Remember, eating out of any of these reasons is never a good habit to develop or support. It will not help or change any of these situations. The only thing that will change is your waist line!
Developing a habit of responding to feelings with food is a dangerous, life long uphill journey you do not want to go down. Most people end up beating themselves up after an indulging moment like this too... And that hill will just feel like it's getting steeper and longer.
There are two different types of hunger: Mind Hunger and Body Hunger.
Mind Hunger is the dangerous one out of the two, it's that time you sat with a group of friends and ate the whole basket of french fries, all the chicken fingers, two drinks, and a desert without even tasting the food!
Body Hunger is when you eat because your body is naturally telling you to eat out of true physical hunger. You can eat with no distractions, taste the food, and recognize the signs of being full even if the plate is not empty yet.
KNOW THE SIGNS: Which one are you doing?
Body Hunger:
- Satisfied for three or four hours after eating
- Aware of the smell, tastes, and texture of the food(s) being eaten
- Able to consciously plan to eat and make an effort to find something filling
Mind Hunger:
- Temporarily satisfied- shortly after eating, even five minutes later, you feel hunger again
- Surprised at what they ate because they did it automatically- all of a sudden the ice cream was gone
- Didn't remember what they ate - taste, texture - who knows?
So how do we break the habit of Mind Hunger and let our bodies eat out of Body Hunger?
We need to find out why we are eating out of Mind Hunger. Loneliness? Stress? Boredom? Why are you eating when you aren't hungry?
There are many things we can do to stop these bad eating habits and focus on the "Why":
- Realize that eating is not a solution to a problem or bad feeling (it will only create more)
- Seek professional counseling (there may be some underlining issues you need to address)
- Stop eating in front of the TV, book, computer, or magazine
- Get yourself up and moving!
- Join a gym, walking group, fitness class
- Find a buddy, motivate each other to stay on track
Remember, there is just as much damage done when you under eat too... do not mistake being healthy as the fewer the calories the better.
Search deep when you find yourself in these situations. Find out the "Why" before you indulge.
(All of my information is from the course I am studying called: Weight Management for Teens, A Non-Diet Approach to Health and Fitness by Linda Omichinski, RD. It is through ACE. )
