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Do you always feel hungry? Do you always leave the table hungry? We all understand that it is difficult to learn to control an increased appetite, especially if you have a habit of snacking frequently. But trust me, you can do it! Controlling your appetite is the best way to lose weight and prevent heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and metabolic disorders. However, this does not mean that you should go hungry. All you have to do is read this article to learn the difference between physical and mental hunger and follow our 20 effective tips!
I eat a lot, what's the reason?
Psychology of gluttony
Each person who eats a lot has their own reasons for this, and often overweight people do not even realize that their gluttony is psychological in nature.
For example, some try to compensate with food for dissatisfaction in some area of life. Perhaps you have not realized yourself properly in your career, you are unlucky in love, your husband has stopped showing interest in you, and the like. You find relief in delicious food, but in reality you need to solve the problem that led to this.
The cause of gluttony may be severe stress, which people experience in different ways - some completely lose their appetite and rapidly lose weight, while others, on the contrary, begin to eat frequently and gain weight.
It usually starts out harmlessly enough: you decide that nothing bad will happen if you eat pizza or cake late at night, but gradually these rare exceptions become a tradition.
Heredity and tendency to be overweight
Many members of your family are not particularly slim. However, even in early childhood you yourself looked larger than your peers. As a rule, people who are prone to obesity eat a lot, which only aggravates the situation, and this same habit has been preserved since childhood. It seems to you that if you start eating differently, it will not change anything, since everyone knows that you have a tendency to be overweight.
I eat a lot, I’ve been taught this since childhood
The habit of eating a lot can start from childhood. Remember how your family ate, what portions they served you, were you forced to finish everything on your plate?
In many families, it is customary to have a hearty breakfast, lunch and dinner. The meal begins with a large bowl of soup, followed by meat with a side dish and dessert - this happens year after year, which develops seven specific habits among the members.
What food culture was instilled in you? Some families have been trying to adhere to proper nutrition for many years or do not put much emphasis on preparing dishes, eating simply and without frills. In other families, there is rarely a dinner without fried cutlets, fatty chops, potatoes, salads with mayonnaise, pies and other “heavy” dishes. In adulthood, people most often retain their usual eating habits.
Irregular eating and its consequences
There is no such thing as breakfast, lunch or dinner for you. You “grab” food on the run, not really caring about its usefulness and calorie content. Most often, you just eat when you “feel like it,” which then doesn’t have the best effect on your figure.
Stock up on proteins
Research shows that proteins play a key role in regulating appetite. Those who systematically consume proteins gain fewer kilograms after losing weight, and the results of their fight against excess weight are more impressive. Proteins make you feel full because they take longer to digest. If you neglect protein foods, hunger pangs will cause you to overeat. So make it a habit to consume protein with every meal.
Guide to action
Consume "lean" proteins: beans, egg whites, lean meats, low-fat dairy products (cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese and milk) - all of which help strengthen muscle tissue and do not contain fat.
How to force yourself to eat less
1. Proper motivation
Have you long dreamed of losing weight from size XL to S? In this case, go to the store and choose a beautiful and expensive outfit for the coveted S-ki, and buy it. Imagine the day when you can put on the clothes you bought, what effect you will have, how surprised and delighted your friends will be. Think about what a spectacular photo shoot you can do, how amazed your former or current lover will be when he sees you, how amazing you will be in a swimsuit and underwear. Imagine that you are a slim and impressive woman, but now you are not living in your body, and because of this you are not receiving the attention you deserve. Your goal is to return to “your” body by any means.
2. Set a goal - specific numbers by a specific date
There are many forums on the Internet where people who are losing weight or have already lost weight share their experiences. Find an inspiring story from a woman who was around your weight and achieved the numbers you dream of. How much time did it take for her and people like her to do this? Let's say four months. Look at the calendar and determine what important date will be in about four months - New Year, your birthday, the first day of summer, your husband's birthday? It is by this day that you must achieve the desired result, and if this does not happen, then only your laziness is to blame. The exception is a serious illness, but not a “tendency to be overweight,” “broad bones,” or the like.
