Are you really hungry or is your mind playing tricks on you?

Find yourself hungry at times when you shouldn't be? Have you ever given into eating cake when a couple of days ago you said you would eat healthy/ reduce sugar/ exercise more? Or do you hang out for a coffee when you’ve said you’d cut down? What is it that pushes us to say 'yes' when really we want to say 'no'? Often it's habit; so the social activity of going to a cafe with a friend/ colleague for a coffee. Or having said yes to birthday cake at work, because you don't want to feel like the boring one who says 'no'. So how can we get round these common temptations and lack of will power?

Here are a few simple ideas that really help with hunger:

1. Swap your Coffee for Green Tea or Chai. Check out our post about the best teas here. 2. Make your friend at work a sugar-free cake or fruit platter for their birthday. 3. Tell people how hard it is not to eat the cake and ask them not to persuade you to eat it. 4. Catch up with friends for a walk/ swim/ yoga class rather than the usual coffee and muffin. 5. Make sure you have nutritious snacks with you so that you are not hungry when temptations come up, or you can have your healthy snack when others have their not so healthy choices. But what if you really think you’re hungry? Is it true or your mind playing tricks?

Here are a few more tips to get your mind off your perceived hunger:

1. Clean your teeth after you eat (yes straight after) 2. Drink some water with apple cider vinegar (bitter tastes can stop the craving for sweets) 3. Paint your toenails! Yes it distracts your attention  4. Meditate 5. Have a bath (add bubbles and candles for pure luxury and to treat yourself) 6. Start to plan a holiday 7. Call a friend (a good chat solves so many things!) 8. Sort out your paperwork (tax time comes around too soon every year) 9. Clear out your wardrobe 10. Go for a walk 11. Drink a large glass of water (often hunger is mistaken for thirst) 13. Eat slower at meals. Often we eat so fast our brain doesn’t get the signals from the stomach early enough to stop eating. 14. Always finish your mouthful before putting anything else on your fork (this is so simple yet so effective at slowing our eating speed down) 15. Eat with chopsticks! Give them a try! Let me know what works for you :) Venessa Nickless Head Shot