Hunger signals..truly a lifelong predicament

Hello all.

Yet again I am on the ferry, but I am headed back to the island. I thought I would take a little time to blog about something that I have been working on for years but in the past few months I have totally ignored. I spoke about this in a vlog or two and I have found the past few days I have been very good about it. I am talking about hunger signals. Am I really hungry? Or is this some other emotion or mood showing through?

I wish I was born with the "SUPERPOWER" of know when I should and shouldn't eat, knowing how much I need until I am satisfied (not completely stuffing myself) and just KNOWING what is good and bad for my body. Unfortunatly, I have learned this will be an ongoing battle with myself for the rest of my life. Sitting down, analyzing if I am truly hungry or am I thirsty. 

Hydration vs Hunger

I have read multiple research papers on hunger signals and how it takes YEARS for an individual to be able to tell the difference between dehydration and hunger. Which for the longest time baffled me but now that I find myself looking into this predicament, it makes total sense. Sometimes all I really need is a glass of water. It used to confuse me because generally I always thought that my body needed to hydrate if I had that parched feeling in my mouth or "cotton mouth". Now that I run the amount that I do and after losing the weight, I definitely see the importance of getting my recommended daily dose of water. I like to think of water as the fluid of life, because really, we would not exist if it wasn't around. Our bodies are made up of about 60% water after all. I really notice if I don't get my water in I experience no loss on the scale. Don't even get me started on the amount of painful muscle cramps I get! Ouchie.

Food vs Bordom 

I am sure some of you have experienced this. I know this is going to be a toughy for me during the summer months. Since I won't be in school and I only work a few meetings, I have a good chunk of time on my hands. Sometimes we will find ourselves sifting through our cupboards and fridges. We aren't hungry but we are most definitely bored and do not know what to do with ourselves. So we try and fill the void. 

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One thing I tried doing is writing out a list of things I can do in situations like this. For example, give myself a pedicure, clean the apartment, vacuum, blog, vlog, go for a walk, etc. I keep it in my journal so I can reference it if need be. 

Emotions vs. Appetite

This one is a very common issue that comes up when speaking on this topic. I believe that this subcategory in the fight against understanding hunger signals is the reason why I was overweight. I often turned to food for support. It is so difficult to explain how food is a support to people who never had this issue, but for those who experienced emotional eating know exactly where I am coming from.

 I believe I started going to food when I lost both my grandparents in 1999, six months apart from each other. I did not know how to cope with it, and my family seemed to turn to food. Then a few months later I lost my great aunt. It took me years to realize this is not a healthy was of coping with life stresses. After my first year of university, I hit my highest weight and was fed up. I knew my biggest demon I would have to face is learning how to fight emotional eating. Through attending my Weight Watchers meetings, I learned strategies to better cope with stress.

This is where running came in. I would put all my anger, sadness, stress, heck..even happiness into the pavement! My coping mechanism now IS running and I have no idea what I would do without it! If there was some reason that I could never ever run again, I know I would mentally go BONKERS. Hopefully I would be able to find other way of getting it all out, but knock on wood for me that will never happen. *KNOCK KNOCK* phewph. I will admit though, sometimes I let it go overboard. I have been so mad that I ended up running for 23 km...2 days after running a 30 km run. But in the end, I was more clear headed and could really talk out the situation after that. If I don't run after an argument, I know myself well enough...I WILL say something I do not mean. 

Anyway, I think this is key to conquering that emotional eating demon. Pin pointing a way that you can get it all out in a healthy way. I found I really had to reprogram how I thought about food and what it is used for. Food is for nourishment, not for therapy. In the end, your problems will not be solved after eating that ice cream. Our bodies are like a car, (I am sure many of you have heard this analogy) we need to fill our cars with proper fuel for it to run, just like how we SHOULD be putting proper fuel into our bodies to run efficiently. 

Distractions vs meal time

I am now making a rule for myself that NO food can be eaten on the couch. Studies have been proven that when eating in a loud environment we tend to eat more then we need. Distracting yourself from your dinner through television and music is very common in many homes. I admit I can be bad for this. I love watching youtube while having my lunch or snacks. Today I am making this a priority to not eat while in front of a computer or television screen.

Unfortunately, when eating out, it is hard to avoid distraction as we cannot tell people to pipe down. (How rude!) Some good tactics are to ask for a box before even starting your dinner so you can put half of the dinner into the box or doggy bag. Or sharing a plate with the person you are there with (great on the waist line AND wallet ;)). 

I just thought about writing a blog post on this because I was struggling with boredom and wanting to snack so I thought I would share a few thoughts. Now that I have had a full litre of water and a coffee, I think I am ACTUALLY hungry. Hey there protein bar! Nom!