Listen to your hunger!
Listening to your cravings and distinguishing between physiological hunger and the desire for ‘emotional’ eating is the winning equation to gain back that waist line! Here are the instructions how.
When you eat according to your hunger cravings - even it is chocolate or sausages - it doesn’t add to your weight. Too good to be true? This is exactly what studies show. Over time, the people who put on the least weight are those who rely on their food cravings, while those who want to control them inevitably end up losing the battle and gaining more weight.
Worse of all, eating without paying attention to your cravings doubles as a perverse effect; the surplus ends up being stored in fat cells, which grow and multiply and increases our tendency to become overweight!
The theory is simple: we must listen to our hunger cravings. In practice, it is less simple. There are even a series of traps, as it can be difficult to know if the urge to eat is natural and reliable, or if it is ‘something else’ that is luring us to eat that cookie, taste that pastry or knock back two ‘tiny’ pieces of chocolate squares.
But all is not lost ads it IS possible to learn how to make cravings an asset and a safeguard against unnecessary curves. Dr. Jean Philippe Zermati, a specialist in eating disorders and co-author of the book ‘Lies, Dukan Diet and Nonsense’ (ed. Odile Jacob) shares with us some tips.
Meet the rhythm
We must “eat at regular times, make a breakfast fit for a king, and avoid eating in between meals.” Banal and rooted in our culture, we have heard and known all of these phrases, and this is the first trap. Complying at all costs eventually makes us lose our own biological rhythm. In fact, today, many nutritionists are not imposing the religious three meals a day at fixed times; “not even for children, who can also skip breakfast if they do not have the appetite,” says Dr.Zermati. Instead, “let us trust our biological organization,” he adds.
And that precisely is the key. Since the dawn of time, without fail, the body has regulated itself, regardless of our schedules and our occupations. To manager its energy reserves, the body controls hunger according to consumed portions and the meal intervals. This is the “provisional appetite,” says the specialist. In other words, if you have lunch around noon, you might still need a snack at 4pm, but it will not be added to your weight because it is a need. On the other hand if you eat a heavy lunch, your body will be more naturally inclined to shift the time of the next meal or eat less when the time comes. Nothing could be more normal.
Test out the different intensities of your hunger
Restrictive and unnatural, practicing how to acknowledge the different levels of hunger is still an important and effective step in understanding how our bodies work. It familiarizes our mind and body with the role of food, the pleasure it gives us and allows us to recognize the signals of satiety. By repeating these exercises several times during one week, your perception of sensations will gradually improve.
- The first exercise is to discover and tame your hunger. It has to be repeated at least four days in a row. It is better to do it in the morning, because cravings are ‘emotional’ and hence less present at the start of the day. Begin by skipping breakfast and taking only a hot drink - sweetened or not - during the morning and monitor the appearance of the first signs of hunger. Then observe that hunger feeling change as the day goes by and push your lunch hour every day. When hunger occurs, focus on your physical feelings (fatigue, stomach pain, headache) and emotions; (anxiety, aggression, fear, indifference etc).
- The second exercise allows you to better understand your feelings at the beginning and at the end of each meal. It notes on a scale of 1 to 10: your hunger level (hungry or not hungry), your feelings of comfort (bearable or unbearable), your desire of eating a dish (no desire to want it badly), while also stating your physical sensation (hollow stomach, salivation, dizziness, nausea, fatigue etc).
A table then divides your plate into six portions. After eating the first portion, fill in your ‘hunger level’, ‘comfort’ and ‘desire to eat’, and rate them from 1 to 10 reflecting the pleasure derived from the food. And also note whether you want to switch to another kind of food. Repeat for all the remaining portions.
Neutralize compulsive hunger
When you have the urge to forage the fridge after getting home from work or to snack on a small packet of cookies in the late afternoon, “at this moment do three things: pause for a while, breathe, and see how you feel,” advises Dr. Zermati. By doing this, you can pay attention to what you’re feeling, your ability to withstand the emotional discomfort, and if it is worth it to crack or not.
Whatever your case, it is important to break an automatic reflex and realize that we can decide either to wait for signs of hunger or eat for comfort. In the latter case, you can do so by choosing the food that makes you feel good, and taking time to enjoy every bite. Then during the rest of the day, if you wait to be hungry, even this small snack will have no impact on your weight, reassures Dr. Zermati.
However, if you have this type of compulsions without hunger on daily basis and as a result you continue to put on weight, the solution can be sought through a behavioral, emotional and cognitive therapy. This is where the therapist can work through the patient’s emotions, frustrations and reactions to hopefully put an end to compulsive hunger.
By Stephen Rica
