3 ways to outsurf your food cravings

We are surely smarter than the food cravings that consume us -- right? Right, say the experts at Ladies Home Journal, who offer these three strategies for surfing through the toughest of temptations.

• Get a handle on your emotions. Determine why you crave -- is it stress, depression, anxiety, or boredom that drives your desires? Figure it out and then reach for a pen and paper and pour your heart out with words, not chips and dips. Or outwit your cravings with yoga, deep breathing, or meditation.
• Find alternative foods. Have healthy foods on hand so you can re-route your reach from cookies to a cup of fruit. Eating something healthy can take the edge off a craving.
• Time your cravings. When do they occur? Just after breakfast? Might mean you aren't eating enough first thing in the morning. Do they happen while strolling the aisles in our supermarket? Might need to fill your tummy before you head to the store.
  
  

Cravings are often sudden and tough to resist. I know. Armed with these few tactics for tricking them, though, we might be able to keep them at bay. Think of it as urge surfing, says Kelly Brownell, PhD, director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders, in New Haven, Connecticut. Cravings are like waves -- they start out small, gain in strength, crest, and then subside. The key is staying strong through the peak so you can outlast it.