When you are involved with burning fat, all of the dietary and lifestyle changes you make can result in limited success unless you can recognize and then deal with the triggers that make you crave fattening foods.

Think about it…you can work your program of controlling meal time menus, reduce your snacking, drinking more water and increasing your exercise by taking a morning jog and hitting the gym for 45-minutes each day – but it can all be for not if you find yourself heading to the vending machine for a bag of chips or a package of cookies when you get stressed out at work.

Dedication to burning fat means that you become aware of the situations occuring in your life that create an emotional feeling resulting in a craving for food.

Here are some common triggers that lead people to crave unhealthy food…

1. Lack of control 
2. Feelings of stress or being overwhelmed – food can become an escape or reward
3. Anger or frustration can lead to lowering of blood sugar along with a craving for sweets or carbohydrates
4. Being bored can lead to unhealthy behaviors.  Boredom doesn’t only occur in people that are doing nothing – you could be extremely busy, but still the activities could bore you leading to unhealthy binges
5. Partying on the weekend – mixing liquor, partying and the temptation of restaurant food can lead to binges that will ruin an entire week of effort burning fat

Do you recognize any of these binge eating triggers? 

After you discover what drives you to eat unhealthy foods – try starting by limiting your intake of these foods – not cutting them out altogether.  For instance, if stress often results in you raiding the vending machine at 3PM, try bringing a small number of chips, nuts or other comfort foods in a bag so that instead of 200 calories of high-carb or sweet treats you get a quarter that amount and still satisfy your craving.

You will accomplish burning fat by improving your diet, adding more exercise to your weekly routine – but most of all, by being able to control your eating binges.

Jeff