Click here to learn about your autopilot.<\/a><\/p>\nWhen your body begins to run low on fuel, it sends a chemical message to the auto-pilot that it is time to fill up the tank.\u00a0 The hormone ghrelin is the hunger signal.\u00a0We tend to panic when we get really hungry — hungry enough to actually notice.\u00a0 We feel we are starving and MUST eat right away.<\/p>\n
But is it really such a big deal?\u00a0 If you are prone to panic eating when hunger strikes, step back and think about what you are really feeling.\u00a0 It is just a hormone signal.\u00a0 The empty feeling is nothing to panic about.\u00a0 Those of us who survived giving birth can certainly deal with a few pangs.\u00a0 No need to start stuffing the first available food into our mouths.\u00a0 In fact, hunger pains come but they also go.\u00a0 After about 15 minutes, the pangs will ebb again.<\/p>\n
Of course, the wisest plan is to eat several small, low-glycemic meals and snacks throughout the day so that your hunger signals don\u2019t get out of control.\u00a0 If life intervenes and you aren\u2019t able to do that, don\u2019t go crazy when you hunger hits.\u00a0 Think about what you are feeling and tell your auto-pilot, \u201cOkay, I get the message. I\u2019ll refuel.\u00a0 Calm down.\u201d\u00a0 Drink some water first.\u00a0 Then slowly eat the best food choice available.\u00a0 You\u2019ll find you enjoy the food more because of the hunger.\u00a0 I mentioned slowly <\/em>because we tend to gobble when hunger hits.\u00a0 It takes about 20 minutes for the ghrelin\u00a0 hunger message to fade away and the leptin message to arrive in the brain.\u00a0 Leptin is the hormone that says, \u201cOkay, you can stop now. Sufficient fuel is onboard.\u201d<\/p>\nWhen you eat too fast, you are already overloaded before your conscious pilot gets the notice to stop.<\/p>\n
If you pause to think about what you are feeling and why, you will realize that hunger is nothing to fear. It\u2019s just a tool — one you CAN control.<\/p>\n
Eating to live and living for Christ,<\/p>\n
Susan Jordan Brown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Don\u2019t be afraid of hunger.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t the enemy. It\u2019s just a tool your body has of letting your \u201cconscious pilot\u201d know it is time to refuel. We talked in earlier posts about the \u201cauto-pilot\u201d in your brain who controls your inner workings while your conscious \u201cyou\u201d copes with more important things in the outside…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,68],"tags":[87,90,88],"class_list":["post-1260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eating-plan","category-encouragement","tag-ghrelin","tag-hunger","tag-leptin"],"yoast_head":"\n
Winning the "Hunger Wars" - Don't Fear Hunger - Beyond Gorgeous<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondgorgeous\/2012\/02\/winning-the-hunger-wars-dont-fear-hunger.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Winning the "Hunger Wars" - Don't Fear Hunger - Beyond Gorgeous\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Don\u2019t be afraid of hunger.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t the enemy. It\u2019s just a tool your body has of letting your \u201cconscious pilot\u201d know it is time to refuel. 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<\/a>We talked in earlier posts about the \u201cauto-pilot\u201d in your brain who controls your inner workings while your conscious \u201cyou\u201d copes with more important things in the outside world.\u00a0Click here to learn about your autopilot.<\/a><\/p>\n