Most dieters have difficulty distinguishing between:
True hunger(when your stomach is really empty)
Desire..(not being really hungry but eating when
there is food around.
craving..(a physiological and emotionally intense urge to eat.)
These are examples the book gave...
..You hadn't eaten for many hours and really felt ravenous..The empty sensation in your stomach, often accompanied by stomach rumblings, was HUNGER..
..You ate a big meal and yet you still wanted to continue to eat more. That was a DESIRE.
..You had a very strong urge to eat, which was accompanied by a feeling of tension and an unpleasant yearning sensation in your mouth, throat, or body. That was a CRAVING.
Before you sit down to eat each meal and snack, notice how your stomach feels..Rate it with a scale of 0-10 on how hungry you feel...
About half through your meal, again stop and rate how your stomach feels..using 0-10...10 feeling the fullest...
After you have finished your meal..think about how you feel...Do you want to eat more because you are still hungry? Or do you just want it just because it was good?....About 20 min. after you finish your meal...again rate how you feel... When you are finished eating you may just be mildly full. It seems like a few minutes later, you seem more satified as the time goes on..
Tip....'If it has been anywhere from 20 minutes to up to 3 hours since you've eaten a reasonable-sized meal, remind yourself that any urge to eat is probably due to a desire to eat, not to hunger'.
You are wondering why this is important as long as you are able to stick to your diet plan and still lose weight. Well, when you do finally arrive at your goal weight, you will have an easier time of maintaining your weight if you know how to tell the difference between hunger and desire...If you can master this..it will be much easier to maintain your weight without a weight gain.
