Brought to you by Mary Shomon Your Thyroid Guide
What Are We Hungry For?
By David Junno Psy.D.
If we have to make changes in our diet to improve our health, one of the greatest challenges we face is hunger. Hunger is a powerful drive and is difficult to ignore. It is very difficult to resist food when we are feeling hungry, and if we do eat after getting hungry, it is difficult to know when to stop.
If you are hungry- eat!
One answer to dealing with the hunger problem when it comes to dieting is to eat. Many of us when we start dieting try not to eat. We might try to skip meals. The problem with this approach is it stirs up hunger, so when we do eat we are more likely to overindulge. To prevent this problem be sure to eat a breakfast, lunch and dinner. If we know we will get hungry in the middle of the afternoon, be sure to have a healthy snack available. We can then eat this snack before the hunger gets to strong. This will reduce our appetite later.
But first make sure you know what you are hungry for
The other problem with hunger is knowing what we are really hungry for. Many times it is not food we are hungry for but:
If we attempt to satisfy these hungers with food, we might end up creating a vicious cycle. We eat because we are bored and lonely, then we end up feeling bad about ourselves, and make less effort to get out and be with people. The result is we end up continuing to be bored and lonely and turning to food to solve this problem. Or we eat to manage anger. Because this way of managing anger doesn't really work, the reasons we are getting angry in the first place are never resolved. The result is we continue to have trouble with anger and we eat more and more to manage it.
To manage these hungers, first we have to determine what they are. Pay attention to when you are feeling hungry, especially after having already had a meal. What is going on at that time? Who are you with? What do you find yourself wishing for, or wishing would go away?
Once we have identified what we are really hungry for, we can then create a plan to deal with it. If we are hungry for companionship, we can make a plan to contact people or work at expanding our social network so we have more people in our lives. If we are hungry for stimulation or relief from boredom, we can explore areas of interest to us, start doing more things. If our hunger has to do with managing feelings, we can talk to people we know and trust about these feelings, or seek counseling to find better ways to manage these feelings. If our hunger is an attempt to relieve stress, we can reevaluate our time and try to reduce some of the demands in our lives.
The basic point is, if we address what we are really hungry for, we will be less tempted to turn to food to satisfy these hungers. Be aware of the potential chicken and the egg trap in addressing these issues. Sometimes we assume we can only deal certain issues, such as loneliness, depression, boredom, after we have first gotten control of our diet. If is a mistake to assume the dieting must come first. In fact we will be much more successful with the dieting if we are also learning to handle other problems in our lives.
So the next time you get hungry- satisfy it, but with what you are really hungry for!
Remember, having the right diet and getting enough exercise will not only improve your
health- IT WILL IMPROVE YOU LIFE.
Until next time,
Dave Junno Psy.D.
Dave Junno Psy.D. is a psychologist, coach and author of Lowering High Cholesterol and Reducing Your Risk of Heart Disease- READY OR NOT! To contact him mail to: drjunno@drjunno.com or visit his website: http://www.lower-high-cholesterol-ready-or-not.com and sign-up for his free e-mail newsletter: Ready or Not.
