30 July 2010
What To Do If You CRAVE the Worst of the Worst
gettinghealthy asked: What should you do if you are craving some of those chemical fake foods but don’t want to eat them, even as a rare treat or something?
I thought this was the perfect companion to the previous question (and they were together in my queue, so it worked out!). Of course, eating those processed chemical ingredients once in a while isn’t going to kill you, but to me it’s easier to just avoid them altogether.
If you ARE having an uncontrollable craving for a food with one of the Worst of the Worst ingredients, here are three strategies to deal:
- Make it yourself! For example, if you want Doritos, make nachos with natural tortilla chips and a high-quality cheese. If you want french fries, start slicing potatoes. If you’re craving a DQ Blizzard, get some Five ice cream and add your own whole foods mix-ins (banana, dark chocolate chips, nuts, etc.).
- Get the “natural” version. No, those Kashi TLC cheese crackers aren’t that much better nutritionally speaking than Cheeze-Its. But they are SLIGHTLY better. And slightly is better than nothing.
- Eat it, and remind yourself why you don’t eat it. Every time I do eat one of those “chemical fake foods,” I’m reminded of why I DON’T eat them. They actually don’t taste that good! After you’ve started eating more real, whole foods, the fake stuff just doesn’t measure up. Yes, it takes a while to get to this point, but if you avoid fake food for long enough, you WILL get there.
