Ok so I came across a food craving related snippet from a book that was on a random magazine at the doctors that basically described embracing food cravings when they show up;

I cant remember exactly what it said but the main gist was -

When you get a food craving don't panic and run for the refrigerator or sweet stash in the kitchen. Just hang back a second and feel the physicality of the craving. Kind of embrace the feeling of that empty stomach or bout of anxiety or whatever it is you are feeling that got you to this place.

Sounds simple enough but damn! Its actually very hard to catch yourself within the first, say 2 minutes of that crave panic. I tried it last week - and the craving went after about 5 minutes. It felt like a massive mind battle with my impulsive head and well, the less impulsive part of my head!

I came away from that knowing that whatever I was about to eat was absolutely not going to help me feel better in anyway. I also felt pretty in control which felt mildly good but not ecstatically so.

I have to admit I haven't done the embrace thing since and to be honest, I haven't got a good reason as to why. I guess the impulsive part of me won many times over without a fight.

Writing this is actually quite therapeutic and I'm actually looking forward to the next time I get one so I can try pausing for a second and embracing again.

Has anyone else done this kind of thing? Also, any ideas which books or places strategies like this are talked about?

D