Proof your mind controls your hunger!

I stumbled across this and it was too good not to share. 

Milkshake Study YUM!

Grehlin is the hormone in your body that is responsible for hunger.  (think growlin’ grehlin).  The higher it is the hungrier you are.  They did a study with mostly college students.  There are a lot of studies on college students because for a couple bucks and a milkshake they’ll do just about anything.  So, they had them fast for 3 hours!  Basically, they needed them to be a little hungry.  They checked their Grehlin levels when they got there and then gave them a milkshake called sensible delight that promised guilt free pleasure.  At only 200-300 Calories, low sugar, etc.  They had to wait an hour for the milkshakes effect show up in the blood.  Then they checked the Grehlin levels again.  They had fallen.  Not far but some.  From what we know the more you eat the more they fall so a small milkshake should have had that effect. 

They had them come back again on a different day.  Fasted again for 3 hours.  Checked Grehlin.  Then gave them a milkshake called “total indulgence” or “sinful indulgence”, I can’t remember which.  This this was 600-700 calories of fat and sugar!  They waited an hour and checked Grehlin again.  It had dropped significantly.  Not suprising.  It dropped almost 3x as much as the first sensible milkshake did.  That makes sense because the Grehlin drop is supposed to be in line with Calorie consumption. 

Here’s the twist…

They were both the same milk shake!  It was actually somewhere in the middle.  WHAT!?  Yes this means that when people THOUGHT they were eating sensible delight they did not feel as full and when they THOUGHT they were eating total indulgence they were significantly more full. 

This is the power of mindset. 

If you THINK you are undereating, you will be hungry like you actually are! 

This happens all the time with people on a “DIET”.  It is often that people THINK they are eating 1200 Calories and wonder why they are so hungry and not losing weight.  Well the scary truth is they aren’t keeping close enough track of their food amounts so they are often 2400 Calories!!!  But, with this study we can see that if they are eating 2400 Calories but THINK they are eating 1200 Calories, they will be hungry as if they really were eating 1200 Calories. 

The way we combat this in our program is to give people the tools and accountability to keep closer track on their food amounts.  Since there are salads that have more Calories than a cheeseburger we cannot rely solely on food type to equal weight loss.  Realizing you are not deprived is very helpful in losing weight. 

I hope this was helpful.  It blew my mind a little bit thinking about it. 

If you are struggling in this area please contact us, we would like to help you!

About the Author:

Jeremy “the tall trainer” Biernat is a Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Strength Coach, has his Bachelors in Exercise Science, and enjoys writing, speaking, and inspiring people online and in person. See his new book!  More importantly he is a husband, father, and follower of God. His practice is in upstate NY (Canandaigua) where he works with people in one on one and group sessions to make awesome changes in their lives. He doesn’t do everything perfect, cries in movies, and would love to hear from you. You can contact Jeremy by commenting to this post, emailing [email protected], or calling 1(800)380-7047. 

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