Break the vicious cycle of overeating cyclic

Temptations often fit into the schedule and form loops. Passionate tango dazzled at night, not in the morning; hot embrace of a burning fireplace fit perfectly into the picture of January, but not in August. Unhealthy craving for food also has its own cycle.

Some types of such rods are every 24 hours, usually in the evening. Others - especially the craving for chocolate - occur according to the monthly hormonal cycle. There are also strong annual cycles that regulate the appearance of a particular food craving.

How to break the shackles of these cycles? Surprisingly, the strength of will in this matter lousy assistant regime of the day and physiology play first fiddle. To begin with let us turn to compulsive snacking habit, which makes itself felt every day at the same time.

Most often unnecessary hunger pangs overtake the evenings. Some are tempted to seize a donut or candy as soon come to work. Other snack at 11 o'clock in the morning because breakfast is intercepted in a hurry. There are those who fall into gluttony afternoon. It is possible that among you, dear readers, there are also prisoners addictions.

Coming home, you normally have dinner, and then you want sweet. And some time later pulls "chew" something that, you know, the benefit will not go. The next day, history repeats itself ... and the next and the next. In the end, you start to wait and plan for snacking, which regularly visits you every day.

Such habits are caused not by physical hunger, and the time and situation. By and large, they arise in the same way as the urgent desire to eat popcorn as soon as you find yourself in a movie theater, or drink a glass of orange juice as soon as you wake up.

Break the usual schedule

• Eat breakfast to fully ensure that food maintains the level of blood sugar in balance; guided by the advice of the previous chapters, eat enough, especially in the morning.

• Avoid people and places that trigger the desire to eat. If you are accustomed to indulge in gluttony alone, make an appointment at the time of «X». It is impossible with the meeting - look for salvation in a lecture at the library, or just a religious service in a noisy street. If uncontrolled hunger overtakes the house, be somewhere - anywhere - else.

• Break the routine. You need to develop a new model of behavior, not only for products, but also the time of supply. As long as you stick to the usual routine, the internal clock will wake up the appetite in exactly on schedule. Resistance of the body and the power of determination at a different time of the day do not matter. It is necessary to break the link between food and the time when you are vulnerable.

• Plan alternative employment.

• Go to bed an hour earlier. Fatigue encourages unwarranted hunger and recreation strengthens the physical resistance. Exercise regularly: be harder to sleep and wake up refreshed. Details in Chapter 10.

• Do not tempt yourself. If you keep home products, from which you would like to stay away, then you have not made a decision to change their eating habits.

As you can see, the main focus in this case is not on the food and on time. If properly plan the time when the body is vulnerable, and get rid of the key elements that provoke overeating, problem is solved.

From Neal Barnard's book "Overcoming food temptations"