Cravings

While we can crave many things at different points in our lives, craving specific and sometimes weird kinds of food seem to be most common.
The dictionary lists the craving for chocolate as a prime example.

The interesting thing is where the craving comes from; in other words, what makes us experience ~ and perhaps give in to ~ this specific craving at this moment.
The two big reasons are either emotional or bio-chemical.

From an emotional perspective we may feel that we have done something, reached some point where we really should reward ourselves with this special something. Or perhaps more so feeling a sense of discontent because of not doing what we set out to do ~ failing to achieve that goal we had set for ourselves ~ and therefore we can at least console ourselves by treating ourselves to that special something…

And while the celebration aspect of emotional cravings makes perfect sense and may even be a good way to honor our accomplishments, this is far less true for the consoling part of our emotional cravings.

Looking at bio-chemical reasons, our cravings may point us in an entirely different direction.
Suddenly that instant craving for chocolate may come up because we are lacking magnesium; which is actually very often the case. Taking this further, each specific ~ even weird ~ type of food; especially when it is something we normally wouldn’t feel like eating very often, may have a distinct vitamin or mineral that our bodies may need at that very moment.

This means that whichever way we look at it, it is a good idea to pay attention to our cravings. To ask ourselves whether the reason might be emotional, and if that is true, if it is because we are very happy about something, or rather because we feel the need to console ourselves. If we need that consolation, we may want to ask ourselves if we would want to go about that in a more fundamental, or even constructive manner; for instance through asking for help dealing with it.

If our cravings do not stem from our emotions, it makes sense to observe what our cravings have to offer us from the perspective of vitamins or minerals. Is our body trying to tell us that we are lacking something? For instance, could our tiredness be caused by such a lack of a vitamin or mineral, as opposed to ‘just being busy’? And is our body itself trying to solve this situation by instigate a craving for what it so desperately needs?
If that is the case, there may also be a way to handle the situation more constructively…

Either way, when we feel we are craving something, more often than not it is a signal from our bodies that tells us to take better care of ourselves…
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