I’ll say it: I think the weight loss industry has it backwards. Being overweight doesn’t make us sick – being sick makes us overweight. Or, as I like to say, “we need to get healthy to lose weight.”

Obesity is a symptom of a bigger problem, or set of problems, not a disease to be cured. If you look at the labs of obese people, you will almost always find that there is a lot going on there – be it thyroid, blood sugar, hormone dysregulation, anemia, leaky gut, parasites, various vitamin and mineral deficiencies, high cholesterol, etc. And, if you look at their lifestyle habits, there is a good chance they aren’t moving enough, are making poor food choices foods for them (either intentionally or unintentionally), don’t sleep enough, and are under a lot of stress at work, home, or both. If you ask an obese person how they feel, they will usually tell you they feel sluggish, tired all of the time, or just generally unwell. Sure, some of it is because they are carrying around extra weight, but it’s also oftentimes because they genuinely are unwell.

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Hunger is a mental game, pure and simple. As my friend, and fellow Z-Health Master Practitioner, Zachariah says, “Hunger does not equal harm.”

When your body is telling you it’s hungry, it’s usually not because there is a caloric deficit, it’s usually because we are looking to meet some other need. Luckily for us, all we really need to do is be aware, and we can win the mental game. “Shall we play a game?”

1) Time of Day

The brain and body like to predict what’s going on, even with our eating patterns. So, when we hit a time of day we usually eat our hunger hormone kicks in telling us it is time to eat, regardless of whether we’ve recently eaten – or even need the calories. The good news about this, is that it’s trainable. We can we teach our bodies when we eat, where we eat, and how much we eat.

Solution: If you get hungry, look at the clock. Take a mental inventory of what you’ve eaten so far and figure out if you are on track for the day. If you had three Krispy Cremes two hours ago you don’t need to eat, so tell yourself it’s just habit.

2) The Food is There

One of my favorite foods, before I found out I was gluten intolerant, was Oreos. One of my former coworkers stocks Oreos outside of her office cubicle, and I would make up virtually any excuse on the planet to go ask her a question. The interesting part was that while I consciously knew I wasn’t hungry, my body triggered hunger signals – just because it knew my favorite food was there.

Solution: Unless your favorite food happens to be something like carrots or celery (yeah, right!), the best plan is to simply avoid it altogether. For me, and most people I know, rationing is not really an option in these situations. Even it’s more a case of someone sharing in the break room, skipping it altogether is going be your best course of action. “That looks good, I should have some” is RARELY a route I recommend!

3) Too Much Processed or High-Sugar Foods

You wouldn’t think too much food would actually make you hungry, would you? It goes against conventional wisdom, but it’s true. Since junk food (or, what the daughter of a client calls, “edible food-like substance”) is largely devoid of any true nutritional value, our bodies ignore it in the quest for the vitamins and nutrients that it needs to survive. So, even though you may have met (and even exceeded) your caloric needs for the day, your body will keep sending out hunger signals until it gets the vitamins and nutrients it needs to properly digest your food and convert it to energy.

Solution: Eat whole foods. If your grandparents didn’t eat it growing up, you shouldn’t either!

4) Lack of Sleep

I’m sure I’m not the only one that gets the munchies when I’m tired. No? Well, you can blame your hormones! When you don’t get enough sleep, the hormones responsible for telling you when you’re hungry turn on faster than they should and the ones that say “enough” don’t turn on as quickly as they should. It’s almost like they get tired and start responding to stuff weirdly, too.  The result: overeating.

Solution: Since sleep-deprivation is a part of our 24×7 modern society, as much as I’d like to tout the benefits of 7-9 hours of sleep, I’ll give you something a bit more practical to work with. When you want to reach for the sugar-y treat, instead, tell yourself that it’s the lack of sleep talking. Instead, get up and go for a brief walk – you’ll come back more focused, in a better mood, and ahead of the game calorically. You’ll be practically better-looking on the spot!

5) Eating Too Fast

I’m sure your mom told you to slow down in your eating, because it takes at least 20 minutes for your body to tell your brain that you are actually full. Well, it’s true – it does take time for the brain to register you are full. Interestingly (well, at least to me), there are two different things going on. First, we have to wait for the “I’m full” hormone to turn on (again, what is it with those hormones!), which takes a bit of time. Second, when we eat our stomach distends (anyone who has ever let their belt out after Thanksgiving dinner knows this one), and there is a nerve just waiting for that to happen so it can tell the brain we are full.

My fun fact around stomach size is that an empty stomach is actually quite small, but when distended can hold up to 4 liters – which is approximately 50 times it’s empty size. Can you imagine?

Solution: Slow down! Eating with someone is a great way to make that happen (unless you grew up in my family – I come from a family of fast eaters). If that isn’t an option, at a minimum eat away from your desk, computer, TV, or book – so you can focus on eating, putting the fork (or shovel) down between bites, and actually enjoying your meal.

6) Bored/Upset/Procrastinating

I actually feel bad putting this last tip in, because anyone who talks about weight loss and eating habits talks about it. But, I’m including it here because it’s super–important. This shouldn’t be a surprise to you, but we all tend to eat when we are bored, upset, or procrastinating. What you may not realize is that there’s a physiologic reason why we do it. It’s because when we eat, the hormone dopamine is released into our systems (yes, hormones – again). Dopamine is what is commonly called the happy hormone, improves your mood, and makes you feel better. So, we get a feel-good rush just from eating.

Solution: Stay happy all the time?!?  Barring that alternate reality, I have my clients ask themselves if carrots or celery would do, or does it HAVE to be that cake? If the answer is it HAS to be the cake – then their emotions are in control. They aren’t hungry! Or, I have them rate their mood on a 1-10 scale. If they are on the low end (or even negative – I’ve had clients that insist they can drop OFF the scale), I suggest they “walk away from the fridge and no one will get hurt.”

These are the six triggers that I remain vigilant about, and work on with my clients. Once you can see them, you CAN win the game.  What are you our favorite hunger signal false alarms? Share them in the comments below.

P. S. Bonus points to anyone that can name the movie I referenced at the beginning of the post.