[TheChamp-Sharing]
“I think I’m going to take an appetite suppressant to help me lose weight,” my friend told me the other day when we were eating lunch.
“Why on earth would you do that? You barely eat anything as it is. If you take a suppressant you will officially become anorexic,” was my reply.
Eating is essential for human beings in order for us to survive. Hunger is what tells us when to eat. So you can imagine how baffled I was when my friend told me she basically wanted to suppress the very thing that was keeping her alive. So yes, sitting in the middle of Panera I proceeded to educate her on nutrition and hunger.
Hunger, the very thing that everyone is trying to get rid of is also the thing that tells you what is going on in your body. If you are hungry often then you are either not eating enough or your metabolism is increasing. If you are not getting hungry throughout the day then you are either suffering from something or your metabolism is just slow. What’s funny is that 90% of the men and women I train think their metabolism is slow when really they’ve just never did anything to try and increase it.
One thing I tell all of my clients is that hunger is your best friend. Hunger tells you how fast or slow your metabolism is. If your body says it’s hungry then eat. If you’re not hungry then don’t eat…that simple. However, not eating all day is definitely not a good thing. When you eat very little your body begins to feel like it’s being starved so it starts to hold on to everything that you eat (weight gain/slow metabolism). That’s when you find yourself saying “that pasta goes straight to my hips.” However, through proper nutrition and regular eating intervals you can actually train your body to metabolize food more quickly and lose/maintain weight.
Listening to your body is key to weight management. One reason why people gain weight after a diet is because they didn’t learn any of the habits they needed in order to maintain the weight that they lost. Also, most diets are only temporary solutions to weight loss so it stands to reason that you will gain the weight back after you’ve finished. Fad diets also train you to be a slave to your metabolism when really it’s you who are in control and once you realize that you are already on the right track.
So say NO to appetite suppressants, NO to extreme fad diets and start getting control of your hunger through nutrition and positive eating habits.
