HOUSTON – Spending more time at home for a lot of us can quickly impact our diet and eating habits.

Having tempting foods nearby can certainly make it tough to snack mindfully.

We decided to call in reinforcement to help us curb our cravings with healthier options.

New York Times bestselling author and health and fitness expert Dr. Ian Smith breaks it all down.

CRUSHING YOUR CRAVINGS - PRO TIPS

Cravings have an expiration date: Wait them out and they will pass

Believe in yourself: You must believe that regardless of how deep & forceful the craving, you’ll be better off by not giving into it

Understand which types of diets result in more cravings, (diets with less variety are more likely to result in cravings)

CRAVING SWAPS

*These are healthier options that allow us to satisfy our cravings

without having to resort to highly processed, high calorie foods*

CRAVING: SWEETS

*Top 5 substitutions*

Fruit (mangoes, pineapple, grapes, berries) Dark chocolate (contains more than 70% cocoa) Raw broccoli and hummus Frozen chocolate bananas Baked apple (stuffed with nuts or oats)

CRAVING: SALTY

*Top 5 substitutions*

Sea salt crackers and nut butter Diced watermelon with crumbled feta cheese and balsamic vinegar Dill pickles Edamame with a light sprinkle of sea salt Sesame seaweed snacks

ACTION PLAN

List your most common cravings List the most common circumstances and/or times you seem to get your cravings Decide on 3 strategies you will try at first to crush your craving Keep the unhealthy foods you crave out of your house and out of reach Spend an entire week eating every meal mindfully For a week, keep a craving journal. Record the food craved, the time, the circumstances surrounding the craving & how long it lasted Stock your kitchen with craving swaps

Dr. Ian has released his new book, “Mind Over Weight: Curb Cravings, Find Motivation and Hit Your Number in 7 Simple Steps”.

Every day of every year, thousands of people start some type of weight loss/transformation journey. There are millions of diet plans out there, but very few that address the key to weight-loss success: what goes on inside your head,

Now, Dr. Ian Smith, bestselling author of SHRED and the Clean & Lean series, brings us a vitally important guide to stay on track to lose weight for good: MIND OVER WEIGHT: Curb Cravings, Find Motivation, and Hit Your Number in 7 Simple Steps (St. Martin’s Press; April 7, 2020; $19.99).

While eating the right food and exercising is critical to weight loss success, MIND OVER WEIGHT helps readers win the battle by getting everything in order above the neck. It will guide readers to find their motivation, stick to a plan, and set the right goals.

An easy read with concrete steps dieters will be able to follow, each chapter ends with a takeaway action item for readers to complete, to help create an overall strategy for body and life transformation.

In a departure from his bestselling previous books, MIND OVER WEIGHT contains a plan that deals with food, exercise, and weight loss, but one that doesn’t contain an actual diet plan. What it does contain, and what needs to come before the nutrition plan, is the simple steps one can follow to get their mind in the right place. “Regardless of how good a plan might be,” says Dr. Ian, “It’s not going to be effective if someone can’t stick to it or they doubt their ability to succeed.”

A perfect companion to any diet program, MIND OVER WEIGHT will help readers maximize their adherence to a plan and ultimately, their results. Not only do these simple strategies apply to weight loss, but also to improving one’s life overall.

To connect with Dr. Ian, click here.