On Hunger!

I have to say, for the longest time, I've been afraid of the 'H' word.

Hunger.

I really have!  Hunger was something I'd do anything to avoid. One of the reasons I joined this program was the fact that I could eat 6x and day -and- have a full L&G meal every night.  I figured, that was going to be good for me because I love to eat! 

And then when I got into the "groove" of doing the 5/1 correctly, I noticed my hunger pangs decreasing bigtime. What was happening here? Why?

It was 2 things, really, working together. First off, the increased level of protein in every meal helped keep me feeling fuller longer, coupled with the lack of the carbs/sugar that always sets off a physical response in me to want 'more'....but it also had to do with just feeling 'lighter' and having more energy.

And I'm not alone -- lots of folks report that they seem to have more energy while OP. 
One possible explanation for this is that our normadic ancestors may have had to travel long distances to obtain food, and they literally "ran on empty" to survive. It is well known that hunger triggers increased physical activity in most creatures, large and small. Our ancient ancestors used this restlessness to travel hundreds of miles on foot between meals.

But after awhile, of course, Fat Brain reared her ugly head....and she told me I was 'depriving' myself, and that I was soooooo....Hungry... with a capital "H", and that I needed to eat, I'd DIE if I didn't eat soon, etc.

It became harder and harder to wait those 3 hours between MF meals. I can remember looking at the clock, counting the minutes. Could I make it till the next meal?  Maybe I should go for 2 hours instead of 3, that was allowed, right?  And I did that...more times than I can count.

Of course then there would be times when I'd 'have' to go 4 hours between meals. Or something would come up and I didn't have my MF meals (I always always carry a few bars in my purse now!)  Oh boy. Here it comes. Hunger again. Yikes!

But listen to me. Was that such a bad thing?

NO! Of course not!  In fact, hunger is a good thing!

After all, when you break it all down, the key is always calories 'in' have to be less than calories expended in order to lose weight. You can try and rationalize all you want, but that's the bottom line.

Your body doesn't care that it's the 4th of July coming up....it doesn't care that your Fat Brain is jumping up and down all excited about red, white and blue cupcakes (gimme a break!);  all it cares about is that equation.

So if you want to lose weight, you have to pay attention to that equation.

If you eat less than you expend, you WILL lose weight.
Even if the scale doesn't cooperate 'every day'.  There are factors with water retention, that TOM, etc.....but the bottom line is, if you persist, if you're committed to staying OP and you follow the program, your calories eaten will be LESS than what your body needs and you WILL LOSE WEIGHT. It's inevitable.

So....it therefore follows logically that if you're truly committed to this program and to losing the weight, you better get used to the idea that during the time you are losing weight you may be more hungry, and hungry more frequently.

This was a very hard concept for me to finally 'accept'. I remember posting in the forums about how 'hungry' I was.  I remember questioning everything I was eating and drinking to ridiculous degree. Was the Crystal Light making me hungry?  After all, even though it 'said' it had 0 carbs, in reality that was only for 1 glass....I learned that if you drink it as much as I do it can amount to 4, maybe even 8, grams of carbs!  GASP! 
I remember switching from Truvia to Splenda because Truvia had too many carbs.

Now I'm not saying that was a 'bad' thing....we want to stay in ketosis and when your carb grams go up over 100 a day you have to step back and look at what you're doing.

BUT....I was always 'convinced' that I was 'too hungry'.   As a compulsive overeater, I routinely conceded victory to every twinge of hunger and to every urging from Fat Brain.
If I was that hungry there 'must' be a reason for it, right? I needed more food!  

Well, that got me nowhere. And for awhile I seesawed up and down....until finally I just got super-determined. I got fed up with the whole thing and I decided to get really stubborn about it.  I decided I was going to make goal no matter what. I was going to stay OP if it killed me!

I remember looking down at the scale at one point, when I had like, 5 lbs to go, and saying out loud, "I'm going to OUTLAST you, you stupid piece of junk!"  (DH thought I was crazy, but what else is new? LOL) 

And so I hung in there, despite the hunger.

And I DID IT!  I made goal! 

And after all the hoopla and after Transition (which I found fascinating, and FUN, even, once I got over my terror), and Maintenance, I sort of took a deep breath and looked at myself in the mirror and Congratulated myself and said, "I DID IT"!  FINALLY!

So....to me....the hunger was 'over'.  Right?

Well, guess what?  I totally forgot that it's OK to feel hunger once in awhile!  In fact,
'normal' people get hungry all the time!  It's perfectly natural and normal to feel hunger, every single day.  It won't kill you.
In fact, you will become hungry every day for the rest of your life, and that is totally normal!

But I still was terrified of being hungry. So I had problems and I gained some weight. YIKES!  NOW what do I do?  Go back on the 5/1?  What was this, feast or famine time again?  UGH....!

And I was angry because I didn't EAT sludge anymore! I'd given it all UP!  All my favorites...all that sweet stuff...this just wasn't FAIR! 

