Natural Appetite Control

Researchers have recently reported that waist circumference is associated with higher risk of mortality among all women—but interestingly, mortality rates were especially high in those women who had a normal body mass index, or BMI (and therefore, were not considered overweight or obese). 

BMI is not always a clear indicator of whether or not your weight is in the healthy range. For instance, many athletes who have a great deal of muscle mass (and therefore weigh more because of that muscle mass) would be considered overweight by BMI standards. Therefore, I do believe that BMI is only one tool to assess health risk. Waist circumference is a great indicator of health because women with thicker waistlines (usually more than 35 inches around) have a higher risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, heart disease, and many other conditions.

Eating a healthy diet (which includes natural appetite control measures) and exercising regularly are the best ways to whittle down your waistline and achieve natural weightloss. Try walking, cycling, jogging, tennis, yoga, dancing, or any other exercise that appeals to you and keeps you motivated. In time, your waistline—and your weight overall—will decrease and you’ll be in much better health.

For more great tips on achieving your weight loss goals, visit my Web site.

• Add more fiber. Begin each meal with a high-nutrient, high-fiber foodósuch as a salad or an appetizer like 1/3 cup of hummus with baby carrots. This will give you a feeling of fullness before you begin your main course.
• Breakfast like a king.  Eat your heavier meals during the day (breakfast and lunch) and a lighter meal for dinner. This gives your body time to digest the heavier meals long before bed.
• Calm down when you eat. Research shows it takes at least 20 minutes from the time food hits your stomach until your brain receives signals of fullness. If you eat too fast, you’ll eat past your “full” point, taking in too much food.
• Don’t quit. If you do eat something that you know you shouldn’t, or that isn’t right for your type, don’t beat yourself up or feel guilty. This is not a short-term program, but a lifetime approach. Work to make these recommendations the norm in your life, with foods like refined sugar, white flour, alcohol, and red meats the exception.
• Eat a wide variety of foods. Otherwise, you may begin to feel bored and deprived. Plus, you need a wide variety of nutrients for good health.
• Fifteen-minute meal preparation. You’ll be less likely to give in to temptation and hit the fast-food chains if you know you can throw a healthy dinner together in 15 minutes.
• Go with small portions first. We seem to be programmed from childhood to leave a clean plate. It’s much better to take a little more if you’re still hungry than to feel stuffed because you felt compelled to finish everything on your plate.
• Honor mealtimes. Light candles, play soft music, and consider mealtimes an opportunity for reflection, planning, and community, whether you’re eating alone or with others.

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl.
3. Stir the wet and dry ingredients together and add the berries.
4. Spread in a 9×9 pan that has been lightly sprayed with olive oil.
5. Bake 20–30 minutes and enjoy warm.

• eliminating toxins from your body;
• cleansing and invigorating your cells and tissues;
• improving your ability to lose weight and gain appetite control;
• promoting radiant skin and lustrous hair;
• protecting your nervous system and brain from unmetabolized toxins;
• reducing your risk of heart disease, PMS, fibroid tumors, endometriosis, and breast cancer;
• enhancing libido;
• fighting fatigue; and
• balancing estrogen levels by supporting estrogen metabolism.

The final step in controlling emotional eating and kick-starting your natural weightloss is to take the following supplements, which have been proven to help curb the cravings associated with emotional eating:

