Why Do We Eat?
Welcome to this weeks Mindful Weighs Wednesday friends!
You’ve had a long day at work, the kids still have practice, and you have no idea what is for dinner. You think you are starving, or you “deserve” that cookie. Often times a default to a stressful day is food. A key to losing weight is becoming more aware of knowing the difference between true physical hunger, and eating as a means to feel better. There are sensations of hunger, and feelings of hunger. Do you know the difference, and how often do you take the time to tune in to your body to even pay attention?
Sensations begin in the body and send signal to the brain. Examples of sensations include burning, cold, stomach grumbling or body feeling weak. Emotional feelings of hunger start in the brain and send a signal to the body. Emotions are feelings, or vibrations, like lonely, angry, bored or happy. We eat for both reasons, and there is not judgement around this, but in the quest to lose weight it is important to take the time to become aware of what is driving you to over eat. We want to eat when we have the sensation of hunger, and find other tools to cope wit the feelings.
Here is the thing - if we are truly hungry, a grilled chicken breast would do the trick. But a lot of the time it is a craving, or our over desire for food, that is causing thoughts of hunger. We have conditioned ourselves to be hungry even when we aren't by just seeing food and making associations. We are not going to die if we miss one meal. Now for some of us our brain would say otherwise. But think about it - people fast for a variety of reasons and they are just fine. We can access fat storage from our own bodies. My coach, Brooke Castillo, likes to call this “dining in” — go get some fuel from your butt, thighs, and stomach - that’s the best snacking available for anyone wanting to lose weight.
When trying to lose weight we want to use food that provides our body the nutrients needed to perform at our best - in this program we call it FUEL EATING, and recommend this type of eating 90% of the time. The other 10% of the time can be JOY EATING, and with joy eating you must enjoy every bite. Now with all eating we want to use our pre-frontal cortex, or managing part of our brain, to make decisions that serve us on the way to lower weight.
This week I encourage you to become more aware of your physical sensations of hunger - describe them, and then consider the emotional needs/feelings that might make you feel hungry or want to eat. You will be fascinated once you start paying attention. Feel free to click on the calendar link to sign up for a complimentary mini session if you would like to learn more #mindfulweighs of losing weight.
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