Tips for Sticking to a Healthy Eating Plan
Watching television provides many opportunities for seeing countless commercials for hamburgers, pizza and dessert – which may lead you to the kitchen for an unplanned snack. The hormone ghrelin might be at work. Called the “hunger hormone,” ghrelin is produced in the stomach and spikes right before breakfast, lunch, and dinner, triggering our desire to eat. The hormonal signals from ghrelin provoke multiple changes in our brain chemistry, increasing appetite and maybe even causing food cravings.
In a new study, Dr. Petra Schussler and her colleagues from the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich, Germany, demonstrate that simply seeing pictures of food causes levels of ghrelin to rise. It appears that images – like those of junk food on your T.V. – may help trigger your desire to indulge.
The good news is, you can overcome your urge to snack by being prepared. Here are just a few tips from the Mind & Body Program to stay on track with eating well:
· Vote with your remote: Every time a food commercial comes on, change the channel. (Unfortunately just muting the commercials won’t work because you’ll still see the images!)
· Develop your ability to detect true, physical hunger: This is a skill that needs time and practice so you can call on it when you need it. When you stay mindful and aware of what physical hunger feels like, you’ll know that you are not really hungry when your stomach is still full of dinner (regardless of what your brain is signaling.)
· “Close” the kitchen after meals: After you’ve washed up your dishes and wiped your counters, turn out the lights and tell yourself that the kitchen is “off limits” until it’s time to prepare your next meal or planned snack.
· Keep your motivators and core values handy: Remembering that you want to lose weight to improve a health condition, so that you have more energy, or so your knees don’t hurt when you play with your kids is a great defense against those pastry displays.
While there are plenty of environmental forces that promote overeating and inactivity, you have the power to make choices that support your health and longevity. Put these tips to use, and find more on our site.