One of the hardest things to control when you are on a diet are food cravings. Because you are already denying yourself some foods you automatically start longing for them. Have you noticed that you always crave the foods you are not allowed to eat. So what do I do to stop my cravings for the wrong foods.

The initial tactic is to avoid contact with the wrong foods and only have good food in the house. Get rid of all the foods that are not permitted on your diet from your kitchen. This makes it difficult for the family person but the diet will be a team effort anyway so they will understand.

The second thing to do is surround yourself with permitted foods that you can freely snack. For low fat type diets you can use fruit and vegetables to help you. If you were on the Atkins style diet you could have some cold meat in the fridge.

The problem of course is that will not stop you craving for the wrong foods. You may be eating something healthy like a stick of celery but your mind is focussed on cheese or bread. What you have to do is train your mind to crave the good foods instead of the bad ones.

The way to do this is first of all choose your favourite fruit. Take the humble apple. Many fruits seem humdrum and ordinary like the eating apple. What I do is say to myself that It is not just an apple. I picture it as a crunchy fresh apple with a glossy red skin that has a bright sweet tangy flavour. Can you taste that apple. By envisioning your food like this repeatedly you will begin to desire and crave good foods.

To try this with another fruit imagine a mandarin. Think of it like this. This mandarin just falls out of its peel and smells of the juice that it contains. When you eat your fresh juicy mandarin it just fills your mouth with tangy flavour. If you really cannot stop eating the wrong food you should start training your mind in this way.

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