In order to identify hunger, you must first understand what it is. This is not as easy as it seems. Many of you may never have let yourself experience true hunger, only a feeling of discomfort. Not knowing exactly what it was, you may have been eating past hunger for such a long time you can no longer differentiate between hunger and the feeling of anxiety, stress, boredom, or any number of other emotional or circumstantial stimuli. You haven't allowed yourself to go without eating for a long enough period of time to have felt true hunger; you may not have experienced it since childhood.
Each of us is born with an innate sense of hunger. When you were a baby and felt this sensation, you cried. Your mother or caregiver pacified you with a bottle or breast, and when you were no longer hungry, you pushed the food away. Before you could speak, you made yourself understood.
As a toddler beginning to eat baby food, you were still in control of your food consumption. Your mother might have thought you had to finish everything she served, but you had other ideas. You might have clenched your little baby teeth and not permitted one extra spoonful of anything to enter your mouth. She might have pushed your chubby little cheeks together trying to force you to open your mouth, but you would not. If she did manage to insert some food, you spit it out, sometimes on your bib, sometimes on mom. The message was clear. "No more food, Mommy."
As she persevered, you finally learned to please your mother by finishing everything on your plate. You may have been told that if you ate your vegetables, your reward would be dessert. You were bribed with a lollipop if you'd stop crying. You learned to eat all your food because it gave pleasure to others. It didn't seem to matter anymore whether you were hungry or not. You were taught to ignore your feelings of hunger and satiation just to please someone else. And you learned well.
Years later, you're still keeping a friend company by sharing a meal when you're not hungry, or accepting an alcoholic beverage just to be part of the crowd, or to please a hostess.
The dictionary describes hunger as "the painful sensation or state of weakness caused by need of food." Some people become irritable, shaky, or disoriented if they are not fed at their usual mealtime. Others experience hunger as feeling lightheaded, empty, low, headachy, or hollow. At times a growling stomach prompts an eating episode. Some eat when they get depressed. Others lose their appetite when they get depressed. External stimuli are abundant, as are emotional and physical ones, yet few of these are hunger, just some other strain on your nervous system.
Human beings have a built-in fight or flight mechanism that helps them to survive. When your ancestors roamed the earth and encountered a tiger who had leaped out of the bushes, they would mobilize themselves to either fight the tiger or flee from it. Years later, you still face the tigers. A death in the family, loss of a job, or an illness may certainly have the bite of a tiger. Your pulse quickens, your mouth feels dry, your palms sweat and you revert to old behavior and try to quell the anxiety by putting something into your mouth. You also may be reacting to the fluctuations of daily life ? a waiter being inept, traffic inching along, a line at the bank ? that cause you to eat a box of cookies or ask for a second helping of food. You might be misidentifying a minor travail as a tiger when it is only a baby cub.
Have you had the experience of thinking you were hungry at noontime only to become absorbed in a project or in a book, and have several hours pass before you think about food again? True hunger cannot wait a few hours. It demands to be fed. You were not hungry at noon but were responding to a time of day stimulus, another reason you've given yourself to eat. If you distract yourself with some other activity, the urge usually passes within a few minutes. Try to differentiate between your hungers and your urges.
Food need not fill you up in order for you to feel satisfied. A few bites of foods you don't usually eat can be very satisfying while baskets of bread, mugs of coffee, or liter bottles of diet soda might leave you feeling hungry and unsatisfied.
It is not okay to eat when you are physically or emotionally uncomfortable. Eat when you're hungry. Stop eating when you are no longer hungry, not when you are full or there is nothing remaining on your plate. As your clothes get looser, you'll start to enjoy leaving food on your plate. It is a process that takes time to achieve. Remember:
? Volume of non-nutritious food merely stuffs and bloats but does not satisfy real hunger.
? Variety and texture along with nutrition satiates hunger.
About The Author
This article is an excerpt from the book Conquer Your Food Addiction published by Simon and Schuster. Caryl Ehrlich, the author, also teaches The Caryl Ehrlich Program, a one-on-one behavioral approach to weight loss in New York City. Visit her at http://www.conquerfood.com to know more about weight loss and keep it off without diet, deprivation, props, or pills.
apartment cleaning near Highland Park ..When you begin the decision making process to have Weight... Read More
There are those that walk amongst us who have followed... Read More
If you want to reduce your body fat, focus on... Read More
Experts say obesity will overtake smoking as the biggest health... Read More
Weight Loss Axiom Number ThreeInsulin and GlucagonThese are the two... Read More
Losing weight on hips and thighs has always been a... Read More
In the last 12 months or so, low carbohydrate diets... Read More
If you are among the millions of people searching for... Read More
One of the biggest scams ever successfully pulled on the... Read More
WAHOO!!! for YOU!! You are the most AWESOME person alive!!... Read More
Zero Calorie Diet Sodas: Good Or Bad For Weight Loss?Calorie-free... Read More
Are you one of the many people who feel frustrated... Read More
There is no such thing as spot reducing. Any fat... Read More
Permanent Weight loss is not about Diet. If you are... Read More
"Help, none of this mainstream stuff works!"There is a specific... Read More
Abdominal fat is now seen as a growing health hazard,... Read More
I just read this conventional diet tip ? and we've... Read More
Would you run out of fingers, and maybe even toes,... Read More
I am considering Gastric bypass surgery because I am overweight,... Read More
1. The lower the calories eaten per day, the harder... Read More
The Psychology of Weight Loss ? Your Approach!We have missed... Read More
Weight loss information is often confusing and misleading. The more... Read More
Weighing more than is normal, necessary, or allowed, especially having... Read More
The latest trend in the area of weight loss is... Read More
As hoards of low-carb proponents invade the nutritional landscape, the... Read More
cleaning lady near Arlington Heights ..Are you just exploding with the presence of light all... Read More
How to Break the Weighing HabitFace it, if you weigh... Read More
Self-acceptance and body love can be tough concepts to grasp... Read More
1. Carrying around excess body fat will decrease your energy... Read More
The percentage of Americans who are overweight and obese is... Read More
Well, with the success of my article, "Wrinkle Remover That... Read More
A healthy pregnancy almost always involves weight gain. But now... Read More
Yep, it is that time of year again! Time to... Read More
These days more and more people are getting intellectual instead... Read More
Frankie saddled up to the bar at the We-Stuff-Em-All Diner,... Read More
I'm sure you have pondered this question, for it is... Read More
If you're always on a diet you probably spend half... Read More
I want to talk to you about cows and what... Read More
REDUCE YOUR WEIGHTNow you are not very far from losing... Read More
Spring is here and swimsuit weather is just around the... Read More
Some of you will not like what I have to... Read More
The Zone Diet as a weight loss program has been... Read More
With the number of people suffering from obesity rising so... Read More
I made myself a sandwich today and thought I'd be... Read More
Any weight loss or diet plan, including low-carb plans like... Read More
Most of us are aware of the AA axiom of... Read More
Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) is often viewed as a quick... Read More
Recently, I read an article from Japanese magazine that by... Read More
Fats are always looked at as a negative in a... Read More
Food cravings are crafty -- they appear from nowhere and... Read More
Weight Loss |