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Health & Fitness

Why Am I So Hungry?

When on a diet, some may wonder why they're SO hungry, all the time.  But what most of us don't even realize is that our bodies are designed to go long periods of time without eating and the fat that comes with our baby-making machinery proves it.  But somehow these days it seems we think we're starving as soon as we go more than a few hours without eating.

If that were true, we would not have survived this long as a species.

So let’s cut through this and  not confuse cravings with the actual biological need for nutrition.

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When we squelch our hunger pangs with an instant fix, we not only  make poor food choices (Hello, DONUTS!), we also don’t give ourselves time to tune in to our body, listen to it and figure out what it really needs.

Try this instead of stuffing your face the next time you feel hungry:  Slow downRemain calm.  There is no shortage of food here in America – that’s part of the problem!  Give yourself – and your body – the time to make a good choice.  Don’t be a sissy when hunger knocks at your door.  Don’t treat your hunger like an impatient toddler screaming for attention.

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You’re an adult.  You’re in control.  Tell your hunger to wait for a bit because only the best will do when it comes to feeding your body.  Learning to put raging cravings in a time-out is part of the mental discipline a health warrior does not back down from.

When you eat junk – often food high in fat and salt and sugar, you tend to screw with your blood sugar levels and the subsequent crash is often interpreted as hunger.  Same goes when you pump your body full of stimulants such as sodas and coffee.

When you chow on empty junk food filled with fats and salts, you feel tired and depleted and you reach for chocolate or some form of sugar bomb to “get you through the day.” And when you don’t drink enough water, your dehydration is signaled with an energy lull, which again, we misinterpret as hunger.

Ghandi, at age 74 and famously skinny, protested for India’s independence by surviving 21 days of not eating with just sips of water sustaining him.   Not only did he not suffer any health problems from this fast, he didn’t run to McDonalds when his hunger strike was over.

During these extreme cases, yes, there is a point where our bodies eventually go catabolic – which is when the body starts burning muscle tissue to continue functioning. Now, Ghandi was certainly in the catabolic zone with his 21 day fast but let’s be honest folks, when we whimper that we are starving after going 4 hours without food- we are not starving and in fact, we are being insensitive to those who are actually starving.

For the vast majority of Americans, starving is a phrase we probably shouldn’t even be uttering.  Starving because you missed lunch – hardly.  So with the exception of diagnosed medical conditions such as diabetes and hypoglycemia, you can go lengths of time without food and have no negative effects on your mental or physical performance.

The strategy for avoiding the myth of “there’s nothing healthy to eat but I’m hungry therefore I must eat crap” is simple.  Plan your meals.  If you are running around all day and don’t bring healthy foods with you, you are left at the mercy of the strip mall hooligans with their menus full of empty calories.

Remember, it’s actually good for your digestive system to go 12 hours each day without eating.  If you stopped eating at 9pm, you shouldn’t resume eating again until after 9am the next day.  Instead of waking up and downing coffee, try a big glass of water instead.  That’s what your body and your digestive system needs most to start a new day.

Don’t get me wrong – you need to eat, especially if you are on an exercise program and you are trying to lose weight in a healthy and sustainable way.  But eat wisely, with great care and reverence for your body.  Eat only healthy, nutritious, preferably plant-based whole foods (meaning an apple not fried apple chips). Try shopping at the Leucadia farmer's market to stock up on fresh produce!

If you truly care about your body and your health, give it the good stuff.  Once you learn to ignore the siren call of junk food cravings, you will quickly find yourself focusing on healthy food and not wanting to settle for that hyped-up loser that will leave you feeling empty.

So let’s cut the I’m starving drama. Drop the chocolate. Put down the energy bars (candy). Ignore the chips (oily salt slabs) and instead…relax. Take a breath. Drink some water. It’s your body. It’s your health. It’s your choice!


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