One of the biggest problems that we face when struggling to lose weight is that we rarely listen to our bodies, and what it is trying to tell us.
Over the years, through self-indulgence and not paying attention to what we are putting INTO our bodies and how it actually affects us, we lose our internal ability to judge what we really need to be eating. Thankfully, It’s very easy to train yourself to listen to your body, it just takes a little bit of practice.
One of the best things about listening to your body is that you won’t have to feel deprived or hungry. When you eat what your body is craving, you naturally eat less, or you eat more, but healthier foods that nourish your body and give you the energy and mental clarity that you need.
You see, when you’re eating all of that junk food that is nutritionally lacking, your body needs to continue to signal to you that you’re hungry so you will eat more and more. If it never gets enough of the nutrients it needs, it will keep you perpetually hungry!
Once you start listening to your body and giving it what it needs, you’ll find yourself naturally losing weight. Your body won’t hold on to that extra fat anymore, because it won’t think it’s starving.
And you won’t feel deprived because you’ll still be able to eat many of the foods you love!
Your body is a remarkable instrument. It is precisely calibrated to work at maximum efficiency naturally. If you take care of it properly, it will continue to run at peak efficiency. However, if you abuse it and neglect it, it will begin to wear down quickly.
Since most of us grow up eating a lot of junk foods like candy, cookies, cake, pizza, and potato chips, our bodies are never given enough of the different nutrients it needs. Those foods are empty calories that cause us to gain weight, but don’t actually provide us with any vitamins or minerals.
Since our bodies don’t get enough nutrients, they continually crave more and more food. Our bodies keep telling us to consume more, because we think we are starving! Surely we must not be taking in enough food if we aren’t getting those nutrients, right?
In the wild that would rarely happen except in times of famine. Animals instinctively know what types of foods they should consume, how much, and when. They don’t overeat, because they get the right nutrients.
The only time animals in the wild have trouble getting enough of the right nutrients is during times of famine, when their food supply is threatened.
During times of famine, a body’s normal reaction is to conserve energy. This is done by putting on weight.
The body stores fat to be converted to energy later when there is no food available.
Additionally, the metabolism slows down in order to keep that weight on as long as possible, so it lasts as long as necessary to keep the body alive during the duration of the famine. This is a natural part of life.
Humans have evolved to eat foods that aren’t nutritionally adequate. There are very few nutrients in French fries or a chocolate bar. Even the “healthy” foods we eat are often cooked until most of the vitamins have been destroyed.
In order to learn to listen to your body again, you have to start paying very close attention to the foods you are craving. Usually the body has cravings for certain foods based on nutrients it isn’t getting enough of.
For example, a human living in the wild in the wintertime would be without many nutrients for several months. All of the fruits and vegetables would either be long stored-away by animals or buried under snow.
During this time, their primary food source would probably be animals. They would probably have to eat mostly fish until the plants began to produce again.
After a while, that human would very likely begin to crave fish, long after there was a good supply of vegetables or fruits. This is because the body builds a preference for the vitamins and minerals found in specific foods, and once your body has experienced the extra energy and vitality that comes from eating healthier foods, your brain and overall system continues to crave those nutrients and proteins.
By breaking down whatever you’re craving, you can learn to figure out what it is your body is really looking for. This is the key to finally losing weight!
There is one important thing you should know about cravings. They aren’t ALWAYS indicative of your body needing something.
Cravings can also be triggered by:
•Hormonal changes (pregnancy, premenstrual syndrome)
•MSG (monosodium glutamate)
•Food addiction
•Depression
These are just a few of the issues that can cause cravings. It can be difficult to tell whether a craving is legitimate or not, but if you substitute something similar and you’re still experiencing the craving, odds are the craving was not a legitimate health craving.
MSG is one notable cause of cravings. It has been proven to be very addictive, and food manufacturers and restaurants will often put it in their food to make people crave it.
You should avoid eating foods that contain this addictive substance whenever possible. Eating food that contains MSG will only make you crave more of it, and this perpetuates obesity.
MSG has many harmful effects. It has been linked with:
•Diabetes – It causes the pancreas to produce three times more insulin than normal!
•Autism
•ADD and ADHD
•Alzheimer’s Disease
•Migraines and General Headaches
•Brain Lesions
•Obesity
•Other Degenerative Diseases Like ALS and Parkinson’s
MSG and aspartame (the artificial sweetener) belong to a dangerous group of substances known as excitotoxins. These toxins are believed to be responsible for contributing to many of the above conditions and problems.
If you aren’t going to avoid MSG and aspartame, your cravings are going to be more difficult to identify properly. You will probably have a lot of “false positives” and you’ll likely be craving things your body isn’t physically craving.