1. Eat At Regular Intervals During The Day
If you skip meals (eg. breakfast) or go too long without eating, your blood sugar levels will fall too low, which is a perfect recipe for food cravings, overeating and even binges. Allowing 3-4 hours between meals/snacks is a sensible maximum for women, although 3 hours is better. Men typically can safely wait 4-5 hours. And you don't need to eat much: even a single oat-cake can be enough between meals to keep eating urges at bay. As well as maintaining stable blood glucose levels, regular eating helps your metabolism to burn calories at an efficient rate. Finally, studies show that regular eating helps to reduce cravings associated with Pre-Menstrual Syndrome (PMS).
2. Do Not Reduce Your Calorie Intake Below A Safe Level
Diets containing fewer than 800 calories a day should ONLY be followed under medical supervision. Weight loss diets with fewer than 1000 calories are not recommended and even those with 1100 calories should only be followed for a short period of time (eg. 14-days). If you want to lose weight, aim for a minimum of 1200 calories, and choose nutrient-dense foods (with high nutritional content) rather than empty-calorie foods/drinks (eg. candy, ice-cream, regular sodas).
3. Choose Low-GI Carbs For Optimum Blood Sugar Control
During digestion, the carbohydrate in our food is converted to glucose and then absorbed into the bloodstream to provide energy. Unfortunately, certain types of refined carbohydrate (those with a high-GI value) are absorbed too quickly and raise blood sugar levels too high causing what's known as a "sugar-spike". This in turn causes the body to "overreact" and depress blood glucose levels below normal. This yo-yo effect causes all sorts of problems for our mood and appetite, and is a perfect recipe for cravings. To avoid these problems your daily diet should include more low-GI carbs and fewer high-GI ones. Eating less high-GI carbohydrate definitely helps to reduce cravings for sweet things. Here are some specific tips.
Reduce your intake of refined white flour, heavily processed or high sugar foods
Examples include: fluffy white breads/bread snacks, regular sodas, most regular breakfast cereal, sweets, candy, cookies and cakes.
Increase your intake of high-fiber foods and whole grains
Good food choices include: (1) vegetables, beans and fruit. Note: although fruit contains fruit-sugar, it comes wrapped in fiber which makes it perfectly acceptable when eaten in the form of whole fruit. Fruit juice has a higher GI-value because it contains very little fiber but all of the sugar. (2) whole grain cereals, such as oats, rye, basmati or brown rice, pasta and whole wheat breads/bread snacks.
4. Too Much Added Sugar or Salt Can Make Cravings Worse
If "healthy" foods like fruit, vegetables, beans and oats seem too bland to you, chances are your diet includes too many additives, like sugar or salt. Typically, the biggest culprits are processed or refined foods (eg. canned soup, breakfast cereal, soy sauce, candy, sweets, cakes, cookies, ice cream, regular soda). Since overconsumption of these foods can aggravate cravings, it makes sense to reduce your intake. At the same time, do not add extra sugar or salt to the food on your plate.
5. Reduce Your Intake of Drinks That Act As Stimulants
According to some experts, stimulants (eg. sugar, caffeine in tea/coffee, caffeinated soft drinks) can cause fluctuations in blood sugar, and thus should be avoided or at least consumed in moderation. Switch to herbal teas, spring water and diluted pure fruit juices.
Healthy Food Choices
As explained above, choose low-GI carbs, like wholegrain breads, brown rice, basmati rice, wholewheat pasta, noodles, sweet potatoes, rather than refined or processed starches such as white bread, white rice, white pasta, potatoes.
Choose higher fiber foods, especially those rich in soluble fiber. The best sources of soluble fiber are apples, oats and beans.
Eat plenty of vegetables. Not only are veggies packed with micronutrients like vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, as a rule they are also low in calories, high in fiber and (usually) have a very low GI value.
If possible, combine some fat and protein with your carbohydrate (starch or fruit). This will slow the rise of blood sugar from the carbohydrate. For example, eat toast with two teaspoons of peanut butter.
Choose lower-GI snack-foods. Instead of donuts, muffins, cakes, cookies, candy, sweets, regular sodas, sugar and honey, switch to snack-foods like: fresh fruit, chopped veggies, sourdough muffins, low-fat yogurt with strawberries, unsweetened canned fruit, nuts and seeds, dried fruit, banana, baked tortilla chips and salsa, hummus, wholewheat pita with salad and light mayonnaise, and drink water instead of soda or coffee.
http://www.annecollins.com/weight-loss/food-cravings.htm
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