What do i feel like eating
10 Reasons You Eat When You're Not Hungry
Reviewed by Christine Mikstas, RD, LD on May 27, 2021
Long-term stress floods your body with cortisol, a hormone that plays a part in your fight or flight system. In order to refuel your body after a stressful encounter, cortisol makes you want to eat more. If stress is a near-constant state for you, those cortisol levels stay up and keep you reaching for the snacks.
When you don’t get enough rest, your levels of ghrelin (a hormone that makes you want to eat) go up. Meanwhile, your levels of leptin (a hormone that decreases hunger and the desire to eat) go down. These two hormones control feelings of hunger. The result: You feel hungry even if your body doesn’t need food.
Eating is a handy outlet for the extra energy that comes with feeling edgy. Not only does it give you something to do, it also distracts you from whatever’s making you nervous. Or you might manage your stress by not eating at all. This can slow your system down because your body thinks it’s starving.
When you finally do eat, you’re more likely to overdo it.
Anxiety has a strong link with eating disorders. Binge eating can be a way to help manage your worries and stress. Other things, from genes, depression, and mood disorders to trauma, addiction, or abuse can make you more likely to binge as a way to manage your emotions.
Not all emotional eating happens when you’re feeling down. It’s easy to get caught up in the fun of a social event and ignore the signs that you’re no longer hungry, or to feel an obligation to go along with the group.
Booze lowers your inhibitions, and that includes good judgment about when and how much to eat. It also makes you more likely to eat less healthy things, like foods full of fats and sugar. Studies show that drinking affects the part of your brain that monitors self-control, making it much harder to resist a tasty snack.
Sometimes all it takes is the power of suggestion to make you want to snack. Studies show advertising with food in it makes it more likely that you’ll grab whatever food you have on hand and chow down.
Eating when you aren’t hungry can cause weight gain and other health issues like blood sugar problems. This unhealthy cycle won’t end unless you become aware of your cues and find other ways to respond to them.
Real hunger hits you slowly, and it can be easy to postpone. You’re also more likely to feel satisfied from many options. Emotional or mindless eating comes on quickly and makes you crave specific foods. You may also respond to food availability and eat because the food is there. This makes you more likely to overeat -- and feel guilty afterward, too.
Find healthy outlets for your emotions, like exercise or meditation. Get together with friends who can support you in your quest to eat more mindfully. And keep junk food out of the house. That’ll make it easier to be healthy if you do eat your feelings.
IMAGES PROVIDED BY:
- Getty
- Getty
- Getty
- Getty
- Getty
- Getty
- Getty
- Getty
- Getty
- Getty
SOURCES:
Food & Nutrition: “Binge Eating Disorder: An Introduction to the Most Common Eating Disorder,” “The Vicious Cycle: Sleep, Stress and Diet.
”
Harvard Health Publishing: “Eating Frequency and Weight Loss,” “Why stress causes people to overeat.”
Harvard School of Public Health: “3 ways decreased sleep contributes to overeating.”
Mayo Clinic: “Weight loss: Gain control of emotional eating.”
Health Psychology Research: “The Role of Anxiety in Binge Eating Behavior: A Critical Examination of Theory and Empirical Literature.”
Kids Health: “Emotional Eating.”
Health Psychology: “Alcohol’s acute effect on food intake is mediated by inhibitory control impairments,” “Priming effects of television food advertising on eating behavior.”
National Institutes of Health: “Diet Quality Worsens as Alcohol Intake Increases.”
© 2021 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved. View privacy policy and trust info
Emotional Eating - HelpGuide.org
healthy eating
Do you eat to feel better or relieve stress? These tips can help you stop emotional eating, fight cravings, identify your triggers, and find more satisfying ways to feed your feelings.
What is emotional eating?
We don’t always eat just to satisfy physical hunger. Many of us also turn to food for comfort, stress relief, or to reward ourselves. And when we do, we tend to reach for junk food, sweets, and other comforting but unhealthy foods. You might reach for a pint of ice cream when you’re feeling down, order a pizza if you’re bored or lonely, or swing by the drive-through after a stressful day at work.
