Weight Loss: Can I Eat Less Without Feeling Hungry?

What if I told you that there was a way to lose weight that didn't require pain, deprivation or suffering? You would think that in this world of quick fixes and easy options that people would embrace a solution that doesn't involve deprivation and suffering? But they don't.

Why?

Because we have all bought the myth of "no pain, no gain". We all believe that losing weight has to be difficult. In fact, not just difficult, but downright painful.

Because of so many unrealistic weight loss claims, we have become more and more cynical. And given that most people struggle to lose weight, it just seems to confirm the view that weight loss is difficult.

But luckily it's not true. You can lose weight without feeling hungry all the time.

The fact is, if you look at a lot of things that you eat now, there is a whole lot of it, that could be removed and you would hardly notice it.

Now, most people, when I tell them this, don't believe me. They say "If I had to cut back what I was eating I would definitely notice and I wouldn't like it!"

But let's take just a few examples:

1. Eating slower. People who eat slower, eat less (and are thinner). When you eat slower, you enjoy the meal more and feel more satisfied after the meal. In other words, you can eat less and feel more satisfied.

2. Stopping eating when full. Eating past the point of being full does not make you less hungry. It is unnecessary, habitual eating.

For instance if you have a dessert, and you eat a few mouthfuls and you're actually full, but you keep eating it until you have finished the plate. Why did you do it? Lots of reasons, including your mother used to tell you off if you didn't clear your plate. But the fact is, that extra amount you ate was unnecessary. Remove that kind of eating and you won't affect your hunger levels but you will certainly be consuming fewer calories.

3. Controlling your food environment. Much of what we eat is not because we are hungry, but because it's there. If it's not there, you won't eat it. Avoiding food in this way won't make you more hungry, but it will result in fewer calories.

If you walk past a bakery and you smell the wonderful aroma of freshly baked cakes, you might be tempted to eat one. If you walked on the other side of the road and didn't even see the bakery, you wouldn't have thought about cakes or even had the temptation. You wouldn't have missed the cakes, and you wouldn't have taken on those extra calories.

There is a significant amount of your current eating that is unnecessary and habitual. Change the habit and you can eat less, without noticing any change in hunger.