Friday, March 2, 2012

Good Dieting - Some Hunger is Not Fatal

You may say well duh, everyone knows a little hunger will not kill us.  However, I must admit I had never thought about it before my friend Myra wrote it in an email to me.  It is such a small, simple phrase, but it is really powerful.  A pang of hunger doesn't need to be immediately cured.  I need to readjust my thinking to realize it as a signal from my body that I'm on the right track.  In short, I need to discipline my wants as I am surely in no danger of starving anytime soon!  A snack of an apple will suffice instead of an extra meal.

Often in our modern day society we want progress without any pain, and we want success without any sacrifice.  I admit I am as guilty as anyone when it comes to this.  Maybe some of you can relate to this.  See, I often medicated with food.  If something was wrong, I ate.  If I was bored, I ate. If I was nervous or worried, I thought that food was the answer.   If I was happy, I even celebrated with food.   Now I have to pay the price for those indulgences.  All of those years of overeating have to be atoned for.  It is almost as if I ate those things on credit, and now I have to do without an amount equal to which I overate.  Maybe my high blood pressure and diabetes is the cost of the interest.  The effect of that weight being on my body over time and the subsequent damage that has been done is the penalty.

So yes, a little hunger pain will not kill you, but having extra weight on your body over time will.  Are you having to pay a price for abusing food in your past?  Have you been known to eat for reasons other than hunger?

21 comments:

  1. Oh yeah - I have been known to eat for reasons other than hunger. Boredom is my biggest culprit.
    Good post!

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  2. Any kind of emotion makes me eat, unless it is tragic, then I can't get anything down.

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    1. Emotional eating and social eating are two biggies for me.

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  3. Good post and notice how we call them hunger pains instead of hunger pangs? Those are really hunger feelings. When it happens it means our bodies are turning to stored fat for energy because we are empty - that's a good thing. We are in this situation because of exactly what you wrote about - eating for reasons other than hunger. The analogy about credit is a good one. We do pay sooner or later. We are lessening the amount we have to pay by becoming healthy. Take care.

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    1. I wish we could turn back time, but we can't so we are doing the next best thing.

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  4. Loved the credit card analogy.

    Hmmm. I pay the full balance off on my credit card every month, thus having no interest. :D No matter how much I charge, I pay it off. Of course, since I'm not independently wealthy, I have to have a running tally in my head of how much I've charged each month and if I I lose track, I check the balance on line. When I get near the amount that I don't want to exceed, whatever the purchase is waits until after the 14th so that it goes on my next bill.

    Two things occur to me. One, I wish I could pay off my fat debt in one month!!!!! And, two, if I were as disciplined and mindful of my EATING as I am of my spending, I'd only have about 20 pounds to lose.

    Something to think about with this....

    Deb

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    1. Thanks Deb, glad you liked it. That is my job here to provide some entertainment and to cause us all to think.

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  5. Oh, Paul - I could write a book about those last questions of yours. Anxiety was and still is my trigger for overeating. You can always tell how I'm doing mentally by the feel of my clothes.
    As far as paying the price for being 100+ pounds overweight, that would have to be the loose skin I've inherited. It used to bother me a lot, but really, these days I figure I wouldn't be wearing a bikini anyway so I just play up the areas that I'm proud of, and use some magic on the areas I don't particularly like.

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    1. Well Ellen, I would think of it as something you can be proud of in that it is a testament to how far you have come!

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  6. Can I relate? It's as if we are in the same body! And in my case, yes, my diabetes is the cost of those years of self-medication. Will that debt ever be paid off? Only time will tell. For now, I have to accept and embrace the hunger pains/pangs with a bit of patience and humour.

    It's all I got....

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    1. Yep, we are indeed in the same boat! All we can do is go forward and lose weight now to try to make amends for our past overindulgences.

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  7. Very important realization. This is a great post!

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  8. I'm not sure about this. I find that by making the right food choices you can keep your stomach pretty full and content, but I get the analogy and the point for sure.

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  9. My reason is for comfort....I really have to work to stay focused on my plan and not to look at food as comfort. Can be tough!!

    Keep focused!

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  10. I am a nervous eater. Just last week they were predicting severe weather in my area. As I listened to the radio and checked the updates I started popping almonds in my mouth. A few almonds would have been fine. But I had three servings over the course of the day!! And then I found tortilla chips. The worst part is that I totally recognized I was eating because I was nervous about the weather...and kept eating!

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  11. I too am paying for those mindless eating moments but I found now that I am eating more protein I don't see myself reaching for mindless snack foods.

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    1. Yep, I am trying to go with more protein and less carbs. Only problem is...I love carbs lol.

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