Ever found yourself craving a burger and fries and a large vanilla milkshake at 1am? Yup, been there. With summer fast approaching, the last thing you need is love handles. Next time you recognize one of the following cravings, choose one of these better alternatives:
Chocolate
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When you’re craving chocolate, your body is low on magnesium and iron. Instead of eating a whole chocolate bar, try eating nuts and seeds. Or even just dark chocolate instead. Dark chocolate has less added sugar and a rawer percentage of cocoa. Be sure to pay attention to those percentages too, those make all the difference.
Sweets
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When you get a craving for something sweet, your body is trying to tell you it needs glucose. Instead of candy, eat fruit. Grapes, apples, and cranberries contain a lot of natural sugar, and they’re tasty too.
Salty Food
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When you get the urge to devour an entire bag of potato chips, your body is really just in need of some good old fashioned sodium. Instead of potato chips, try something more green like kale chips, broccoli, seaweed snacks, and pickles. Salty doesn’t have to mean fatty.
Bread
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Who doesn’t crave garlic bread and bread sticks every once in a while? You need the amino acids, but skip the bread and have beans, nuts, seeds, oatmeal, eggs, fish, or meat instead. Eggs can be super filling and not only add amino acids, but protein and healthy fats too.
Greasy/Fried Food
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It’s kind of a given that once in awhile you’ll hit up the nearest McDonald’s drive through and grab yourself a fat filled Big Mac and a side of large fries. But before you roll up to that window, think for a minute. Your body probably needs good fats. Instead of devouring thousands of calories in a burger and fries, stay home and eat nuts or avocado instead.
Cheese
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Cheese isn’t necessarily a bad craving. It has calcium, good fats, and a healthy amount of sodium depending on the type and serving size. Also, when you’re not eating enough calories, your body craves cheese. Cheese sticks are the correct size to give your body a little bit of cheesy lovin’. But try to avoid eating 5 cheese sticks in one sitting, and eat more balanced meals throughout the day.
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