Am I really hungry?

I'm currently enrolled in a Diploma in Personal Nutrition Course through Shaw Academy.  I love learning. I'm one of those lifelong learners. No matter how much I think I know, I always find something new and interesting that I hadn't heard before. 

I learned a really interesting fact a couple of weeks ago, one idea that has stayed with me and to be honest, has kind of rocked my world. Did you know that sometimes, when you think you're hungry, you may actually be thirsty? I know, that sounds crazy. But stay with me here. I did some further research, and found an abundance of interesting studies online that supports this statement.

It turns out that the mechanism responsible for our body to tell us we're thirsty is much less dominant than the one that tells us we're hungry. To make it more confusing, many of the ways our bodies signal hunger can also signal thirst.

We have also trained ourselves to eat as soon as we feel a little uncomfortable, even if it's emotional or mental rather than physical. This is why it's important to actually think about what we're feeling before we grab something to eat. Here's a really excellent article on the different reasons we may think we're feeling hungry.

Another really important factor to consider is that most of us don't actually drink enough water. There's different amounts of water needed in different circumstances. For example, if you live somewhere hot, you're going to sweat more than someone living somewhere cold. If you exercise, you'll lose more water through sweat than someone sitting on the couch. Even breastfeeding mothers give up a lot of their water to their baby.

Something I've been doing for the last couple of weeks is drinking water when I think I'm hungry. It has surprised me to find out that after drinking a couple of glasses of water I don't find myself reaching for something to eat after all. Of course, sometimes nothing will keep me from chocolate, but that's another conversation for another day.

I challenge you to try drinking some water before you eat, the next time you think you're hungry. I'd love to hear your reactions! 

Enjoy your day,
Stacy
image courtesy of http://www.cleanwateraction.org/programinitiative/protecting-drinking-water-0

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