How To Manage Holiday Cravings Without Derailing Progress

00:00Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask for you to do is if you could leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else. Instead of banning your favorite desserts, your favorite treats, you allowing yourself to have a couple pieces of candy around this holiday season, plan for them in moderation.

00:35Like I love going out with friends sometimes on weekends, and I love knowing what this restaurant offers in terms of desserts. And so if I love having that, I'm going to allow myself to have it. I'm going to allow myself to include it in my plan so I don't feel like I'm breaking the rules. And you guys can do the same exact thing. What's going on, you guys? Welcome to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikki Stott, co-founder of Warrior Babe.

01:06And on this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikki Stott. And welcome to today's episode, episode number 202, the second episode of season three. And today, my friends, I want to talk about a topic that everybody deals with, especially around this time of year. And that is cravings.

01:40And I hope that this podcast helps you guys if you are somebody that is dealing with cravings right now, especially with Halloween only a couple days away. And you maybe have Halloween candy in the house, or you're having to go buy Halloween candy. Maybe you have kids, they're bringing home candy. Candy is just lingering in your space. And you sometimes just want to put your hand into the candy bucket and take out your favorite piece of chocolate. Or maybe you're starting to go get pumpkins and you're at the orchards and they have candy apples.

02:19Maybe I am just putting the thoughts into your brain right now. We're talking about candy. Either way, we all deal with them. And they can be one of the biggest hurdles in staying consistent with your program, with your nutrition, with you reaching your goals. So today, in this episode, I want to break down what cravings are, why they happen, and most importantly, how you can leave this podcast today. And you can have some tangible takeaways and how to handle them in a way that aligns with where you're at in your journey, with your goals.

02:57And without feeling, most importantly, like restricted or guilty. Like allowing yourself, hey, like I have told you guys tens, a hundred times in maybe these episodes, or if I share it with you guys on social media, if I share it with you guys in the War Babe community, you all know that I love my Dove chocolate. Got Dove chocolate in my cabinet right now. At the end of every day, there are two or four pieces. And just allowing yourself to not feel guilty in those moments to like, hey, I can have this.

03:29And like, you know, once you allow and accept, your mind allows that and you accept it, it doesn't feel like it's restricted and you don't feel guilty actually having the piece of candy. So that's what I'm hoping you guys get out of this episode today. It's first just kind of understanding what they are. If you don't know exactly what they are, why they happen, and then most importantly, how you guys can handle them. Especially when you're craving something in like the moment. Like how can you like bring awareness to the fact that you're craving this and do something about it.

04:02Rather allow yourself to have it or like, you know, give yourself some time and space and do some certain things I'm going to share with you guys today. So first, let's just talk about like what cravings are and why they happen. So first and foremost, cravings are, they're like intense feelings or they're intense desires. You want to eat a specific type of food and they're different from like hunger because they're actually about you wanting a very specific food. Like chocolate, for example. Or have you ever had a craving where you're like, oh, I really want something salty or I want some, I want chips or I want ice cream.

04:37Rather than just wanting food in general. Like hunger is like, oh, I'm hungry. I need to have like a meal right now. Craving is like, I want chips. I want ice cream. I want a piece of pizza. I want chocolate. And craving specific, like sometimes can kind of come out of nowhere. And sometimes they can really get in the way of like the best intentions that you have for yourself in the day. Like especially like at the end of the day. Have you ever noticed like you have a specific desire for a set type of food like chips or ice cream or chocolate?

05:12And then, but you just had an amazing day of following like you went to the gym. You ate well. You stayed hydrated. You stayed hydrated. But then all of a sudden, at the end of the day, you have these cravings. And it can sometimes derail the fact that you just had and set out on an incredible day for your intentions that you woke up for that day. But at the end of the day, it's like, bam, you have this type of craving. So why do they happen? One of the, I feel like the biggest reasons why they happen and what I've seen with working with hundreds of people is the emotional triggers that you get from being bored or you get from being stressed or even from being happy.

05:51Like you had a big promotion at work. And so you're like, I'm going to celebrate. And then it leads to this emotional trigger of going out for pizza or going out for a glass of wine or, you know, it ripple effects. Or at the end of the night of what I just talked about, it's like maybe you set out for an intentional day and you successfully did that. But now you're at home and the stress of the kids running around or the stress of maybe a conversation with your partner or maybe the stress of the day is getting to you.

06:22And so that is a point of which is an emotional trigger. And at that point, think about how many times have you been in those emotional feelings. Think about how many times you've reached for a snack because you were stressed out or because you wanted to celebrate, right? Think about the times that that's happened and how that is one of the most common triggers for cravings is emotional trigger. Another one is sometimes cravings come up because your body is missing specific nutrients.