Emotional eating is using food to make yourself feel better—to fill emotional needs, rather than your stomach. Unfortunately, emotional eating doesn’t fix emotional problems. In fact, it usually makes you feel worse. Afterward, not only does the original emotional issue remain, but you also feel guilty for overeating.
Are you an emotional eater?
- Do you eat more when you're feeling stressed?
- Do you eat when you're not hungry or when you're full?
- Do you eat to feel better (to calm and soothe yourself when you're sad, mad, bored, anxious, etc.
)? - Do you reward yourself with food?
- Do you regularly eat until you've stuffed yourself?
- Does food make you feel safe? Do you feel like food is a friend?
- Do you feel powerless or out of control around food?
The emotional eating cycle
Occasionally using food as a pick-me-up, a reward, or to celebrate isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But when eating is your primary emotional coping mechanism—when your first impulse is to open the refrigerator whenever you’re stressed, upset, angry, lonely, exhausted, or bored—you get stuck in an unhealthy cycle where the real feeling or problem is never addressed.
Emotional hunger can’t be filled with food. Eating may feel good in the moment, but the feelings that triggered the eating are still there. And you often feel worse than you did before because of the unnecessary calories you’ve just consumed. You beat yourself for messing up and not having more willpower.
Compounding the problem, you stop learning healthier ways to deal with your emotions, you have a harder and harder time controlling your weight, and you feel increasingly powerless over both food and your feelings.
But no matter how powerless you feel over food and your feelings, it is possible to make a positive change. You can learn healthier ways to deal with your emotions, avoid triggers, conquer cravings, and finally put a stop to emotional eating.
The difference between emotional hunger and physical hunger
Before you can break free from the cycle of emotional eating, you first need to learn how to distinguish between emotional and physical hunger. This can be trickier than it sounds, especially if you regularly use food to deal with your feelings.
Emotional hunger can be powerful, so it’s easy to mistake it for physical hunger. But there are clues you can look for to help you tell physical and emotional hunger apart.
Emotional hunger comes on suddenly. It hits you in an instant and feels overwhelming and urgent. Physical hunger, on the other hand, comes on more gradually. The urge to eat doesn’t feel as dire or demand instant satisfaction (unless you haven’t eaten for a very long time).
Emotional hunger craves specific comfort foods. When you’re physically hungry, almost anything sounds good—including healthy stuff like vegetables. But emotional hunger craves junk food or sugary snacks that provide an instant rush. You feel like you need cheesecake or pizza, and nothing else will do.
Emotional hunger often leads to mindless eating. Before you know it, you’ve eaten a whole bag of chips or an entire pint of ice cream without really paying attention or fully enjoying it. When you’re eating in response to physical hunger, you’re typically more aware of what you’re doing.
Emotional hunger isn’t satisfied once you’re full. You keep wanting more and more, often eating until you’re uncomfortably stuffed. Physical hunger, on the other hand, doesn’t need to be stuffed. You feel satisfied when your stomach is full.
Emotional hunger isn’t located in the stomach. Rather than a growling belly or a pang in your stomach, you feel your hunger as a craving you can’t get out of your head.
You’re focused on specific textures, tastes, and smells.
Emotional hunger often leads to regret, guilt, or shame. When you eat to satisfy physical hunger, you’re unlikely to feel guilty or ashamed because you’re simply giving your body what it needs. If you feel guilty after you eat, it’s likely because you know deep down that you’re not eating for nutritional reasons.
| Emotional hunger vs. Physical hunger | |
| Emotional hunger comes on suddenly | Physical hunger comes on gradually |
| Emotional hunger feels like it needs to be satisfied instantly | Physical hunger can wait |
| Emotional hunger craves specific comfort foods | Physical hunger is open to options—lots of things sound good |
| Emotional hunger isn’t satisfied with a full stomach. | Physical hunger stops when you're full |
| Emotional eating triggers feelings of guilt, powerlessness, and shame | Eating to satisfy physical hunger doesn’t make you feel bad about yourself |
Identify your emotional eating triggers
The first step in putting a stop to emotional eating is identifying your personal triggers.
