Yeah-Daptation #3: Listen to your hunger!

By Alisa Dusan, RD, LD

Most people have a general idea of what's good for them to eat.  So, why do we so often find ourselves shoving a candy bar down our throats or super-sizing on a whim when we know that it's not the best choice for our bodies?  I believe that one main reason is that we let ourselves get way too hungry.

When you allow yourself to get famished, biological hunger kicks in.  Biological hunger is a defense that God has designed your body to have so you wont starve yourself.  It's not concerned with what's the healthiest choice, it's concerned with getting calories in your body, fast!  So, when you allow yourself to get famished (aka, skipping breakfast and rushing through the day with only a few crackers for lunch) then your setting yourself up for some bad food decisions.  You're body will take over for the sake of survival and the result is usually over-eating on not-so-healthy foods.

The other day, I only had a small bowl of cereal for breakfast and then ran around all morning with my 3-year-old.  By the time I put her down for nap I was STARVING.  So, I heated up some leftover tortilla soup.  I pulled out a bag of tortilla chips while it was heating to sprinkle a few on top.  But, in the minute and a half it took to heat the soup, I ate the rest of the bag of chips!  The problem is not that I thought loads of chips was a good lunch choice, the problem was that I let myself get way to hungry and my hunger took over.

So, what's the answer?  Listen when you're body is saying it wants food...not just when it's famished.  Eating a good breakfast and grabbing healthy snacks throughout the day when you're a little hungry will prevent getting to that shove-whatever-calories-you-can-get-down-your-throat place.  If you're always on the run, this can be especially hard.  So, pack healthy snacks in your purse or in your car and listen when your body says "feed me!"

What is your biggest challenge when it comes to listening to what you're body needs?

What's a yeah-daptation?

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