But I gained because I ate too much food. PERIOD.  That's all.  I didn't eat sludge, I didn't eat junk....I didn't have to, because I could overeat, well, just about anything.  Greek yogurt?  Love it....only 6 ozs? Oh I need 'more' than that....I'm hungry!  Whatever I was eating I was eating 'more' of it....and thinking I had to, because God forbid I got hungry, right?

I had to learn the hard way that it's OK to get hungry.
That NORMAL people get hungry!  EVERY DAY!  And they live! 

So now I'm on the 4/2 plan and guess what? I'm hungry!  LOL

But THIS time, I'm into the mindset of reinterpreting my hunger and learning to accept it as a natural, harmless and -- get this -- even desirable feeling! 

Why?  Because when you're hungry you're losing weight!

It's as simple as that!

Sometimes water retention and other factors come into play on the scale....but that's the basic equation and it works if you stay OP and have the patience to not jump on and off the scale very 5 minutes LOL. 

Think about how you feel about hunger, and question it a bit. If you're hungry, does that mean that you need to eat something right now? Or do you merely want to eat something?
"Want" and "Need" are two separate things....a distinction that Fat Brain would have us 'overlook'. But you don't have to overlook it, because you know better! 

You don't "need" to eat every time you're hungry. 

Must you eat right now, really?  Of course I don't absolutely have to eat right now. 
I wouldn't die for over a month if I started a total fast right now.

Is the feeling of emptiness intolerable, so that you can't stand it? 
If you can't stand this feeling, then what are you doing right now? You're standing it! LOL.... 
And are you that miserable? Seriously.  Why can't we be hungry for just a few hours? Are we infants who can't wait for the bottle? Are we really so deficient that I can't be hungry for a few minutes or even a few hours?  Of course not. Being hungry is what I've been waiting for, because that means I'm using up my fat reserve.  Therefore, I'll choose to value my hunger feelings instead of hating them. I can desire hunger the same way bodybuilders desire pain...for them it's 'No pain, no gain', for me it's 'No hunger, no fat loss!' (without the pain!)  It's a little uncomfortable but it's certainly not life-threatening.

It might be helpful to think of the fuel gauge in your car when you feel hungry. Remember that you can go many miles 'running on empty'.  The car runs just as well as it does with a full tank, but of course, it is necessary to fuel up from time to time. (Note that the expression used here is 'fuel up' rather than 'fill up'!)

"Running on empty" is a way of summing up a weight loss attitude that allows us to understand what we are really doing to yourself when we are losing weight. We are limiting our fuel intake so that our fuel reserves are consumed, or converted into energy.

When you find yourself feeling sorry for yourself because you feel 'empty', a rational antidote is simply to remind yourself that you are now doing what you choose earlier to do, which is running on empty.  Biologically, we are very well prepared to run on empty for long periods of time, unless there is some medical condition such a diabetes or hypoglycemia.  That's why it's always a good idea to check with your doctor before beginning this (or any!) plan.

But if your doctor has given you the "OK" to proceed, then what's the problem? You're doing what you PLANNED to do in the first place. You're losing weight!  You should be excited about that!

This weekend, remind yourself of your goals. This is not a 'free for all' where you eat everything in sight because it's a 'Holiday Weekend'.  This is just another 3 days....among many many days in your life. You will have other holidays, the holidays never end, one goes practically right into the next....soon we'll be into Labor Day, and then Halloween, and then Thanksgiving (better known as "National stuff your face all day Day" UGH) and then the Christmas season....right through from Thanksgiving till January 1.  ARGH.

But YOU are in charge of what you put into your body, and YOU can choose to feed it right.

So think about how you'll FEEL about yourself when the weekend is over. Will you be patting yourself on the back?  Or will you be here saying, "Well, I screwed up again....I'm restarting as of NOW"? 

What will give you the outcome you're looking for?  Remember, you're sacrificing 3 days of weight loss if you 'let things go' over this weekend...and maybe more....because you'll be throwing yourself out of ketosis and stopping the weight loss COLD for this week. And then you've gotta RESTART on top of it all!  UGH!  PLUS hate yourself for going off plan.

Don't do that to yourself. Make a plan, PREPARE, and just do it.  Do it no matter what.
Don't even look at that potato salad.....get up and circulate. Drink your water. Get your lean ready. Make a fresh veggie platter of green pepper strips, fresh mushrooms and maybe some other fresh veggies ....with a light ranch dressing for a 'dip'. 
Get your MF meals lined up and ready to go so you never are without them, no matter where you go and what you do.

Make a plan, and STICK TO IT.  And you'll be thrilled come Sunday night....instead of hating yourself.

YOU CAN DO IT.  This is where it counts. This is when certain people will stay OP, lose weight, and get to goal....and others will stumble and fall down that slippery slope we all fear so much and we all hate (and for good reason). 

I plan to STAY OP this weekend.  What about you?

Keep on keepin' on!