Women’s fat loss and what is the differences between hunger vs cravings?

A lot of women have problems recognizing the difference between hunger and cravings.
You may feel the urge to reach for a bag of chips with salsa…

What if that feeling hits two hours after dinner?

Well, it’s more likely you need food to satisfy emotions, rather than your stomach.

Physical vs. Emotional…

Hunger is a biological function of the body’s real need for food.

A craving on the other hand is triggered by a need other than hunger.

It could be any number of factors, anxiety, boredom, anger, loneliness or all of the above.

Cravings can be generated by environmental factors…

You already know those tempting mouth watering treats, the fresh smell of warm chocolate cupcakes overcomes you as you walk by a bakery.

And you simply MUST have a cupcake.

Even if you’re not the least bit hungry…

There are also a physical components to cravings.

The types of foods we usually turn to in times of stress are carbohydrates like cookies, cakes, chips to help the brain release feel-good chemical serotonin.

Serotonin temporarily makes you feel really good…

That doesn’t mean your body physically needs the food.

And it doesn’t mean it will fulfill your needs..

You see, these emotionally-driven cravings are rarely ever satisfied, no matter how much you eat.

How do you know if it’s real hunger…

To make sure you’re eating because of true hunger, rather than a craving here are some simple steps to help keep you aware of these subtle differences.

Step 1 is do a body check…

Before you reach for a chocolate doughnut…STOP and ask yourself is my:

• Stomach growling
• Head aching
• Body feeling a bit weak

These are signs of physical hunger…

If they’re absent, then ask yourself am I:

• Stressed
• Anxious
• Bored

Now here’s your opportunity to come up with three other ways to solve the problem.

Relax…take a nice hot bath or talk to a friend or read a good book.

Write it down or in other words make a daily record of everything you eat along with what happened right beforehand you you get to see and learn your eating patterns.

If you find after every fight with your husband or boyfriend you’re chowing down a box of Twinkies, hunger isn’t what’s driving your appetite…does that make sense?

It’s just a matter of changing your food log to an emotions log…

So get into the habit of writing down what’s happening in your life.

Seriously, as simple as it sound sometimes that in itself can be enough to keep you from binge eating.

Next step is get into body weight exercises…

Yes, we’re playing the same old song, we hate the sound of a broken record, yet it’s true.

Exercise truly does boost your feel-good endorphins.

Exercise helps relieve stress and anxiety…

How else might you otherwise deal with by overeating without exercise?

It’s basically all about distraction and redirection of energy.

How often have you found that if you ask your kids to do something you don’t want them to, you try to divert their attention elsewhere.

See if you can do that same trick with your own cravings…

So, let’s say you must have a bowl of crackers and cheese dip.

See if something with the same texture and temptation will satisfy you.

Experiment…dip crunchy vegetables into yummy hummus.

Reach for a dip made with Greek yogurt and spices.

One of my favorites is a handful of unsalted popcorn with a dash of savory spices, turmeric, coriander, cumin and fennel seeds.

Or you can make your own baked kale or sweet potato chips…

Finally, if you absolutely must have those crackers and dip, make sure you limit your portion to a very small amount and allow yourself to enjoy every bite…

Is Leptin the hidden women’s fat loss secret?

Leptin was discovered well over ten years ago…

Leptin is a hunger and appetite-suppressing hormone.

Leptin is responsible for monitoring your nutritional status, measures and tells your brain when to increase or decrease hunger.

Leptin levels produced in your body are controlled by two factors:

Leptin is secreted by fat cells, so obviously the level of body fat plays a vital role in secreting the leptin hormone.

Higher body fat percentage, higher leptin levels…

Blood leptin levels is your calorie intake.

Lower your calorie intake and leptin falls regardless of body fat.

Basically this is what happens when you lower your calories:

Leptin levels drop by 50% in first week of dieting…

Brain gets a signal that says you’re not getting enough calories and you’re starving…

Brain puts on the brakes and slows down metabolism to adjust hormones.

This hormonal environment is very suitable for FAT GAIN.

Cortisol levels increase and thyroid levels decrease…

This is when hunger kicks in with vengeance and before you know it, you didn’t create a fat burning opportunity.

Why? Because your body’s metabolism is stuck in FAT STORING mode.

It would be really great if you could keep Leptin levels high while you lower your calorie intake.

This way you could have an ideal hormonal environment for building muscle and losing fat.

So what’s the solution?

Leptin levels decrease by about 50% after only one week of dieting, still it doesn’t take nearly as long for Leptin levels to climb back up with substantial increase in caloric intake.

According to research, the time frame is between 12 to 24 hours for Leptin levels to climb back up again…

And this effect is multiple times greater when large amounts of carbs are eaten.

Research shows when only fats and protein are eaten this combination has very little effect on Leptin.

The answer is high calorie with high carbohydrates meals in the middle of the week.

And you’re still able to lose weight and burn fat.

Now we’ve got that problem out of the way, are you ready to move forward and get in the best shape of your life?