Tweet
I was watching a tv show today hosted by a well-known hypnotherapist in the UK, and it was with a view for overweight people to recognise their bad habits and to try to overcome them. Though not related to Atkins, I thought it made some interesting and valuable points that I thought I'd share with you:
'If you are overweight, when you feel hungry, there is a 75% chance that you are actually thirsty instead. Have a glass of water, and see if you are still hungry afterwards.
If you are still hungry, EAT! Don't wait until you are ravenous or dizzy or feeling ill. This will make you more likely to binge!
Consciously eat your food. This means that you should savour your food, and eat it slowly - take a small amount of food, put it in your mouth and put down your knife and fork!! This will encourage you to take your time, and really enjoy what it is you are eating. Also, try to eat without any distractions such as the television.
When you are full, STOP! Interestingly, overweight people seem unable to hear this signal from their bodies any longer - this could be because of the rush of the feel-good hormone 'serotonin' that is released when we eat. Naturally slim people, on the other hand, find it tremendously difficult to overide this signal.
We need to reset ourselves to be able to pay attention to these signals again - there's a new Sheriff in town now! By eating slowly (see above) we are more likely to be able to do this. It may require guesswork in the beginning as to when you are full, but over time, this will become habit - just like how overriding our full signals became habit in the first place!
An interesting study showed that when eating the same meal on two days, but eating one of the meals whilst wearing a blindfold, subjects ate on average 24% less when blindfolded!
It appears that when we do not have the visual cues as normal, we are forced to listen to our bodies. We also pay more attention to the tastes, textures and smells of our foods. Subjects in this study also noted that they thought that the food in the blindfolded meal tasted more salty and not as good as when they could see it.
Try to leave something on your plate. I'm sure that a lot of us have a problem doing this, possibly due to an upbringing where we were perhaps made to feel guilty about leaving any 'waste' - I know I was! It's time to try and override this urge to clear every last morsel, if we are already satisfied.
Have a glass of water after your meal. (This wasn't actually mentioned on the program, but I find it really helps me.) This will help fill you a little further and rid your mouth of the yummy taste of your meal, which for me at least, usually makes me want more of it. Some people also find brushing their teeth helps (although this perhaps isn't always convienient!). Slowly, this should help provide a cue to your brain that the glass of water signals the end of your meal, and that there will be nothing else coming.
Visualisation. Now this may sound like hippy mumbo-jumbo to some, but it doesn't cost anything and you don't have to tell anyone - what do you have to lose? If possible close your eyes and do the following:
*Imagine yourself a few pounds lighter. 3lbs, 7lbs - whatever. Imagine how you look from head to toe, from all angles. Now float yourself into that image of you. Imagine how it feels to be that little bit lighter, clothes looser - how you look and how you move.
Now, imagine yourself at your target weight. Really see yourself in full technicolour, top to toe, front and back - see how you smile, hear how friends comment on your new look, feel how you move about. Now imagine yourself floating into your new body: feel yourself moving around on an average day, from morning to evening, how people react to you, how you feel about yourself, how you laugh and smile.
Try and go through a visualisation process like this everyday. It will start to create a road map for your mind to get into with your weightloss. Positive thinking!! '
I hope some of these pointers prove beneficial
'If you are overweight, when you feel hungry, there is a 75% chance that you are actually thirsty instead. Have a glass of water, and see if you are still hungry afterwards.
If you are still hungry, EAT! Don't wait until you are ravenous or dizzy or feeling ill. This will make you more likely to binge!
Consciously eat your food. This means that you should savour your food, and eat it slowly - take a small amount of food, put it in your mouth and put down your knife and fork!! This will encourage you to take your time, and really enjoy what it is you are eating. Also, try to eat without any distractions such as the television.
When you are full, STOP! Interestingly, overweight people seem unable to hear this signal from their bodies any longer - this could be because of the rush of the feel-good hormone 'serotonin' that is released when we eat. Naturally slim people, on the other hand, find it tremendously difficult to overide this signal.
We need to reset ourselves to be able to pay attention to these signals again - there's a new Sheriff in town now! By eating slowly (see above) we are more likely to be able to do this. It may require guesswork in the beginning as to when you are full, but over time, this will become habit - just like how overriding our full signals became habit in the first place!
An interesting study showed that when eating the same meal on two days, but eating one of the meals whilst wearing a blindfold, subjects ate on average 24% less when blindfolded!
It appears that when we do not have the visual cues as normal, we are forced to listen to our bodies. We also pay more attention to the tastes, textures and smells of our foods. Subjects in this study also noted that they thought that the food in the blindfolded meal tasted more salty and not as good as when they could see it.
Try to leave something on your plate. I'm sure that a lot of us have a problem doing this, possibly due to an upbringing where we were perhaps made to feel guilty about leaving any 'waste' - I know I was! It's time to try and override this urge to clear every last morsel, if we are already satisfied.
Have a glass of water after your meal. (This wasn't actually mentioned on the program, but I find it really helps me.) This will help fill you a little further and rid your mouth of the yummy taste of your meal, which for me at least, usually makes me want more of it. Some people also find brushing their teeth helps (although this perhaps isn't always convienient!). Slowly, this should help provide a cue to your brain that the glass of water signals the end of your meal, and that there will be nothing else coming.
Visualisation. Now this may sound like hippy mumbo-jumbo to some, but it doesn't cost anything and you don't have to tell anyone - what do you have to lose? If possible close your eyes and do the following:
*Imagine yourself a few pounds lighter. 3lbs, 7lbs - whatever. Imagine how you look from head to toe, from all angles. Now float yourself into that image of you. Imagine how it feels to be that little bit lighter, clothes looser - how you look and how you move.
Now, imagine yourself at your target weight. Really see yourself in full technicolour, top to toe, front and back - see how you smile, hear how friends comment on your new look, feel how you move about. Now imagine yourself floating into your new body: feel yourself moving around on an average day, from morning to evening, how people react to you, how you feel about yourself, how you laugh and smile.
Try and go through a visualisation process like this everyday. It will start to create a road map for your mind to get into with your weightloss. Positive thinking!! '
I hope some of these pointers prove beneficial
Comment