HUNGER SCALE

Sharon Jane Akinyemi

Sharon Jane Akinyemi

By Sharon Jane Akinyemi

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Sharon Jane Akinyemi
Sharon Jane Akinyemi

Our words are extremely powerful. Have you ever had someone raise his voice in anger at you? Especially someone you care for? Or have you seen kids on the playground mercilessly taunt and tease another child? What is the typical result?
Have you ever had someone unexpectedly tell you “great job” or “I love you?” Has someone that you care for said to you “I believe in you and I know that you can accomplish anything you put your hand to?”
How does that feel in your spirit and what does it do for your soul? My mom used to always tell us kids, if you don’t have anything nice to say to someone, don’t say anything at all. My primary school teacher would say, think before you ink! In other words, your words are powerful and can bring blessings or curses. EVEN WORDS SPOKEN OVER YOURSELF!
At one point in my life my dad told my mom concerning me, “Sharon can accomplish anything she will fully put her heart into.” That statement launched me into my destiny…full of faith. My husband once told me that as far as he is concerned I could be a great leader and that everything I did brought blessing. WOW! Talk about speaking life into someone. But first begin with yourself, especially if you feel you are on the “BIG” side. Being positive with WORDS, gives you the courage to take healthy steps and to know that even if you are not comfortable with your weight, you still have the faith that healthy lifestyle if adopted will produce an amazing result.
Nobody wants to be fat, but everyone needs some fatty tissue. Fat can be beautiful when it is stored in several strategic spots on our bodies. Fatty tissue serves as pads-cushions on the soles of your feet, on your hands, cheeks, on your “sitters,” along your muscles, and many other places. You would be very uncomfortable without these pads of fat. In addition, life would be unbearable if you got the full impact of every sound in your environment. Fat pads serve as shock absorbers over nerve endings to soften loud noises and shrill sounds.
Fatty tissue is also necessary to hold the internal organs in place and keep them from sudden injury during accidents. I read about a lady who was an eternal weight-conscious dieter who wanted to stay as skinny as a rail. She began suffering severe back pains. Finally, yielding to an appointment with a physician, she found that all of her internal organs had dropped. Their weight was pressing against the nerve centre in her lower back. Five weeks and many thousands of naira later, surgery corrected the problem. The use of fatty tissue to support internal organs. In fact, today she suffers from osteoporosis (porous bones).
Fat also acts as an insulator against excessive loss of body heat. Very thin people suffer more from cold weather than those who have some layers of fat stored under the skin. When you don’t or can’t eat properly to meet current demands for heat, your fat cells, which act as storage cells, supply the necessary fuel (energy). Fat cells provide a place to store left over calories that your body does not need for immediate use.
God knew what He was doing when He gave both men and women some special storage bins for one of the essential nutriens-fat.
Some interesting studies reveal how smart our bodies are without any help from us. For example, your body knows about how many calories you usually burn at certain times during the day. If you eat more than your body can burn in a given period of time, it almost immediately stores any dietary fat you have eaten. We just can’t fool our awesome machine! It knows and operates on truth. So it is important for us to get tuned in to the reality of what we are eating-and why.
I’m going to be talking about hunger on a scale from 1 to 5.
An explanation of each rating follows.

THE HUNGER SCALE
1.- absolutely starving! You feel like you could eat anything in sight. You are getting grouchy and shaky, and food is all you can think about!

2.- slightly hungry. You may feel some twinges or rumbling in your belly. It definitely feels empty, and you’re thinking it’s time to get some food. This is the time when food actually tastes the best. Have you ever gone out to eat when you weren’t hungry and ate just because you were there? It just doesn’t taste as good as when your body says it’s time to eat.

3- feel neutral. You are neutral at 3- no rumblings, yet no sense of fullness either. It’s a very comfortable sensation. But this is the problem. Many of us find ourselves eating when we are in this state. Sometimes we eat because the clock says it is time, and at other times because we are receiving an emotional trigger.

4- physically satisfied. Four on the hunger scale means you are physically satisfied and “early 4” means you are just barely full. Try to stop eating somewhere between 3 and 4. As you learn to tune in to your hunger, you will identify some new things about your eating pattern. Many of us do not realise how full we are until we get up from the table. Try to tune in earlier.

5- “very very full”! Being a 5 (absolutely starving) is one extreme. This is the other one. You’ve had all your favourite foods, and you are so stuffed that you need to change into something a little more comfortable, in fact, you couldn’t eat another bite even if someone paid you! But two hours later, you are having a little slice of bread…….well it’s exciting you know!

Being 1 or a 5 on the hunger scale should be avoided at all costs. Both are dangerous to your waistline. Getting to 1 on the hunger scale means your body is screaming for sugar. Remember that blood glucose needs to remain at a consistent level for you to feel high energy. When you haven’t eaten for a while and your blood glucose starts to dip, your brain’s immediate need for sugar overrides all your best intentions and common sense.
No matter how much fat you have stored in your reserve tanks, your body thinks it is starving. So that calls for balance and moderation in our feeding habits. Fat is beautiful when it fulfils the purposes God it tended.

BE ACTIVE
Lastly, look for situations to be active. Take several daily 10-15 minute brisk walks and increase your activity by doing things like taking the stairs instead of the elevator. This serves to increase your calorie burn even more. People who are consistently on the go can add 20% to their energy expenditure over the day
The secret to permanent weight loss is training your body to be a more efficient calorie-burning engine by maximizing your metabolism. Be courageous

Let’s connect @ www.facebook.com/BodyConfidenceFitnessClub

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