How to Stop Food Cravings in 3 Days (Without Restricting Food)

If you feel out of control with food, like you can’t be trusted with your cravings, it’s sabotaging your weight loss and if left to your own devices you’d eat everything in sight, this post is for you.

I know what it’s like to feel out of control with food cravings, fear letting yourself have ANYTHING you crave and dream of being like the “lucky” people who can just eat whatever they want and not worry about it.

It’s not luck, it’s a shift.

I’m going to break down how you can cut your cravings in 3 days, understand why you have them and how to move forward with this information.

And if you join my Diary, I’ll send you a workbook to do everything I’m going over in the post, completely free to you.

So follow along, be open, and let’s stop your food cravings for good!

Day 1- Understanding WHY You Have Cravings

The biggest thing you need to understand is that cravings are just your body trying to tell you something. It’s a way for your body to tell you that something isn’t right and it needs help.

Because cravings come from lack; lack of sleep, nutrition, support, love, stress, etc. 

Your body knows what it wants, but it doesn’t know how to tell you exactly what it needs. 

So in order to figure that out, you need to take an experimental approach to food.

Because with an experiment, there’s no success or failure, there’s just an outcome, and with that outcome, you get to decide what it is you want to do with it.
Do you want to keep it, do you want to toss it, do you want to try something new?
But it ultimately puts YOU back in control of your life.

And the first step in this 3 day challenge is to list out everything that you’re currently craving.

What keeps you up at night, what do you dream about?
What do you wait for that special occasion or holiday to splurge on because it’s a “good excuse” to eat it?

Whatever it is, write them down (all of this is in the workbook too so be sure to grab that HERE).

After that, I want you to do a quick check in on your life. On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being amazing, how would you rate the following things in your life?

• Sleep
• Stress
• Water Intake
• Social Life
• Movement
• Workouts

Notice how I didn’t say diets? If you want to understand why, that’s also the reason you’re reading this post!
But feel free to check out Why Diet’s Don’t Work.

And that’s it for today!

The only other thing you need to do, is purchase the food you just listed. You don’t need to get it all, but at least 1-2 meals PLUS 1-2 snacks/deserts.

Yes, all of that.

You’ll be fine.

You’re safe.

You aren’t going to fall apart and lose all your progress from one day. Remember, this is an experiment to gain information on why you have these cravings.

So since you’re getting it, let’s dive into tomorrow!

Day 2- Eat The “Bad Food” Without Fear

Now we get to the fun part! A full day of eating, relaxing and being aware.

The most I want you to do today is go on an hour walk. AT MOST!
If anything, I’d love for you to take a full day off, enjoy some time at home and eat the food you got. Unless you’re going to the restaurant to get the food, I want minimal effort today.

Why?

Because today is about experimenting and being aware. And if you’ve been silencing your body this whole time, it’s going to take some getting used to when it comes to changing this.

Remember, cravings are just your body trying to tell you something. And every craving means something.

Yes. It is that deep.

In the workbook I have a sheet from my Food Experiment journal to help you better keep track of what you’re eating and how you’re feeling.

But don’t look at this tracking sheet as anything close to a diet or calorie counting app.

The whole point of writing your food and feelings down is to better understand why certain foods make you feel a certain way, how stress, sleep and life in general can impact this, and help you become more aware of those trends.

Of course, the journal will help you find those trends over a longer period of time, but we’re just focusing on one day.

Today.

The day you have fun and eat your favorite foods.

As long as you chill, enjoy your day and make small notes, that’s all that matters.

We’ll break all that information down tomorrow.

Day 3- Understanding What YOUR Cravings Mean

So now that you’ve had your full day of fun, you may have woken up feeling a certain way today. Good or bad, I just want you to be aware of that.

The only way this whole process is going to work and bring you beneficial information is if you come into it with a neutral energy.

There’s no stress or shame associated with food. That’s a learned behavior that’s going to take time to break down and heal.

So for now, we’re going to just answer some questions. Again, all of these are in the workbook that you can get when you join the Diary.

1. Were you surprised at all with how the experiment went?
2. Were there certain foods you expected would make you feel bad but you feel fine?
3. Were certain meals or foods making you feel bad when you thought otherwise?
4. Did you notice yourself getting full sooner or at all?
5. How did you wake up feeling today, the day after eating food you aren’t allowed to/can’t eat?
6. What did you like about this experiment, what didn’t you like?
7. What mentally came up for you?
8. Was it hard physically or mentally?
9. What words or phrases, if any, came up?
10. Were the words/phrases negative, neutral or good?
11. Would you want to do this again?

All of the answers to these questions are information. It’s giving you more insight as to why you have the cravings you do.

If you felt good after eating, your cravings might mean there’s nutritional or rest lacking in your life.

If you felt bad after eating, there may be more mental and emotional lacking that needs to be addressed.

And certain foods can stand for certain things.

I’ve noticed if I’m cravings sweets, I’m not getting enough fruit or rest.

If I’m craving fatty foods, I’m missing out on healthy fats or emotional support.

Carbs are the same thing, meaning my period is coming up, I crave comfort or structure, or I’ve added to my workout and need more calories to sustain my energy.

And sometimes cravings mean nothing at all other than boredom or habit.

Next Steps To Stop Cravings For Good

Congratulations, you did it! You did the hardest part of this challenge and addressed your food cravings: you ate the food and asked questions. That’s step one in taking back control.

But now what? You’ve done the experiment and walked away with some great information to start with.

Here’s what you need to accept though. Understanding what your cravings mean and what your body is trying to tell you will take time.

You’ve spent years, if not your whole life, demonizing certain foods, feeling out of control, and blaming yourself for not being strong or dedicated enough to just silence those cravings.

You’ll need to get super close to the things that you were too scared to accept before.

And here’s how you can do that:

Start with the Food Experiment. It’s 30 days worth of tracking the general food you’re eating, how you’re feeling throughout the day and noticing certain things coming up to identify.

From there, you keep working and refining what is and isn’t working, until you get to a spot where you feel SUPER safe and confident with food.

The other option is to book a coaching call with me. In 30 minutes I’ll answer any questions you have, identify what you need to focus on first, and come up with a simple plan to put everything into action. No more guesswork or feeling along in your thoughts and feelings.

Been there, done that, and I want to help you fast track this as much as possible.

The goal is continued awareness, and just like with anything, it’s a muscle you work and get stronger at over time.

You can do hard things.

And the end result of food no longer controlling your life, is well worth the effort.