Pardon me for being a little nostalgic
and dating myself with TV commercial slogans from the 70’s. If you
are not familiar with this particular oldie but goodie, it was a
cassette tape commercial, comparing the sound quality of the Memorex
cassette with the “real thing” – in this case, an opera singer.
The commercial inferred that a recording of the opera singer,
played on a Memorex cassette tape could break a glass, just as she
did in person. So real sounding that people had to ask, “Is it
real or is it Memorex?”
Along those same lines (sort of), I have a question for anyone who has ever struggled with losing weight and ultimately keeping it off – “Is it real hunger or is it appetite?” When you find yourself drawn to the refrigerator or cupboards searching for that satisfying morsel, is it because you are truly hungry or did something trigger your mind to think you are hungry and it is actually appetite. Did you realize there is a big difference between the two? Most people confuse them. I know I did. Hunger is a physical desire or need for food. It is our friend and easy to satisfy with proper meal planning (including both the timing of meals and what food you eat).
On the other hand, appetite is defined as a desire to satisfy a craving. Appetite usually deals with emotional eating. Most overweight and obese people no longer feel true hunger, but instead have allowed appetite to control their choices. Even when stomachs are full, those driven by appetite are preoccupied with food and nothing seems to satisfy. Thus the urge to look in the cupboards for something sweet when you just finished an entire dinner.
Hunger is actually a physiological response to your blood sugar dropping below a certain level. This is one of the reasons that skipping meals is not a good idea. It causes your blood sugar levels to drop and you find yourself searching for high sugar, processed foods that will quickly raise your blood sugar. These high processed, high sugar foods are addictive and end up being what we crave when we are hungry.
To control your hunger and maintain a well-balanced, healthy diet, you will need to eat regular, balanced meals and snacks every three to three and a half hours. If you ever observe active, healthy children, they will eat until satisfied (not over full) and come back for a snack about three hours or so later. These children usually do not have a weight problem. If they develop a problem with their weight, it comes from inactivity and appetite. Watching television commercials can trigger those thoughts that lead to cravings for high fat, high sugar, highly processed and don’t forget addictive, junk food. These are often disguised as “healthy choices”, but we will save that for another discussion.
Appetite involves the brain as much (if not more) than the stomach. You see a picture, smell a smell, experience a memory, feel an emotion – and before you know it, you are beginning to think about a certain food. You may even salivate and begin planning your day around finding and enjoying some of that food – usually “comfort” food. Before you know it, you can’t concentrate on what you are doing and won’t be able to focus until you have eaten “it”. I was going to say until after you have enjoyed it, but the enjoying part doesn’t last too long. It is usually interrupted or at least followed up by, “Why did I eat that? I wasn’t really hungry.” Don’t start beating yourself up, it isn’t worth it.
We all have our own scenarios revolving around food that seem to repeat themselves whenever we are stressed, tired, unhappy, frustrated, disappointed, etc. You are welcome to correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t think of any great memories from following the cry of my appetite instead of my hunger.
What I am trying to convey is that one of the best, least expensive (it will actually save you money) and effective tools to losing weight, keeping it off AND being healthy, is to learn the difference between hunger and appetite and then respond appropriately.
Yes, you can train yourself to differentiate between the two. Remember that you will begin to feel true hunger pains three to three and a half hours after a true meal or snack. Ideally, if you eat five to six smaller meals throughout the day, you will find yourself satisfied all day long without feeling uncomfortable. You are going to see great changes.
How do you get started? I suggest you evaluate your eating for the next week.
Write down :
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what you eat
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how much you eat
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how you feel
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what time you are eating
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where you are when you are eating
These simple questions will clearly show you if you are hungry or if you are allowing your appetite to control you. I don’t know about you, but I do not want to be controlled by something as annoying as an appetite. Eat when you are truly hungry, make healthy choices and keep your portions under control and let your appetite know who’s the boss. Let me know how you do.