3. Reduce the amount of food
This should not be done abruptly, but gradually. For example, you understand that the amount of food consumed per day can be safely reduced by a third. Give yourself three days to achieve this result.
Do not forget that if you follow a diet and are sure that you are eating the necessary, but not excessive amount of food, sometimes the brain can give you a false signal of hunger, in which case you should use a trick - just drink a glass of warm water. Did the trick fail? Try to eat something low-calorie - a handful of low-fat cottage cheese, an apple, a saucer of sauerkraut, a small piece of boiled chicken fillet or an orange. If you really want to eat, then such low-calorie foods will solve this problem, but if you specifically want fried ham or a piece of chocolate cake, you will have to be patient.
You can also use another trick. You have reduced your portions, and now it seems to you that you are eating very little, although you understand that this is not so. Start eating with different dishes, thereby subconsciously calming yourself down. Have you put food on a wide plate before? Now eat from the saucer! Food that only took up half of your plate will barely fit on the saucer. The brain will receive a calming signal: you are not hungry, because you ate a full plate of food! This technique has long been known to many people who have decided to lose weight and, perhaps, it will help you too.
4. We monitor our diet: what we eat and when, count calories
The key to losing weight quickly is proper nutrition. If you want to not only lose weight, but also maintain the results, then you need to watch what exactly you eat and what foods are in your refrigerator. First of all, start counting calories. Use tables online to find out how many calories you should consume to maintain your weight, and also how many calories you would consume if you were at your goal weight. For example, you want to lose weight up to 60 kg, and to maintain this weight you consume approximately 1770 kilocalories per day - which means you need to consume the same amount.
It is also important to give up fatty foods - butter, confectionery, fried foods. Often this one step can already reduce the overall calorie content of your diet. On the Internet you can see a table of calorie content of foods and use it to create your own menu. Or take note of a menu that has already been compiled for the required number of calories - there are also a lot of them on the Internet.
Eat small portions
How often do you eat crackers and chips straight out of a big bag? But is it possible to track how much you eat without measuring the amount of food? This is why you should never eat anything from large packages. To control calories, you need to use measuring cups and small containers (see point 2). Why? Because when you have a bottomless bag of something delicious in front of you, it's too easy to eat too much.
Guide to action
Instead of eating appetizers from a shared platter at a party, for example, serve yourself a portion on a small plate, then simply step away from the table (or put the packaging out of sight if you're eating at home) and enjoy every bite (see point 1) .
How to stop eating sweets
Often, sweets are the main cause of weight gain. Once you realize this problem and decide to give up sweets, do it gradually. To begin with, reduce your consumption of such food by half, and only then gradually reduce it to zero.
To prevent a rapid decrease in blood glucose levels, eat foods that contain it in sufficient quantities - hard pasta, some vegetables, etc.
If you are used to drinking tea with cake or sweets, then it will be difficult for you to adapt. However, there are products that will help you replace your usual sweets - nuts, dried apricots and other dried fruits, honey, candied fruits. It is also important not to skip the first meal - find time for a hearty breakfast, and closer to noon you will not be craving a snack in the form of a chocolate bar or cookies.
A scientific approach to fighting hunger
Your hunger is controlled by three hormones - insulin, ghrelin and leptin. When you don't eat for more than 3-4 hours, insulin levels drop (insulin's function is to carry glucose or broken down substances from the bloodstream into cells for energy). When this happens, the “hunger” hormone, ghrelin, rushes forward. You start to feel hungry and you go to eat. Once your body's glucose levels rise, the hunger control hormone leptin enters your bloodstream and prevents you from eating more. So, if there is leptin, which seems to limit appetite, then why can't you stop eating? Well, here's the first answer.
