why did I eat that?

It's getting dark at 4:30 these days, and I have found myself looking to eat dinner much earlier.  It's not that I'm actually hungry- most times I eat lunch around 1pm and eat a snack around 4pm.  So, why do I feel hungry?  Why do I want to eat dinner just after my snack?

We eat for many reasons.  Food is really just fuel for the body.  We eat because we have used up this fuel, and our body needs to have more.  But, in our society, food tends to be much more than simple fuel.  Food is social; food is emotional; food is yummy.  A problem arises when food becomes more emotional then physiological.

Some of the major contributors to why we decide to eat are know as external cues.  The external cue theory basically says that we eat because of external cues to our brain like:

• the smell of food (hunger you feel when you smell fresh bread)
• the time of day (you don't feel hungry until you look at the time and notice it's noon.  All the sudden you get hungry)
• the routine that we are in (dessert after dinner; popcorn at a movie)



Are you hungry for that popcorn or is it habit?

• the social environment (everyone is eating now- so I must eat now, too)

rather than internal cues such as: true hunger or low blood sugar.  I know that I fall into this trap of thinking that I'm hungry when I'm not truly hungry; it happens to everyone.



Next time you are hungry, try to think about why you feel that way.  Has it been a while since you ate? Did you exercise a lot earlier in the day? (...legitimate reasons to be hungry) Or, is it 4pm and you always have a snack at 4pm?

Tip to train yourself to re-listen to your internal cues:

• Change environments.  If you are in the office, get up and take a walk around the room.  If you are at home go get a breath of fresh air.  Changing the simulus can "reset" your hunger cues.
• Take a drink of water.  Thirst is often confused with hunger.
• Give it a few minutes- If the hunger is emotional or from external cues, chances are that it passes.
• If you are still hungry, then eat a healthy snack or a proper meal.
• Snacks should be <200 calories. 
• If you are eating a meal- eat slowly and until you are 80% full.  There is a lag-time between when you have eaten sufficiently and when brain receives the "full" signal.

Let's make this year's focus less on dieting and more on realizing what our body needs.  Our bodies inform us whether we need to eat- our minds inform us whether we want to eat.  Learning your internal cues (by responding to true hunger) is an important and real way of great life-long eating habits!

Happy New Year!!