Lose Weight With Simple Effective Steps

One of the greatest challenges facing us here in the US continues to be obesity and general health issues that are associated with being overweight, which it seems more and more of our population is these days. Recent studies confirm that one of the reasons the American culture has such serious struggles with obesity and weight control is our inability to figure out when to stop eating. In fact, when Americans were contrasted with another culture that is often touted for having one of the lowest obesity rates as well as less health issues associated with being overweight, the French, it was found that the French respond to different cues that tell them when to stop eating than Americans do.

Americans cited outside factors many times to determine when they were finished eating, whereas the French who were questioned cited internal cues, from their bodies, to determine when to stop eating. Americans cited things like when their television show was over, or when their plate was empty, or everyone else was done eating, while the French commonly cited their cue as their level of satiety, whether they were full or not, and also whether they felt they needed to continue eating. It is clear that listening to internal rather than external cues dramatically increases the likelihood that one will stop eating when their body has signaled it has had adequate "fuel" for the time being.

As you can see, those who felt more influenced by their external environments were more likely to keep chomping away, even if their bodies felt totally satisfied. It may also be that the different groups pace their eating differently. I, as an American, notice quite a few people who seem to eat very quickly, and this can really sabotage anyone's attempts at weight control or weight loss. Why? Well, because if you are eating at a pace faster than your body can signal the brain that it is full, you've passed your window of opportunity to stop eating while you're actually satiated, and you will continue to eat past that point. Yep, that's the all too common occurrence we get where you feel like you're busting at the seams from overeating. You've most likely either taken too little time to eat and not given your brain enough time to catch up, or you've ignored your "full" cues and kept on going.