• Saffron has long been used as a seasoning and coloring agent by gourmet cooks. But saffron also has amazing medicinal value that is beginning to turn heads, including benefits that can help free you from the clutches of emotional eating. Scientists have identified at least two of its active ingredients: safranal, which has been found to promote levels of the well-being neurotransmitter serotonin, and crocin-1, which inhibits the neurotransmitters dopamine (believed to condition you to expect “rewards” from comfort food), and the acute stress hormone norepinephrine. Saffron’s effects on these brain chemicals is believed to be one mechanism by which it combats mild to moderate depression; increases a sense of fullness and satisfaction; helps blunt the triggers of emotional eating; and promotes not just weight loss, but reduction of fat mass. A new, patent-pending, clinically proven optimized saffron extract, developed in France from Mediterranean saffron and used in the study above, is available as a supplement called Satiereal. I recommend one capsule, twice daily.
• Sublingual 5-HTP. Your brain is a major source for the production of the appetite control neurotransmitter called serotonin, and 5-HTP (5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan) is serotonin’s main ingredient. In a placebo-controlled study of overweight women, eight weeks of treatment with an under-the-tongue form of 5-HTP resulted in a significantly greater sense of fullness and satisfaction, and reduced body mass index, skinfold thickness, and hip measurement. I recommend Life Link’s 5 HTP lozenges .

To  learn more about appetite control techniques and ways to aid in your natural weight loss plan, visit my Web site.
 

The fourth step in controlling emotional eating and kick-starting your natural weightloss is to curb your cravings by avoiding dieting and focusing on eating sensibly. 

Any diet that restrains and deprives is doomed to fail. Instead, I recommend the luxury of a Mediterranean-type diet, which is rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, chicken, and whole grains.

If you become hungry between meals, do not deprive yourself. Allow yourself to have a sensible treat, like a gluten-free cookie or soy-based ice cream. Or better yet, eat a whole piece of ripe fresh fruit, such as an apple or a pear. When researchers in a recent study compared the length of satisfaction from eating an apple, versus a cup of applesauce, versus drinking a cup of apple juice, they found that the juice and the sauce did very little to reduce hunger. But the whole fruit significantly satisfied, and held hunger at bay for up to three full hours.

To learn more about natural weightloss techniques, appetite control measures, and ways to curb emotional eating, visit my Web site.

The second step in controlling emotional eating and kick-starting your natural weightloss is to learn to control your response to, rather than deny, your negative emotions.

While many women experience emotional distresses, not every one of them is an emotional eater. The difference between those who are and those who are not has to do with how they deal with their feelings. Studies show that when a woman responds to negative emotions by suppressing them, her negative energy merely goes underground, significantly increasing her risk of becoming an emotional eater. If, instead, she uses what’s known as emotion regulation strategies, she has a chance to gain control over her emotional eating.

One emotional regulation strategy in particular is called emotional reappraisal. This technique intervenes early, before the behavioral response (eating) to the negative emotion has kicked in.

Tfirst step is awareness of the emotional trigger: Step back and witness your emotions as an impartial third party. For example, rather than saying, “I am lonely,” say, “She is lonely.” Then, look from several angles at what triggered that feeling of loneliness, and find a perspective that acknowledges the aloneness but has a more constructive take on it, such as: “The loneliness is a chance for solitude, peace, inner growth, to read a good book, exercise, meditate, and/or start a creative project.” Instead of building pressure, the energy from the negative emotion gets recognized, redirected, and depressurized in a positive way.

For one-on-one expert help in adopting emotional reappraisal for emotional eating, ask your health care provider for a referral to a licensed psychologist or counselor who has experience in the technique.
 
To learn more about natural weightloss and appetite control methods, visit my Web site.

One of the biggest obstacles in any woman's natural weight loss plan is emotional eating.  Emotional eating—craving then consuming foods you are addicted to—occurs when you cannot or will not allow yourself to feel, express, or deal with your negative feelings. 
If you cannot deal with them as they arise, a common protective mechanism is to avoid experiencing them on an emotional level and instead shut them away or bury them in your body. Emotional eating is a common way of doing this. Instead of feeling sad, worthless, angry, or resentful, you anesthetize yourself by bingeing on foods like potato chips, pizza, or ice cream. In other words, you eat instead of feel.

Today and over the next several days, I will give you techniques and supplements that have been scientifically proven to curb emotional eating, provide appetite control, and help aid in natural weightloss. The first step is in this journey is to use a method called relaxation training.