What situations, places, or feelings make you reach for the comfort of food? Most emotional eating is linked to unpleasant feelings, but it can also be triggered by positive emotions, such as rewarding yourself for achieving a goal or celebrating a holiday or happy event.
Common causes of emotional eating
Stress. Ever notice how stress makes you hungry? It’s not just in your mind. When stress is chronic, as it so often is in our chaotic, fast-paced world, your body produces high levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. Cortisol triggers cravings for salty, sweet, and fried foods—foods that give you a burst of energy and pleasure. The more uncontrolled stress in your life, the more likely you are to turn to food for emotional relief.
Stuffing emotions. Eating can be a way to temporarily silence or “stuff down” uncomfortable emotions, including anger, fear, sadness, anxiety, loneliness, resentment, and shame. While you’re numbing yourself with food, you can avoid the difficult emotions you’d rather not feel.
Boredom or feelings of emptiness. Do you ever eat simply to give yourself something to do, to relieve boredom, or as a way to fill a void in your life? You feel unfulfilled and empty, and food is a way to occupy your mouth and your time. In the moment, it fills you up and distracts you from underlying feelings of purposelessness and dissatisfaction with your life.
Childhood habits. Think back to your childhood memories of food. Did your parents reward good behavior with ice cream, take you out for pizza when you got a good report card, or serve you sweets when you were feeling sad? These habits can often carry over into adulthood. Or your eating may be driven by nostalgia—for cherished memories of grilling burgers in the backyard with your dad or baking and eating cookies with your mom.
Social influences. Getting together with other people for a meal is a great way to relieve stress, but it can also lead to overeating.
It’s easy to overindulge simply because the food is there or because everyone else is eating. You may also overeat in social situations out of nervousness. Or perhaps your family or circle of friends encourages you to overeat, and it’s easier to go along with the group.
Keep an emotional eating diary
You probably recognized yourself in at least a few of the previous descriptions. But even so, you’ll want to get even more specific. One of the best ways to identify the patterns behind your emotional eating is to keep track with a food and mood diary.
Every time you overeat or feel compelled to reach for your version of comfort food Kryptonite, take a moment to figure out what triggered the urge. If you backtrack, you’ll usually find an upsetting event that kicked off the emotional eating cycle. Write it all down in your food and mood diary: what you ate (or wanted to eat), what happened to upset you, how you felt before you ate, what you felt as you were eating, and how you felt afterward.
Over time, you’ll see a pattern emerge. Maybe you always end up gorging yourself after spending time with a critical friend. Or perhaps you stress eat whenever you’re on a deadline or when you attend family functions. Once you identify your emotional eating triggers, the next step is identifying healthier ways to feed your feelings.
Find other ways to feed your feelings
If you don’t know how to manage your emotions in a way that doesn’t involve food, you won’t be able to control your eating habits for very long. Diets so often fail because they offer logical nutritional advice which only works if you have conscious control over your eating habits. It doesn’t work when emotions hijack the process, demanding an immediate payoff with food.
In order to stop emotional eating, you have to find other ways to fulfill yourself emotionally. It’s not enough to understand the cycle of emotional eating or even to understand your triggers, although that’s a huge first step.
You need alternatives to food that you can turn to for emotional fulfillment.
With over 25,000 licensed counselors, BetterHelp has a therapist that fits your needs. Sign up today and get matched.
GET 20% OFF
Alternatives to emotional eating
If you’re depressed or lonely, call someone who always makes you feel better, play with your dog or cat, or look at a favorite photo or cherished memento.
If you’re anxious, expend your nervous energy by dancing to your favorite song, squeezing a stress ball, or taking a brisk walk.
