Response To Facebook Comment

It is great when people make comments because it helps me to know what would be a helpful blog.

OK- so let’s talk about the “stages” of hunger.  This is my own interpretation of hunger and what it means to me.  This is just common sense.

Stage 1 hunger is when you notice that you are starting to get hungry.  It is NOT an emergency.  I view it like this.  “Great, I am getting hungry, I will get to eat soon.”   I say it to myself that way because it is fun to eat when you are hungry.  It is a great, wonderful experience.  It is not full of angst and guilt and counting, like when I was a dieter.

If I was really active the day before, I might start to feel hungry earlier than usual, and it may come on really strong and fast.  Since I have made the effort to learn about my hunger, I know this.  So I don’t worry and think, “Oh no, I am so hungry and all I can have is tuna.”  NO!  I simply say, “Wow, this feels like that kind of hunger that gets strong really quickly, so I better figure out what/ when/where I am going to eat.”

This again is just common sense and me knowing how to take care of my hunger.

Stage 2 hunger is when I eat.  I am hungry, easily distracted by the thought of food, my mouth waters at the mention of food.  So I eat!

If, for whatever reason, I have had to wait until Stage 3 hunger–which is when you feel desperately hungry and even grumpy and really “empty,” I have noticed that I eat more and enjoy it less. I am not as picky about what I eat, and I eat quickly.

Sure this happens sometimes, of course.  The real world will do that to you.

But I don’t stress out about that.  I just say to myself, tomorrow, I should do a better job of making sure that I eat when I am happily in Stage 2 hunger.  I eat less in Stage 2, and enjoy it more.

The biggest thing to avoid is when you are so hungry that hunger goes away.  I have noticed that in the past when I dieted, hunger would go away.  Guess why?  My smart body is coping with the miserable situation I have put it in.  My body thinks I am in a famine and is trying to protect me, so I can survive without that debilitating hunger.  That is how people who are on a diet are able to say, “I am not hungry at all!”

I avoid that like the plague.

Why?

Because I have learned from my own history, and the history of those whom I worked with at Nutrisystem, and other people in my life whom I have watched diet, that if hunger goes away while you are dieting, you are in for binges as soon as you stop dieting.

Your hunger comes ROARING back as soon as you crack and eat a little.

And that is where people gain back all their weight.  It is as if they have no control.  They don’t.  Their bodies are  strong, and worried that another famine is around the corner.  So…. your body seeks to pack on the pounds.

So, bottom line:

Notice your hunger in Stage 1
Eat in Stage 2
Avoid getting to Stage 3

Your body will feel safe, and trust that you will feed it.  You will not feel the urge to hoard food, also known as bingeing.  And you will enjoy a life that includes delicious, non-stressed eating.