Hunger is an interesting thing. On the one hand, it signals a lack of nutrients in the body, and on the other, it can be caused by factors that are not related to the need for food. Therefore, you need to distinguish true hunger from false and be able to suppress the latter. We will tell you how.
The best chefs serve their dishes in such a beautiful way that visual appeal is no less an appetite than the food itself. As soon as you look at the earthenware jug filled with chocolate mousse and ice cream, or at the waffles with syrup flowing along the edges, you yourself will salivate. This is visual hunger – when you really want to eat a dish just by looking at it. We see a variety of food at the next table in a restaurant, in newspaper advertisements, in a TV spot, and we immediately want to try it.
How to resist: be distracted by other wonderful things as soon as you have a delicious-looking dish in front of your eyes. For example, in a restaurant, turn your attention to the man or woman at the head of the table, to a beautiful painting or fresh flowers. Surprisingly, you immediately stop thinking about the desired dish.
At one point, your brain says that sugar is bad and you shouldn’t eat it. And literally the next minute, he convinces you that you deserve to be rewarded in the form of a treat! This type of hunger is the most difficult to control because our decisions and moods are constantly changing. It is our brain that instructs us what and how to eat or not eat at the sight of food. Sometimes he tells us not to eat too much so as not to gain weight, and at other times he advises us to stop worrying about weight and eat as much as we like.
How to resist: our brain usually makes decisions based on the information it receives. Therefore, it is important to remind yourself of real and imagined hunger. As a simple test, replace the cake you are ready to eat with something you don’t like, such as cabbage. If you are really hungry, then eat it, and if not, then this is an imaginary hunger.
You, of course, have heard the crackle of bursting bags of snacks at work or on public transport. Or, you may have heard the courier announce his arrival with the ordered food. And suddenly you were overwhelmed by the desire to buy or order something for yourself. That is, just hearing about food, you already feel hungry. The same happens if, during a conversation, food becomes one of the topics. This is auditory hunger.
How to resist: You cannot control the sounds around you, but you can force yourself not to fall into the trap of false hunger with an effort of will, simply by switching your attention to something else, for example, turning on a favorite or a new song in your headphones.
Food flavors can make anyone feel appetite. The smell of baked bread, freshly brewed coffee, or melted cheese tempts you to eat them. The gourmet is always sniffing food. Yes, and our distant ancestors checked the freshness and purity of food, sniffing it.
How to resist: first smell each ingredient in your dish separately. Once you start eating, swallow each bite while sniffing it at the same time. This way you will eat less than usual. .
Often it is not the stomach that signals us that it is empty, but we tell the stomach that it is time to eat. We usually eat a lot because of our established meal schedule, not because we are hungry. Most of the time, we eat simply because it’s time for lunch or dinner.
How to resist: evaluate carefully the state of your stomach: is it really full or you are eating out of boredom or stress. Also, eat slowly and stop half full.
Some dishes just drool, and we eat them to satisfy our taste buds. At the same time, tastes are constantly changing: we want spicy food, then we want a sweet dessert. Either give us something crispy, or, on the contrary, stringy. This is not real hunger, but rather fun for the language.
How to resist: it is harmless to listen to what your language requires, but it is within your power to stop as soon as you satisfy that need. Two or three pieces will do as well as a whole plate.
An apple pie baked by your mother, a latte from a cozy coffee shop, cold lemonade on a hot day – all this you want to eat is not at all because you are hungry. Mental hunger is also called emotional hunger, since we eat in this case to fill not only the stomach, but also the soul.
How to resist: mental hunger should not be ignored, but it can be controlled. Pay attention to your portion size and do not force yourself to finish the last crumb.
Children refuse to eat certain foods not because of their taste, but because their bodies at the cellular level signal what is needed and what is not needed by their growing body. Over the years, however, we brush this unconscious advice aside and do what books, friends, family, and our brains tell us to do. Don’t eat a lot of sugar, eat less salt, and the like. It is necessary to distinguish between the needs of our body and the requirements of our consciousness. Scientifically, there are two main hormones that affect our appetite, and the hormone leptin suppresses it. Its amount is higher in obese people and lower in thin people.
How to resist: our body must receive a certain amount of vitamins, minerals, salts, fats, carbohydrates and so on every day. We must listen to the demands of our body at different times. For example, drink a glass of water before having a snack. You might realize that you really didn’t want to snack.
We’ve all heard that under stress we either starve or overeat, which we regret later. When we’re stressed, we don’t think about what we’re eating, and we can reach out for a bag of chips rather than a bag of yogurt.
How to resist: it is not easy, but possible. You should be practical and think about the future consequences of overeating. Pause and look in the mirror: you will instantly understand that if you eat everything indiscriminately, you will only increase your stress.
Many people watch their favorite TV shows with a bowl of popcorn or a bag of chips. Some also eat constantly in the workplace in front of a computer monitor. But research by scientists has shown that if there is, being distracted by something – the same work and TV, calorie consumption increases significantly.
How to resist: Before turning on the TV, analyze how hungry you are and eat something in advance. Also, keep your hands busy with knitting, sewing, or the like. By doing this, you will prevent the absorption of food caused by idleness.
We used to escape from boredom by opening the refrigerator or closet in search of something tasty and interesting.
How to resist: just because you’re bored doesn’t mean you need to eat something. Read a book, play with your dog. Turn on the music and dance. Use this time for relaxation and something meaningful.
In our time, eating habits have changed. Often we don’t eat at the same time, so we don’t get full, and wake up hungry at night. For some, hunger at night is the result of stress, while for others it is hormonal imbalance.
How to resist: convince yourself that sleep is the most important thing. And just in case, keep an apple or a few nuts on the nightstand so that you don’t have to go to the refrigerator, where food may be much less useful. Be healthy!