If you’re exhausted, treat yourself with a hot cup of tea, take a bath, light some scented candles, or wrap yourself in a warm blanket.
If you’re bored, read a good book, watch a comedy show, explore the outdoors, or turn to an activity you enjoy (woodworking, playing the guitar, shooting hoops, scrapbooking, etc.).
Pause when cravings hit and check in with yourself
Most emotional eaters feel powerless over their food cravings.
When the urge to eat hits, it’s all you can think about. You feel an almost unbearable tension that demands to be fed, right now! Because you’ve tried to resist in the past and failed, you believe that your willpower just isn’t up to snuff. But the truth is that you have more power over your cravings than you think.
Take 5 before you give in to a craving
Emotional eating tends to be automatic and virtually mindless. Before you even realize what you’re doing, you’ve reached for a tub of ice cream and polished off half of it. But if you can take a moment to pause and reflect when you’re hit with a craving, you give yourself the opportunity to make a different decision.
Can you put off eating for five minutes? Or just start with one minute. Don't tell yourself you can't give in to the craving; remember, the forbidden is extremely tempting. Just tell yourself to wait.
While you're waiting, check in with yourself. How are you feeling? What's going on emotionally? Even if you end up eating, you'll have a better understanding of why you did it.
This can help you set yourself up for a different response next time.
Learn to accept your feelings—even the bad ones
While it may seem that the core problem is that you’re powerless over food, emotional eating actually stems from feeling powerless over your emotions. You don’t feel capable of dealing with your feelings head on, so you avoid them with food.
Allowing yourself to feel uncomfortable emotions can be scary. You may fear that, like Pandora’s box, once you open the door you won’t be able to shut it. But the truth is that when we don’t obsess over or suppress our emotions, even the most painful and difficult feelings subside relatively quickly and lose their power to control our attention.
To do this you need to become mindful and learn how to stay connected to your moment-to-moment emotional experience. This can enable you to rein in stress and repair emotional problems that often trigger emotional eating. HelpGuide’s free Emotional Intelligence Toolkit can show you how.
Indulge without overeating by savoring your food
When you eat to feed your feelings, you tend to do so quickly, mindlessly consuming food on autopilot. You eat so fast you miss out on the different tastes and textures of your food—as well as your body’s cues that you’re full and no longer hungry. But by slowing down and savoring every bite, you’ll not only enjoy your food more but you’ll also be less likely to overeat.
Slowing down and savoring your food is an important aspect of mindful eating, the opposite of mindless, emotional eating. Try taking a few deep breaths before starting your food, putting your utensils down between bites, and really focusing on the experience of eating. Pay attention to the textures, shapes, colors and smells of your food. How does each mouthful taste? How does it make your body feel?
By slowing down in this way, you’ll find you appreciate each bite of food much more. You can even indulge in your favorite foods and feel full on much less.
It takes time for the body’s fullness signal to reach your brain, so taking a few moments to consider how you feel after each bite—hungry or satiated—can help you avoid overeating.
Practice mindful eating
Eating while you’re also doing other things—such as watching TV, driving, or playing with your phone—can prevent you from fully enjoying your food. Since your mind is elsewhere, you may not feel satisfied or continue eating even though you’re no longer hungry. Eating more mindfully can help focus your mind on your food and the pleasure of a meal and curb overeating. Read: Mindful Eating.
Support yourself with healthy lifestyle habits
When you’re physically strong, relaxed, and well rested, you’re better able to handle the curveballs that life inevitably throws your way. But when you’re already exhausted and overwhelmed, any little hiccup has the potential to send you off the rails and straight toward the refrigerator. Exercise, sleep, and other healthy lifestyle habits will help you get through difficult times without emotional eating.
- Make daily exercise a priority. Physical activity does wonders for your mood and energy levels, and it’s also a powerful stress reducer. And getting into the exercise habit is easier than you may think.