Anxiety causes cortisol elevations that can quickly sabotage any natural weight loss plan. Relaxation training can help you deal with anxiety and reduce emotional eating that can sabotage your weight and health. In a recent study, three months after completing 12 weekly relaxation training sessions, obese women had fewer depression and anxiety symptoms, fewer episodes of emotional eating, and significant weight loss.
 
A great way to start is to use brain wave entrainment, which uses a preprogrammed session of flickering lights and/or rhythmic sounds that pulsate at the alpha brainwave frequency (the brainwave associated with deep relaxation and a meditative state). The therapy coaxes brainwaves into that target alpha frequency to bring about a relaxed state. My favorite BWE device is the MindSpa. 

Other relaxation techniques that I use and recommend include yoga, deep breathing, T’ai Chi, Qigong, grounding, and aerobic exercise like walking or hiking. Whatever method(s) you choose, please commit to having at least a 15-minute relaxation session every day to ease your mind.

To learn more about natural weightloss and appetite control methods, visit my Web site.
 

• Use cinnamon sticks to make tea.
• Add cinnamon powder to coffee beans before grinding to give your morning java a blood sugar boost.
• Add ½ to 1 teaspoon to oatmeal or any hot cereal.
• Add ½ to 1 teaspoon to your favorite smoothie.
• Make sweet potato cinnamon “fries.”  Cut a sweet potato into “disks.”  Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil and place potato disks in single layer on the cookie sheet. Spray the potatoes with the olive oil. Sprinkle potatoes with cinnamon and bake at 425°F for 20–25 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time.
• Core an apple, then cut in half from top to bottom. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 375°F for 20 minutes or until the apple is soft.

• Six large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (about six pounds)
• Spray olive oil
• 5 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons flaxseed oil
• ½ teaspoon sea salt

• 2 red onions, peeled and diced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 pounds green beans, trimmed
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dill
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
• 1 teaspoon erythritol (I like the Z Sweet brand)
• 3–4 dashes hot sauce
• ground pepper to taste
• 1 bag organic mixed lettuce
• 4 ounces dried cranberries, unsweetened
• 4 ounces sliced almonds

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped or pureed ginger
• ¼ cup orange juice
• 2 cups fresh cranberries
• ½ cup truvia or erythritol
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon allspice

We aren’t born craving unhealthy food. Studies show that what people choose to eat as adults is built on diet habits formed when they were children. When you feed those cravings, you get rewarded with temporary feelings of comfort and security.

To carve those bad habits in stone, every time you consume sugary or refined/starchy foods, the chemical signals for when you’re hungry and when you’re satisfied get scrambled. They trick you into eating sooner and blur your sense of satiety, establishing the habit of eating until you’re uncomfortable. Fortunately, there are certain appetite control measures you can take. 
 

• Eat with tunnel vision. If you focus on your food while preparing it and eating it, you’ll have better awareness of what and how much you’re eating. If you eat at your computer, in your car, in front of the TV, or while reading, you’ll distract your cognitive restraint: That’s your intelligence trying to help you make good food choices and telling you when to stop. When women are distracted, they eat significantly more food.
• Get aromatic. Various studies report that aromatherapy can curb food cravings and provide good appetite control. The scent that has worked best in my experience is peppermint, but the choice of fragrance is definitely a matter of personal preference. For some women it’s vanilla or lemon, for others it’s patchouli or bergamot. To use aromatherapy to curb your food cravings and addictions, place a drop of your favorite essential oil on the end of a Q-tip and wave it beneath your nostrils.
• Take omega-3s. Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids increase feelings of satiety and reduce the tendency to overeat and succumb to cravings. I recommend 1,000–2,000 mg of fish oil per day.

 To learn more about natural appetite control methods, and for great food and recipe ideas, visit my Web site.

• fruits and vegetables;
• whole grains;
• legumes;
• raw seeds and nuts;
• cold-water fish such as salmon and tuna;
• free-range poultry; and
• plenty of water.