We are practically spoilt for options when it comes to Diet Plans nowadays! Personally, I find it quite overwhelming, trying to keep myself updated with the trending diet fads in the market. Eating plans have evolved way beyond the different ranks of the army and the military or the basic fruits, soups and salads, the low Carbs, Zero Carbs to blood groups, liquids and Fasting! In the middle of all these alternatives, my basic confusion remains constant; to eat or not to eat?
Personally speaking, I am not a voracious eater and love to live life in moderation. ‘Nothing in excess,’ is my tagline when it comes to food. I try to eat on time and when I am hungry. Well, most of the time I do succeed to manage hunger-pangs quite well. The most difficult part of hunger management is to understand if you are really hungry at all! A lot of time our mind just tricks us to feel hungry. Sounds baffling? Let me make it a bit simpler.
Hunger Pangs
You are in the middle of a meeting and it’s way past your lunch hour. Your tummy rumbles unceremoniously, loud enough for others to hear to your utter embarrassment! That is what I identify as real hunger. On the other hand, your craving for food after watching a food show, a food-mag or someone eating, is nothing but your brain invoking hormones to trigger the sense of hunger.
Hunger is prompted by several factors related to the brain and stomach. Concisely, the hunger hormone, Ghrelin is responsible for making us feel hungry.
Time management plays a major role in keeping hunger in control. It is very important to keep your body fuelled up with healthy food options at regular intervals of time. One can practically derail a weight loss program by starving oneself because hunger-pangs can cause binge eating!
A few common factors contributing to hunger-like sensations are dehydration, imbalances of the macro-nutrients like Carbs, Proteins and Fats; lack of sufficient fiber, glucose imbalances in the body.
One needs to understand, nothing can be achieved on an empty stomach. Crash-dieting can never help anyone to achieve a healthy fitness target. Sadly, in this case, what you lose always tend to come back at the end.
Diet programs are customized for individuals, to target special health-related issues. It is kind of a health treatment that requires meticulous monitoring and supervision of an expert. Such plans are a part of complete lifestyle changes.
Food-cure
Loss of appetite is the loudest alarm bell in any household! One can go through a lot in life but when the matter meddles with food, the concern is no longer contained within family and friends. It is the concern of the whole neighborhood.
Falling sick means spoilt with home-cooked delicacies from friends, families and neighbors to perk up the energy and taste buds. Every heartbreak, disaster in exams, botched-up job interviews, bereft families are assured of similar treatment.
Soothing the aches and pains over a hearty bowl of soup, bashing out frustration over a paani puri spree, drowning the sorrow in a bucket of ice cream, or pouring the heart out while being fed by a consoling listener, are all extremely therapeutic. Food has the power to heal the body, mind, and soul and it is completely fine to find solace in comfort food at times of distress.
The Bottom-line
There is no reason to abstain from food to fit into a certain dress size. One literally needs to ‘‘work up an appetite,” to eat and stay fit and healthy! Be active, exercise regularly. However, food abuse can lead to obesity and quite a lot of lifestyle diseases! Don’t let the indulgence over-stay like an unwanted guest. Eat everything within the limit. Food is the fuel of life and a blessing as well. In every culture food is the center of all celebrations. Over the generations, food has been treated with the utmost respect. Traditional cuisines and recipes are guarded like precious heirlooms. So, food cannot be an enemy. We need to understand our bodies and satiate hunger in order to keep it in control.
