Hunger

Hunger. Longing. Suffering?

Yes, you guessed it, another psychological exploration today.

When you hear the word "hunger," does this immediately conjure up a feeling of deprivation and suffering?  Do you ever allow yourself to get really hungry?  Or do you constantly avoid eating until you are so hungry that you wolf down way more than your body needs? Are you afraid of hunger?

This last question might sound ridiculous coming from a middle-class, comfortable American who has never really had to experience hunger in her middle-aged life. Yet, until recently, I was seriously afraid of hunger. I didn't think I'd DIE if I skipped a meal, but I did believe that the repercussions would be serious and painful.  I thought I'd get a severe, pounding headache accompanied by intense irritability, (my husband says "How would we be able to tell the difference?" Ha ha.) weakness, dizziness, fainting, etc. 

So during the month of February, I experimented with Intermittent Fasting.  For me, this meant (usually) skipping breakfast (which I had NEVER done before!) and then eating my first meal in the middle of the day, eating an early dinner (normal for me) and attempting not to eat after 8pm in the evening. Every day was a little different, but in general I tried to lengthen the number of hours of fasting and shorten the number of hours of eating. As I related in an earlier blog, I did not lose any weight on this program. What I did lose, however, was my fear of hunger.  And this is a very valuable thing.

If you are like me, then you have read innumerable diet books.  Whenever a new diet idea appears on the shelves, I like to check it out and see if there is anything of value for me to learn. You can probably tell that I am endlessly fascinated with the subject of diet, nutrition, and weight loss.  But one thing I see repeatedly in almost every diet book I read is this: Eat all you want and NEVER FEEL HUNGRY!

It seems to me that these diet book authors are all trying to suck you in with this tempting theme: if you only follow these new rules, or eat this list of "superfoods," or omit this list of no-no's, then you can chow down to your heart's content and still lose weight. As if hunger is a terrifying boogeyman to be avoided at all costs. Or a punishment that good folks like yourselves just don't deserve.

Well, what I have discovered through my own ongoing experimentation is that you just cannot lose weight without limiting portions. Perhaps if you were only eating leafy greens all day then you could eat until your jaw ached from all that chewing and still lose weight. But once you introduce meats, dairy, eggs, nuts, etc. into the equation, you are going to have to manage portion size. And when you limit those portions to LESS than you were previously eating, your body will notice that deficit and feel hungry.  This is why I have written previously that hunger is your friend. Moderate hunger.

Now. when on the Zone Diet, hunger can also be an indicator that your blocks were not balanced correctly in the last meal you ate. Ideally, a Zone meal should last about 4 hours without significant hunger.  If you are significantly hungry 2-3 hours after eating a 3-4 block meal, and you also feel "loopy" and unable to mentally focus, then your previous meal contained too many carbs in relation to your amount of protein. Next meal, reduce your carbs slightly while maintaining your amount of protein.

If, on the other hand, you are significantly hungry 2-3 hours after a meal but your mental focus is still sharp, you had too much protein relative to your carbs. Next meal, maintain your protein amount, but up your carbs slightly, by one block.

Here's where careful measuring of all your nutrients can really help to keep you in the Zone. I am always diligent about measuring my protein as that is the most important piece of any Zone meal or snack. But I often err of the side of being a little light on the carbs.  Like this morning, we ran out of strawberries and I neglected to fill the gap with another type of fruit. The result: I am significantly hungry as I write this. Good mental focus, but ravenous hunger! At least you can say I walk the walk and not just talk the talk today!

If you feel that you are eating the right amounts of both protein and carbs, but you still feel hungry well before the 4-hour mark, another option is to up your fat intake. If you are an athlete, a trainer, or expending a significant amount of physical energy daily, you may need more fat on this diet. Many crossfit athletes follow the Zone but with added amounts of healthy fat for more energy. Once you are at your goal weight, the extra fat you eat will simply be burned in your workouts.  As long as you are still carrying around plenty of bodyfat, you probably will want to burn this first.

My point this morning is that any new diet or eating regimen may be uncomfortable at first. We discussed this theme earlier in the Diet is a 4-letter Word column. Change is hard. Hunger is uncomfortable. And if we expect to sail through change without feeling the least bit uncomfortable, we are in for a rude awakening. I encourage you to be brave!  Face your fear! Experience your hunger! And keep moving forward, right through that uncomfortable place, into a brand new you.  A bolder, braver, stronger, fitter, and healthier version of you.