Have you ever been on a diet and resisted eating while your stomach was making hungry noises? Sometimes when you get hungry, you ignore that feeling for fear of gaining weight.
As you ignore it more often, it disappears or it retaliates by making you binge.
And the same goes for satiety (feeling full).
This is the voice we ignore the most.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, picture yourself at a big delicious family meal gathering; you've had a lot to eat and you're getting full but you can't resist your aunt's amazing dish or your mothers mouth-watering pie, so you eat way beyond the point of fullness and you crush that little voice that keeps popping up to tell you you've had enough.
Although a lot more subtle than the voice of hunger, the voice of satiety is present in all of us but you can hear it better with practice.
The hunger and satiety mechanisms are a gift, and they are part of our body's amazing abilities to maintain optimum weight and health.
Ignoring them would mean giving up on your body and allowing others to tell you what your body needs instead of looking at yourself for the answer.
Start strengthening these mechanisms today, and build on them over time.
Try this: - Allow yourself to feel hunger and then stop for a moment to think about what it is you're hungry for.
Do you feel like having something sweet, savoury, salty, sour, etc.
Sometimes, giving your body exactly the taste it needs means you will be satisfied sooner.
To satisfy that hunger, opt for a healthy option of course.
- During your meals, eat slowly and listen to the faint voice that will tell you that you're full.
It usually comes around the time when your eating starts to slow down or when you put your fork down for a few seconds.
Listen to what that voice is telling you.
Stop when you're satisfied, not when you're painfully full.
- Stop eating when you feel you've had enough (not a minute beyond), even if you haven't finished your plate.
Finishing your plate will not solve world hunger.
You'll get better at this with practice.
Analyse what you're eating Take an honest look at what you're eating and your overall diet.
Most people know what they're doing wrong but they're either in denial or they wait until they hear it from someone else.
As you analyse your diet, do the following: - Name three foods (or food groups) that you think are making you gain weight, or stopping you from losing weight.
- Come up with two healthy substitutes for each of these food groups.
For example, if chocolate is your biggest problem, then plan to have raisins or dates instead, and so on.
Here's a list of the different foods that may be adding to your weight at the moment.
These should be reduced or cut out completely.
If you do not reduce them, all your weight loss efforts will be in vain.
Foods to cut out - Fast food such as cheeseburgers, fries, nuggets, etc - Chocolates and sugar-containing sweets and desserts - Chewing gum - Refined white products such as white bread, white rice, etc - Fried foods and foods containing hydrogenated oils such as commercial biscuits and instant soups - Foods containing additives, colourings, and flavour enhancers.