Tag Archives: diet

What IS Hungry, Anyway?

  By Rebecca | January 6, 2012 - 11:31 pm |
Leave a comment

Who said we needed to be hungry to eat??

My stomach evidently can’t tell the difference between hungry and BORED.  Yep.  I totally eat when I get bored.   I also find myself vulnerable to feeding myself regardless of the presence of a hunger sensation when I’m tired and when I’m lonely.  Oh yeah, and when I’m happy, too!  I mean, it’s my BIRTHDAY, so I’ve GOTTA eat cake, right??  I also eat because it’s TIME.  And because it’s polite to eat what someone else lovingly made for me.

Here’s the difficult part:  Ignore your body’s signals long enough and they become harder to understand and recognize.

It’s a challenge for me, especially with the constant presence of food around me and food-centered activities, to listen to and figure out my body’s hunger signals.  Do I even know what they are?  (The experience of hunger CAN be different for everyone.)

Let me think…

Well, I know what REALLY hungry feels like.  (My husband and I laughingly refer to this as “pissed-off hungry”)  Sometimes, when I get home from work he’ll ask if I’m hungry.  I’ll reply that I’m so hungry I could injure someone. Then, I’ll tear up in envy of my thin husband with his superman metabolism and immunity from overeating.  I’ll stalk off or start to cry.  (See where we got the name?)  This is because serious hunger for me causes irritability.  Even aggressiveness actually.  I also sometimes start to shake, get a headache, or experience nervousness or anxiety.  I know this is caused by the drop in blood sugar.

But what does regular hungry feel like?  You know, just the body’s gentle signal that it’s time to refuel.  I have to admit I’m not too sure. I know that I overeat often when I get REALLY hungry, but what if I could recognize the signal early enough to go ahead and feed myself while I’m still in control and not in a desperate attempt to alleviate the REALLY hungry symptoms?

I know God built this mechanism into my body.  I guess it’s time to take a few days to dust it off and figure out how to use it!!

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather

Bad Drug

  By Rebecca | January 4, 2012 - 1:56 pm |
2 Comments

I use food for comfort, stress relief, and even expressions of anger. In other words, much like a drug addict turns to drugs for all of the above, I turn to food.

Not just any food, mind you. It has to taste good. In other words, I don’t console or reward myself with plain tuna or unsalted popcorn. (Ewwww) Think chocolate truffles, macaroni and cheese, or Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies. Think Doublestuf Oreos, Ruffles chips and French onion dip, and loaded cheese fries. Think cheeseburgers, chocolate mousse cake, and cookie dough. But, I digress…

Why do I do this? FOOD for thought… (hahaha)

I was raised a VERY good Southern Baptist. We don’t smoke, drink, or chew, or go with boys who do…

But we EAT.

I can give you a very long list of the “don’ts” I was taught as a child, those sins to be avoided at all costs. Funny, but eating isn’t one of them. I’m sure somewhere along the way, some preacher preached against overeating, but it musn’t have been very memorable because I have zero recollection. I have to wonder if overeating had been as taboo as say, smoking weed or premarital sex, would things have been different? If bingeing on junk food were treated like a bad behavior like going to a bar, seeing rated R movies, or getting a tattoo, would I have developed this habit? Now some of the “bad behaviors” I just listed are things I’ve done, some aren’t, but NONE of them are habits of mine. Then again, there are others who experienced a very similar upbringing and they DO struggle with things like drugs, alcohol, gambling, or sex addiction. That would mean I can’t totally blame my upbringing for my dependence upon food. It still wouldn’t change the fact that I use food much in the same way anyone uses a vice for consolation.

There’s one problem with this method of comfort, of soothing my sadness:

It doesn’t work.

Sure it tastes good while it’s going down. But I eat too fast (read more about that later) and so even that part isn’t as enjoyable as it should be. Then afterward comes the guilt, the frustration, and the stomachache, not to mention the extra pounds and sluggishness. Food is no more effective than vodka when it comes to solving one’s problems, and it’s nearly as harmful in the longrun.

OK, so I’m turning to an inadequate outside source for comfort. What can I do about it?

Here are my ideas:

1) Realize that food isn’t doing the job I’ve assigned to it. It isn’t a good enough provider of comfort and solace. I’ve simply given food a task it can’t perform.

2) Find something else to which I turn for comfort. (Hear God going: “ME ME ME!!!”)

3) Figure out what’s bothering me so much and see if I can eliminate or solve any of those issues.

What do ya’ll think???

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather

Speaking of resolutions…

  By Rebecca | January 3, 2012 - 5:50 am |
1 Comment

Alright.  It’s a new year and I can’t help my infatuation with the idea of a fresh start.  I love starting over every new year, I just hate failed resolutions. 

I’ve been tempted to make a weight loss resolution, but I’m not.  Honestly I’m more than frustrated with my body’s sluggish reaction to my weight loss efforts, and my own inability to “stick to it” when it comes to diet and exercise.  I’m not ready to try and fail again.

However, I read an article this morning that made me think.  The article pointed out that (as we all know) a lifestyle change is necessary to maintain weight loss.  A restrictive diet or rigorous exercise regimen will pull the pounds off but they come right back once the diet or exercise stops.  The article suggested that at some point, some introspective investigation needs to be done to discover the “why” behind one’s eating and exercising habits.  That made sense to me.  I don’t want to start another diet, but I don’t want to become a type 2 diabetic either, so it’s worth a try to think this over.

My friend, John Frady has been blogging about his weight loss, and knowing his wife, Kathy’s weight loss success, I’ve been inspired.  John’s decided to publish his daily eating choices as a way to keep himself accountable.  Admirable, but in an effort NOT to appall my readers, (though it probably would amuse you as well) I’ll spare you my dietary details.  I will, however, bare my heart instead of my stomach.

Why do I eat what I eat?  Why do I do what I do?  How did I get this relationship with food? 

I promise not to turn this into a health and weight loss blog.  I’m not going to obsess about food or fitness.  I’m not going to start eating salad with no dressing, and I probably won’t run a marathon.  But maybe my own exploration of my emotions, my habits, and my feelings about food and fitness will help someone else, and maybe me too, to discover exactly what’s going on behind those “bad” habits and maybe if we find the “why” and address that issue, well, maybe the bad habits won’t be so hard to break. 

Stay tuned, and we’ll see…

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmailby feather