So many challenges. You may have a couple more holiday parties to survive. You’ve got all the holiday leftovers in the fridge and the last of the cookies and candies and other goodies that everyone will bring in to work and leave lying tantalizingly around.

But you’ve got your New Year’s resolution, however you’ve framed it this year—no carbs, less fats, better exercise, more fresh fruits and vegetables—and you’re already warming up to it.

So perhaps you’re steeled against those scattered temptations. Maybe you’ve armed yourself with little reminders of your motivations for eating better, losing weight and getting healthy. Maybe you’re making it easier by exiling the junk you used to eat and getting the house stocked with the good foods you should be enjoying.

But no matter what else you do, you’re still going to have food cravings that hit you out of nowhere. It’s like having a guerrilla enemy trying to undermine your best dietary intentions. These recurrent, unwanted urges can derail your weight-loss efforts and erode your confidence. But you don’t have to let them.

Understanding the enemy

Food cravings result from various physical, psychological and environmental factors that affect the way your body and brain function. The causes fall roughly into four general categories: time of day, places, activities and feelings.

Most people feel hungry around “dinner time,” whatever that is for them. Going to your mother’s house, or even past the local donut shop, can stimulate a desire to eat. Watching television is an activity that’s notorious for raising the impulse to eat.

Emotions can be the most compelling stimulus of all. Many times, uncomfortable feelings such as anxiety or resentment cause people to reach for food. But good feelings can trigger an eating spree, too. Many people overeat when they feel like celebrating, when they are having fun with friends, or when they just find themselves in an unusually good mood. Good food is an enhancement to most enjoyable experiences.

I really can’t overemphasize the significance food cravings have for people with entrenched weight issues. They are a big part of the problem. As a result, we put some considerable effort into helping people identify and understand their individual triggers, and ultimately break the associations that cause them.

But even if you don’t have a structured approach for breaking the root of the craving problem, there are things you can do to effectively respond when a craving arises. Here a defensive arsenal.

Distraction

There’s a saying: “If you don’t like how you’re feeling, change what you’re doing.” You can apply it to almost any feeling, but it’s especially helpful for dealing with the urge to eat. A simple shift in your current activity is often all it takes to derail a craving, instead of letting the craving derail you. So when you feel a craving about to overwhelm you, do something else.

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