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"&amp;quot;Cravings&amp;quot; are usually associated with being &amp;quot;bad&amp;quot;&amp;amp;#8212;you know, whole pints of ice cream and cookie dough. But according to natural chef Pooja Mottl&amp;amp;#8212;who&amp;#x27;s also the author of The 3-Day Reset: Restore Your Cravings for Healthy Foods in Three Easy, Empowering Days&amp;amp;#8212;cravings are not just totally normal...they can also be good. &amp;quot;Our bodies our biologically hardwired to seek out certain tastes such as sweet and fat,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;But the right kinds of sweet and fat&amp;amp;#8212;the kind in whole foods, like sweetness from fresh, ripe fruits, and fat from things like nuts, seeds, and meat or poultry from pasture-raised sources&amp;amp;#8212;are good. They serve as signals telling us what our body needs to survive and thrive.&amp;quot; She says cravings are complex things though.They come from more than genetics or being stressed out&amp;amp;#8212;an imbalanced diet and eating processed foods can also come into play. But the benefits of making the switch between &amp;quot;unhealthy&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;healthy&amp;quot; cravings can come with tons of benefits. &amp;quot;You will feel more balanced, you&amp;amp;#8217;ll have more energy, you&amp;amp;#8217;ll sleep better, and you&amp;amp;#8217;ll lose weight faster and maintain a healthy weight more easily,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;On a more global level, craving healthy foods will increase your quality of life, your productivity, your happiness, and your longevity.&amp;quot; With that in mind, Pooja has these five steps to making the switch! 1: Ditch processed foods from your diet as much as you can. &amp;quot;At least 80 percent of the foods you eat shouldn&amp;#x27;t be from a box, package, or even restaurant food (which tends to be high in refined, processed ingredients like sugars and salt),&amp;quot; she says. 2: Fuel your body with whole, fresh, minimally processed foods and drinks. Avoid foods that are high in refined sugars and salt; look for these words on your foods&amp;#x27; ingredient list and avoid them: corn-syrup solids, dextrose, fructose, crystalline fructose, glucose, sucrose, evaporated cane juice, fruit juice concentrates, demerara. 3: Start cooking more meals. &amp;quot;The more you cook, the fewer processed foods you will eat,&amp;quot; she says&amp;amp;#8212;and the less you will crave them. 4: Get more sleep. Studies have linked a lack of sleep to increased cravings for sugary, fatty, junky foods. 5: &amp;quot;Start a meditation practice,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot; At least 5 to 10 minutes once a day, gradually increasing to 20 minutes per day.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;It&amp;amp;#8217;s important to realize that we&amp;amp;#8217;re biologically set up to crave healthy, whole foods&amp;amp;#8212;that&amp;amp;#8217;s what are body wants so desperately to do!&amp;quot; Pooja says. &amp;quot;We just have to give it the opportunity. We have to try our best to avoid all the processed food and &amp;#x27;fake healthy&amp;#x27; food (processed energy bars, smoothies, yogurts, and so on) that surround us on a daily basis and give our bodies the chance to yearn for the foods that truly nourish.&amp;quot; What do you think of these tips? What healthy foods do you find yourself craving?"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2014/05/crave-healthy-foods>