The two reasons you overeat!

Hello from sunny California...

The first couple weeks here were iffy, to say the least, in terms of weather. We arrived to a deluge of rain that continued for about 12 days. It was a lot warmer than Seattle, but wondered if we'd brought the rain with us. Luckily, the sun is back and I'm taking full advantage of it. We're desperately missing the other half of our heart (and HOME) but I'll leave that for another time.

Recently, I kicked off a 21-Day Reboot and one of the tools we're using is called a Hunger Scale. I'm hearing back from participants that it's been very enlightening and helpful to them so I thought I'd share a bit about this with you today.

There is generally one reason we're overweight -- because we overeat. I say "generally" because there are times when hormones (including insulin, leptin, ghrelin, and estrogen) are dysregulated, and that can be a big part of why somebody is struggling with weight loss. But today I want to talk about the two main reasons we overeat: hunger and desire.

So how does literal hunger originate?

Hunger originates because of our hormones: we get the sensation of hunger from the hormone ghrelin, and we get the sensation of fullness from the hormone leptin. Both of those are regulated and affected by insulin. In my next newsletter I'll come back to these hormones, but for now let's focus on hunger and desire.

The ultimate goal is to eat when your body is actually hungry and needs fuel -- our bodies have all the wisdom we need for this. Your body will let you know when it's time to stop fueling, and she will let you know what kind of fuel you need most.

So many of us are detached from our bodies and have no idea what hunger really feels like. There's food all around us, and (for most of us) it's there any time we want.  Often we eat to distract ourselves from emotional pain, filling up to bury negative emotions caused by our minds. When we feel anxious or stressed, we use food to dull the sensation and disassociate from our body. It's a coping tool we develop early in life. The Oreos or Cheetos that helped us "feel better" when we were eight released all kinds of serotonin in our brains, helping us get past a situation we may not have had the emotional skills to cope with. But when we continue using those same skills over the years, it becomes a problem. 

Enter the hunger scale!

The scale goes from -10 to +10, with zero being neutral. 

-10 is you are absolutely starving. +10 is you are absolutely STUFFED, and zero is not being hungry or sated. Just neutral.

The goal is to start identifying where you are on the scale, and naming what kind of hungry you are. Are you stomach hungry? Eye hungry? Throat hungry? I feel it in my chest hungry? 

Identify the kind of hungry you are, and then quantify it by putting it on your scale. Did you eat because it looks too good to pass up, +4? Did you feel it in your chest and eat at a +6? Or, did you wait until  -7 stomach hunger, and you were so ravenous you ate everything you could get your hands on?

There are many types of hunger. Click below to get a free guide for you to keep and use to stay on track. The key is to identify the hunger, be WITH it, and move through it. 
This is where the rubber meets the road, guys. And it's where the work I do with clients is profound and impactful. It's not easy to stay with, but I have other tools for moving through this process with ease. If this is something you want to work on, please reach out, as it's what I love to do! And I promise you, it works when you put your mind to it.

But in the meantime, for today and the rest of this week, experiment with the hunger scale. See what it feels like to be a -2 or even a -5! What does being stomach hungry really feel like? And then...

ONLY eat when you're at a -2. STOP eating at a +2. All week. You will be amazed at the results. If you are really and truly able to eat this way, you will see a change in your body. And if you don't, reach out so we can dig deeper into what might be keeping the weight on

Here's to listening in to that perfectly tuned body you've got!

Stephanie