Can You Ever Control Your Hunger?

Have you, at some or at most times, felt an overpowering need to eat food, even when you have just eaten a few minutes ago?  Hunger is a primal instinct innate in all living things and when the need to eat more clouds our judgment, it is then time to take a pause from all the chowing and ask ourselves:  Why am I Hungry?

When your appetite is making you decide to go for unhealthy foods, you are fully aware that they are not good for your body.  Still, there is just a sensual pleasure out of satisfying that momentary craving.  Some people can’t even get a good night’s sleep without satisfying their palate for that specific bar of chocolate or pint of ice cream.

For those who have felt guilty after a binge, they often suffer that need to purge themselves from the foods they have taken – to the point of making their bodies ill.  One might even wonder when will this never-ending love-hate relationship with food will end.

The answer is all up to you.  There is a reason behind the quote – Mind over Body.  Sometimes, hunger is a reflection of deep hunger on your emotional side, and food can help fill-in the void.  A study shows that women are more prone to emotional eating than men.  Women have a stronger signal in their brains that controls hunger and the desire to eat… even when their stomachs are full.

Another link is that female hormones tend to inspire weight gain and this is why women tend to eat more during their menstrual periods, or when they are pregnant.  It is a biological part of women that makes it harder to control hunger.

The Good News:  You Can Manage Your Hunger

There are ways to curb your cravings naturally, and you must be fully aware of the trigger factors that cause this feeling to eat more than necessary.  Check your hunger meter when you are:

• Feeling compelled to eat in social gatherings

• Feeling like you need to eat because you’re tired, stressed, frustrated, or simply blue

• Feeling obliged to eat by your peers, even if you just had a hearty meal

We eat to live… and not the other way around.  It really takes a strong will to pass and say NO to all the sumptuous treats sprawled in front of you. Maintaining an ideal weight is hard when you succumb to every invitation to binge eat.  But if you can’t really help yourself, here are ways to control your hunger, without the risks:

1.  Before picking up a crumb, ask yourself:  Are You Really Hungry?  If you learn to take a pause before a bite, you will realize that you don’t really need to eat all the time.

2.  Keep busy.  Boredom makes you want to put your hands into the nearest cookie jar.  When you are busy, the least thing you have in mind is food.  Even a brisk walk would do you good and helps distract you from unhealthy eating habits.

3.  Eat fiber-rich foods, fruits, and vegetables.  When you feel full, your body
won’t compel you to eat unhealthy foods.

4.  Don’t skip meals and snack on healthy foods.  When you skip a meal, your body goes on a starvation mode which spells danger for you.

5.  Separate watching time from meal time.  When you eat while you watch TV or your favorite movies, you don’t focus so much on how much food you’re chowing down.

Hunger is a hard thing to control, but practice and good healthy habits can really help a lot.  You don’t want to be a super-sized or super skinny person. Maintaining a healthy weight means having the energy to live your dreams, everyday.

And if the feeling keeps sneaking up on you, just be cool and take out a sugar-free gum from your pocket.  Chew and forget.