07:00So, for example, if you're craving chocolate, it could be linked to low magnesium levels. Or if you have intense salt cravings, it might indicate that your body needs more electrolytes. So sometimes it's not always the case, but it's something to be aware of. Maybe the one that I've always noticed the most when I'm working with women is at the end of the day, these cravings are coming on because maybe you didn't give your body enough of what it needed throughout the day.

07:33And that's enough, or I should say enough like of one of the macronutrients that you needed throughout the day and that's protein. So if you're not meeting your nutritional intake of the macronutrient protein, which helps you to stay fuller longer, it helps to regulate your blood sugar, then you'll notice at the end of the day that you're feeling hungrier and hungrier. And then these cravings are going to creep in and this is because you didn't give your body what it specifically needed in terms of protein.

08:04Another one is patterns, like habitual patterns, like linking to routines. So maybe like you always snack at 3 p.m. or you crave something sweet after dinner because that's what you're used to doing. And so your brain forms these patterns and over time they become habits and that can be really hard to break. So you either snack at 3 p.m. because that's something that you've always done or you have a sweet. Like how many of you guys go out to dinner and you're like, oh, I have to have dessert, right? I'm sometimes guilty of that.

08:35Whenever I go out and enjoy dinner with friends, I'm like, oh, we have to get it. We have to look at the dessert menu because I want something sweet. I am someone you guys know from or if you don't know, I came from the biggest sweet tooth and I still have it. I just know how to control it a little bit more. And then I also allow myself, like I said, with the Dove chocolate or if I'm out with friends, I allow my mind to accept the fact that I'm going to indulge in this. I'm going to talk about that in a little bit. So you just being, you know, at the end of the day, after you have dinner, maybe you're about to sit down and watch TV with your family.

09:09It's just in that moment, you typically have something sweet. And so you form this pattern. You form this behavior. You form this habit. You're so used to doing it. And sometimes that can be really hard to break. Another way that they happen is through if you're restricted dieting. That's like one of the second to the emotional trigger. But one of the biggest causes of cravings is you just over restricting yourself. And when you cut out entire food groups or you're severely limiting your calorie intake on the day, your body is going to crave what's off limits.

09:45It's like me telling you nothing about a pink elephant right now. What are you thinking about a pink elephant? If you're telling your body and cutting out specific food groups or you're telling your body that you can't have these specific things, your body is going to crave what it cannot have and what's off limits. So. Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control. If you're feeling frustrated with body fat and muscle loss.

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10:53That's WarriorBabe.com forward slash apply. All right. Let's get back to the show. Think about that because those are ways that this these cravings are brought on and why they happen. And maybe you found yourself in those specific situations or circumstances or emotions or feelings. And now I just want to be able to like help you to be aware of them when you're in them next because now you understand maybe when you go to snack at 3 p.m.

11:25If you remember me talking about this right now and I'm in your brain and you're aware of this conversation that we're having, then hopefully in that moment you can stop in your tracks. And then I'm going to give you some tangible takeaways of what you can do in that moment in a little bit. Or if you're stressed and bored at the end of the night, maybe and hopefully if you remember from this conversation, you can bring awareness to the situation. Because guys, we all operate. The majority of our day is spent in our subconscious brain. Like 95% of our actions in a day are spent in the subconscious mind.

11:595% of them are conscious. So you've already, all of the subconscious is what you programmed from the day before, from the week before, from the month before, from the habits that you created 10 years ago. So it's really hard to kind of like snap yourself out of it and bring awareness into a moment when you're in a pattern of stress or you're in a feeling of stress or you're in a pattern of after 3 p.m. I eat this or I have this sweet because it's just what I'm used to doing. It's hard to break that pattern. But I want you guys from this conversation that we're having to bring awareness to those situations because that's how you're going to be able to handle them essentially.

12:35So a couple of ideas. Not ideas, but just to continue on this conversation that I want to give you some practical strategies and how you can start using today how to manage cravings. Since you already know why they're happening, right? This is why they're happening. I want to talk about how you can handle them now. So one is like making sure that you are giving your body what it needs throughout the day. Like if you're constantly battling cravings, it might be a sign that your meals aren't well balanced.

13:09Like I said, like earlier, if you're not getting a good mix of protein, healthy fats, complex carbohydrates in every meal throughout the day, then that's where you're going to notice that you're battling these cravings at the end of the day. Because like I said earlier, protein is what helps to keep you full. Fats too as well. Like I didn't speak to this earlier, but fats will keep you feeling satiated and complex carbs give you sustained energy. So when your blood sugar levels are stable, you're less likely to have intense cravings.

