Wow, I have been hungry today . Actually, I've been more physically hungry the last few days.I think If I remember correctly, when I'm hungry like this I'm losing weight. It's been a while since I saw consistent #'s dropping. Sizes yes. Pounds on the scale..no.
I mean actually physically hungry -stomach growling hungry versus mentally hungry (jonesin on those Dunkin Donut muffins) or mouth hungry "gotta crunch on something salty"..or just my usual little girl saying " ooh, it's almost time when I can eat again, right?" Hunger is unusual for this recovering food addict. I assess my hunger before and after meals (when I'm following my program well) and it helps me reason out if I'm eating out of body hunger or for habit or for a desire for comfort or for boredom. (HALT -hungry ,angry , lonely, tired) Right now , on the scale above I am close to ravenous.
Back to this gnawing hunger, Part of me freaks out. There's the diabetic part that worries about 'Am I going to drop my sugar too low?' Then there's the part that knows that I probably will need to go with the hunger in order to lose weight. Then there's that part of me that's like..I gotta eat. My enabling self thinks 'oh, you can eat every 3 hours and burn more calories, so just find a good protein snack"....ARGHHHHHH!
Seriously, it's so unusual to be hungry that I don't know how to handle it. My nutritionist tells me that I need to create a calorie deficit, I need to be ok with being hungry some of the time. I don't have to panic. I can just sit with the hunger...blah blah blah
I did that the other night and went to bed with my stomach growling. I woke up to let the cat out at 3 am (he get's bored and comes in and wakes me up) and I realize I'm feeling sick and nauseated because I'm so hungry even though it's 3 am . So I ate some fruit and went to sleep.
I'm physically hungry . It's 10pm . I've got an early day tomorrow. I'm going to make a cup of sleepy time tea and after that if I'm still really hungry. I'll eat some cheese. There. Taking care of me.
Are we becoming synchronized somehow?
ReplyDeleteI went to bed hungry last night too...and then thought "If I wake up in the middle of the night hungry, I'll have a piece of cheese".
Cheese always settles the growlies for me when I wake up really ravenous like that. Or I'll have a banana.
It has stuck in my head when Oprah once said "When you feel that little sensation of hunger, that's when you are burning fat". I don't think she meant ravenous, but a little growlie. If I recall correctly, Bob Greene was saying this too.
Was Ruby on the other night where you live? I watch it on iTunes, but I haven't gotten a notice that there was a new episode. Maybe cancelled because of the Oscars?
Did you watch her bathing suit/bull-riding episode? She seems to be really breaking out of herself! She went from jeans to bathing suit in a very short time...on national TV! "Humidified" (her word for horrified and humiliated) is my new favorite word!
Hey there, Ruby was not on, I guess, because of the Oscars. I had recorded that episode and re-watched it because the whole Ruby-Denny thing fascinates me. It reminds me of me with someone in my college years.
ReplyDeleteRecognizing / overcoming fears is a big part of my process too. Once again , I relate. Did you notice the black and white lighthouse the always show during Ruby? That is the Tybee lighthouse which is the beach there just off Savannah. My husband and I got married on the beach near that lighthouse and we vacation in condos near there almost yearly. Makes me want to go ..again.
I drank my tea and some sugar free fruit juice and went to bed, but I'm up at 6am working now.
hungry.
Hey PJ--good post. I have been thinking about hunger for the past couple of days too--great minds think alike, right?
ReplyDeleteI am thinking about getting more familiar with hunger again. I related to so much of what you said, especially this: just my usual little girl saying " ooh, it's almost time when I can eat again, right?"
This is a good thing to explore... I went through that too, the making friends with hunger thing.
ReplyDeleteI am NOT diabetic, and would never tell anyone with a medical condition to do this.. but the way I made friends with it was to take a day and just not eat! I did have my coffee... nuthin was going to take THAT away, ha ha ha. But after that, I drank lots of tea and water, all day. My purpose was to get over any fears, and to convince myself it's no biggee, that I WILL survive, that I can always eat later, etc.
This is not a good thing of course, if you have blood sugar issues, but it worked for me. Now lots of times, I just stall eating til the regular time with a big glass of tea or water, or like you, a tiny bite of cheese.
Anyway, I now have a new relationship with Miss Hungry; we are friends. :-)
Loretta
=^..^=