Why do we eat?

What drives us to eat when we shouldn't?

Knowing the answer to this question could be just what we need to see results in 2008.

There are four basic reasons of why we eat:

1. Because we are hungry.

This is an obvious reason.  We tend to eat whe our body tells us that it is hungrey and in need of food and energy. 

However, this is not the only reason that we usually eat.  If we ate when we were hungry and stopped when we were full, all would be fine.

2. Because we are emotional.

We eat when we are emotional about something, anything.  

We turn to food after a stressful situation or after a sad situation, when feeling blue or when we had a negative encounter.  We tend to reward or comfort ourselves with food and unnecessary calories. 

3. Because we are social.

We go and visit our friends and family, and out comes the food.  Someone comes to your house and out comes the food.  Don't just sit there, everyone else is eating. So you grab a little bite, but you just ate or are on your way to eat, or just simply not hungry.  But it would be rude to visit and not take a sampling of what your host is offering to you. 

4. Because we are habitual.

At the end of each day we relax in front of the television with a snack, we may not be hungry it is just a habit.  We munch mindlessly and this just leads to calories that are not needed. 

We should all take the time to examine why we are eating, and choose to only eat when we are truly hungry.