by Tirzah Hawkins

Created on: June 10, 2010

To most people eating is a very enjoyable experience.  It has the ability to stimulate all five of the senses.  The smell of food cooking tantalizes your nose.  The sight of a plate full of food we enjoy makes our mouth salivate.

 There are several factors that help us determine when we are hungry or how soon after we have eaten we will be hungry again.  Some of these are the quality of the food, the quantity of the food or the variety of the food we ate.

 Some people believe that hunger is our body's way of telling us that we are low on energy supplies.  But unless you are underweight, your body has plenty of stored energy.  So you need to learn that feeling hungry doesn't mean you need to eat.

 An empty stomach is just one of many signs and causes of hunger.  Just thinking about food can make you hungry because of the enjoyment level associated with eating.

 As a child, you may have been taught to clean your plate; and you were only allowed to have dessert if you finished your dinner.  Now we have taught ourselves to finish our dinners even when we are significantly full,  and we reward ourselves with dessert afterwards.

 Watching television can be a contributing factor to overeating.  Television viewing distracts us from the sensory experience of eating.  When we eat while watching television, we aren't paying attention to the amount of food we are consuming.  This makes it easier to finish a large meal or bag of chips and still think we feel hungry because we did not allow our senses to be satiated by the food.

 Most Americans have a very available supply of food. From a stocked pantry to the multitudes of drive-thrus, we are typically not at a loss for something to eat.  The problem with this is that a lot of the convenience foods available to us are high in fat and calories.  And having food readily available leads to bored or mindless snacking.

 Americans are suckers for a good deal; we super-size and buy value meals to feel like we're getting the best value for our dollar.  When the price tag is so cheap, you feel like you are getting a bargain.  But these bargains, while having a high a quantity of food, are a poorer quality of food and often have a very high caloric density.  They might fill you up fast, but they will leave you hungry soon even though you have consumed as many calories as your body needs for the day in one meal.

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