Week 8 – How to satisfy cravings & balance hormones

We feel guilty after eating cake, we regret eating fast food, and we live our lives constantly feeling bad about the way we are eating. 

‘I shouldn’t have eaten that’
‘I’ve had a bad week’
‘I won’t be eating like this next week’
‘I didn’t need that cake’
‘It wasn’t worth it for the calories’

It shouldn’t be this way. Try to avoid this mindset of regret, and future false promises. Instead concentrate on the now, your imperfect now.

The key to keeping the balance now and in the long term is to embrace your cravings and have healthy alternatives where possible, to ensure you feel satisfied while still being as healthy as you can.

Healthy food alternatives can also do wonders for hormone balancing. Cutting out refined sugar and flour and replacing with fibre rich foods containing protein and healthy fats can make a significant difference.

Your hormones can also ramp up your sugary cravings and a desire to drink alcohol, so it’s a vicious cycle. 

If you feel that your hormones are out of balance, i.e. if your skin flares up at a different time in your monthly cycle (for menstruating women) or if your skin flushes or has excess oil (for men and women), focus on your healthy food alternatives this week.

Challenge 15: Replace one of your unhealthy snacks with a shop bought healthy snack
– Try dried fruit and nut bars (with no added sugar)
– Swap white potato crisps for beetroot crisps with houmous
– Swap milk chocolate for dark chocolate
– Swap wheat crackers for seeded crackers

ADVANCED challenge 15: Replace one of your unhealthy snacks with a homemade healthy snack
– Make something with healthy fats, no added sugar, and high in fibre
– Prepare a batch of healthy treats (e.g. date and nut balls) and freeze them
– Remember that sweet foods can still be nutritious for your skin

Whether you crave sweet foods or savory crunchy foods, there’s often a healthy alternative out there. But if there isn’t, it’s still ok to have these foods in moderation within a healthy diet.

The all or nothing approach may be tempting, but while it’s easy to manage in the short term, it’s not realistic to carry on in the long term .

If we allow ourselves to eat ‘unhealthy’ foods occasionally without feeling guilty, we can lower our stress hormones, and feel better about ourselves. Also, let’s face it, our diets are never going to be 100% healthy, so we shouldn’t strive for this unrealistic goal.

A good way to get balance is to follow the 80:20 rule (or 90:10 rule if your skin is very sensitive to unhealthy food). If you know that you are eating super healthy food full of skin loving nutrients 80% of the time, it is absolutely fine to have the odd glass of wine or bar of chocolate 20% of the time.

Alcohol is different though, as there’s no real alternative to alcohol.

Firstly, alcohol itself can really dehydrate your skin. Your liver will also be worked hard if having several alcoholic drinks on one day. 

With alcohol, be prepared. Drinking a large glass of water before drinking alcohol and then having a glass of water with every alcoholic drink is the most effective way to keep your skin hydrated.

Also, consider the type of drink you are having. Wine and spirits in moderation may be ok for your skin, but a night filled with sugary cocktails may really aggravate your skin.

Challenge 16: Allow yourself 3 vices, to eliminate any feelings of guilt

– Print the table ‘My 3 Vices’ and fill it in

– OR complete 3 sentences starting with ‘I’m allowed and will enjoy…’ on paper

– Enjoy eating these foods and feel good about yourself

– Do not feel regret or guilt when eating these foods

ADVANCED challenge 16: Turn all of the challenges in this plan into long term healthy habits

– Print the PDF document ‘healthy habits from 16 challenges’

– Put it on your fridge door to remind you each day

– Keep up your healthy habits for healthy skin in the future

Download and print these docs:

Recipes