Diet Article - Best Way to Banish Hunger

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The best ways to banish your hunger cravings...

You don't have to be hungry when you are on a diet, according to W.

, M.D., author of The New ton Program: The Permanent

Weight-Control Solution.

A person who eats three nutritionally balanced meals a day, plus a few small

snacks, cannot possibly experience true hunger. It's physiologically

impossible to have a true hunger pang under those circumstances. However,

overweight individuals on a proper diet can and do experience cravings,

desires, and urges for specific foods, which they often interpret as hunger.

If you take even part of the following advice, you will learn to think like

a thin person and eat only when you experience true hunger. These tips will

help you banish your hunger cravings.

* Don't skip meals. When you skip a meal, you are more apt to overeat during

the next meal. When you eat a lot at one time your body can't burn off the

excess calories and they turn into fat. It's best to eat small amounts at

regular intervals.

* Eat between meals only when you are really hungry. Overweight people too

often eat not to satisfy real hunger, but only to feel better emotionally.

* Drink several glasses of water shortly before (no more than five minutes

before starting) a meal to get a full feeling. Between meals, try a cup of

hot tea, coffee, or lemon-flavored water to satisfy hunger urges. A cup of

hot bouillon soup often works wonders in satisfying hunger.

* Exercise inhibits the hunger urge. Put more activity into your life. Force

yourself to walk more by parking your car several blocks from your

destination, take the elevator and get off on the floor below where you want

to be and walk up the remaining flight. Walk down steps instead of taking an

elevator or escalator.

* If you tend to overeat while watching TV or reading a book, you should

resolve not to eat at those times. You must separate the act of eating and

TV watching because TV watching takes your mind off what you're eating.

* It is often hard for people to resist snacking during TV commercials.

Instead of running for the refrigerator, do short exercises: Walk around the

room on your toes, jog in place, or do simple stretching exercises. While

sitting, you can extend your legs, wiggle your toes, and make circles with

your arms. These exercises will take your mind off hunger urges.

* If you do snack, munch on measured portions of bite-size pieces of fruit

such as melon balls, pieces of apple, pear, oranges, peaches, banana slices,

or strawberries. It is important that these foods already be prepared. If

you are hungry and have to prepare the bite-size pieces, it's too easy to

overeat while you are preparing them.

* Another satisfying " no hunger " dieting trick is to freeze blueberries,

blackberries, boysenberries, strawberries or seedless grapes. Pop individual

berries or individual grapes in your mouth. Savor the taste as they melt in

your mouth. The experience will be so satisfying that only a few will cure

your hunger craving.

* If, after eating fruit, you still crave something sweet, instead of

reaching for a high-calorie dessert try something sour. Savor a dill pickle

or eat a hot pepper. Strong flavors will often banish sweet cravings and

hunger urges.

* If you have an uncontrollable urge to binge, do it, but first take off all

your clothes and sit down with your food in front of a full-length mirror.

You are allowed to eat all you want as long as you watch yourself.

Overweight patients say they usually stop after only two bites when they use

this technique. It's a very effective method because you can see what you

are doing to yourself by overeating.

Remember, if you are eating three balanced meals and snacks a day you aren't

experiencing true hunger. You can turn off false hunger cravings by

reminding yourself how uncomfortable extra calories make you feel. For

instance, go to your closet and try on some clothes that are too tight.

Force yourself to wear them for a few hours so you can experience their

tightness.

If you have thrown out or given away your old tight clothes, go to a

clothing store and try on clothes a size too small. Imagine how good it

would feel to wear them without the tightness. Use the experience to remind

yourself of the rewards of controlling your weight.

Author

Maury M. Breecher, Ph.D., M.P.H

http://thefactsaboutfitness.com/research/nohunger.htm

Carol