WHY are you eating? One of the “W’s” of weight loss

There are 3 major factors to weight loss – WHAT (are you eating), WHEN (are you eating) and WHY (are you eating). I think the why gets overlooked often so I’ll be addressing that today.

Do you ever stop to ask yourself WHY am I eating?

To ask yourself the why, take a moment before you put a bite into your mouth to assess  what on earth is going through your body and what is happening in your brain.

Before you take a bite…ask yourself:

• Am I truly hungry or am I bored/tired/anxious?
• Do I want something fun to do or do I want to feel pleasure right now?
• Do I feel obligated because someone is offering me something and I don’t want to offend?
• Do I think I’m “supposed” to eat because I might get hungry later or because we are “supposed” to snack or eat breakfast?

Food is a pleasure and it’s ok to sometimes eat for fun BUT, if you want to get to optimum health and to your natural weight, focus on food for FUEL.

I use the metaphor of the gas station – suppose you fill your car up with gas and then go home and are bored – would you turn around and get more gas in the car? Of course not. But, when you eat when you are not hungry, you are essentially doing the same thing.

I recommend you make a habit of figuring out what is going in your brain and your body fist THEN decide if you are truly hungry and then make a choice whether to eat or not.

If you have trouble figuring out if you are hungry, read my article here on how to tell the difference between hunger and craving by paying attention to your hunger signals.