Chocolate cravings rarely feel like a choice. They feel like a pull, often at the same time each day, and the harder you push back, the louder they get. Plenty of people I work with describe sweet food as the one part of their eating they cannot seem to budge.
There is a reason for that. For most people, sweet food is tied up with memory, reward and routine far more than with any real need. When you understand what the craving is attached to, it becomes much easier to loosen its grip.
Why sweet cravings feel so strong
For most of us, sugar arrived early with good feelings attached. Sweets after school, pudding for clearing your plate, chocolate when you were upset or poorly. The mind is very good at linking things that happen together, so by adulthood a bar of chocolate can carry the memory of comfort, treat and love all at once.
Habit adds another layer. If you have something sweet with every cup of tea, or every evening on the sofa, the craving starts to turn up on cue, whether or not you fancy the food. The tea or the sofa becomes the trigger.
Then there is the willpower trap. Telling yourself you can never have chocolate again keeps the desire fully alive and only blocks the action. Sooner or later the block gives way. That is why I tend to work on the wanting itself, rather than asking people to grit their teeth. The usual drivers look like this:
- Old memories of reward and comfort
- Routines that cue the craving
- Tiredness and low mood
- Strict bans that make the food more tempting
What weakens a craving
The cravings that last longest are the ones nobody looks at closely. When you start paying attention to when they arrive and what they are attached to, they tend to lose some of their force. A craving that always turns up at four in the afternoon is often about tiredness. One that turns up after a phone call with a certain person is about feeling, not food.
Raising your standards helps too. If you love chocolate, there is nothing wrong with enjoying a really good piece slowly. What keeps people stuck is usually the cheap, automatic kind, eaten standing up without tasting it. Moving from quantity to quality often turns a daily habit into an occasional pleasure.
In hypnosis, the work is on the link itself: the memory, the routine, the reward. When that link loosens, the food is still there, but it no longer has the same hold.
Something to try: score the craving
When a sugar craving arrives, give it a score from one to ten for how much you really want it. Not how strong the pull feels, but how much you would enjoy it and still feel good about it an hour later.
If it is a nine or ten, have a small amount of something you genuinely like, sit down, and taste it properly. If it is lower, notice that, and wait a few minutes before deciding. Many people find that a lot of their cravings are fives that simply needed a moment to fade.
Episodes to listen to
I have recorded quite a few sessions on sweet cravings over the years. These three come at it from different directions, from childhood memories to raising your standards.
Hypnosis to Destroy Cravings For Chocolate, Sugar and Carbs
Rather than cutting chocolate out, this one asks you to bring the good judgement you already use with money, time or friendships to the food you choose. You rate your standards on a simple scale and picture small upgrades, such as better chocolate enjoyed less often. Consistency matters more here than perfection.
Good if you would like to keep chocolate in your life on better terms.
The Sugar Parasite: Hypnosis to Dial Down Desire for Sugar
I start by explaining why willpower on its own so often fails with sugar: it leaves the desire in place and simply fights it. The session then uses the image of a parasite that feeds on sugar, so the craving can be seen as something separate from you and its pull can quieten.
Good if you have tried to beat sugar with willpower and ended up back where you started.
Chocolate Ants: Hypnosis for an Aversion to Snacks
This starts from the idea that the comfort we look for in a snack is really a feeling, learned in childhood moments on the sofa. You revisit one of those memories, then meet an adult version of yourself who chooses differently. Vivid imagery makes cheap sugary snacks less appealing and points you towards foods such as fruit, oats and dark chocolate.
Good if you snack for comfort and would like that comfort without the food.
Common questions
Why do I crave chocolate every evening?
Evening cravings are often about routine and winding down rather than hunger. If chocolate has always come with the sofa and the TV, the setting itself can set off the urge. Changing one part of that routine is often a good place to start.
Is it better to cut out sugar completely?
For many people a strict ban backfires, because it keeps the food on their mind. I prefer to work on the desire itself, so sweet food becomes something you can take or leave. If you have a medical reason to limit sugar, follow your GP’s advice.
Can hypnosis help with sugar cravings?
Hypnosis can help by working on the habits, memories and feelings that keep a craving going. It is not a medical treatment, and it works best alongside sensible eating rather than as a replacement for it.
Please read
Hypnosis works with habits, feelings and attention. It is not medical treatment and does not replace your GP. If you have, or think you may have, an eating disorder, or you are pregnant, diabetic or taking weight-loss medicine, please speak to your GP first. Beat, the UK eating disorder charity, is on 0808 801 0677. The podcast sessions are for adults: listen somewhere comfortable, never while driving.
Where to go from here
Listen on The Hypnotist Podcast
Every session above is free to hear on The Hypnotist Podcast, along with more than 200 other weight and eating episodes.
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More on this topic: cravings and snacking.