Think ‘Thin’ to Become Thin

Nutrition & Weight LossSeptember 7, 2017

When you get that familiar feeling of craving something salty or sweet, you probably instantly blame your stomach for being hungry but you need to know that everything you feel, including those when you’re hungry and what you’re craving for, all come from your mind. Thus, if you want to lose weight, all you need is a healthier mindset when around food and to learn how to outsmart the cravings you occasionally have.

So, let’s learn how to think thin to become thin.

Don’t criticize yourself and your body

It’s never a good idea to overcriticize yourself.

You need to be the master of your temptations

It is important to balance between the good and the sweet.

By now, you must have heard the famous dieting advice that you should eat all food in moderation. But, what is considered “moderate” eating? It’s actually a quite confusing concept because every person has a different definition of what a “moderate” portion is. Not everyone has the same willpower and not everyone can stop themselves after a couple of bites.

Not all people can be a “moderator” and some of us are surely “abstainers”. The difference between these two is that a moderator can eat only one cookie and then feel satisfied, while the abstainer could never eat only one cookie. If they ate one, they would eat the whole box. So, if they want to lose weight, these people give up on this type of food completely, because they never have the strength to eat in moderation.

Avoid cheat days

Having a cheat day is not helping, although it could seem a kicker.

A lot of people who are dieting, after a long week of behaving well and eating the right foods, they feel like they deserve to treat themselves, and have a so-called “cheat day” to eat all the junk food their hearts desire. But when you diet like this while planning to have a cheat day once a week, your brain starts to think that your diet is a form of punishment and craves junk food more than ever. Of course, you don’t have to completely cut out the food you love; you can still enjoy the cake at birthday parties but just try not to make it a habit.

Convince your brain that you’re full

You stop eating when you get that satisfied feeling of being full but once again, this comes from your brain and not your stomach. You will need to convince your brain that it’s full by eating the right kind of food. If you eat foods that are rich in protein such as fish, meat and eggs, as well as those rich in fiber like fruits, vegetables, and beans, you will feel fuller and more satisfied than you would eating something that is high in salt or sugar. You should also do your best to avoid junk food that is full of carbs such as pizza, nachos, or ice cream. If you eat the right food, your brain will realize that you’re full much faster.

Understand what cravings are and why they happen

Healthy body, healthy mind.

Your brain is wired in such a way to want certain proteins from food that our ancestors used for survival. Those would be sugar, fat, starch, protein, salt and glutamate. This is why we find some foods more irresistible than others – it’s simply how we’re wired. And when we eat these foods, our brain rewards us with dopamine, and when we see them, a motivation process gets triggered and we call that a process of craving. But if you resist these foods long enough, your brain will ultimately learn how to resist the cravings every time.