When losing weight you can’t avoid cravings. But it’s always nice to get some relief from now and then. When I was 14 I lost 21kg (44lbs) myself and I understand how hard it is.
Losing weight is one of the hardest things you will ever do in your life. It is also one of the most rewarding things you will ever do. Keep at it and never give up and you will succeed.

#1: Weekly Cheat Meals
This is something that may or may not work for you. It worked for me and made my weight loss a whole lot easier. Once a week you can eat an extra meal that isn’t counted towards your daily maximum. This doesn’t mean you can stuff your face but you can certainly eat a healthy wholesome meal. Make sure you eat a large portion of food, just keep it healthy.
The reason this works is that when losing weight your body can go into a “starvation mode” but by eating a large and healthy meal once a week it helps to stop your metabolism from slowing down.
Like I said this may not work for you. However It is extremely rare that it doesn’t work so just experiment with it for yourself.

#2: Drink Water
Now I’m not into all this garbage about drinking more water than you need every day. But if you get de-hydrated you can mistake cravings for water as cravings for food.
I also found that having a belly full of water can help to lessen cravings.

#3: Eat Smaller Amounts More Often
Try and eat 5-6 meals a day spaced out by 3 hours. This helps to boost your metabolism and it also means that you only ever have to wait 2-3 hours for your next meal. Using this method I found that sometimes I could get through a whole day without even getting hungry.
Another benefit is, assuming your eating protein with each meal, that it will help you to maintain higher levels of muscle as you lose weight. A common misconception is that you will lose a lot of muscle when dieting but if you eat right you can minimize these effects.

#4: Do Cardio & Weights
I’m already assuming your exercising regularly to burn off extra calories. But did you know that by doing weights you will burn off extra calories when your doing nothing. I don’t mean a few calories either, I mean a lot of calories.
Go pump some iron 2-3 times a week and you’ll notice the difference. Make sure you do a full body workout and (this is for the guys) don’t focus too much on your arms. If anything put a bit of extra focus on your legs because they are the biggest muscle groups and will therefore use more energy.

#5: Motivation
Always have something to look at for motivation. Maybe your losing weight so that you can do more activities with you daughter. Whenever your about to give-in to temptation just look at a picture of her and remember why you're doing this. Maybe you're just sick and tired of not looking how you want. If that’s the case then just remember how good you will look if you stick to your diet.

#6: Eat more veggies!
Eating plenty of veggies will fill you up and will also keep your waist slim. Vegetables have almost no calories so I wouldn’t even bother counting them in your daily limit.
Some people don’t like the taste of vegetables and to be honest I used to be one of them. Once I started eating them regularly I started to like them, especially red capsicum. I would honestly choose a few good red capsicums over a burger.

#7: Wait 15 minutes
Whenever we eat there is a delay before our brain realizes that our stomach is full. I’m not sure as to why this is but this is perhaps my most important tip. Sometimes the most intense hunger cravings come straight after a meal. If you can just wait 15 minutes it should subside and you won’t over eat. If after 15 minutes you still feel hungry then go for a walk or do something to get your mind away from the thought of food. I find that reading an interesting book helps my mind to forget about cravings the best.

#8: Set A Secondary Limit
If you ever over eat don’t get down on yourself. Set a second daily limit. It should be about an extra third of what you would normally eat to lose weight. If you never go above the secondary limit you shouldn’t gain weight. You won’t lose weight that day but you won’t gain it either.

#9: Reward Yourself
Don’t forget to reward yourself along the track. I don’t recommend rewarding yourself with food but rather with clothes or sporting goods or something along those lines.

#10: Set Short, Medium & Long Term Goals
Instead of saying I’m going to lose 21 kilos why not start out with 5? This tip goes hand in hand with the one above. Set yourself the goal of losing 1 kilo each week. If you achieve it then reward yourself with a T-Shirt.
You should also set a goal to do with something other than weight loss. Maybe you want to run the 400 meters in under 90 seconds. Or maybe you want to bench press 220 pounds.
Write down your goals and you will find you achieve them much quicker.

Don’t forget to take before and after photos! I never took before photos and you can bet that I regret it now. Taking a before photo is also a great way to stay motivated as you will be able to see your progress. You’ll be surprised how quickly you say “Did I really used to look like that?”.

I hope these tips have been helpful. As I said before you can’t avoid cravings. But you can take the edge off of them.