Eat only when you’re hungry.
Are you hungry or bored? Learn to know the difference…
As you’ve no doubt read in my previous posts, the single fastest way to lose fat (and in the long run, weight), is to put yourself into a calorie deficit. Yes, I do get that it’s not as black and white as that specifically, however in a nutshell, that’s the general gist of it. Lowering the amount of calories you consume while increasing the number of calories you burn in coincidence with your base metabolic rate (the amount of daily energy or calories your body consumes to maintain basic bodily functions and maintenance) will see you transition into a caloric deficit, forcing your body to burn fat and other energy stores as fuel.
While that is all well and good in principle, there are a number of other circumstances and situations that help contribute to a healthy weight loss and in turn, reduction of body fat. One of which is looking at your eating patterns to explore what you’re eating, when and why. There’s a good chance that if you were to put your eating habits under the microscope, you would see that there is a lot more eating going on in your daily life than is in actual fact required. The reality is, most people in western culture have terrible eating habits, all of which come from social influences, lack of awareness and lifestyle choices / behaviors.
Know why you’re eating.
A lot of what I preach, whether from a fitness of personal development perspective, has to do with personal awareness and insight. To change something about yourself that you are unhappy about, you first need to understand the dynamics behind how you got to be in that situation, what the choices were that led to it and reverse engineer your thoughts and behaviors out of the unhelpful pattern of thinking and actions. Losing weight is no different, and often has a lot to do with poor eating habits and behaviors.
Two of my favorite things to ask my kids when they come to me for something to eat between meals are “are you actually hungry, or are you just bored?” Obviously, the first part of this question is asking if they are genuinely hungry and seeking sustenance, while the other is seeking to ascertain if they are bored and looking for something that tastes nice to satisfy their boredom and pass the time. Needless to say, they’re both pretty much the same question, and my kids really hate when I ask them this because it makes them question their true motives behind their want to eat, rather than the actual need. In the past I have also put this question to my clients. While I’m no nutritionist or dietitian, I do have some basic knowledge of both subjects and will often ask my clients to consider these two questions throughout the day when the urge to eat something arises.
The fact of the matter is that many of us have been raised to simply eat for the sake of eating at times. What is perceived as breakfast time rolls around in the morning… and many of us eat even if we’re not hungry. “But breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” I hear many people arguing at their device screens… I’m here to ask you this though, is it really? Or is that something that breakfast companies come up with as a marketing slogan to get consumers to buy their breakfast cereals? Do you think that primitive man set his watch for 6am to get up and eat his sugary cereal before going out to hunt for the day? No, he didn’t. He often went out to hunt and gather on an empty stomach. Yes, it’s true, times have changed, but our daily demands and pressures placed on the human body have not changed so much so that we absolutely need to eat breakfast first thing in the morning, especially if we are not hungry. The reality is, that breakfast actually stands for “break fast” as in breaking the fast our bodies experience as we sleep overnight, so in fact, your “break fast” could occur at 9am or 11am. You could even have breakfast at what is traditionally known as lunch time. This really brings me to the point of this article.
Eat only when you’re hungry.
Seems like common sense right? It is when you say it to yourself out loud or consciously read it, but the fact remains that there is an entire culture in our society around food and eating that is directly connected to entertainment, socializing with others, security and self soothing. The true purpose of eating, is to simply to provide a source of fuel the body and provide essential vitamins and minerals. Over time, it has become a support activity for entertainment (eating snacks while streaming your favorite TV shows or movies), a reason for socializing with others (“lets meet up for dinner at…” where you almost always end up over eating), or emotional support when things get us down (turning to your favorite snacks as a form of comfort when something else is outside of our control). The trick to reducing your daily caloric intake and in turn losing weight incrementally over time, is to take more time to consider why it is you are hungry or why it is you want something to eat. Ask yourself if it is because you are truly hungry, and your body requires fuel and essential vitamins or minerals, or if you are simply eating because of one of the aforementioned reasons. Are you eating because its a habit that accompanies your binge watching? Are you eating because you’re out with friends and they are, or because of the portion size served to you at the restaurant? Are you eating because you feel overwhelmed or disempowered, and eating food that you enjoy is the only thing that brings you security and comfort? The list of questions is endless, but basically the idea here is to ask yourself truthfully why you are eating, and assess your need from there.
If the purpose of eating is to fuel and sustain your body, and you identify that you’re eating for another reason and are not hungry, then do you really need to be eating?
It’s all about awareness.
The more we understand why we are eating, and the triggers behind it, the more we are able to identify strategies and interventions to put in place to address this. It could be something as simple as having the insight or awareness to know what it is that triggers the desire to eat, or even just the realization that you eat more than you should for reasons other than fueling and sustaining the amazing biological machine that is the human body. Whatever it is, I’m hopeful that this article has helped you in some way to tack back control over your eating habits, and redirected you onto the path of good healthy eating choices and decisions.
As always with any health or weight loss program or information, please make sure you check with your medical professional (Doctor or G.P) to make sure that it is right for you before participating in any exercise or applying changes to your diet.
Until next time, please check out my previous posts for all things motivational, self-help and personal development by subscribing to me (click here) — and if you’re interested in developing yourself further in your own time, check out my Facebook page Shining Wisdom (by clicking here) and pick up a copy of my book “Think Success!”, available to download now on Amazon for less than the price of a small coffee (get your copy by clicking here)!
Have an amazing day!
