Chocolate, bread, cookies, steak, french fries, candy, ice cream, it really doesn't matter what you crave. The important thing is to understand why you crave and what you crave. Most people believe cravings are a problem, but I have a different perspective. Once we realize that the body is a reliable bio-computer that never makes mistakes, it’s much easier to conclude that cravings are critical pieces of information that help you understand what your body needs.

My Personal Struggle With Sweets

I’ve been craving sweets since I was a child, especially chocolates, that perfect sweetness, sour and nutty taste. I noticed that on Sunday afternoons, after working at this restaurant that I used to serve all week, my body needed more sugar than any other day, like a voice in my mind telling me to stop at the store on my way home and spend all the tips I made.

As I watched myself eating these sweets (cupcakes, snickers, nutella, brownies, chocolate chip cookies and more), I thought, between delicious bites “What’s wrong with me? What am I doing that might trigger such a big craving?”

At that time, I was working two jobs, many hours a week, eating food from these two places, drinking coffee throughout the day to keep myself active, sleeping around 5 hours at night and exercising once or twice because of “lack of time”. I noticed weight gain, fatigue, breakouts and low self-esteem.

Trust your crazy cravings, pause for a moment and wonder, “What’s really going on here?”

How I Stopped My Crazy Sweet Cravings:

One day, after the feeling of guilt and shame for eating “my sweet treats”, I remember recording a video of myself and promising to start cooking more at home, go back to my workout routines again, drink more water, and take care of my health.

I started investigating health and cravings and paid more attention to the food I was having, when and why I was eating it.

In my meals, I started to implement vegetables that they didn’t make at work, such as sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, and beets. Grains and fruits. I tried organic dark chocolate as a substitute for commercial candy bars, and hot tea instead of those 2 extra cups of coffee I was consuming a day.

Long work hours can be stressful, and the fact that I was having these cravings on Sundays indicated that I was using these sweets as a reward or de-stressor after working all week.

A few weeks of making these changes, cravings passed, and my days of sweet binges ended. Of course I still look forward to a few bites every once in a while, but the days of going to the store just for that are long gone. By observing my own behavior and trusting that my body needed something from the chocolate, I was able to modify my diet and lifestyle to get what I need in a more health-supportive way.

I think cravings are important messages from your body, not weakness. They are one of the most natural ways our body speaks to us about what we need and how to stay in balance.