Are you eating too much? Snacking too often? If so, you’ve joined a nearly universal club where all the members wish they didn’t belong. Why do people snack constantly? What is that urge to eat when there’s no real hunger involved? Most doctors believe that the urge to eat when hunger is not a real factor comes from emotional cues such as boredom, stress, depression and other difficult states of mind. How do you get your mind to stop honing in on food as a panacea? The cure starts with information and a few new tricks.
Instructions
1. Eat, but choose the right things to eat. Start your day with protein. Breakfast should include lean proteins such as turkey bacon, scrambled eggs and low-fat cottage cheese. Proteins keep you feeling satisfied longer, and studies have shown that you eat fewer calories during the day when you have a hearty protein-rich breakfast.
2. Stay full throughout the day. Feed your body what it really needs and it won’t be clamoring so much for fast-fix junk foods. Eat lightly enough, and you can eat plenty. Start with a light, low-cal vegetable soup or a big simple salad with fat-free dressing. Make sure there’s some proteins included at lunch, and go lightly with them at dinner. Eat complex carbs such as whole wheat breads and oatmeal in lieu of white breads and rice, which have less nutrition. Make what you eat count.
3. Sleep. People who are sleep deprived experience far greater cravings and tend to eat a great deal more than those who are well rested. Although the jury is out on whether it’s the hormonal fluctuations which are greater when sleep needs aren’t being met or the moods they engender, it’s enough to know that lack of sleep gives way to increased food cravings.
4. Leave out the variety. Studies show that when people are given a table full of different desserts, they eat a than when there’s a table full of dishes of the same dessert. Keep your choices to a minimum and you won’t be tempted to have a taste of everything around. If there’s only one sweet choice and one salty choice, you won’t be snacking nearly as often or eating nearly as much.
5. Take your vitamins. Take a good multivitamin for your age and gender, and add about 1200 mg of calcium to that. Studies show that people who take calcium supplements eat less on the whole and snack less frequently than those who don't take the supplements. Remember though, a balanced diet is the surest way to stop the urge to snack.
6. Pull one over on your cravings. When you want something to eat, know that you are probably looking for comfort. So try comforting your body with other things like smelling a lovely candle in your favorite scent, or put some really nice perfume on. Take a luxurious bubble bath, or go out and get a movie you've been waiting to see. Spoil another one of your senses and it may be just as fulfilling, especially if you weren't a bit hungry to begin with.
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