Overeating can lead to leptin resistance. This means your brain stops responding to leptin. This usually happens when you start gaining weight not in the form of muscle, but in the form of fat. The more fat, the more leptin is released (leptin is produced in fat cells). But instead of stopping a person from eating more, their hypothalamus becomes resistant to leptin and does not recognize the signal to “stop eating.” As a result, you still feel hungry and continue to eat more.
How to stop eating in the evening after six and at night
First of all, it is important to follow your diet during the day, then a sudden refusal of food after six in the evening may go unnoticed. However, in most cases, it is very difficult to break this ingrained habit. If you have been eating late in the evening or at night for years, then giving up this tradition should happen gradually.
Don’t torture yourself, and immediately prepare snacks for the evening, and possibly at night. If you cannot completely avoid eating food at night, then at least make sure that your snacks do not cause too much harm.
Display your favorite fruits in a prominent place. If you know exactly what you will eat in the evening, then immediately cut yourself apples, pears or any other favorite fruit. Berries will also come in handy.
You can also grate carrots, mix them with honey, or boil yourself a piece of chicken fillet. Choose the least calorie foods.
It is equally important to maintain a proper sleep schedule. If you don’t have to go to work or school early in the morning, and you sit in front of the computer almost until dawn, then, of course, it will be difficult for you not to eat after six. Try to go to bed not late and wake up early.
Eat half a serving
The portion sizes served in most restaurants are highly conducive to overeating. Of course, we want to get as much product for our money as possible, but too often we have to pay for it with our health. Lunch at a cafe can cost you more than 1,200 calories. And that's even without dessert! Even if you have the good intention of eating half a portion, it will be very difficult to stop, as well as to understand when it is time to put down your fork, especially if you are also communicating with someone while eating.
Guide to action
Take one more step towards your good intentions. Ask the waiter to arrange half a portion of the ordered dish to go before it even reaches your table. This way, you will not only eat the intended half, but you will have another small portion left over for the next day. Let this be your “stop signal” on the path to overeating (see point 3), because most people do not have the habit of eating from bags of leftover food right in a restaurant.
All the pros and cons of diets
People who are losing weight are most often divided into two camps - some believe that only a diet will help them achieve the desired figure, while others are convinced that a diet is harmful to their health and body. How is it really?
Pros:
- The weight is really going down. If you give up many unhealthy foods and start counting calories, then weight loss is inevitable.
- The result can be permanently consolidated. Having lost a certain number of kilograms during the diet, women usually consolidate this result for a long time - especially if they abandon their previous taste habits and adhere to proper nutrition.
- You can choose a diet in which you don’t have to starve. Many of them include a fairly large number of foods, albeit low in calories, which allows you to not feel hungry.
Minuses:
- Many diets are quite similar, and if they are followed, a person losing weight does not receive the required number of vitamins and microelements. The result is poor condition of the skin, hair and nails.
- The process may be slow. Only fasting gives quick results, but it deals a big blow to health. A diet, as a rule, shows a significant effect only in the first weeks - then its effect slows down.
- At first, there is a great desire to “break loose”, and thereby cause great harm to the body.
Use smaller food containers
It's true what they say: you can eat everything with your eyes. Recent research has shown that if people use larger plates and help themselves, they actually eat more. In one study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 85 subjects were asked to eat a bowl of ice cream. Moreover, all the vases and spoons were of different sizes. Scientists found that experiment participants who received larger dishes ate 31% more ice cream. If the ice cream was served in large spoons, then there was 14.5% more dessert on the plate. So while large plates look nice, save them for special occasions. Remember, once you see a large container, you will naturally want to fill it!
Guide to action
Use dessert plates every day - this way you will eat less. If your cutlery is too big, maybe it's time for new utensils that won't stand in the way of your slimming routine.
Exercising will help you start losing weight
In combination with proper nutrition and calorie counting, exercise will help you quickly achieve the necessary results, become toned, and improve your health and well-being.
