In Control of Your Appetite

Do you ever wonder why you can’t seem to stop eating or what it will take to get control over your appetite? If you’ve tried appetite suppressants, you already know that isn’t the answer.

There is an answer that does work. It is doing the opposite of suppressing your appetite. I know that may not be the answer you were expecting, but it is true. The more you try to suppress your desire and need for food, the more you will overeat or feel out of control around food. Right now, as summer approaches, there are lots of advertisements for products to help you avoid feeling hungry so you can eat less and slim down. Nice idea, but that only leads to pigging out when you finally do eat. What ever calories you thought you were saving earlier in the day are fully spent later on.

You are much better off eating when you get hungry and then stopping when you are satisfied, just before you get full. I call it conscious eating. Others call it mindful eating, and this week Melinda Beck of the Wall Street Journal wrote about it in her Health Journal column and on line forum. She was amazed that by being more aware of her hunger and the experience of eating she was more easily satisfied with less food.

It sounds simple to eat when you are hungry, but if you’ve been ignoring your hunger for a period of time it can be tougher than it sounds. What can be challenging is to recognize when you do get hungry. It can also be hard to know when you get full if you haven’t been paying attention to that either.

Stop and consider how hungry or full you are right now. Do you know? Just what does it feel like when you get hungry? Do you know when you overeat and get full?

This week pay attention to your hunger levels and let them guide you to eat just the right amount of food your body needs. If you eat when you are hungry and stop before getting full, you won’t need to count calories or points. You will be eating in alignment with your metabolic requirements and feeling in control of your appetite.

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