In this episode, you will learn why it’s important to develop a peaceful and accepting relationship with normal physical hunger so you can lose weight sustainably. 
 
You will learn how restrictive dieting leaves us resisting hunger. When we avoid hunger, we eat more often than we need to and/or we try to avoid feeling future hunger by overeating. Chronically overeating can lead to leptin resistance which makes weight loss harder.

 Physical hunger is how your body communicates the level of ready-to-use fuel. Hunger is designed to get your attention and cue you to eat something. Physical hunger is your built-in tool for natural weight regulation. 

I describe how to think about your hunger in waves to become more aware of your own personal hunger cues and how to differentiate different levels of building hunger. You want to develop the habit of waiting for physical hunger to be present before eating but not waiting too long to respond. 

 Positive thoughts that create a positive relationship with hunger: 

—If I want to reset my weight, a period of hunger is to be expected. I just need to be willing. 
—I understand that being willing to wait for hunger to eat is a part of the weight loss process. 
 —Waiting for hunger cues can be slightly uncomfortable, but I know that I’m just not used to it; it doesn’t mean anything is going wrong. 

 Coach Homework:

Explore your thoughts, feelings, and reactions to the questions below in your journaling. Come by @thriveinmidlife on Instagram and leave a comment on the episode #7 post and share any insights, takeaways, or journaling with me over there to keep the conversation going.

• What are your top 5 physical cues that signal you are hungry? 
• What does the first slight wave of hunger feel like? 
• What does the second wave of hunger feel like? 
• What does it feel like when there is too much hunger (desire to overeat)?
• What would happen if I welcomed hunger as a sign of fat-burning and a cue to eat? 
• How would my weight loss journey change if being hungry is part of the solution, not a problem? 
• Hunger signals are a cue that my body is ready to burn fat for fuel. If that is true, how could I think about hunger differently? 
  
  

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Audio engineering by Young Cub Audio.