ARE YOU really HUNGRY OR JUST feeling BORED?
12 Feb, 2018
Wonder if there is a better way to judge your hunger signals so you can stick to your weight loss goals?
The biggest thing that you can do to improve your health and body weight is to become more mindful. Start by examining your food and your emotional link..
Are you under the spell of emotional eating?
Eating at random, or eating based on your emotional state could be a habit.
To know your hunger signals and differentiate it from emotional eating, you need to know if:
- You’re eating based on your emotional needs and not physical needs
- If you eat when you are under stress, anxiety or depressed or feel bored.
Emotions can influence what, when, and how much we eat. If you have recently eaten and find yourself craving food again, do a quick emotional check.
The best way to determine your hunger signals?
Hunger builds at a slow pace, usually several hours after you have eaten. If you have recently eaten and find yourself craving food again, it may not be true hunger.
Genuine hunger comes with emptiness in stomach, rumbling stomach and sometimes accompanied by fatigue. Fatigue is due to drop in blood sugar levels.
Before you eat, ask yourself these –
- Did I just eat an hour or two ago?
- Am I eating in response to an emotion?
Practicing mindfulness in eating, helps you watch what you eat, how you eat and when you eat. This is crucial for anyone that wants to lose weight or keep up with eating healthy habits.
3 Tips for Mindful Eating
1. Keep a Food Journal
This is the top recommendation for anyone that wants to lose weight.
Track all you eat, when you eat AND what triggered you to eat.
Write down every detail, if it’s the candy bowl at your work place, aroma of food or a TV ad, whatever the trigger note them. It helps you keep tabs on your eating pattern and correct.
In one study, women who kept a consistent food journal lost 6 pounds more than those who didn’t journal their eating habits.
You’ll be amazed at how much this simple habit will enlighten you when you read it at the end of the day!
2. Know Your Options
Remember that food will not make your emotions go away (it won’t fix anything).
There are healthier things you can do to help like take a walk, read a book, call a friend or volunteer for a cause you are passionate about.
3. Keep it Small & Frequent
My recommendation is to eat small, frequent meals to keep your hunger in check.
Eat six meals a day that includes three meals and three snacks. This is a sure and best way to help prevent emotional eating.
Top 3 Reasons You’re Constantly Hungry
1. You’re Counting Calories
This is number one on the list for a good reason! When you’re counting calories you miss out on essential nutrients.
For instance, eating a quarter cup of assorted nuts is not the same as polishing off a bag of chips.
The calories may be the same, but the nutrition is miles apart.
Instead of a refined, packaged food like chips, choose a fistful of nuts.
Nuts are high in vitamins and minerals, which give you energy. Being high in fiber, nuts stabilize blood sugar and thereby suppress hunger.
The chips are just empty high carb calories which leave your body hungry for nutrients. If you want to count something.
2. You’re Getting Too Much Salt
It may seem like there is no connection, but there is an active link. Eating too many salty foods increases your sugar cravings.
You’re more likely to reach for sugary foods after a salty meal to please taste buds. The resulting blood sugar fluctuations followed by insulin lows and highs cause weight gain.
3. You’re Not Sleeping Enough
When sleep deprived, the brain’s food reward center gets activated. Because of this change, the brain seeks out more food which results in overeating. So beware of your sleep habits.
Stress is another thing that makes you always feel hungry.
Luckily, there are simple ways to beat hunger. Follow them as a golden rule; you will soon start eating normally.
3 Ways to Curb Hunger
1. Eat More Fiber
Fiber comes from fruits and vegetables. It doesn’t have nutritional value, but it’s full of therapeutic effects. Fiber helps you lose weight, stabilize your blood sugar and reduce food cravings.
2. Include healthy fats
Be sure to add healthy fats to your menu. Coconut oil, and omega-3 fats are great ways to improve gut health.
They improve the feeling of satiety and keep hunger at bay. Also, they come with a ton of benefits that will enhance your health.
3. Choose only wholesome foods
Remember, my example about nuts vs. bag of chips?
Keep that in mind. Every time you reach for a snack ask yourself if you’re choosing a wholesome food.
Stop counting calories and start counting the nutrients in your food choices. Once this becomes a habit, you will notice fewer cravings and better mood too.
So when hunger strikes, strike back with the above strategies. You’ll be able to manage your hunger level better and get it under control.
One last note, be sure you’re eating small meals every few hours.
You should be eating 6 times a day (3 meals and 3 snacks) so with that plan, you shouldn’t have much time to feel hungry in between.
This may seem counter-intuitive if you’re trying to lose weight but on the contrary, frequent meals boost your metabolism.
Mastering your appetite, controlling your urges to eat, taming the hunger-beast! Download Master Your Emotional Eating now and experience a new state of vibrant wellbeing for yourself you deserve!
Join me and change your habits permanently, and transform your body, your mind and your life forever!Check out my 21 Day program
