Are you thirsty or hungry? Don’t confuse the two

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Did you know that when we are thirsty, we often feel hungry?  So with this in mind, I really want to encourage you to drink first.

If you’re feeling hungry and it’s not a time you would normally be eating, start off with drinking a big glass of water and then waiting for about 20 minu

Are you thirsty or hungry?

I’ve been trying to do this over the past 6 months and it really does make a difference.  I’m a lot more aware of how much water I drink and I know now that if I’m not drinking enough I can quickly start to feel hungry.  What I now realize is that those hunger feelings are in fact most likely to be that I’m thirsty rather than hungry.

Do you remember that road safety advert?  Where the hedgehogs are crossing the road with the slogan ~ STOP- LOOK and LISTEN!

I thought about an easy slogan to remember to remind me to drink first.

Are you thirsty or hunrgy?

STOP, Drink and WAIT

Not sure if you’re really hungry or not.

Stop, have a drink of water.

Do something active to keep yourself busy for the next 20 minutes.

If you still feel hungry, go ahead and have something to eat.

If you weren’t really hungry, your body will have registered the extra water and you’ll feel satisfied.

Drinking water =No calories

When we’re trying to lose weight this makes sense, right.  If we eat when we’re really thirsty, we’ll be taking in more calories than we need.  It’s a much better idea to fill up on your water and make sure you’re not thirsty.

Try to stay hydrated throughout the day.  This is the schedule I try to stick to; I have a big glass of water as soon as I get up in the morning, I keep a bottle of water with me throughout the day and top it up at lunchtime and a big glass of water with my evening meal.  Also, if I do any exercise, I’ll make sure to drink extra water.

Add some flavour

If you’re not keen on plain water, you could try adding a little flavouring such as mint, lemon slices, sliced fruit.  I really like lime slices in my water.  Many people swear by having lemon slices in their water first thing in the morning.  There has been some evidence that this has very good detoxifying properties.  Personally, I find lemon to sharp but have a play about with a few different flavours and see what works for you.

I try to avoid squshes, even the no added sugar ones.  I will sometimes add a splash of fruit juice but this will also add natural sugars into your diet so not too much.

Foods that also contain a lot of water

Sometimes we just feel the need to eat, don’t we?  If you suspect you could just be thirsty, try to opt for foods with a lot of water content such as…

1. Watermelon
2. Cucumber
3. Honeydew melon
4. Strawberries
5. Lettuce
6. Cabbage
7. Tomatoes
8. Pineapple

Try a small mixed tropical salad bowl – I lived in Spain for quite a few years and I really loved the tapas dishes.  Typically these are snacks that traditionally accompany a drink in a bar. But we can use this idea for our healthy snacks too.  They’re basically mini meals.

In a small bowl add shredded lettuce, finely sliced and diced cucumber, one, finely chopped cherry tomato and then add a couple of sliced strawberries and a few small chunks of pineapple.  Delicious, healthy and it ups your water content.

If you want to drink more water, check out my Drink More Water Challenge

Live well, live happy.