Using Tea Consumption to Control Impulse Eating
The battle against your waistband is often a battle of the mind. It's not just having the will power to stay the course, it also fighting against your body's own signals that it needs to be nourished. This signal at times is often inaccurate. Even though it will feel like it isn't. Your body will send signals that you are not full and therefore you cannot function. It will stop you from focusing and make you feel weak and lightheaded.
A part of impulse control and fighting against binge eating or boredom eating is to follow a routine that helps you manage the signals. You need to be conscious of when these signals hit and what alternatives, other than lack of food, may be the cause. It is more often than not a signal that you body is not hydrated, as opposed to it lacking a certain food staple.
Incorporating a warm and cold drink routine can alter this signal interpretation within your body and can condition you to respond with hydration instead of food.
Tricking your system back
Why would you get a hunger signal instead of a hydration signal?
Thirst signals are often very weak and they overlap with hunger pangs in the sense that both will make you feel weak, unfocused and irritable. Furthermore, a lot of foods hold a higher "pleasure response" than hydration, meaning that you are seeking to satisfy you hunger and feel good.
Drinking may not represent pleasure for your system yet. But using teas and herbal teas to create a pleasure response, can help you trick your system back.
Key element? Preemptive hydration
Routine is key. If you have a warm drink before the time you usually get hungry, it is likely to help you reach your next meal and as a bonus not be starving when you get to that next meal . If you have cold refreshing drink before you need it, it could stop you from craving a popsicle or a soda with sugar content levels that you cannot control.
Your Tea Consumption Routine
Morning Tea:
- One large cup of Lipton Black Tea:
Lipton Black Tea will help fill your stomach in the morning with a delicious, hearty shot of antioxidants and brain boosting caffeine. Add a glass of room temperature water within an hour of consuming the tea to lock in the effect and make up for the diuretic effect the caffeine may cause shortly after consumption. This combination will help you feel full and stave off hunger pangs for at least a three hour period
Lunchtime Refresher Tea:
Lunchtime often calls for a cold drink, and a large one! Lipton Green Tea with Mint is the perfect choice for a cold pitcher in the fridge for sharing. Place 4 Lipton Green Tea with Mint teabags in an pitcher of water for about two hours, and then remove the teabags add Ice and serve.
This drink will fill you up, hydrate you, regulate your mood and boost your metabolism. One glass will give you a two hour, hunger-free window, two glasses can push you even further. Save the rest for the next day! no problem whatsoever.
You can also have the same recipe with less caffeine if that is your preference, with Lipton's Mint & Lemon Ginger Herbal Tea.
Evening Tea
Unwinding at the end of your day is key. Instead of waiting for the evening grazing for munchies begins, be sure to sit down and take a moment with your choice of a flavorful and rich Lipton Herbal alternative.
Chamomile is a preferred choice for many for their evening cup routine, but Anise has earned a healthy reputation in this spot as well. When timed perfectly within an hour and a half of finishing your dinner, this drink can keep you company while you watch TV, read your book, or browse your social media accounts.
It will relax your nerves, soothe your palate, hydrate you and help you get into a calm pre-sleep state.
How do I stay ahead of the game?
In addition to creating and following your new hunger and pleasure trigger management routine, you want to start keeping the following good habits.
1. Don't wait until you feel thirsty, make sure you keep track of how many glasses of liquid you drink each day. Consult with your doctor or nutritionist on what your daily intake requirements should be.
2. Listen to your body for mixed thirst signals disguised as hunger. When in doubt drink a glass of water or your favorite Lipton Tea before you reach for that snack.
3. Choose liquids you enjoy and not ones that only hydrate you. Enjoy the flavors and aromas of your favorite Lipton teas and make them your comfort. They contain way less calories than food and you can control how much sugar you add to them.