If you’re about to embark on a healthy eating plan the chances are you are going to experience a bit more hunger than usual.
Hunger is an incredibly impulsive state to be in so you have to be prepared for it.
How often have you started the day with the best intentions and felt great about where your weight loss journey may take only for your efforts to be destroyed by the first sight of temptation. It’s almost like a switch in your head that goes from determination to submission in an instant!
You made the decision to eat that thing but it almost doesn’t feel like you. Is there two people living in your body?
BE PREPARED:
You will feel hungry
You will crave your favourite foods
You will have days that don’t go to plan
You will get there in the end
Be mentally prepared for all of these things. It should be no surprise that you’re going to feel hungry if you’ve reduced the amount of food you are eating. If you’ve cut a load of rubbish out of your diet you almost certainly will experience sugar craving. Be aware – and remind yourself why you are doing this in the first place.
How do you become aware?
MEDITATE
Meditation, mindfulness – whatever you want to call it. The ability to step away from your internal voice and bring your awareness to what you are directly experiencing rather than being a slave to it.
Spend 10 minutes a day focusing on the present moment, without judgement. Let your thoughts roll through your head, if you’ve noticed your mind wander just bring yourself back to the present moment and go again. If you find it hard not to let your mind wander don’t worry, just keep bringing yourself back to the now.
If you can’t spare 10 minutes a day then get your priorities straight or just stop watching so much TV.
Hunger is just a feeling. Granted it is a feeling that our body gives us when we need to eat but it’s obvious that we get this feeling sometimes when we don’t necessarily need to eat. What we could be experiencing is sugar craving, which is very similar – in fact it could be the same thing.
The point is you’re probably unlikely that you are going to starve to death if you need to lose weight.
Personally I’m a big believer in the power of meditation. It’s not just for yoga lovers and hippies. Meditation can be extremely powerful and can give you the mind-tools you need to keep on top of those urges.
