Tired of losing and regaining the same weight?
Don't restrict, just switch.
It's not a lack of discipline. It's food noise and brain-default patterns. Crave & Switch is an app that helps you catch a craving in the moment and switch it for something that answers the same reward.
On Android now, iPhone coming soon. Cancel anytime.
Created by Dr. Franchell Hamilton, MD, a board-certified surgeon
and obesity medicine physician.
- Chocolate switches to Dark chocolate caramel nut clusters
- Ice cream switches to Ice cream popsicles
- Soda switches to Kombucha
Same reward, new route. Each switch answers what the craving was asking for.
NeuroSwitch Weight Loss™ The Crave and Switch System
Healthy and Equivalent.
- Chocolate switches to Built Puff protein bar, for the same sweet, soft reward.
- Chips switches to Pork rinds, for the same salty, crunchy, greasy reward.
- Soda switches to Kombucha, for the same carbonated, sweet, caffeine reward.
- Ice cream switches to Frozen banana nice cream, for the same sweet, cold, icy reward.
- Candy switches to Fruity candy alternative, for the same fruity, chewy reward.
- Chocolate switches to One square of 85% dark, for the same creamy reward.
- Soda switches to Sparkling water in a can, for the same carbonated, cold reward.
- Ice cream switches to Ice cream popsicles, for the same sweet, cold, creamy reward.
Five small steps, repeated kindly.
The loop you'll practice. Interrupt the craving–reward loop and create new neural pathways, one practice at a time.
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Step 1 of 5
Detect
Notice the trigger and the moment it shows up.
When a craving arrives, tap it. Name it or snap a photo. A craving is a signal, not a verdict.
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Step 2 of 5
Design
Choose a small, realistic switch in advance.
Set up a quest: the one pattern you will work on for 21 days, when it tends to hit, and the switch you will reach for.
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Step 3 of 5
Explore
Run the switch when the craving hits.
Five switches matched to that craving, three food or drink and two non-food. Pick one, put the phone down, go do it.
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Step 4 of 5
Reflect
Note what happened, no judgment.
Rate the pull before and after. Watching it drop, from 8 to 2, is the progress you can feel.
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Step 5 of 5
Learn
Tune the next attempt and keep going.
See which switches work for which triggers, adjust when one doesn’t, and watch the new route get stronger. Better, not perfect.
Try it yourself
What's pulling at you right now?
A switch isn't a "healthier" food. It's an equivalent one: something that answers the same reward your brain is asking for. Pick a craving and watch the app answer.
Closest match Dark chocolate caramel nut clusters See all 5 switchesThink of a “switch” as your secret power-up to defeat those pesky “food noise” boss battles!
That reads as a reward, not a battle.
Food & drink
- Closest match Dark chocolate caramel nut clusters instant
- Built Puff protein bar instant
- 70% dark chocolate with sea salt instant Pair it with one of the chip switches if you also want the salty crunch.
Non-food
- Micro-achievement or novel play < 10min A five-minute puzzle, one gaming level, tidying a drawer, reading a book or your favorite short story
- Social connection < 2min A quick text, a voice memo, a laugh with a friend
Straight from the app's own library and matching, for an adult in the US, no allergies, an evening craving at 7 out of 10. In the app, your allergies, age and safety answers filter every switch before anything is ranked.
Under 20 seconds.
Reading is hardest when the pull is strongest, so every screen in the moment holds one line. Tap when the craving shows up, pick your switch, put the phone down, go do it.
- One line on screen.
- Phone down.
- Go do it.
What is food noise, and why does it hijack your day?
The constant mental chatter about food: planning the next meal during this one, or a pull toward something sweet that has nothing to do with hunger. It runs on the brain's reward loop, so willpower alone rarely turns it off.
- The constant mental chatter Thinking about your next meal while you are still eating this one.
- The dopamine loop Why willpower fails when the subconscious brain demands quick relief.
- The NeuroSwitch solution Interrupt the impulse before the habit loop closes, and the mental noise quiets over time.