- Aim for 8 hours of sleep every night. When you don’t get the sleep you need, your body craves sugary foods that will give you a quick energy boost. Getting plenty of rest will help with appetite control and reduce food cravings.
- Make time for relaxation.Give yourself permission to take at least 30 minutes every day to relax, decompress, and unwind. This is your time to take a break from your responsibilities and recharge your batteries.
- Connect with others. Don’t underestimate the importance of close relationships and social activities. Spending time with positive people who enhance your life will help protect you from the negative effects of stress.
Authors: Melinda Smith, M.
A., Lawrence Robinson, Jeanne Segal Ph.D., and Robert Segal, M.A.
- References
Duyff, Roberta Larson. “Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Complete Food & Nutrition Guide, 5th Ed. New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2017”. https://www.eatrightstore.org/product-type/books/academy-of-nutrition-and-dietetics-complete-food-nutrition-guide-fifth-edition.
O’Brien, C. P. (2011). Braden, Abby, Dara Musher-Eizenman, Tanya Watford, and Elizabeth Emley. “Eating When Depressed, Anxious, Bored, or Happy: Are Emotional Eating Types Associated with Unique Psychological and Physical Health Correlates?” Appetite 125 (June 1, 2018): 410–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.02.022.
Kandiah, Jay, Melissa Yake, and Heather Willett.
“Effects of Stress on Eating Practices Among Adults.” Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal 37, no. 1 (2008): 27–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077727X08322148.Spence, Charles. “Comfort Food: A Review.” International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 9 (October 1, 2017): 105–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2017.07.001.
Katterman, Shawn N., Brighid M. Kleinman, Megan M. Hood, Lisa M. Nackers, and Joyce A. Corsica. “Mindfulness Meditation as an Intervention for Binge Eating, Emotional Eating, and Weight Loss: A Systematic Review.” Eating Behaviors 15, no. 2 (April 1, 2014): 197–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2014.01.005.
Carnell, S., C. Grillot, T. Ungredda, S. Ellis, N. Mehta, J. Holst, and A. Geliebter. “Morning and Afternoon Appetite and Gut Hormone Responses to Meal and Stress Challenges in Obese Individuals with and without Binge Eating Disorder.” International Journal of Obesity (2005) 42, no. 4 (April 2018): 841–49.
https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2017.307.“Stress in America: One Year Later, A New Wave of Pandemic Health Concerns: (502832021-001).” American Psychological Association, 2021. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2021/sia-pandemic-report.pdf.
Last updated: December 5, 2022
Always want to eat, want to eat, constant hunger
Ira Morgunova found out why you are always hungry, and explained how to reduce your appetite and cope with the desire to once again look into the refrigerator.
Hunger is a physiological or psychological feeling of the need for food, the presence or absence of which is determined by a number of factors, ranging from hormonal levels to emotional state. It's one thing to experience an increased appetite after a hard workout or during pregnancy and PMS, it's quite another to feel like a bottomless barrel and want to eat an hour after dinner. It is easy to guess what the satisfaction of such hungry urges is fraught with.
1. You are dehydrated
Water deficiency often masquerades as hunger, when in fact your body simply does not have enough fluid. The confusion occurs in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain where the hunger, thirst, and satiety centers are located. To avoid this, drink water in the morning and before every meal. And if you feel hungry again, even though you ate just recently, try drinking a glass of water and waiting 15 minutes. It may well be that this is exactly what you really needed. Challenger medical expert Dima Solovyov once and for all explained how much water you need to drink and why it is so important, especially if you play sports and lead a healthy lifestyle.
2. You don't sleep well
Lack of sleep contributes to an increase in the level of ghrelin (a hormone that stimulates appetite) and a decrease in the level of leptin (which is responsible for the feeling of satiety). Lack of sleep makes you not only overwhelmed, irritable and absent-minded, but also hungry.
