{"id":35561,"date":"2014-04-02T04:42:24","date_gmt":"2014-04-02T04:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=35561"},"modified":"2017-04-27T08:30:11","modified_gmt":"2017-04-27T13:30:11","slug":"mid-life-cravings-chocolate-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/mid-life-cravings-chocolate-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Mid-Life Cravings: The Chocolate Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"<\/a>If you are a middle-aged woman and find yourself dealing with food cravings, welcome to the club. Statistics say that just about 100% of women report regular food cravings. And unlike men, women may also experience sleep difficulties and seasonal depression. Ladies, it\u2019s not just that you have different hormones than men. Your hormones have a certain agenda and they need attention and management if you would like to get through this time of your life. You undoubtedly are craving more starch, more sugar and more chocolate than ever before. Why is this happening and how do you deal with it?<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s look into just what these cravings are and what causes them. Women have two types of cravings. There are emotionally driven cravings and biological\/hormonal driven cravings. Emotionally driven cravings include unmet needs, anger, resentment and loneliness. Two different chemicals drive biological cravings. One is serotonin, a chemical in your brain that is necessary for mood stabilization and is released in increased amounts after the consumption of carbohydrates. Seratonin helps lift your mood and calms you down. Many people suffering from depression are low on this particular chemical. The second group of chemicals is endorphins. Endorphins are also a brain chemical and are released after consuming chocolate and fat. If you have ever experienced an \u201cexercise high\u201d after doing an intense workout, the feeling you may have after consuming chocolate may be similar.<\/p>\n

When a woman reaches a stage of life where her estrogen and progesterone levels drop, there is usually a drop in serotonin causing her to turn to food in order to feel better. The foods you will most likely go for in the pantry are sugar and starches which help you get your serotonin back up, and fat and chocolate which help raise the endorphin levels. Weight control obviously becomes a big challenge when consuming these types of foods in greater quantities. For those of you that suffer from PMS, you will notice that is exactly the time you crave even more chocolate and junk food. This correlates with the fall in serotonin levels.<\/p>\n

We have all heard in recent years about the heart healthy benefits contained in bitter sweet chocolate. Bitter sweet chocolate contains polyphenols, an antioxidant, and also flavinoids. These help raise the level of HDL, good cholesterol, and cause blood vessel dilation. Both these antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties seem to play a role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease by decreasing oxidative stress and inflammation. But beware of the following statistics before you over-indulge in chocolate. Each American consumes 11.6 pounds of chocolate per year. Each Japanese consumes 4 pounds of chocolate per year. The percentage of obese women in the United States is 34% while in it is only 3% in Japan.<\/p>\n

Many women find that if they can be disciplined enough to eat a few squares of chocolate per day when they get their cravings, they can avoid the adverse effects of eating too much high calorie fatty and sugary food. If you are craving a particular food, instead of denying yourself that food, eat a very small portion of it to help you get through the craving.<\/p>\n

To find hormonal happiness make sure you eat a balanced diet of small, regular meals and snacks every day. If your cravings are emotionally or biologically driven, try exercise, yoga and hot baths as other alternatives to get through this time of you life. These will also raise your serotonin levels without consuming any calories! Know that if you are having difficulties losing weight, it is normal for a middle-aged woman. But don\u2019t get discouraged! With good healthy habits and regular exercise, you CAN lose weight even during mid-life. It might go a little slower than when you were younger, but the weight can and will come off. And remember that all of your good lifestyle habits will make life easier during and after the menopausal years.<\/p>\n

Keeping a handle on your food cravings in middle life is a very important ingredient to \u201cadd hours to your day, days to your year, and years to your life.\u201d<\/strong>
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Alan Freishtat<\/strong> is an A.C.E. CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER and a BEHAVIORAL CHANGE and WELLNESS COACH with over 19 years of professional experience. Alan is the creator and director of the \u201c10 Weeks to Health\u201d program for weight loss. He is available for private coaching sessions, consultations, assessments and personalized workout programs both in his office and by telephone and skype. Alan also lectures and gives seminars and workshops. He can be reached at\u00a002-651-8502<\/a> or 050-555-7175<\/a>, or by email at\u00a0alan@alanfitness.com<\/a> Check out the his web site \u2013www.alanfitness.com<\/a> US Line: 516-568-5027<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are a middle-aged woman and find yourself dealing with food cravings, welcome to the club. Statistics say that just about 100% of women report regular food cravings. And unlike men, women may also experience sleep difficulties and seasonal depression. Ladies, it\u2019s not just that you have different hormones than men. Your hormones have<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":35563,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-physical-health"],"yoast_head":"\nMid-Life Cravings: The Chocolate Challenge - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/mid-life-cravings-chocolate-challenge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mid-Life Cravings: The Chocolate Challenge - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you are a middle-aged woman and find yourself dealing with food cravings, welcome to the club. 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