pasta my great-grandparents ate was likely homemade and prepared with tomatoes from their garden. Craving ancestral or traditional foods is probably less common, but it's something interesting that you might want to pay attention to. Many of us have had cravings for foods from our childhood. There’s that one meal your mom always made for your birthday, your grandma’s spaghetti sauce, or the cookies your aunt only ever made at Christmastime. You might crave something from your childhood because it reminds you of a happy time. Are you feeling a lack of connection and that's why you’re craving this food that’s bringing you back to your childhood and a feeling of closeness and safety? It’s amazing what our bodies can tell us!
These causes of cravings are just three of the seven that we cover together in The Exhausted Mom Solution. If you’re curious about how to improve your health with the Lord in a stress-free and self-paced program, click below for all the info. Registration is only open for this session until October 14th so pray about it and join us if you feel so called! Click here to learn more.