Hear it from Dr. Hamilton.
The two films that open the app's Library: why cravings come back, and why a diet can't be the plan.
You already know what to do. Knowing isn't the problem.
Practice, don't police.
Traditional diets run on willpower and restriction, telling you what not to eat. That can heighten deprivation, trigger stress and set off the rebound. So the app leaves all of this out:
- Calorie counting
- Weigh-ins
- Streaks
- Diet plans
What it does instead
- Awareness over restriction
- Recognize your triggers without judgment, rather than cutting out food groups.
- Micro-switches over major overhauls
- Pair the cues you already have with small, realistic substitutes instead of drastic lifestyle changes.
- Neuroplasticity in action
- Interrupt the loop between craving and automatic reward often enough, and the healthier response becomes your new default.
Better, not perfect.
A judgment-free approach made for teens and adults. Eating the food you craved is never a failure here; it's one practice, logged, and the next one starts fresh.
Wherever you're starting from.
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On a GLP-1 medication
Semaglutide and tirzepatide quiet appetite and food noise, but they don’t teach your brain to interrupt a pattern. Use Crave & Switch alongside them for breakthrough cravings in real time, and for habits you keep for long-term maintenance.
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After bariatric surgery
The approach was born in her bariatric practice. Sleeve or bypass surgery changes anatomy and gut hormones, not the brain’s learned ways of coping. Crave & Switch bridges the gap between surgery and the habits that hold long after the honeymoon period.
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Done with the diet–binge cycle
If you’ve lost and regained the same weight more than once, it isn’t a discipline problem. Swap restriction for awareness and small, realistic switches that survive real life.
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Teens, with a parent or guardian
Ages 13 to 17 can practice with their own account, set up and approved by a parent or guardian. Same method, a tone and a pace made for them.
Why neuroscience?
Behaviors are the currency of habits, and habits are our automatic default. Reaching for a late-night snack when you're not hungry, or for something sweet after a stressful day, starts in the brain and runs without thinking.
It's why so many people regain weight after a diet, or stop trying altogether. Identify those defaults, practice a new response, and the new behavior becomes the automatic one. Each quest works one pattern for 21 days.
Practice 21 of 21
Dr. Hamilton's formula, from NeuroSwitch Weight Loss™
SW = NG + NB™: sustainable weight loss equals nutrigenomics plus neurobehavioral.
In plain words: weight loss lasts when it fits how your body responds to food, and the habits your brain runs on.
- Sustainable weight loss
- Healthy and lasting, rather than drastic measures that end in frustration.
- Nutrigenomics
- Genetic information that tailors treatment, since every body responds differently to food and exercise.
- Neurobehavioral
- Finding the behaviors behind weight gain and rewiring the brain pathways that drive them.
Crave & Switch brings the neurobehavioral side to your phone. Genetic and biomarker matching is in development for a future plan.
After her fellowship in bariatric surgery, Dr. Hamilton founded A Better Weigh Center, a place for patients to receive treatment, from bariatric surgery to medical weight loss, without judgment.
As her practice grew she kept seeing the same pattern: weight regain, and with it the return of other medical conditions. She was not in the business of short-term fixes. She became board certified in obesity medicine, added certifications in neuroscience, functional medicine and genetics, and combined them into NeuroSwitch Weight Loss™, a brain-based program that treats the root cause and works to keep it from coming back.
She now trains other providers in the method and lectures with leaders in the cardiometabolic field on bringing neuroscience and genetics into obesity care.
Training and certifications
- BS in Psychology and Chemistry, summa cum laude, University of Houston Honors College
- Graduate studies in biochemical engineering in Lyon, France
- Doctor of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
- Residency at Eastern Virginia Medical School
- Bariatric surgery fellowship, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
- Board certified in obesity medicine, with certifications in neuroscience, functional medicine and genetics
Her books
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Curiosity Is the Best Weight Loss Medicine
Observations From a Bariatric Surgeon
Buy on Amazon (opens Amazon) -
Transformation Is a Mind-Set
The Journey to Changing Your Input and Your World
Buy on Amazon (opens Amazon)
Start with 14 days free.
