Hunger is the most powerful driver, because without it, we might forget to eat, and eating is essential. But these days most of us rarely get really hungry but the fear of hunger is powerful too.
My cat is a stray and I found her when she was scavenging in my friend’s kitchen. She was skinny and scared. After coming to stay with me she became as fat as fat because food, all of a sudden, was freely available, but starvation had been a daily risk. These are the rules my cat was following, to deal with the serious risk of lack of food and starvation:
We usually talk about losing weight, and I think that is a bit too abstract or most of us. We might think about a goal weight and express a desire to reach it. Again, for me, a bit too abstract. And we know that the goal is in the future, and things get a bit less urgent and a bit vaguer. To manage our weight we need to manage our eating and we can make those changes one or two at a time. Hypnosis helps by bedding those changes in, so they become automatic and sustained.
So, if you know that you just eat too much of everything, start eating half of any plate of food in front of you. Some of us were taught to eat everything on the plate, so this new behaviour might need some practice.
Before you eat anything, consult your hunger quotient. How hungry are you at the moment on a scale of 0-10? If it is less than 5, you don’t need to eat. There is always food available later. For some of us, a better question is when did you last eat anything at all? If it was less than 3 hours ago, you wil not be hungry. You might have the desire to eat and your appetite might be strong, but this is not hunger. Most of us have forgotten the difference.
When you eat, eat slowly. Completely finish one mouthful before preparing the next one. Research has shown that if you train yourself to eat slowly, and indeed, if you reduce your eating speed during the meal, you will eat less.
And that is another tip. Eat meals rather than snacks. Snacking is a new habit and since we started doing it, the average weight has increased by over 10 pounds.
My cat is a stray and I found her when she was scavenging in my friend’s kitchen. She was skinny and scared. After coming to stay with me she became as fat as fat because food, all of a sudden, was freely available, but starvation had been a daily risk. These are the rules my cat was following, to deal with the serious risk of lack of food and starvation:
- Always eat when food is available
- Always eat as fast as possible
- Always eat as much as possible
- Always eat anything put in front of you
We usually talk about losing weight, and I think that is a bit too abstract or most of us. We might think about a goal weight and express a desire to reach it. Again, for me, a bit too abstract. And we know that the goal is in the future, and things get a bit less urgent and a bit vaguer. To manage our weight we need to manage our eating and we can make those changes one or two at a time. Hypnosis helps by bedding those changes in, so they become automatic and sustained.
So, if you know that you just eat too much of everything, start eating half of any plate of food in front of you. Some of us were taught to eat everything on the plate, so this new behaviour might need some practice.
Before you eat anything, consult your hunger quotient. How hungry are you at the moment on a scale of 0-10? If it is less than 5, you don’t need to eat. There is always food available later. For some of us, a better question is when did you last eat anything at all? If it was less than 3 hours ago, you wil not be hungry. You might have the desire to eat and your appetite might be strong, but this is not hunger. Most of us have forgotten the difference.
When you eat, eat slowly. Completely finish one mouthful before preparing the next one. Research has shown that if you train yourself to eat slowly, and indeed, if you reduce your eating speed during the meal, you will eat less.
And that is another tip. Eat meals rather than snacks. Snacking is a new habit and since we started doing it, the average weight has increased by over 10 pounds.
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