DITCH THE DIET:

The Difference Between Hunger and Appetite AND How it Can Affect Your Weight Loss/Body Comp Goals

The KEY to determining the EFFECTIVENESS of a DIET, is to assess how well does it control your HUNGER, ENERGY and CRAVINGS (HEC).

MOST DIETS FAIL, because they fail in one of these areas. They either leave you feeling HUNGRY, HAVING LOW ENERGY or HAVING CRAVINGS LIKE A JUNKY or a combination of the above.

ADDITIONALLY, they fail to account for the many reasons WHY we eat:

  • Personal Preference
  • Availability
  • Social Reasons
  • Celebrations
  • Cultural
  • Comfort
  • Etc.

FURTHERMORE, diets can cause us to LABEL FOODS as GOOD or BAD, HEALTHY or UNHEALTHY, based on DIET TRENDS.

In the 80’s fat was “BAD”. Currently the trend is that “CARBS” are bad evidenced by the popularity of such diets as the KETO DIET, the South Beach Diet, Paleo etc.

DUE TO how low carb diets affect your hormones (HORMONES affect hunger, energy and cravings) they HAVE BEEN PROVEN to be more efficient at changing body composition than LOW FAT DIETS of the same CALORIC CONTENT.

Protein and fat help stabilize your blood sugar, better than carbohydrates. Protein burns a lot of calories just digesting and helps maintain and grow lean tissue, resulting in a higher metabolic rate. IN ADDITION, diets such as the PALEO DIET, are also high in fiber and water from fruits and vegetables, which can FURTHER suppress your hunger.

ELIMINATING HIGHLY PROCESSED CARBOHYDRATES, such as white bread, white rice and sugar is never a bad thing, (unless you require very high amounts of calories, but that is not the subject of this POST anyway.) HOWEVER, extremely LOW CARBOHYDRATE diets will also restrict fruit, whole grains, and legumes – foods that are high in fiber, vitamins, minerals and important electrolytes.

I HAVE DONE well on LOW CARBOHYDRATE diets, however, if followed long term, they can leave you deficient in many KEY nutrients. NOT TO MENTION, they can be boring (perfect for boring individuals like me 😊).

THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO EAT, THAT IS PERFECT FOR EVERYONE

THE KEY to successful weight loss, is to:

1. EAT ONLY WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY

2. STOP EATING WHEN YOU ARE FULL.

IT SOUNDS like a NO BRAINER, but this is where the difference between HUNGER and APPETITE, become important.

YOU see, HUNGER is a physiological need, whereas APPETITE is a psychological want.

Think of a TEENAGER going through the house complaining that there is “NOTHING” to eat even though the refrigerator and pantries are FULLY STOCKED.

Or if when you were a kid, you COMPLAINED about dinner, and your Mom said “OK” I’ll save this and you can come back when you are hungry.

Another example is when you are walking through the mall, or past a bake shop and suddenly you are “HUNGRY”.

Or during the HOLIDAY SEASON when you have just had a big THANKSGIVING MEAL and then they bring out the pie, cookies, ice-cream etc. You ARE already full, but you take some, anyway RIGHT? BECAUSE you know how GOOD it tastes. THESE are ALL examples of APPETITE. ONE METHOD that I have used, to get back in touch with my hunger signal, is waiting to eat until I am hungry enough to eat protein and veggies. I can always add other elements to the meal, BUT by waiting to eat until you are HUNGRY ENOUGH to eat those things, you ENSURE that your body is truly out of “GAS”, as protein is the last thing that your body will utilize for FUEL.

YOU may even notice an INCREASE in your ENERGY levels as I did, because by waiting until you are TRULY hungry, you allow your body to take a break from digestion and UTILIZE the FUEL you have previously ingested WITHOUT having to compete with your DIGESTIVE SYSTEM for energy.

THIS BRINGS us to the NEXT PART.

“STOP EATING WHEN YOU ARE FULL.”

There are MANY REASONS why we continue to eat and IGNORE OUR BODIES signals to us that we are FULL.

IT takes roughly 15 minutes after we have eaten, for our stomach to REGISTER that it is full.

We all have BUSY lives, and often we eat while we are working, to CALM ourselves when we are STRESSED, out of HABIT, or mindlessly eat while we are watching a MOVIE or our FAVORITE SHOW.

TAKE THE TIME to SLOW DOWN when you eat. If you are at an ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET, take smaller portions to start. You can always go back for more if you need to. If you find yourself eating out of HABIT, or boredom, find an activity to distract you.

Although it is BEYOND the scope of this article, THE TYPE OF FOODS you eat, can also affect HOW SOON you get full, and HOW LONG it takes before you get hungry again.

This is DUE TO a fact that I ELUDED TO earlier that DIFFERENT foods affect your body’s HUNGER and SATIETY hormones in different ways.

DIETS are USEFUL in that they make you more MINDFUL of what you eat and HOW it affects you, HOWEVER, they are not ONE-SIZE FITS ALL.

STOP DIETING and BECOME a SCIENTIST. A good way to get started eating INTUITIVELY, is using a METHOD called “METABOLIC TYPING.”

This STRATEGY identifies the FACT that we all have DIFFERENT genetic make-ups AS WELL AS histories and lifestyles.

It breaks people into THREE MAIN CATEGORIES.

  • PROTEIN TYPES
  • CARBOHYDRATE TYPES
  • MIXED TYPES

You learn HOW TO IDENTIFY what foods and COMBINATIONS of FOODS your body OPERATES best on and WHAT the different SIGNS and SYMPTOMS your body gives you MEAN and HOW to ADJUST, to bring you back to a place of BALANCE, so that you can MOVE, LOOK, THINK and FEEL YOUR BEST.

If you would like more specific advice on METABOLIC TYPING and how it can work for you send me a message HERE / Email me at aceproaaron@gmail.com or call me at (715) 797-0851

START LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE TODAY!