Learn how to stop snacking and reach your weight loss goals with helpful strategies. Understand hunger cues and how habits are Weight Loss Coached, and try mindfulness techniques. Find out how Weight Loss Coach's complete weight loss program can assist you in creating new patterns and breaking old ones to support your journey.
One way to help lose weight is to cut unnecessary snacking when we're not hungry. As humans, we have a particular skill called metacognition, which means we can think about our thoughts. This skill allows us to train ourselves to develop new habits. Let me explain how a habit works.
Habits begin with something that gets your attention, like seeing cookies around you. This makes you want to eat a cookie. When you give in to that desire and eat the cookie, you feel good because it tastes yummy, and your brain releases something called dopamine, which makes you happy. That completes the cycle of the habit.
We can use this to help us stop a habit that is not good for us. Like the famous experiment with Pavlov's dogs, we can learn to change our practices. In the experiment, the dogs would drool when they heard the footsteps of the people who fed them because they knew food was coming. The researchers then tried making the dogs drool by ringing a bell instead of giving them food. After a while, the dogs associated the bell with food and would drool even without the food present. But the researchers wanted to see if they could make the dogs stop drooling when the bell rang, and no food appeared. After some time, the dogs learned that the bell no longer meant food, so they stopped drooling. We can apply this idea to break our habits by changing the triggers and rewards associated with them.
Think of the bell as something that makes the dogs feel like drooling, and the drooling is like a strong desire. If no food comes after the bell rings, eventually, the dogs stop feeling like drooling. Humans have a unique ability to think about our thoughts, which we can use to our advantage. For example, when you see a cookie and want to eat it, you can take a moment to think about that feeling. It's like a special moment when you can choose what to do. You can decide to eat the cookie or not to eat it.
Urges can be powerful, and certain things in our surroundings can make them even stronger. For example, it's hard to resist when we see food because our brains are wired to pay attention to it. A long time ago, when food was scarce, we needed to notice it, or else we could go hungry. But now, with food everywhere, it's easy to forget why we feel this way.
The first thing to do when you want to change a habit is to figure out what makes you want to do it. These things are called triggers. Triggers can be simple, like sitting in a specific chair you used to sit in when you snacked. To avoid that trigger, you can try sitting somewhere else. Sometimes, triggers relate to how you feel, like when you're overwhelmed or stressed after a tough day. When trying to lose weight, it's essential to understand what makes you want to eat. Take the time to discover what your triggers are.
When you feel a strong desire, it's important to be aware of it and pay attention to it. Instead of fighting it or making it go away, just let it be. Imagine it like a dog's drooling. The dogs didn't try to stop the drooling or push it back. They just let it happen. You can do the same with your desire. Take a moment to really feel it. Where do you feel it in your body? Is it in your chest or your mouth? Does it make your belly feel tight? You can even think about what colour it might be.
Once you've felt a strong desire completely, you can try these four things:
After trying those strategies, the critical part is not to give in to the desire and not eat the cookie (or whatever you're craving). It might take some practice, so don't worry if you fail immediately. But it's worth the effort because if you can do this consistently. Eventually, the strong desire that used to come from the trigger will go away! How exciting would it be to overcome that urge?
Weight Loss Coach can assist you when you want to lose weight and change your habits! They have different parts to help you reach your goal. At Weight Loss Coach, they start by checking your health, including your medical history and tests. You'll have regular visits with a doctor who will create a personalised plan for your eating and exercise. They will also help you stay on track, provide approved medications if needed, and support you in making long-term changes to your behaviour. This includes building and breaking new habits that don't help you reach your goal.
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