Tips for Managing Hunger to Control Weight

Losing weight can be an insidious challenge. The concept certainly sounds straightforward: burn more energy than calories consumed and over time you'll lose weight. But this simple formula does not consider the "human" factors at work. For example, how do you deal with that very human factor called hunger? It's really tough to consume fewer calories if you're hungry (or think you're hungry - a difference without a distinction when it comes to the drive to eat more). In my case, I feel hungrier when I've been exercising heavily so I sabotage the magic formula because even though I'm burning more energy by exercising, that innate human force called hunger is searching out more calories to consume and oftentimes the pendulum swings back in favor of consuming more calories than burned. This is not to say that we should cave in to hunger; if we're trying to lose weight then chances are we're probably eating too much and thus hunger alone is not a good indicator of how many calories to consume. So, the challenge is to somehow control and manage our hunger so that we are successful at cutting our consumed calories. The attached article by Eric Sabo of the Denver Post suggests adopting new habits that will help manage hunger so that you become more comfortable consuming less food.