13:41And the way to make your blood sugar stable is getting the right balance of the protein, fats, and the carbs, and not eliminating any of them. Keeping them in the right balance of what you specifically need to hit target-wise for your intake for the day. And those three macronutrients are so important. Like earlier, I talked about protein, but the three of them together are really important to just balance everything out internally. Quick break. If you're finding this episode helpful so far, it would mean a lot if you could hit pause for just a second,

14:13leave a quick rating or a review, or share it with someone who could benefit from it. Your support helps more women discover these tools to build muscle, lose fat, and feel confident. Thank you so much for being a part of this journey with me. Another thing which I think people do a lot of the time, and I actually just put this up on social media a couple weeks ago, but a way to handle cravings is like don't label foods good or bad. When you label foods good or bad, it creates an all-or-nothing mentality.

14:46And that's going to lead you to feeling guilty. It's going to lead you to when you do eat something that you perceive as bad, it's going to trigger you to have more cravings. So instead, I want you guys to just view foods as neutral. There's room for types of foods to be in your day that may be like chocolate. Like if you can have that in your day. There's room for all types of foods when you're having a balanced approach to it. So when you stop like almost like demonizing certain foods, then they lose power over you.

15:23So if you just view foods as neutral, chocolate's neutral, a piece of pizza's neutral, protein, chicken, it's neutral, then you're not labeling it as something. And so there's room for all of what I just said if you're allowing yourself to have a balanced approach. And so that brings me into the next one of how you guys can handle cravings. What I kind of mentioned earlier is like plan for your indulgences. Like depriving yourself completely will backfire.

15:56Instead of banning your favorite desserts, your favorite treats, you allowing yourself to have a couple pieces of candy around this holiday season, plan for them in moderation. Like if you love like I love going out on with friends sometimes on weekends, or even weekdays. And I love knowing what this restaurant offers in terms of desserts. And so if I love having that, I'm going to allow myself to have it. I'm going to allow myself to include it in my plan. So I don't feel like I'm breaking the rules.

16:26And you guys can do the same exact thing. When you plan for these types of indulgences, you can actually enjoy them without feeling like you failed or like you've given up or like you lost control. Again, there's room for all types of foods in a balanced, well-approached, good mindset. I don't even want to call it a diet because diet is such a, it has such a pull on a lot of people. But if you stop, just look at everything as neutral. And then also allow yourself to plan for these indulgences.

16:59But don't like, don't then like if you had, this is where you got to catch yourself. Maybe this is totally a whole nother topic of discussion that would lead for a whole nother podcast. But the mindset that comes from after having an indulgence is like, again, you got to be kind to yourself and give yourself grace. And know that you plan for this and not allow yourself to feel like you've lost control or failed. It's like more of a mindset thing. Like you can't go in the next day and then be like, oh, I got to, you know, go work out hard. And I got to go run a marathon or I got to go run like five miles because I just had this for dinner last night.

17:32That's not, that's not being successful. And you actually planning for these indulgences, you're still beating yourself up afterwards. And you're still acting as if you lost control. So in order to do that, right, again, I think this is like a whole entire topic for a whole nother conversation. But that's like if you do it the right way, you're allowed, you feel at ease with it. And you feel like you actually have control over the situation and that you didn't lose your power over the situation. So those are a couple ways of which you can handle cravings.

18:04Now that you know why they happen, we talked about earlier. Now you know how to handle them. But now like let's talk about it because like in the moment, right, that if you're a 3PMer and you're so used to having something sweet at that time, or you have dinner and you're so used to having something sweet afterwards. But like you want to like learn how to control the craving in the moment and you be, you be in control rather than the craving being in control. These are two things that you can do. Number one, give yourself the 10 minute, a 10 minute rule.

18:35When you create, when you have a craving, say it's 3PM, wait 10 minutes before actually acting on it. And during those 10 minutes, distract yourself with something else. Go take a walk, which walking is also another way. It's a non-food way of coping with your emotions. It's getting outside, it's journaling, calling a friend, taking a walk, doing something that's going to distract you from the craving. Drinking a glass of water, which is going to be my second thing that I would say for you guys to do in the moment, right? Or just finishing something up that you're doing at work.

19:08If you find yourself still at work at 3PM. Often those cravings pass if you give yourself time to think and pause before reacting to the craving. So I call that the 10 minute rule. 10 minutes, just give yourself 10 minutes. Like you have a craving? Cool. Your awareness is on the craving. All right. You see it. You hear it. You feel it. You smell it. You sense it. Okay. 10 minutes. 10 minutes. Stop watch. Pull your phone. Give yourself 10 minutes. Go distract yourself. Go do something.

