Whether your carb craving is for salty foods, sweet sugary foods or cheesy/creamy foods, they can totally derail your progress on a keto diet if you don’t have a strategy to banish them.
I share my best tips for how to stop Keto Carb Cravings ruling your life and get your weight loss fired up.
Do you know what the #1 reason people struggle with sticking to healthy habits on a ketogenic diet?
….Well, it is because of the intensity of our carb cravings.
Manufactured foods, (yes, even “healthy keto” ones) are literally designed to be addictive to us with all kinds of chemicals, artificial sweeteners, and additives.
It’s natural that cravings are going to arise. The good news is that the more you eat healthy foods that came directly from the Earth (and not boxes and bags), the more the cravings subside.
5 WAYS TO NAVIGATE CARB CRAVINGS ON A KETOGENIC DIET
When you first start a keto or low-carb diet, carb cravings are one of the MAJOR problems that you need to deal with.
So, today I wanted to share 5 ways that I personally navigate carb cravings so I can stay on track with keto, as my motivation starts to wobble…
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Create space in your plan for the types of foods you love
What type of carbohydrates do you miss the most? Do you crave salty foods, sweet foods or cheesy/creamy foods. Or all of the above!!
Make sure your meal plan includes those foods or recipes so you don’t start to feel deprived.
For example…
…sweet foods, make some delicious fat bombs so you can enjoy one after dinner like these Dark Chocolate Nut Fat Bombs
For salty foods, plan to have some salted macadamias and olives as a snack.
For cheese/creamy foods, make sure you’ve got a meal with cheese or cream planned such as:
Or a recipe that uses coconut cream if you’re dairy sensitive.
Not depriving yourself is actually the key to staying on track with keto
– the delicious food you can eat on keto is most likely what got you interested in the first place…
So don’t start going all low-fat on me here!!
Enjoy what you came for!
Make a Low-carb cheeseboard -
Check your portions
This is important for those foods we crave:
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salty
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sweet
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cheese/cream
It’s very easy to overdo them and eat a whole batch of sweet fat bombs or go crazy on the nuts or cheese when we feel a carb craving come on.
These are typically foods that we need to enjoy in moderation on keto or we’ll go over on our carb allowance for the day without realizing.
When you first start keto, we have insane cravings to manage but as you get into the state of ketosis and you’re body is burning fat for fuel, you’ll find cravings reduce dramatically (and the rainbows start appearing…)
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Don’t bring your trigger foods into your home at all.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that this is difficult if you have family, but try to STOP having high-carb/sugary foods that you are avoiding in the house at all.
We eat with our eyes so if you don’t see a packet of potato chips, you won’t even be thinking about them!
Over the years, I have gradually got rid of a lot of unhealthy foods in our house. At first I worried that the kids would complain and they did at first but I was A.M.A.Z.E.D. at how easy it was to get rid of things like cookies, fruit juice and lollies. They literally just forgot about it and ate what was available!
If it’s not available as cravings arise, I PROMISE you those intense cravings will pass and you’ll get past them with ease because you couldn’t just run to the pantry and grab something.
So, don’t be afraid to make some changes in your household!
Strawberries are a keto-friendly fruit -
Actually experience eating
I know this sounds weird but so many of us eat in distraction whether it’s in front of the TV, while driving or scrolling through our Facebook feed. Yep…we all do it.
You can eat hundreds of calories without paying attention or even enjoying any of it. Sitting down and paying attention to your foods and enjoying every bite is a great way to indulge and actually appreciate it!
Now, the keto diet is NOT focused on calories BUT we still need to be mindful of them. Eating too many calories can absolutely prevent weight loss. You want your body to dip into fat stores and BURN ‘EM rather than just burn off the fat from our food.
Beat your chocolate cravings on keto -
Chocolate Cravings
No discussion on cravings would be complete without mention of chocolate!!!
Did you know that craving chocolate can be a sign that you are magnesium deficient?
Here’s what you can do for Chocolate Cravings:
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Take a magnesium supplement with about 16oz (500ml) of water, and wait 15 minutes
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Or eat more magnesium (leafy greens, 10 almonds).
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Eat a square of Lily’s Chocolate (sugar-free)
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Eat a square of 90-95% chocolate – I like Lindt
If after 15 minutes, you’re still craving that sweet taste grab a lemon wedge and bite right into it. The sourness will change your taste buds and should stop the craving.
No…I’m not kidding about that!!!
Squeeze some lemon into water can also work wonders.
★ Comment below and tell me what your most challenging craving is?
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