In my last blog post I discussed hunger.  

This week, I want to look at fullness.

Feeling full (with food) feels good and normal in most of our bodies.

But, the goal is not to feel FULL after we eat.

The goal is to eat to satiety (satisfied).  

When we eat to fullness, we have overeaten.  

Overeating = Overweight body.

Just like hunger is a sensation that starts in the body and travels to the brain, satiety works the same way thanks to our hormones and hypothalamus. 

Leptin is the main hormone in satiety.  Leptin is released by our fat cells.  

After the glucose has been delivered to our cells and liver (thanks to insulin), what remains is sent to our fat cells for storage…to be used later.  Our fat cells release the leptin and say “Hey!  We got enough over here.  You can stop eating”.  

Unfortunately, this signal from the leptin is very subtle.  Our primitive brain is really good at ignoring it and encoring us to keep eating this delicious and dopamine releasing food. 

Another thing we have going against us is, if we have chronically elevated insulin (and if you are  overweight, you probably do) this will actually block leptin at brain.

This is a perfect recipe for gaining weight.  We have been conditioned to overeat, our primitive brain loves sugar/flour due to dopamine, and we can’t “hear” our satiety signals to let us know we are full.

Such good information to know.  It totally makes sense why we have been gaining weight.

The solution is to recalibrate our hormones, so we can feel (“hear”) satiety and to de-condition ourselves to stop overeating.

We do this by taking a break from flour and sugar, and paying attention to when we feel hungry and satisfied.

I recommend to my clients that they only eat when they feel physical hunger and stop eating when they feel satisfied.  

How do you know when you are satisfied? It will be different for everyone, but for me, it feels like I am no longer hungry, I have the desire to eat more, and there is still food on my plate.  

It will take a lot of practice to learn what satiety feels like to you.  It requires us to pay attention.  

We need to stop all the distractions when we eat.  No watching TV, reading a book, checking emails, or looking at social media.  

This will not feel good.  Your primitive brain will act just like a toddle having a tantrum.  All totally normal.  But, don’t listen to it.  

If you want to lose weight, you are going to have to become really good at listening to your body.    Here I go with “feelings” again.  🙂 

Your ability to feel discomfort is directly related to how successful you will be in your weight loss.

To sum it all up….only eat when you are hungry. Stop when satisfied. No snacking.  Take a break from flour and sugar. 

This will result in weight loss. Seems so simple.

But, it is not easy.  This is why having a coach is so beneficial.  I help you with all the drama that comes up.  And trust me, A LOT of drama will come up.  Having lost weight myself while still flying full time, crazy hours, sleep deprivation, husband, kids, and a puppy!  I got you my friend.

We are six months away from the New Year, let’s start working on that 2020 goal weight now.  

Use the blue “Book Now” button below to go to my online schedule and book a 30 min phone call with me.  There, we will talk about where you are now and where you want to be, I’ll tell you about my program.  Super easy and no pressure.

Talk soon.

Xo. Valerie