- Losing Weight Makes You Hungry
Weight gain is most often the result of overconsuming “high reward” foods that are high in sugar and unhealthy carbohydrates and fats. They act on your reward center, triggering pleasure – boosting dopamine that can disrupt sound eating patterns.
- Losing Weight Makes You Hunger
When you cut back on calories, you trigger an ancestral switch that release ghrelin, a hunger hormone that intensifies appetite and cravings.
- Stress Increases Cravings
Stress is a powerful emotion that makes you lose touch with your body’s hunger cues. A heightened fight-or flight response activates your body’s production of cortisol, a stress hormone that’s known to increase cravings for fatty, sugary, and salty snacks.
- Cravings Evoke Emotions
Food craving episodes feel impossible to ignore, because they engage three different regions of the brain that together influence memory, emotion, and reward – serotonin dips, cravings for cards and comfort foods increase.