Until you acknowledge that not all "hunger" means you must stuff something in your mouth immediately or risk passing out and dying from starvation, you can't have successful weight loss. If you haven't learned to pay attention to your body and not overeat, you will remain overweight. Once you start paying attention, you will be shocked at how often you've been eating purely out of "mind hunger" or "habit hunger." Learn the difference here.
In other words, you're probably telling yourself you're hungry when you're not actually physically craving food. In an appearance on The Doctors, here's what Dr. Phil suggests you do instead of grabbing food when that happens:
1. Accomplish a task.
"If you start telling yourself you're hungry when you're not, you've got to do something else," says Dr. Phil. And not just anything — it's got to be incompatible with eating. Go do laundry, take a walk with a friend or cross something off your to-do list.
2. Slow down and chew each bite for 30 seconds.
"I'm from Texas — I grew up eating anything that was dead or seriously slowed down!" Dr. Phil jokes. But if you consume food like a wolf, you don't give your brain time to get the signal that it's full — so you can stop eating before you overeat out of habit.
3. Revamp your sleep.
People who sleep less than 7 hours/day eat more than people who don't.
4. Turn off screens.
If you're watching a 30-minute show, you eat less than if you watch a 60-minute show, Dr. Phil points out. Also, the blue light emitted from phones has been shown to cause people to eat more.
5. Brush your teeth.
Ever noticed how bad food tastes when you brush your teeth? So try brushing when you know you should stop eating.
