Tips for Controlling Your Weight
Many clients have found the following ideas useful.
1. Break The Eating Trance
Impulse eating is usually done on auto-pilot. It's an unconscious attempt to solve a problem in the moment, such as boredom or discomfort (of course, it's not a terribly helpful solution in the long term). When you find yourself heading towards the snacks, wait ten minutes, and find something else to do. If you're still hungry after that, by all means have something to eat, but you'll be amazed how often the impulse simply vanishes.
2. There's Always Something Better to Do
Linked to the above, make yourself a list of ten enjoyable things you can do right now, instead of impulse eating. Drinking water is a good one - as you probably know, thirst is often confused with hunger. Or how about phoning a friend, or doing a crossword, or strolling around the garden? Tape the list to your biscuit tin or fridge door if necessary.
3. Develop One Good Habit
If impulse eating is a poor short term solution, then it makes sense to start acting in your long term interests. All you have to do is decide to get into one just one good eating habit today - whether that's portion control, or skipping desserts on Thursdays, or tackling that irritating bit of paperwork that's been hanging around forever at the time you would normally sit down for tea and buns.
4. Get Intimate With Hunger
Isn't it amazing how little hunger actually has to do with eating? Next time you get the urge to eat, ask yourself - how hungry am I? You can even put your hunger on a scale of one to ten, with one being "not at all hungry" and ten being "absolutely ravenous", and only eat when you're at an appropriate point - say five. This article by Jon Rhodes tells you more about this approach.
5. Enjoy Your Food
We don't want to be puritanical about this. Food is one of life's chief delights (and pretty important in terms of staying alive). Poor eating habits are actually robbing you of pleasure! When you eat, really eat - take it slowly and savour each mouthful. As well as enjoying your meals more, you'll also become more aware of when you feel full.
For a free telephone consultation or to find out more, call us today on 023 8067 7899
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