Hunger is just another feeling you know
When do you eat?
Do you eat when you are truly hungry or do you eat to satisfy some other craving, such as a desire for sugar, boredom or some emotional reason? I’m sure if we are all honest with ourselves we have all eaten too much, too often and in response to other stimuli rather than hunger.
By the way do you know what genuine hunger feels like? I liken it to a feeling of gnawing pain, that can lead me to feel sick. I can’t ever remember being sick as a result of hunger, you understand, just feeling slightly nauseous. Is this one of the main reasons why I never let myself get to the point of genuine hunger very often?
But it’s also interesting that when I am totally engrossed with what I am doing, it can be hours (and I mean 5 or 6 hours) before my stomach reminds my head that it hasn’t been fed in a while.
So is that one of the main factors in safe and effective weight loss? Eat only when you are genuinely hungry, and make sure you are totally absorbed in whatever it is you are doing so you don’t have time to think about eating.
It sounds plausible doesn’t it? But how many days in a normal week can you honestly say you’ve lost track of time when you were doing something? Hmm – not many.
So is the first key to successful weight loss and hunger management, not eating less per se, rather getting absorbed in some task, so that you genuinely forget to eat. I know that when I am “dieting” the only thing I tend to think about is food. What I can eat, what I can’t and when the next official meal time is. Weird really. When I am not “dieting” the thoughts never cross my mind.
However there has to be more to the dieting lark, weight loss and hunger management than getting absorbed in a task so you don’t eat to satisfy something other than genuine hunger. I mean if that was the case, then all the slimming clinics, weight loss consultants and diet book writers the world over would be out of work now wouldn’t they?
So what else do we need to take into consideration?
Well as I mentioned earlier sometimes I eat and I am not conscious of what I am eating. I am doing other things at the same time. Eating on the run, trying to multi task, trying to cram more into every day. We eat, but we don’t stop to eat. We don’t stop and enjoy the process of feeding our bodies. You would think that we would take pride in feeding this incredible machine that we have been given with the best possible foods. But no. We choose the quickest thing we can lay our hands on. Is it any wonder that the biggest money making conglomerates are the ones that try and satisfy modern man’s need and desire for cheap food very quickly? Well not to me at any rate.
I’m sure if we stopped long enough to realise what it was we were stuffing into our mouths and bodies we would actually think three times (let alone twice) before doing it. I mean we all know that fried foods are bad for us. We know that some form of protein with every meal is essential if we want to feel full longer. We know that if we spike our blood sugar levels by eating refined carbohydrates, we will want more carbohydrates sooner rather than later so that we can satisfy our blood sugar requirements. Is it any wonder that the rise in diabetes and diet related diseases has increased at the same time as the amount of cheap, pre-packaged convenience foods? Well if you were in any doubt before, then let me dispel the myth – they go hand in hand. How many times have we been told that we should eat 5 veg and 2 fruits every day? How many times have we been told not to eat too much sugar, drink too much alcohol, eat fast food once a year (if that) and not to eat deep fried anything if we want to live a healthy life? How many times a day do you go against the medical advice? Yes it’s a free country – except we’re paying for it in many different ways. The health system is sick from trying to cope with the many health related diseases that are totally preventable. Our bank balances would be much bigger if we didn’t buy so much take away food. And our clothes would be several sizes smaller too.
So the second key to weight loss and hunger management is to stop what you are doing and actually taste the food that you are eating. I mean stop and savour the different flavours and textures. Do you enjoy what you are eating? Can you taste the different flavours? Then you need to ask yourself whether or not you are willing to continue to eat the hidden fats and sugars that are added to the foods to give them taste.
Slowing down our eating process actually gives another benefit. You can actually tell when you feel full. If you eat when you are genuinely hungry, stop whatever you are doing and eat your food and enjoy whatever it is you are currently eating (eating mindfully), you will notice your body telling you when it has had enough.
Do you remember the last time you ate everything on your plate, then sat back and felt horribly fat and bloated? Making you wish you hadn’t eaten those last couple of mouth fulls? Well if truth be known, you could have probably stopped eating much sooner had you noticed what you were eating and recognised the signs that your stomach was actually full.
But does it work?
Yes it does. Since following the plan/advice/suggestions for a couple of weeks now, my stomach is much less bloated than it was. As I weight train though I am maintaining my weight. I am “thinner” but don’t weigh less on the scale. Muscle does weigh heavier than fat, but takes up less than half the space. But then when you can get into a size 12 – does it matter what it actually says on the scale?
February 12, 2007 at 21:12
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