12 Days of Fitness 7: Are You Really Hungry?
There are so many ways to get fitter and lose weight, but we only have room for 12 in this "12 Days of Fitness" series. 12 days - 12 sets of great tips - 12 experts for you to lean on. How fun is this? Don't forget to check back on the days that have passed (links at the bottom of this article), and the remaining five coming up. As Aerosmith sings, "I don't want to miss a thing." And you don't.
Day 7's expert is Michelle May, M.D. Michelle is the author of "Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: How to Break Your Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle," a book that covers a topic near and dear to many of us: Our love/hate relationship with food and eating. In this article, Michelle guides us on a tour of our hunger to help us figure out if it's real or not (and I always seem to be hungry, so this will be interesting.) Read on.
You were born with the instinctive ability to manage your fuel intake. You can retrain yourself to use this natural skill by asking, "Am I hungry?" before you eat. Look for physical signs that your body needs fuel: hunger pangs, stomach rumbling, empty or hollow feeling, decreased energy, difficulty focusing, light-headedness, slight headache, irritability.
If you are hungry, choose food that is nourishing and satisfying and eat it with the intention of refueling, but not overfilling your tank. If you're not hungry, ask, "Why do I feel like eating?"
Learning to tell the difference between needing to eat and wanting to eat is an essential skill for thriving in our food-abundant environment
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Michelle May, M.D. is the award-winning author of Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: How to Break Your Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle. She is also the founder of the Am I Hungry?® Mindful Eating Workshops and Facilitator Training Program that helps individuals learn to break free from mindless and emotional eating.
Did you miss the first 6 tips? Don't fret, just click:
Day 1 (Keep Exercise Fun), Day 2 (Making the Impossible Possible), Day 3 (Healthy Holidays), Day 4 (Quickie Time), Day 5 (Walk the Doggiesaur), Day 6 (Fitness Games People Play)
