Cinch Diet Plan - Only Eat When You're Hungry...

Are you eating when you're hungry, or because you're "supposed to?"

I've pulled this article from Cinchclub.com as I've run into this recently. (You might have to sign in to read it.) Only when I started the Cinch diet did I actually come to the table hungry and ready to eat something. Before that, with all the various snacks I was eating, I was never really hungry - so was simply keeping some extra fat around (and I just saw another article about what is stored along with that fat.)

And that's a key point. We are over-eating ourselves to death. Literally. If you are paying to have a doctor see you every year for some illness, then you are paying for something you could have prevented. The other day I saw a lady (yes, she was overweight/obese) who pulled almost 2 dozen different pills out of her purse so she could go over her daily regimen with a technician-specialist. But we know that Type 2 Diabetes is preventable if they are just caused by diet. That coronary conditions are preventable if they are just caused by diet. And the list goes on.

If it's not hereditary, then you can probably do something to keep from having that disease (and even if it is...) Because overweight is what's causing most of these "epidemic" illnesses in our adults and our kids.

Too often we are eating because it's that time of day, not because we really need food in our system. With snack machines and coffee shops and fast food joints all over the place, it's too easy to get someone else to sell you something that the body doesn't need and isn't useful (and meanwhile adding artery-clogging fat into your system, too much high-blood-pressure salt, and/or too much adrenal-gland-stimulating sugar.)

You actually can save money by cutting out the pre-processed, junk, and convenience foods - more than you'd really need to pay for quality supplements. (See this page about how much a Cinch shake costs compared to a Big Mac meal or a Starbucks and scone, or even a Subway sandwich.)

What I realized with this diet is that food actually started tasting better because I was hungry enough to want it. And the body rewards you for treating it right, doesn't it?

But I wasn't starving, and I have plenty of energy all day - until it's time to sleep. And that is the difference I've seen with reviews of other diets. Cinch keeps you full enough to not want to have to eat something else. I wouldn't think a single shake or a meal bar would ever keep me - but they do. Day in and day out.

Satisfied.

Like it should be.

Knowing True Hunger

Are you hungry? Sounds like a simple question doesn't it? But the truth is most of us eat in response to environmental triggers instead of responding to true biological hunger. We learn early on that it's sometimes better to eat everything on the plate instead of struggle with mom or dad, or to suffer through a plate of broccoli so we can have dessert. We learn to eat because food smells good, it's "lunch time," or because we are bored. As a result, we ignore our own body signals and eat whether we are truly hungry or not.

So do you know what your biological signals for hunger are? Is it a mild stomach growling, an empty feeling inside, or something else? Take some time to identify what your body's first signs of hunger are. Use the following hunger-rating chart to assess where you usually start eating and where you stop.

10. Thanksgiving stuffed
9. so full it hurts
8. feeling quite full
7. starting to feel uncomfortable
6. slightly ate too much
5. just right, you feel comfortable
4. first signs it's time to eat
3. strong signs that it's time to eat
2. very hungry, cranky
1. extremely hungry, dizzy and weak

If you start eating at a "5" or higher, you are eating for external reasons and not because you are biologically hungry. On the other hand, if you wait too long to eat and you start eating at a "1" or a "2," you were overly hungry and most likely will end up overeating. Starting to eat at a "3" or "4" is perfect. At this level, your body is telling you that it's time for some nourishment but not to eat the entire box or bag of something.

If you stop at a "6" or above, you are overeating (when we eat because of external reasons, we tend to overeat). It's also important to remember that if you overeat even healthy foods, those extra calories will be converted to fat and stored in your body. You should aim to stop eating at a "5," when you are feeling perfectly comfortable. At this level, you have taken in the right amount of food to nourish your body, but not too much so that it will be stored as fat.