Losing weight is an admirable task. It means you want to get in better shape and to improve your health. But weight loss isn’t always easy and once you’ve lost weight, maintaining that loss can be even harder.

What makes losing and then maintaining weight loss so difficult? There are many factors involved. The complexity of following certain diets, keeping unhealthy food around, lack of self-efficacy or when life gets busy and demanding, often allows little time to make good eating a priority. For many people, the thought of having to count calories or reduce food intake makes sticking with a diet undesirable.

If you want to lose weight but don’t want to count calories or follow complex rules of what you can or can’t eat, there is an alternative for losing weight that only involves becoming more “mindful” of what you are eating.

It is called the Hunger/Fullness Technique or simply mindful eating. Many of us eat due to “mindless” or “emotional” eating. Think of the times you’ve sat down to watch TV with food and before you know it, you’ve eaten much more than you intended. We often eat mindlessly or out of emotion due to boredom, feeling depressed, anger, stress and often times we soothe these emotions by eating – and it’s usually not with carrot and celery sticks! When we do mindless eating, we will often take in extra calories and over time, this can lead to weight gain.

By using the Hunger/Fullness technique, there is no calorie counting or eating do’s or don’ts. You simply learn to distinguish between a true physical or emotional craving for food.

A physical craving feels like this:

· You are physiologically hungry. You may be experiencing stomach growling, pangs or a

hollow feeling or you may have a headache, lack of concentration, fogginess or fatigue.

· It’s been several hours since the last time you ate something – more than 5 hours.

· The craving doesn’t away if you try to wait it out.

· The craving will intensify over time.

· Nothing you do will take away the craving except to eat food.

An emotional craving feels like this:

· You are not physiologically hungry.

· It does go away if you try to wait it out.

· The craving does not intensify over time.

· Doing something else satisfies the real need and the craving goes away.

Use the following Hunger/Fullness rating scale to tell whether you are truly hungry or not:

10 – Absolutely, positively stuffed – think “Thanksgiving style stuffed”

9 – So full that it hurts

8 – Very full and bloated

7 – Full but not yet uncomfortable – hunger is gone

6 – Filling up but still comfortable – could still eat more

5 – Neutral – neither hungry nor full

4 – Slight hunger - first signals that your body needs food

3 – Hungry but not yet uncomfortable – getting signals your body needs food

2 – Very hungry, irritable or anxious – feeling you could eat everything in sight

1 – Extreme hunger, dizziness

Manage how much you eat by listening to your body – here’s how:

· The best number to be at when whether you sit down for a meal or snack is at a 3 or 4. You’re hungry but will have enough control to choose healthy foods and control portion sizes.

· At a meal or snack, put your utensil down every three bites of food asking yourself what number you identify the most with on the hunger/fullness scale. Once you get to a 6 or 7, it’s ok to stop eating.

· Keep in mind feelings of hunger or fullness do not happen right away. Eat more slowly.

· The trick is to stay between a 3 and a 7 on the scale throughout the day. If you consistently wait to eat until you go below a 3, you are more apt to choose high calorie foods and to eat more of them. If you go consistently stop eating at an 8 or above, you are not paying attention to your body’s fullness cue and will be consuming more calories than your body needs leading to weight gain.

When you are craving food, determine whether it is physical or emotional using the hunger/fullness scale. If it’s physical, go ahead and eat. If it’s emotional, here are some steps to take to make the craving go away rather than giving into the food:

· Take a walk, garden, do relaxation exercises or yoga.

· Drink a glass of water before giving into a craving.

· Use the ten minute rule. When you crave something, wait for ten minutes for the craving to subside. During that time, do something to take your mind off the food.

The key to controlling cravings for food when you are not truly hungry is learning to recognize them. Then, you are able to set up an action plan to help you deal with them.

Cravings are a normal part of life and it is important to handle them in a sensible manner.

Healthy eating is flexible. Giving into a craving, in moderation, can be part of a healthy eating pattern, as long as it does not get out of hand. Mindful eating takes practice and it won’t happen right away. But, the more you practice, the more you become aware of how your body feels and you can learn to put the fork down just at the point of feeling satisfied. Combining mindful eating with exercise makes a powerful duo in helping you achieve your weight loss goals.