The body, in a desperate attempt to restore energy, causes an irresistible desire to eat something sweet, even if you are not at all hungry. Full 7-8 hours of sleep normalize not only mood swings, but also hormone levels. We give 18 tips that will help you fall asleep faster, and if you are chronically unable to sleep, then you need to urgently understand the reasons: perhaps the problem is hidden in daily and at first glance harmless habits or in inappropriate sleeping positions.
3. You eat a lot of fast carbohydrates
You can’t just take and eat only one donut and not reach for the second. And where there is a second, there is a third, and as long as there is at least one donut in the box, it is impossible to stop. This is how your body reacts to simple carbohydrates, which cause your blood sugar levels to spike and then plummet. As a result, the body requires carbohydrates to restore balance, the hand, in turn, reaches for the cake again, the circle closes.
To avoid this trap, avoid simple carbohydrate foods and include fiber-rich foods (almonds, apples, quinoa, chia seeds) in your diet. Satisfy your hunger and get useful trace elements.
4. You are nervous
If you try to list all the side effects of stress, then it will take more than a dozen hours and hundreds of nerve cells. Not only does it lead to depression and neurosis, but it still has the power to make you completely insatiable. When you are nervous, the body begins to intensively produce stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol), thereby giving a signal to the brain that you are in danger, which means that you urgently need energy. As a result, a brutal appetite and products swept clean from the shelves of the refrigerator. If you follow the stress all the time and act according to the momentary impulse, then there is a great risk of not only getting fat, quarreling with friends and falling into depression, but also completely losing control over your own life.
Stress is inevitable in life, but we are still in favor of less caloric and more creative ways to deal with it: for example, yoga and running.
5. You drink a lot of alcohol
A glass of wine at dinner not only helps to relax and shake off the hustle and bustle of the day, but also increases appetite at times. As a result, a person eats much more than planned. The conclusion from this suggests itself: if you want to curb and control your appetite, alcohol is definitely not your way. Scientists support this conclusion by proving that people consume significantly more food after they drink alcoholic beverages. This is largely due to the first point, namely the property of alcohol to dehydrate the body. And instead of drinking water, a person takes a second portion, thinking that he has not eaten enough.
6. You lack protein
Protein, unlike simple carbohydrates, which only whet the appetite, prolongs the feeling of satiety and helps suppress hunger.
The popularity of protein diets is largely due to these properties of the protein. It is found in large quantities in Greek yogurt, eggs, and lean meats. By adding these foods to your diet, you will not only get vital amino acids, but also forget what constant hunger is.
7. You are low in fat
Due to the high content of omega-3 and omega-6 acids, unsaturated fats lower cholesterol levels, save from blood clots, have an antioxidant effect and, along with proteins, relieve hunger for a long time. Most unsaturated fats are found in fish, oil and nuts, so keep this in mind the next time you decide to snack. But even here the main thing is the measure: scientists have found that the daily proportion of fat should not exceed 20-35 percent of the total calories consumed.
8. You skip meals
Large gaps between meals lead to a surge in the hunger hormone ghrelin, which sends a signal to the brain that the stomach is empty, which means that there is a possibility of hunger.
As a result, you get an uncontrollable appetite and the next time you sit down for lunch or dinner, you will eat much more than you really needed. Make it a rule to eat every 3-4 hours and never skip breakfast. And even if you don’t feel like anything at all in the morning, persuade yourself to eat at least a little yogurt, peanut butter or half an apple, otherwise your appetite will play out in earnest by noon. You can read about why it is so important to have a healthy breakfast here.
9. You are surrounded by photos of food
Wherever you go, whether it's a contemporary art exhibition or a park near your house, the first thing you stumble upon will be a van that will make a homemade burger in a matter of minutes. You will be very lucky if you still get to the walking alley or museum exhibit. Food is everywhere. Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook are the main broadcasters of who, where and what they eat. The world needs to know what I eat .
