Lose Weight Easily by Understanding Why You Are Eating

By Vanessa Heaps

Ah, if only life was so simple that we ate just when we were physically hungry! Being hungry is our body's way of telling us that we need fuel. But we sometimes eat when we don't get the hungry sign from our body. Why is this? Look at the following reasons below of why we eat when we are not hungry, and tick the ones that apply to you. Also add some of your own that are not on the list.

• Bored
• Everyone else is eating
• Tired
• Special occasion e.g. Christmas, birthdays
• Lonely
• Thirsty
• Fed-up
• Just in case I'm hungry later
• Angry
• Like the taste of the food
• Sad
• Habit e.g. I always have a biscuit with a cup of tea
• Guilty
• As a reward
• Anxious
• Because it's there
• It's the specified meal time
• To fill a gap
• Watching television
• Need comforting
• At the cinema/theatre
• It brings back nice memories
• I'm starting a diet tomorrow, so I'm going to eat lots of things now I know I can't on the diet
• Secretly eating sugary and fattening foods when nobody is around
• I must finish everything on my plate
• It's calling me from the cupboard in the kitchen to 'eat me'!
• I must eat something nutritious, as I have eaten rubbish all day.
• I'm on holiday so I will eat what ever I like.

Look at the reasons why you eat when you are not hungry.

Understanding why and when you eat is half the battle in reducing your non-hungry eating.

- If it is an emotion that you are trying to push back down or block it out with food (e.g. sadness, anger etc), will food stop this emotion coming back again? Unfortunately the answer is no. Emotions are valuable warning signals from the body that something needs attention now, or that some past event or issue needs to be resolved. If we suppress these emotions with food, the emotions will only keep coming back until we eventually resolve them.

- If it is a habit, once you have identified it, it is usually easy to change, avoid or substitute the food with something equally as satisfying as food. E.g. If you always eat a biscuit whilst having a cup of tea, either give up drinking tea for a while, or substitute the biscuit for a new association such as a chat.

- If it is to please people, just politely explain that you are trying to lose weight by only eating when you are hungry. Mention how delicious the food looks and maybe you will have some later when you are hungry. Stick to your guns!

- If it is a special occasion, e.g. Christmas, birthday, holiday etc, think does this have to involve eating everything in sight? Will that make me happy? Or will I be content to try little bits of everything I like and that will make me feel satisfied until I am full? In this way you do not miss out on anything, and you do not have to waddle home because you are so full!

What are the reasons why you eat when you are not physically hungry? How can you now over come these?

By working out your patterns of eating you are well on the way to a slim future!

Vanessa Heaps is a Weight Management Specialist based in the UK. She helps people to become their dream weight, for the rest of their lives, without dieting. Vanessa concentrates on helping people to think themselves slim using NLP techniques. She believes that people can regain their passion and enthusiasm for food and eating through giving up dieting forever, as diets only work in the short term. For more information about Weight Loss workshops and home study methods, please see Vanessa's Website: http://www.whyareyoueating.co.uk Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vanessa_Heaps