What Drives our Appetite?

What are the drivers to when and what we eat?

This is part one of two on how we don't control our appetites. In this part, I explain the roles of instinct and thought.

Instinct, thought and emotion.

In fact, newborn babies enter the world knowing how to take their first breath and when to cry for food. Newborns innately trusting their caregiver will give them what they need to survive.

Instinct is our natural means to seek out food when we are hungry and stop when we are full.

This sounds so simple, but there's a lot more involved. As humans we are complex. Our brain, neurochemicals, and our appetite hormones are involved in how much, when and what we feel like eating.

We often refer to our appetites and food cravings as wrong, bad, or unhealthy.

In a previous blog, I raised the question, “Do you feel guilty or shame yourself when you have to use the restroom?” Your instincts aren’t wrong. What diet culture has taught us is wrong - ignore your hunger, workout until it hurts, skip meals even when you are starving, etc. Diet culture has told us to attach shame to feeling hungry. When we ignore our natural instincts, we send confusing messages to the brain that, in turn, throw off the body's communication.

Thoughts also play a big part in our eating decisions, especially in regard to our bodies and food.

Most of us are overwhelmed with diet thoughts …”I shouldn’t be eating this” or "If I eat this I will be breaking my diet” or "I can't believe I just ate that I feel like a failure”. On and on it goes. But what actually happens when we do this is our behavioral response is to overeat.

What we should actually think is, “I could eat this later when I am hungry. I'll enjoy it more.” By telling ourselves this, we lose the drive to eat just because it’s in front of us and the feeling that we can’t ever have it again because we are on a diet and need to lose weight.

Biologically and subconsciously we need to avoid going hungry for survival. The body interprets dieting as famine by our brains. It’s easier to focus on the present when our mind isn’t consumed with thoughts of deprivation and restriction.

Click here for Part 2 of this article, including information about emotional eating.

I’m here to walk through the journey with you, and while there may be challenging days ahead, I am here to help you find the confidence, success, and happiness you truly deserve. ​Book a consultation​ with me.

Your body knows what it needs, and you can trust it. You can learn how to trust your body's hunger cues to get off the endless cycle of dieting.

This ebook, 3 Ways to Get Out of the Endless Cycle of Dieting Shame and Body Blame, shares ways for you to get out of the endless cycle of dieting, body shaming and blame.

Click here to get your copy of 3 Ways to Get Out of the Endless Cycle of Dieting Shame and Body Blame!