Title:

# Change What You Crave By Changing How You Think: The 5 Step Mental Method

Word Count:
799

Summary:
Are cravings controlling your eating habits? Well, they don't have to anymore.
Cravings are overated. Learn how to use your mind to change what you crave. You
will lose weight.

Keywords:
Diet Programs, natural weight loss, easy weight loss, help losing weight, health
weight loss diet, weight loss help, best weight loss program, weight loss
motivation, diets that work

Article Body:
If I were to ask you which foods temp you, most likely they wouldn�t be ones that
are very healthy. I bet they would be ice cream, potato chips, pizza, or something
along those lines. In fact, in your mind right now as you�re reading, you are
probably thinking about a food that isn�t healthy. Well, aren�t you? Stop for a
moment and think about it������.. The point I�m going to make in this article is
that you can change what you crave by changing how you think.

Every new client that comes to my office for weight-loss has a �craving problem.�
But I don�t see it as a problem at all. I see it as a solution. Cravings are over-
rated. They are hodge-podge and we don�t have to be controlled by them. We don�t
have to feel temped by ice cream, cookies or 20-ounce prime ribs. Instead, we can
be tempted by watermelon, pineapple, oranges or apples; foods like that. Think that
sounds crazy? Well it isn�t and you�ll see why.

When I first sit down and talk with a client about their eating habits, I gather
everything I need to know about exactly what they eat and how they eat. The culprit
to their weight problem always boils down to snacking, picking, eating foods that
are unhealthy or just plain over-eating. Then I�ll ask them what fruits and
vegetables they like. I�m yet to come across someone who hates fruit or hates every
vegetable under the sun. Finally I�ll ask them how often they eat fruits or
vegetables and it�s always a lot less often than the unhealthy stuff.

After I�ve gathered my arsenal of information, we do our thing. I�ll have my

clients lay back in my recliner and close their eyes. I�ll direct their mind to a
peaceful place, and within minutes they�ll be relaxed like never before. Then I
start talking about their favorite fruits and vegetables. I�ll ask them to imagine
taking a bite of their favorite juicy, ripe fruit and to feel the juices tickling
their taste buds. I�ll say to their mind, �from now on anytime you have a craving
for food, you will think of a juicy, ripe piece of fruit. And bingo!!! Next thing
you know these are exactly the kinds of foods they start desiring. Why? Because
anytime you close your eyes and bring yourself to a calm, relaxed place, your
subconscious mind emerges, and it is this part of the mind that controls what you
crave. Change your thoughts and you�ll change what you crave. Simple.

Let�s look at this from another perspective. Let�s say pineapple is your favorite
fruit. Now, if you were sitting with me right now and I gave you a juicy chunk of
it, you would enjoy it thoroughly. And you�d want more, right? Of course. Now,
let�s say I reached into my refrigerator, whipped-out a piece of chocolate cake and
said, �choose one.� Most likely you would opt for the pineapple because you just
had a teaser-piece, which would make your mind want more. The fact of the matter is
this: you enjoy your favorite fruits just as much as you enjoy your favorite junk
foods, you just believe otherwise.

Again, cravings are over-rated. The mere mention of that devilish word always seems
to conjures-up images of high calorie, high fat foods only because these are the
foods you are most exposed to in our media driven world. Your subconscious gets
accustomed to this and just doesn�t know any better. Change your minds images and
you�ll change your cravings. Here�s a quick 5 minute mental exercise you can begin
doing now to help you start changing the way you crave food.

Step 1: Find a comfortable, quiet place where there are no distractions. Begin
breathing deeply until you are quite relaxed. Next, count backwards from 10-1,
slowly. With each count, imagine that your mind is drifting deeper and deeper.

Step 2: After you have finished counting, imagine that you are relaxing by yourself
in your favorite place. A secluded beach or a log in the woods will do the trick.
Imagine yourself feeling so very relaxed and peaceful.

Step 3: Next, imagine a basket full of your favorite fresh picked fruit sitting
right next to you. See it clearly in your mind, the color, the feel, everything
about that fruit. Imagine taking a bite of that juicy fruit and enjoying it like
never before.

Step 4: Repeat the following suggestion to yourself 10 times: �From now on, anytime
I think of eating, I immediately feel a craving for fruit.�

Step 5: Count from 1 to 5, slowly, and when you reach 5 open your eyes.