It is believed that the best sport for those who want to lose weight is running. You can start on the treadmill at the gym, or run laps at your local park, where you'll likely see other runners. Please note that if you want a noticeable result, you will have to work a lot for this. It may not be easy for you to do this right away, but gradually you should achieve the goal of running at least six kilometers a day.
Many people cannot get used to running and end up giving up sports altogether, forgetting that running is not the only way to lose weight! Also, yoga and aerobics of any type can help achieve the goal. Group fitness classes can also be very productive - many gyms offer a variety of sports programs every week, which are attended by many women.
The right diet
A healthy diet will help you reduce the amount of calories you consume, as well as improve your overall well-being and give you strength. It is advisable to reduce the amount of chemical foods, such as chips, chocolates, candies and other products whose composition resembles an excerpt from a chemistry textbook. It would be better to give up processed foods, since the best food is homemade, prepared with your own hands.
Add fresh vegetables to your menu. They contain a lot of useful microelements, as well as fiber, which perfectly cleanses the intestines. Fruits will satisfy your hunger and not ruin your figure. They can be consumed in huge quantities without fear of obesity. The main thing is to take fruits separately from other foods so that they are absorbed normally.
“Eat breakfast yourself, share lunch with a friend, give dinner to your enemy.”
If you are trying to reduce your weight, then the above rule can help you with this! In your case, you need to start every day with a full breakfast, and not with a cup of coffee. Make sure your first meal includes carbohydrates and proteins. Please note that if you are expected to be active during the day, you should give preference to foods with fast carbohydrates (potatoes, semolina, etc.). If you have a sedentary job or are simply inactive, then you need slow carbohydrates (buckwheat, pasta, etc.).
Lunch should also be complete and include various microelements. At the same time, try to keep your diet varied.
When losing weight, have dinner without an abundance of foods rich in fats and carbohydrates - the food should be light. Stewed vegetables may be an ideal option. Take your last meal a couple of hours before bedtime. If you feel hungry after dinner, you can eat an apple or drink a glass of kefir.
If you decide to switch to proper nutrition, then on the Internet you can find many already compiled menus that will help you achieve the desired goal. All you have to do is buy food for the week and stick to the given diet. After this, the result will not take long to arrive!
Eat slowly
Do you like to smell flowers? How about enjoying the smell of the food you eat? Take your time and enjoy the world around you, including food. By paying attention to each piece you are about to eat, you will gradually move on to conscious eating, which means you will reduce the caloric content of your diet, be able to distinguish between true and emotional hunger, and also learn to differentiate the feeling of satiety.
As a result, you will never again mindlessly clear your plate and then regret what you did for a long time. A calm environment while eating will lead to more thorough chewing of food, which in turn is beneficial for digestion. But to learn how to eat mindfully, you need to practice a little. The noise and bustle of our daily life does not let us go for a minute. Sometimes it takes an effort to focus on food and realize that you are full. Before a habit forms, create a reminder to keep in mind while you eat, such as a motivational note on the dinner table.
Guide to action
Set a timer. Start by keeping track of the time you spend eating. You may be surprised to suddenly find yourself eating breakfast or lunch in front of the computer in 5-10 minutes. Gradually increase your meal time to at least 20 minutes.
Is there an algorithm for avoiding eating another piece of cake?
- This is a series of questions to yourself and subsequent actions. You can simulate the situation in an exaggerated way.
1. What happened to me today? I stepped on my foot on the bus, spilled coffee on my dress, and the director yelled at me.
2. What is happening now? Here I am standing in front of the refrigerator.
3. How do I feel now? I'm angry, I'm upset, I'm offended, I'm lonely, etc.
4. What thoughts do I have? Our director is an asshole, after all, he could have listened to me first. I should punch the conductor in the face, etc.
5. How does this make my body feel? There's a lump in my throat, for example.
6. What do I want? This is where it turns out that you don’t want a cake, you just want to express your emotions.
Woman eating donut.
