Hunger makes me stop working, but figuring out food feels like work. The reason hunger eventually makes me eat is it makes me less choosy and health-conscious, and blocks other activities besides eating.
More efficient food motivation would probably involve enjoying the process of figuring out what to eat, and anticipated enjoyment of the meal itself. Dieting successfully seems to demand more tolerance for mild hunger, making it easier to choose healthy options than unhealthy options, and avoiding extreme hunger.
If your hunger levels follow a normal distribution, a good diet would marginally increase your average hunger level, but shrink the standard deviation. You’d rarely be stuffed or starving, but you’d be slightly hungrier more of the time comapred to when you’re not dieting. At the same time, you’d never dip down to the extremes of hunger you might experience when you’re not on a diet.
Patterns that might move in this direction:
A habit of saving a little bit of your meal for later
Leaving out one item you’d normally eat, or choose a healthier option (eat the burger and fries, but order diet coke instead of sugared coke)
Choose a restaurant offering higher quality with smaller portions
Always eating a small salad before your main meal.
Hunger makes me stop working, but figuring out food feels like work. The reason hunger eventually makes me eat is it makes me less choosy and health-conscious, and blocks other activities besides eating.
More efficient food motivation would probably involve enjoying the process of figuring out what to eat, and anticipated enjoyment of the meal itself. Dieting successfully seems to demand more tolerance for mild hunger, making it easier to choose healthy options than unhealthy options, and avoiding extreme hunger.
If your hunger levels follow a normal distribution, a good diet would marginally increase your average hunger level, but shrink the standard deviation. You’d rarely be stuffed or starving, but you’d be slightly hungrier more of the time comapred to when you’re not dieting. At the same time, you’d never dip down to the extremes of hunger you might experience when you’re not on a diet.
Patterns that might move in this direction:
A habit of saving a little bit of your meal for later
Leaving out one item you’d normally eat, or choose a healthier option (eat the burger and fries, but order diet coke instead of sugared coke)
Choose a restaurant offering higher quality with smaller portions
Always eating a small salad before your main meal.