Here are the reasons it's worked for me and why I suspect it will help others on the weight loss or maintenance journey:
*A tasty piece of gum will do in a pinch if a craving for unnecessary food (meaning false hunger) comes over you.
*It keeps your mouth busy and tricks your brain into thinking you're eating which can help you feel full (not completely full of course, but it does help as a pseudo type of distraction).
*If used as a snack replacement, can help you lose weight quicker by allowing you to take in less for the day.
*Each piece lasts for a long while, e.g., for about an hour or so and during that hour all you've consumed is at the max 24 sugar calories (instead of oh, 300 calories on a fattening snack that will keep your mouth busy for about 30mins) and you've probably burned some calories in the process with the chewing.
*It plays the role of "filler" by allowing you to put something in your mouth to keep it busy so you can quit obsessing about food and move on with your day. Moving on with your day in turn empowers you by allowing you to get things done or to address your problems in a clear-headed manner which in turn cuts down on your stress which in turn leads to less emotional eating.
*Emotional eating has been a HUGE issue for me and this new practice (along with a new perspective I've been cultivating) has been helping lots. Also, after having dealt with some of the emotional issues motivating me to self-soothe with food, I'm still left with the sheer habit force of CHEWING something and chewing gum helps this by being a temporary replacement for this habit of constant snacking.
Down-sides:
*Your jaw will grow tired. Honestly would prefer my jaw grow tired from chewing gum than from eating a bunch of garbage.
*"Diarrhea" can be brought on by the chemicals in the sugars of certain gums. Of course, if you're chewing like 20 or more pieces of gum per day, I'm sure there is bound to be some side effect. So the trick is to eat it when you're in a situation where you would normally overeat or binge: i.e. (while cooking, right after a meal to keep from getting seconds, at parties with lots of food, etc)
*Chewing gum will stimulate your cravings for sugar. My response to this is: not in my experience! I think with a holistic approach of finding out why you eat emotionally and solving your problems rather than eating to self-soothe is a big part of the process of disentangling yourself from 'friendship' with food. This mind-set allows you to use tools around you and to be a creative problem solver rather than a "run-hide-soothe" type of person. Gum has been such a tool for me. Though, it's been my crutch for the past few weeks, it has been a HUGE aid in my process to let go of food as a friend.
What types of gum do I use?:
My favorites are the Bubble gums (HubbaBubba or Bazooka).
I keep it interesting with different flavors but ultimately bubble gum flavor and hours of bubble blowing fun seem to be helping me keep my urges sated without huge caloric cost and adds some fun to my day the inexpensive way! Also, though right now I chew almost constantly, I'm starting to notice I need it less and this would be the ultimate goal - to be weaned off of needing to chew or consume to keep myself calm or soothed.
If you are an emotional eater like me, opting to chew gum instead of eat unnecessary snacks and meals (while empowering yourself by diverting your attention towards solution-finding in order to conquer your life's problems) will save you thousands of calories and ultimately, pounds of body fat.
Disclaimer: Please understand, ALL I'm saying is that it's beneficial for one to chew gum as replacement for some snacks OR to answer your cravings for extra food outside of your regular intake (i.e. the desire to binge). Balance it out by eating 3 square meals (reasonably sized totalling 1200-1500) every day and you should get results - some of us slower or faster than the other but results are inevitable, especially if you throw in exercise like walking or something. Also, it's okay to let yourself get a little hungry now and then.. *sigh* Just sharing what works for me!
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