Don't Call It A Diet, It Has the Word Die In It
By Stephany Baughman
Did you ever notice that when you start a diet all you think about is food? You obsess over it, thinking about it and your next meal. It is pure torture, eventually you tell yourself that you will begin tomorrow and cave in to your craving. Sound familiar?
So what exactly is hunger? How do you know if you are really hungry or just craving something that you just smelled? True hunger is that feeling you get when your body needs fuel, your stomach is grumbling. This is physical hunger and many people rarely experience it.
Processed food contains little nutrients, lots of sugar and excitotoxins. Yesterday a friend told me about an article that she had just read about kangaroos in Australia. There is a place where they live and it was turned into a type of tourist attraction. The tourists fed these animals processed foods and sugar and these sweet animals turned into aggressive ones. They became addicted to the sugar and processed foods and wanted it. People were being hurt by them. Sugar is totally addictive.
When your hormones are out of whack you also get hungry, really hungry. But there is a reason for it. There are several hormones that are really important in hunger. When you over eat carbohydrates, sugar or processed foods your pancreas has to produce insulin to take that food and turn it into food that your body can use. It can only produce so much insulin. When it can’t produce any more it turns the food into fat.
That fat produces a hormone called leptin. Leptin comes from the Greek word meaning thin! Leptin tells your body that it is full, however when you have too much leptin your body becomes resistant to the leptin so it does not even know that it is full. When you have too much fat in your body you have too much leptin. It is the real reason you gain weight. When you are overweight metabolic syndrome comes along. This syndrome is a cluster of things that are dangerous to your health such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and high cholesterol.When you have leptin resistance another hormone kicks in.
Gherlin, this is your hunger hormone, I like to call this hormonal hunger. Even though you are full you don’t know it because of leptin overload and gherlin takes over. The balance of these hormones will cause you to burn fat and not crave sugar. The imbalance causes weight gain. The sad thing is that most people do not know why they are so hungry and why they cannot lose weight.
This type of hunger can hit you at any time and can cause cravings, mood swings, and very low energy. The cravings are usually carbohydrates and not the good ones. When you eat these foods, (bagels, chips, pretzels, pasta, candy, soda) your body has to produce insulin and you become addicted to sugar, your body needs it and wants it. You become, unfortunately fat.
There is hope in this hormonal madness and it is glucagon. This hormone tells your body to release stored fat so that your body can use it for energy. The way to get this hormone working is by eating protein and reducing those carbohydrates. Protein helps your body feel fuller longer so it is a win — win.
The real key to losing weight is to get these hormones to do their job and function properly. There fortunately are things that you can do to improve leptin resistance and burn fat instead of storing it. For starters, avoid sugar. Sugar uses lots of insulin which will be turned into fat. Make choices in your food that will help your hormones to properly function instead of the other way around.
There fortunately are things that you can do to improve leptin resistance and burn fat instead of storing it. For starters, avoid sugar. Sugar uses lots of insulin which will be turned into fat. Make choices in your food that will help your hormones to properly function instead of the other way around.
Eat things that grow and organic protein. Remember this will help you to stay fuller longer and help your stomach to get better nutrients. Cut down on your carbohydrates. When you eat a fruit eat a protein with it. It will keep you fuller longer. Try to eat your fruit before 4PM. It will help you to eat less for dinner and keep your insulin from spiking.
You can really help yourself by incorporating some exercise into your life. I feel interval training is best and fun. You do not have to exercise for hours. A half hour of interval exercise will help to get you in shape and improve your heart.
