Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Hunger: we've all felt it. Or have we?
I watched a tv program about an extremely obese woman (over 800 lbs.) who was hospitalized to get control of her weight. And all of a sudden, under the strict diet of the hospital, her stomach felt strange. It hurt. What was this feeling? Hunger. She was experiencing hunger for the first time in her memory.
Hunger is good. This woman had not felt hunger because she had always been eating. With dangerous results. So, to be healthy, we want to experience hunger at times.
Healthy eating habits depend on balancing hunger with satisfaction. Can we satisfy our hunger for food without eating too much? Can I be satisfied with less food?
I've found that I can. I no longer eat as much as is needed to maintain a 134 pound body. I am maintaining at 7-8 lbs. less than that. Overall, I'm satisfied with the amount and the variety of food I eat, so it doesn't take willpower to eat at this level.
What does it take? For me, it takes a little common sense, a lot of time in the kitchen preparing tasty foods, and an occasional review of ideas gleaned from French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano. It takes more $$ for groceries as I search for better quality ingredients. It takes a certain perspective about "choosing my pleasures" and believing that "less" can be "more." More about all this in future posts...
I watched a tv program about an extremely obese woman (over 800 lbs.) who was hospitalized to get control of her weight. And all of a sudden, under the strict diet of the hospital, her stomach felt strange. It hurt. What was this feeling? Hunger. She was experiencing hunger for the first time in her memory.
Hunger is good. This woman had not felt hunger because she had always been eating. With dangerous results. So, to be healthy, we want to experience hunger at times.
Healthy eating habits depend on balancing hunger with satisfaction. Can we satisfy our hunger for food without eating too much? Can I be satisfied with less food?
I've found that I can. I no longer eat as much as is needed to maintain a 134 pound body. I am maintaining at 7-8 lbs. less than that. Overall, I'm satisfied with the amount and the variety of food I eat, so it doesn't take willpower to eat at this level.
What does it take? For me, it takes a little common sense, a lot of time in the kitchen preparing tasty foods, and an occasional review of ideas gleaned from French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano. It takes more $$ for groceries as I search for better quality ingredients. It takes a certain perspective about "choosing my pleasures" and believing that "less" can be "more." More about all this in future posts...
# posted by HowGreatADebtor @ 10:46 AM 
