Effectively Changing your Cravings

The Changing of the Buds

When I was a kid, like many children, my favorite food was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I loved opening a new bag of white bread and then spreading liberal amounts of both peanut butter and jelly of jam on either side. While I still love eating peanut butter and jelly I no longer like the white bread. I have heard it said that as a person grow older their taste buds change. I think there is some merit to that idea, but I also think that we have more power of the how our taste buds change than we think.

Until I recognized the truth of the story above in my own life I couldn’t understand how and why people could eat and love some foods.  My wife and I have raised our kids, almost exclusively on whole wheat bread, and when given a choice they choose wheat. 2 years ago I started using spinach on my sandwiches as subway instead of lettuce. Now, I didn’t particularly like spinach, but I knew it was more nutritious for me so I made the switch. I prefer the spinach now.

You can do the same thing, but don’t overdo things. Select a few foods that you know would be good to replace, like maybe soda. Changing that one thing in your life will change how you feel and look faster than any other thing. In fact if you simply started drinking water in place of anything else, you will start to feel better and lose weight. Another idea is start eating carrots instead of chips. Making small changes like this will help you in your quest for a fitter body.

I was recently talking to a friend and he was talking about some of the foods he eats, which are very healthy, and he said that he doesn’t enjoy a lot of foods that mainstream America eats. He has effectively changed his taste buds to the point that he craves healthy foods. This is the goal, but it requires consistently making good decisions until they are a habit. It requires a support system that is willing to change with you. But you can do it. I know you can.

“Leopards don’t change their spots, so it’s a good thing we are humans because they change every day.”