Why Are You Hungry? : Identifying Your Hunger Triggers to Aid Weight Loss Success

In achieving weight loss success, there are three important known factors you should take into consideration: the kind of food that you eat, the frequency whereby you eat, and the amount of food you eat. With these aspects as the controlling factors in your chosen healthy eating regimen along with regular physical exercise, it would not be long before you finally attain your desired body weight. It is only a matter of time and well...a good deal of self discipline.

However, as you proceed with your diet, there would be times when your self-control would wane and you would give in to your urge to eat. Although this is a common fault among dieters, blaming yourself constantly and dismissing your diet altogether is not the answer. Persevering by getting right back on track as soon as you can would ensure that you would not gain back the weight you have worked so hard to lose. Keep in mind: one day of binging would not be enough to make you balloon to your previous weight overnight. To reinforce your self-discipline by striving hard to maintain it albeit the occasional setbacks you encounter would help assure your success. Aside from this, you would be better off if you were to analyze the situations where you are likely to be struck by hunger. Doing so would prepare you before hand, arming you with efficient solutions that would allow you to cater to your present need without affecting your diet.

The instances whereby you are prompted to eat has a lot to do with the current situation at hand and the state of your emotions. They fall into the following categories:

*Eating prompted by social circumstances
You are often stimulated or coerced to eat during social situations whereby others are also eating, like in parties or other festive gatherings. What drives you to dig in would be your unconscious and instantaneous response to your environment. For example, if you are invited to eat in a party, you would oblige out of the need to accommodate others or fit in. Other social situations like having arguments or you are feeling out of place in a certain crowd are also common triggers for eating.

*Eating as an emotional response
Negative feelings of boredom, sadness, anger, irritation, loneliness, and anxiety stimulate your desire to eat as a means of distracting yourself or compensating for that feeling of something "lacking" within.

*Eating prompted by circumstances
Being exposed to an environment where "eating" is the main event would automatically invite you to do so. A good example would be when you are in a restaurant or you are passing by any kind of food or eating establishment. Also, being exposed to advertisements showcasing people who are eating would trigger a desire in you to emulate what they are doing. Aside from the aforementioned circumstances, there are also certain activities unconsciously associated with eating like watching TV or movies or lounging with friends.

*Eating as a punishment for negative personal self-beliefs
Most of the time, people who have low self-esteem vent their frustrations on eating. Other similar circumstances would be when you fail to live up to your own expectation(not looking as good enough as you please or your lack of will power), and as an unconscious punishment, you gorge on your preferred food craving.

*Eating prompted by physiologically associated issues
Feeling hungry after a strenuous exercise or activity is typical. In addition, you are also likely to go hungry if you had skipped a meal or you are experiencing physical pain(headache, sore muscles, etc.).