19:38Then probably most likely it's going to pass. That's awesome. You're going to forget that you've had that craving at 3PM. The second thing I would say that you can do is drink water. Sometimes we confuse, which it's the same control in our brain. Thirsts with hunger or cravings. So when a craving hits, go drink a glass of water and see if it subsides. If you're still craving something afterwards, after a few minutes, then you can make a more

20:12informed decision about whether or not you want or need or whether you should indulge. Okay. So those are just a few strategies of which I can offer you guys when you're in the moment. You recognize you're bringing awareness to the craving. You are feeling some type of way, whether or not be your 3PM or the thing after dinner. But again, maybe you're stressed, you're bored, and your emotions are triggering it. Or you're recognizing why they're happening, which I talked about earlier, which was the emotional trigger.

20:45It was you being in a habitual pattern. It was maybe your restrictive dieting. And you know your restrictive dieting. You're not eating enough. And so then you're on top of the restrictive dieting. Your body's not getting enough of the nutrients that it needs. So these cravings are happening. So in the moment, do those two things. A 10-minute roll and drink water first. And all in all to say, like everything that I'm sharing with you guys here, is the goal is not to eliminate cravings entirely. Like that's entirely unrealistic. Instead, it's about building a healthier relationship with food

21:17and learning to manage cravings in a way that supports you and your goals. Cravings are a 100% normal part of life, a normal part of the journey that you're on. Like I still today have cravings. But it's about handling them in a way that means that you're not feeling guilty or that you feel like you're out of control. Or it's just a balanced approach. Like again, like things are neutral. And like if you have a craving and then like the craving doesn't go away and you allow yourself to have a piece of candy in the next couple of days, weeks,

21:47or maybe that's already been you because of the holidays. It's just like the mindset of which you have behind it. It's like, okay, cool. I'm having a piece of chocolate. All right, whatever. It's not going to fuck me up. But like, and then you get back to it. It's a normal part of it. So if you can approach, this is what I would recommend you guys do. If you can approach cravings with more curiosity instead of judgment, then you can start to understand them better and make decisions that aren't aligned with your journey without feeling deprived.

22:22And like, remember a craving doesn't define you and indulging once in a while isn't going to derail your progress. Let you control the cravings. Don't let the cravings control you. And if like, I know that's easier said than done, especially at some parts of whatever, wherever you guys are at in your journey. But I can promise you, like, if you can get through what we talked about today and more so along the mindset aspect of it as well, you will be, you will recognize that you are more in control of it

22:54than you are allowing the food to be in control of you. And so again, like to sum it all up, like cravings are an absolute normal part of your journey that you are on. And they're not something that you should fear or you should feel guilty about. They're simply just a signal from your body and or your mind. And by understanding why these cravings are happening, by being curious about them, by bringing awareness to them and using the strategies that we talked about here, how to handle them, you can stay on track with where you want to go

23:26and where you are going with your journey, with your fitness journey, with your nutrition journey, and just without feeling like you're constantly fighting against yourself. Welcome cravings. Honor cravings. Bring awareness to cravings. Be curious about the cravings. Why am I having this craving? What is happening in my external reality that is bringing me to have this craving? Cool. I have awareness to it. I'm curious about it. I don't have any judgment about it. I'm just super curious about it. And then you're going to act better and be more aligned with like taking the next steps

24:01and you're responding instead of reacting in this moment. And then the more that you do that, that's how you rewire these habits, these thoughts, and these feelings to be more supportive of, be more supportive for you in your journey. All right, guys. So I hope this was helpful. I know the holidays are coming up. I saved this one specifically for this episode to air right before Halloween. It should. And then also this can carry on through the Thanksgiving holiday,

24:35the Christmas holiday. Like there's going to be, this is a time of year where food is the loudest. It's in our space the most. Our social occasions are in our space the most. Our family interactions, the Halloween candy, the desserts that are coming with Thanksgiving, Christmas. Like it's here. This is a time of year. And so I would just want to give you guys this information and this understanding and this awareness of cravings and like just like, I'm hoping that's going to be able to help you guys

25:07in the next couple of months. Truly. All right. So hope you guys enjoyed it. Thank you. Again, if you guys have a second, please go find the way that you can leave a review for the whole podcast show. I would really appreciate it. I read every single one of them. And then those reviews not only help this show, but they also help other women to find this show and to listen to the show. So I am one person, but you guys are many. And I lean on your guys first. I lean on your guys' support

25:38to be able to spread this show to other people. All right. So I thank you guys so much in advance for your reviews. And I will see you next time. Peace out. Hey, really quick before you go, I have one small favor to ask. If this episode brought you value or sparked something in you, take just a moment to hit that review button. Your rating and review make all of the difference, helping more women discover the tools they need to transform the fitness

26:08and their confidence. It takes less than a minute, but it can change the path of someone else's journey. Thank you so much for leaving that review. I appreciate you so much.

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