Of course, there is absolutely nothing interesting happening in this very world, so let's take another look at this beautiful photo of scrambled eggs with tomatoes. Processed, thought out to the smallest detail, "delicious" photos can awaken a truly real appetite. Scientists have found that when looking at images of food, ghrelin begins to be produced, and a person already feels a very real hunger. Smells work in a similar way. Of course, it is impossible to completely exclude viewing photos with food, but you can slightly reduce their number, at least in your own media space.
10. You eat too fast
There is a proven and scientifically proven way to avoid overeating - eat slowly and in small portions. Savoring each bite and chewing it thoroughly, you gradually reduce your appetite and reduce the total amount of food eaten. The fact is that the feeling of satiety does not occur immediately after eating, but after 15-20 minutes. The stomach needs time to send a signal to the brain to stop, so wait a bit before taking a second serving.
11. You are taking medication
Some drugs, such as antidepressants and corticosteroids (used to treat asthma, allergies, inflammatory bowel disease), increase appetite. If you are taking any of these medicines and feel hungry even after a heavy meal, contact your doctor - he may recommend another drug.
Subscribe to The Challenger!
“I want to eat all the time”: 7 reasons
Sometimes emotions, hormonal characteristics or unbalanced nutrition can be hidden behind the feeling of hunger. Let's look at the most common causes of hunger.
1. You eat a lot of sweets and fast carbohydrates
Chocolate bars, muffins, cookies are the easiest ways to satisfy your hunger.
That's just for a long time this "refueling" is not enough. Sugar and fast carbohydrates rapidly raise blood glucose levels, provide energy for a short period, but burn out just as quickly. Sugar levels drop, and you again experience hunger, which, most likely, will satisfy the next dessert.
Solution
Switch to balanced meals rich in fats, proteins and complex carbohydrates. Try to start the day with a hearty breakfast, then you will not want to eat until lunch. As a snack, choose nuts, seeds, fiber-rich vegetables, yogurt, cheese, avocados. Do not be afraid of fatty foods, they give a long feeling of satiety.
2. You stay up late
During sleep, the hormones leptin and ghrelin are released, which control feelings of satiety and hunger. So, leptin sends a satiety signal to the brain. Ghrelin, on the contrary, informs about the feeling of hunger. If you don't get enough sleep, your leptin levels drop and you don't feel like you've eaten enough. In response, ghrelin synthesis is enhanced.
As a result, you eat more and still very soon begin to experience hunger. The more lack of sleep, the stronger the appetite.
Decision
Go to bed no later than 23:00 and sleep at least 7-8 hours. Remove everything that interferes with normal rest. Hang blackout curtains or blinds on windows. Turn off all gadgets an hour before bed.
3. You abuse coffee and alcohol
Caffeine and alcohol stimulate appetite, causing you to eat more than you need. Alcohol also relaxes and dulls the sense of control. After a couple of glasses, you forget that you do not eat after 20:00, and even more so pizza and chips.
Decision
If you want to eat less, drink coffee only in the morning and be careful with alcohol. By the way, stimulate the feeling of hunger and sauerkraut, salted and pickled vegetables, currants, kiwi, strawberries, lemons.
4. You are thirsty
Hunger is often confused with thirst. Many are accustomed to replacing water with liquid food, because of this, confusion occurs in the hypothalamus between the centers of thirst and hunger.
The desire to eat can be a signal of dehydration.
Solution
Start the day with a couple of glasses of warm water, a fluid bottle, and stick with it throughout the day. Drinking a glass of water before every meal is also helpful.
5. You are stressed
The stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol signal to the brain that you are in danger, which means you need energy to save yourself. The result is double your appetite.
Solution
Find a way to get your emotions under control. There are many recipes - from yoga and meditation to consulting a specialist. Eating will definitely not save you from stress.
6. You eat emotions
Sometimes we confuse hunger with a variety of feelings: boredom, sadness, fatigue, anxiety. We think that a burger or ice cream will help drown them out, but this is not the case.
Solution
Understand yourself and replace food with pleasant emotions. Sad? Call a loved one or watch a comedy.