Both plans begin with a 14-day free trial and renew automatically until you cancel. Cancel anytime.
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Basic
Room for one pattern at a time.
In the app: $29.99$14.99 a monthWebsite price. $29.99 a month in the app.
- 1 active quest
- The core switch library
- The five how-it-works videos
- Most popular
Plus
Work a few patterns side by side, with seasonal switches.
In the app: $49.99$24.99 a monthWebsite price. $49.99 a month in the app.
- 2 active quests, 3 once one is conquered
- The full switch library
- Doc's Favorite Recipes and Holiday Hacks
Prices in US dollars. Available in the United States and Canada. Pro, with genetic and biomarker matching, is in development.
Already joined? Get the app.
Download Crave & Switch on your phone and sign in. It's on Android now, and the iPhone app is coming soon.
Questions, answered.
Still not sure? Start here.
What is food noise, and can you turn it off?
Food noise is the persistent, intrusive mental chatter about food, like planning your next meal while you're still eating this one. It can also show up as constant urges for sweets or processed foods, driven by dopamine feedback loops rather than true hunger.
That's why willpower alone can't flip it off. GLP-1 medications such as semaglutide or tirzepatide can reduce food noise, but generally only for as long as you take them, and some people need higher doses over time.
Dr. Hamilton's approach works on the pathways underneath: interrupt the cue before the habit loop closes, and you weaken the brain's default impulse–reward cycle, replacing automatic cravings with deliberate, sustainable behaviors.
Can I use Crave & Switch if I'm taking semaglutide or tirzepatide?
Yes. It's designed to work alongside GLP-1 receptor agonists. The medication suppresses appetite and dampens food noise chemically, but it doesn't teach your brain to interrupt a pattern.
Using Crave & Switch while you're on medication helps you handle breakthrough cravings in real time and retrain your brain's default habits, so you have lasting behavioral tools for long-term maintenance.
How do I prevent weight regain after bariatric surgery or stopping GLP-1s?
Surgery and medication change how hungry you feel, but not the learned habits that drive eating. When the medication stops or the post-surgery honeymoon period ends, those defaults are still there, which is why weight regain, often with the return of other medical conditions, is so common.
Crave & Switch works on the habits themselves: notice the trigger, make an equivalent switch in the moment, and practice it until the new response is your default.
How is rewiring brain defaults different from dieting?
Traditional diets rely on willpower and restriction, telling you what not to eat. That can heighten feelings of deprivation, trigger stress responses, and cause the brain's dopamine-seeking side to rebound.
Rewiring defaults is based on behavioral neuroscience: awareness over restriction, micro-switches over major overhauls, and neuroplasticity in action. Interrupt the loop between cravings and automatic rewards consistently, and the healthier response becomes your new, more natural default.
Can I use Crave & Switch after a sleeve or gastric bypass?
Yes. This approach was born directly out of clinical bariatric practice. Weight loss surgery changes stomach anatomy and gut hormones, but it doesn't address the brain's learned coping mechanisms.
Crave & Switch helps bridge the gap between surgery and long-term behavior, so you get the most from your surgery well beyond the typical post-operative honeymoon period.
Do I have to count calories or weigh in?
No. There's no calorie counting, no weigh-ins, no streaks and no diet plan. You catch a craving, make a switch, and rate the pull before and after.
What if I have food allergies or dietary needs?
Tell the app during setup. Switches that contain your allergens are never offered, and your age, food culture and safety answers filter every suggestion before anything is ranked.
Can teens use it?
Yes, from 13 to 17, with a parent or guardian who sets up and approves the account. Crave & Switch isn't designed for children under 13.
How does the free trial work?
Both plans start with a 14-day free trial and renew automatically until you cancel. You can cancel anytime.
Is Crave & Switch medical treatment?
No. It's a wellness tool, not medical treatment, diagnosis or medical advice. If you have an eating disorder or a medical condition, talk to your doctor.