What Makes Us Eat?

Sure, hunger is an obvious answer, but... If you are having trouble viewing this email, [click here.]( It’s Time To Make A Change (Tip Below) Change That Up is a complimentary newsletter that specializes in helping people improve their overall health and lifestyle.  You are receiving this email because you have expressed an interest in quality health and lifestyle tips. You can remove your email by clicking [unsubscribe]( at any time, or simply reply back to this email asking to be removed. To make sure you do not miss the next tip add this email (support@changethatup.com) to your contacts and/ or safe senders list.  Here's Today's Tip... What Makes Us Eat? Have you ever wondered what makes us eat? Sure, hunger is an obvious answer, but there are quite a few other factors that can drive us to eat and crave foods. Let’s take a look at some of those variables that drive us to eat. Environment. First and foremost, if a food is around, chances are you’re going to eat it. This is why it’s important to create barriers to eating junk food (e.g., get rid of it!), and at the same time, remove obstacles that may keep you from eating foods that energize you and keep you feeling light. In other words, make healthy eating easy, and make it hard to eat garbage. People. They say you’re the average of the five people with whom you spend the most time. Are you surrounding yourself with people who place great value on eating wholesome, nutritious, energizing foods? Or, as you look around, do you find that the people around you tend to opt for convenience, fast food, and processed junk? Boredom. Boredom is a trigger for eating junk food. Think about how often you’ve mindlessly eaten while watching TV. In that instance, you’re probably not even that hungry, and even worse, you’re probably more likely to grab some sort of junk food. If you’re trying to curb cravings, try reading a book, doing yoga, writing thank you notes, playing with your kids, or doing a bodyweight workout instead of letting boredom lead to overeating. Stress. Emotional eating is one of the most common triggers for eating, and as you may have experienced, those comfort foods are rarely what we might consider health foods. Instead, they’re usually highly palatable, high-calorie junk foods. Funny thing about comfort foods is that research shows they don’t really provide any comfort at all! The Bliss Point. Speaking of junk food, you may have heard that processed foods like these are literally engineered to make us overeat them. They usually have precise combinations of salt, sugar, fat, and other sensory characteristics (e.g., crunchiness) that make them virtually irresistible. These foods are highly rewarding, and the more often we eat them, the more frequently we feel we need them. Experiment with cutting these foods out one day at a time. Exercise. We’ve talked before about how exercise is often not that useful for weight loss. One interesting explanation for this is that people tend to overeat when they follow an exercise program. Believe it or not, exercise tends to decrease appetite. So what gives? In my experience, people justify poor food choices and/or overeating because they exercised. Sleep. Have you ever noticed that when you don’t get a good night’s rest, you have a more voracious appetite and intense cravings? Lack of sleep can do a number on your hunger hormones (such as leptin and ghrelin), which can cause a surge in appetite and cravings. On top of that, if you’re not getting enough sleep, chances are you’re staying up late. And usually, when people stay up later, they eat more, and those late-night choices are often high-calorie junk foods. To Getting The Facts, Change That Up  Like Us on Facebook.  ‚  *We always recommend consulting your family physician before making any major change in your daily routine. This email was sent to {EMAIL} by support@changethatup.com Scottsdale, AZ 85255 [Edit Profile]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Report Spam](