i like to eat healthy i find it very difficult
Answers
There are 2 types of hunger.
1. Physical-this is real, physical hunger. Your body is low on fuel and signals your brain that it needs to refuel. This hunger starts slowly and in about an hour or two gets to a point when it becomes intolerable and you will want to eat, no matter what.
2. Mental or emotional hunger. This is often called craving and surprisingly has not a lot to do with food. Craving is a sudden thought telling you it wants a flavour or sensation coming from food. Sweet, salty, crunchy or creamy-these are typically the foods we crave. Chocolate, crisps, ice cream…we NEVER crave for grilled chicken with boiled carrots, do we?
I have been working with overweight or obese clients for years. The first thing we do after the initial assessment is to learn to differentiate between these 2 ‘hungers’. It’s not easy at all! A lot of people have NEVER been physically hungry and when they feel it first it absolutely frightens them. The sensation of real hunger is something to learn or re-learn!
(Food producers know cravings very well and produce massive amounts of foods that support cravings and are highly addictive. High sugar, high carb, crunchy, salty snacks are absolutely everywhere.)
So, to answer your question, one of the reasons why it’s not easy for a lot of people to stick to a diet plan is that they eat to satisfy their cravings, not their body. In modern society the vast majority of overweight people use food as coping mechanism, a remedy for boredom, an always-available source of pleasure and if it’s taken away from them life suddenly becomes frightening and they get out of their comfort zone. Taking away their comfort food from them can feel nearly like the sudden death of a loved one!
Changing eating habits (and lifestyle) needs to come hand-in-hand with a MAJOR mindset change