What to do when we're hungry?

http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/healthy_living/lifestyle/diet/guide/whenhungry.html


Double check your hunger

Even if you think you are hungry, try a couple of double-checks first:

• drink a glass of water - thirst can mask itself as hunger. So before you eat, try drinking a
glass of water and waiting to see if you still feel hungry after 10 minutes.
• get active - sometimes we're not hungry at all, but bored or tired instead. A walk round the
office, or doing your favourite activity might reveal that your thoughts of food
were only there because you had nothing else to think about.


Visualise the food

Your hunger can also guide you as to the types of food that your body needs. Before you eat, go through the following process to check your hunger and work out what you really want:

• when you've established that you feel hungry, relax and let yourself imagine what it is that you really what to eat. Pasta and tomato sauce? A slice of cheesecake. If you can't picture and taste the food in your mind, then you may not really be hungry or want that particular food. If you do want it, store it on a mental "list".

• before you eat, think about how the food will make you feel. Picture yourself eating it, then picture how it will affect you at 30 minutes and than at an hour after eating. Will it give you some much-needed energy and make you feel better? Or will you feel bloated and sleepy? Do you feel as though your body will use up the food for energy?

• go through this process with a couple more types of food before you settle on what you
really want to eat.