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And the last, decisive question: what can I do about this besides food?
And there are a lot of options: draw the director and cover it with a black felt-tip pen (there are many drawing techniques for expressing anger), walk down the street, meditate, do breathing exercises. You can find many ways to self-regulate on the Internet.
Or just switch - do something that brings you pleasure: chat with a friend on the phone, paint your nails, rearrange the dishes, knit, embroider, lie in a warm fragrant bath, read, watch a movie, clean the house, in the end - who likes what .
Food. Products.
open sources on the Internet
What goals should you set for losing weight?
A well-set goal is a powerful foundation on which you can build a slim and healthy body. You must firmly know why you need to lose weight, otherwise a breakdown cannot be avoided. You may set yourself the goal of fitting into your old favorite jeans that have been too small for you for a long time. Or go further by deciding to completely change your wardrobe. Good health or good physical fitness is a good goal. For example, you can decide to run a marathon and slowly implement it. In the spring, a great incentive can be the desire to have a beautiful figure by summer, so as not to be embarrassed about your body on the beach.
The secret to satiety is soup
The soup satisfies well, and not at all because it fills the stomach with water. A special study was conducted in which volunteers were divided into two groups. The first was offered soup, and the second an appropriate amount of solid food and water. The purpose of the experiment was to find out how quickly both of its participants would get hungry. The first group, which ate the soup, felt hungry a full hour later than the second.
This means that on days when your diet reduces your calorie intake, soup is the way to go. My only advice: try to cook it yourself. Then you will know exactly how many vegetables it contains and what kind, and most importantly, how much oil and salt.
Eat a piece of dark chocolate
It turns out that he is capable of L. B. Sørensen, A. Astrup. Eating dark and milk chocolate: a randomized crossover study of effects on appetite and energy intake / Nutrition & Diabetes Moreover, milk chocolate does not have this property. And in another small study, E. T. Massolt, P. M. van Haard, J. F. Rehfeld, E. F. Posthuma, E. van der Veer, D. H. Schweitzer. Appetite suppression through smelling of dark chocolate correlates with changes in ghrelin in young women / Regulatory peptides it was possible to establish that you don’t have to eat dark chocolate: just smell it to feel full.
What is fractional nutrition
Many people wonder: if you eat little, will you lose weight or not? But what is little? Low total daily caloric intake? Small portions? Few times a day? You need to approach nutrition responsibly so that the body does not feel stressed and begins to accumulate fat.
Serving size is easy to determine if you use the size of your palm as a guide.
There is such a thing as a fractional power system. It is designed as an alternative to the classic three-course system consisting of breakfast, lunch and dinner. With fractional meals, a person eats approximately 5–6 times a day. It is important to maintain the same meal times.
Portions for fractional meals are small. Typically, one serving should fit in the palm of a person’s hand. In addition, salt, sugar and various flavor enhancers are almost completely excluded. There are also no spicy, fried, smoked or other unhealthy foods in the diet.
With this diet, the stomach quickly returns to its normal size, and the person begins to feel full even in such small portion sizes. In addition, small portions are processed almost completely, so problems with constipation, flatulence, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems disappear.
More about the principles of fractional nutrition >>
Strict adherence to meal times leads to the fact that the body begins to produce digestive enzymes at the same time. These enzymes help digest all incoming food, especially considering the fact that it consists of healthy foods.
Where, from a psychological point of view, should you start getting rid of bad habits?
— All psychology and psychotherapy is aimed at increasing a person’s awareness in any situations where that person’s actions become ineffective. So, first of all, you need to begin to become aware of your bad eating habit and notice it in time. Ask yourself: am I really hungry?
I don’t want to eat, but for some reason I went to the refrigerator, opened it and was looking for something. At this moment it is important to stop yourself and start thinking. This is the first step to destroying your eating habit and building a new, correct one.
A schoolgirl eats pizza.
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