Crazy Cravings Killing Your Health Goals?

Our bodies are amazing!  It is the perfect machine and even when treated with the least amount of care still serves us day after day.  Our bodies are the only thing we have for our whole lives from birth to death yet we treat our cars, homes, jewelry, clothes, and other materialistic things much nicer. No other man made machine could take the daily abuse of environmental toxins, chemicals, bad diets, drugs,  and alcohol and still keep going year after year.  The body is more intricate than the best computer, more resilient and durable than rubber, and runs smoother than the finest engine.  The body has its own special mechanics to keep itself in balance. There are many ways the body signals that there is an imbalance or need.  What are one of the signals?

CRAVINGS

Many people view cravings as weaknesses, but they are actually the bodies WARNING sign that something is out of balance.  I used to see this phenomenon constantly when I used to compete.  To step on the stage many women and men would spend months on a calorie deficient diet lacking the essential nutrients their bodies so desperately need to function and survive.  The body would be sending signals that were ignored until eventually after the competition they would then binge on sugary crap and other unhealthy food.  So what do you do when you experience a craving? Deconstruct it!  Ask yourself what does my body want and why?  Look at the foods, deficits, and behaviors that are the underlying cause of your cravings.  There are EIGHT primary causes of cravings.  

1. LACK OF PRIMARY FOOD 
2. WATER
3. YIN/YANG IMBALANCE
4. INSIDE COMING OUT
5. SEASONS 
6. LACK OF NUTRIENTS
7. HORMONES
8. DE-EVOLUTION

Want to know what Primary Food is? What about the other seven primary causes of cravings?  As a health coach it is my passion to teach healthy healing habits and help you find the root causes of your cravings.  I can empower your future and help you take care of the most important machine in your life: YOUR BODY. You can contact me for a Health History Consultation to discuss your dreams and goals for your future.  Email me at FitChicMelissa@gmail.com or Melissa@PlantBasedAthletes.com or call 561-578-9492 to set up your consultation.

In the table below I have include a list of common cravings and the possible missing nutrient that could be causing:

If you crave this...	What you really need is...	And here are healthy foods that have it:
Chocolate	Magnesium	Raw nuts and seeds, legumes, fruits
Sweets	Chromium	Broccoli, grapes, cheese, dried beans, calves liver, chicken
	Carbon	Fresh fruits
	Phosphorus	Chicken, beef, liver, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, legumes, grains
	Sulfur	Cranberries, horseradish, cruciferous vegetables, kale, cabbage
	Tryptophan	Cheese, liver, lamb, raisins, sweet potato, spinach
Bread, toast	Nitrogen	High protein foods: fish, meat, nuts, beans
Oily snacks, fatty foods	Calcium	Mustard and turnip greens, broccoli, kale, legumes, cheese, sesame
Coffee or tea	Phosphorous	Chicken, beef, liver, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, legumes
	Sulfur	Egg yolks, red peppers, muscle protein, garlic, onion, cruciferous vegetables
	NaCl (salt)	Sea salt, apple cider vinegar (on salad)
	Iron	Meat, fish and poultry, seaweed, greens, black cherries
Alcohol, recreational drugs	Protein	Meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, nuts
	Avenin	Granola, oatmeal
	Calcium	Mustard and turnip greens, broccoli, kale, legumes, cheese, sesame
	Glutamine	Supplement glutamine powder for withdrawal, raw cabbage juice
	Potassium	Sun-dried black olives, potato peel broth, seaweed, bitter greens
Chewing ice	Iron	Meat, fish, poultry, seaweed, greens, black cherries
Burned food	Carbon	Fresh fruits
Soda and other carbonated drinks	Calcium	Mustard and turnip greens, broccoli, kale, legumes, cheese, sesame
Salty foods	Chloride	Raw goat milk, fish, unrefined sea salt
Acid foods	Magnesium	Raw nuts and seeds, legumes, fruits
Preference for liquids rather than solids	Water	Flavor water with lemon or lime. You need 8 to 10 glasses per day.
Preference for solids rather than liquids	Water	You have been so dehydrated for so long that you have lost your thirst. Flavor water with lemon or lime. You need 8 to 10 glasses per day.
Cool drinks	Manganese	Walnuts, almonds, pecans, pineapple, blueberries
Pre-menstrual cravings	Zinc	Red meats (especially organ meats), seafood, leafy vegetables, root vegetables
General overeating	Silicon	Nuts, seeds; avoid refined starches
	Tryptophan	Cheese, liver, lamb, raisins, sweet potato, spinach
	Tyrosine	Vitamin C supplements or orange, green, red fruits and vegetables
Lack of appetite	Vitamin B1	Nuts, seeds, beans, liver and other organ meats
	Vitamin B3	Tuna, halibut, beef, chicken, turkey, pork, seeds and legumes
	Manganese	Walnuts, almonds, pecans, pineapple, blueberries
	Chloride	Raw goat milk, unrefined sea salt
Tobacco	Silicon	Nuts, seeds; avoid refined starches
	Tyrosine	Vitamin C supplements or orange, green and red fruits and vegetables

Why Weight? Diets Don't Work

Why Weight? Diets Don’t Work






You can’t turn on the TV, drive down the road or go to a party without being confronted with America’s hottest obsession: weight. Diets are a billion-dollar industry; companies spend millions and millions luring you to try the latest diet (low carb, high protein, low fat, no fat, you name it) with promises that this will (finally!) be the solution—your shortcut to a thinner body. Advertising efforts also deeply affect our children, who develop distorted body images and are often on diets as early as nine or 10 years of age.

Our culture touts diet pills, celebrity workouts, convenience foods and trendy diets to help us achieve our desired weight, but these quick-fix solutions have backfired. America’s populace has reached its highest weight in history. About half of Americans are overweight; one-third are obese. Diets steer us away from our common sense and dip deeply into our pocketbooks while eliciting few, if any, lasting results. Why?

• Diets don’t work because each person is unique, with different needs based on gender, age, ancestry and lifestyle; how could one diet be right for everyone?
• Diets don’t work because they are extreme solutions. As in physics, if a pendulum swings to one extreme, it has to swing equally to the other. A diet might work for a short amount of time, but research shows that almost all diets result in a 10-pound gain once off the diet.
• Diets don’t work because they are too restrictive. People who fail on diet plans are not flawed or weak. Diets by nature require discipline and restriction at levels that are unsustainable by a healthy human body.
• Most people are disconnected from why they gain weight and see diet as the only culprit. For example, ignoring or discounting emotions is often the first thing to cause weight imbalances.

In our fast-paced world, we have lost sight of many aspects of life that truly nourish and balance our bodies, such as slowing down, eating a home-cooked meal and spending quality time with loving people. Eating consciously and making simple lifestyle changes will create positive results and release you from the endless cycle of dieting.

Given half a chance, your body will balance out by itself, but this is only possible by getting out of the diet mentality and listening to what you truly need. Imagine taking all of the outward energy you expend on diets, fads and gimmicks and turning it inward, so that you can listen to your heart and inner wisdom. There is no such thing as a quick fix; you already have everything you need within you. With careful thought and loving reflection, you can feed yourself in a nourishing way. Working with your body rather than against it will bring you increased energy, stabilized weight and sustainable health. Want to take control of your life and stop the dieting yo-yo? Call Melissa Binkley at 561-578-9492 to schedule your session. Visit www.FitChicMelissa.com or email me at FitChicMelissa@gmail.com