Re: Re: Principle #2 - Honor Your Hunger (long for my personal growth, sorry)

[Guest guest]

THANK YOU.  This is one of the best analogy's I have ever seen.  Sandy

 

I don't think there's much I can add to what's already been said, and I'm going to write on this anyway to cause myself to think through and internalize this principle.

When I am cold, I put on a coat, sweater, or blanket. When I'm hot, I turn on the air or sit in the shade. When I am tired, I lie down and sleep. When I need to use the bathroom, I go. When I get tired of sitting in one position, I change positions. When I get hungry, I tell myself my body doesn't need food and force myself not to eat. Now how crazy is that? What if I attempted to force myself to remain cold or hot, refrain from sleeping, refrain from using the bathroom, or refrain from changing positions? Sounds pretty ridiculous and also torturous. So what I've been doing all my life by refraining from eating when I'm hungry is also ridiculous and torturous. I have not been listening to my body's hunger signals, and then wondering why it rebels.

Also, by attempting to refrain from eating carbs and fats, I've tortured my body. I was amazed when I heard from a nutritionist what the average amount of those nutrients are needed by the human body on a daily basis, and how satisfied I feel when I allow myself to eat those amounts. For me, honoring my hunger means that, in the future, I will listen when my stomach signals that it is hungry, and feed my body the nutrients it needs.

But there is more to it than that.

When I am cold, I do not turn on the air or climb into bed or change positions or make my way to the bathroom. When I am sleepy, I do not head for the closet to get my coat or for the restroom. When I have need of the restroom, I don't turn on the heat or crawl under the covers. Therefore, honoring my hunger means when I am in need of emotional release or comforting, I don't head for the refrigerator or nearest Mcs. Honoring my hunger means that if I'm not hungry but am angry, sad, scared, or any other of a zillion emotions, then I am going to vent, cry, talk to a friend, or whatever else (and I need to make a list of these) will address my emotional needs. If I am not physically hungry, I could eat my way through a 20-serving chocolate birthday cake covered with frosting roses, and the emotional distress will not be resolved. That would be no different than attempting to put on my coat when I actually need to sleep. Both of those would be crazymaking, and that's what I've been doing to myself all my life without realizing it.

So, honoring my hunger means eating when my body signals tell me I'm hungry,to the point where I'm no longer aware of my stomach being there, and not eating if I am not experiencing those signals. I am not depriving myself, but treating myself with loving kindness, when I honor my hunger in these two ways.

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> Keep your body fed biologically with adequate energy and carbohydrates. Otherwise, you can trigger a primal drive to overeat. Once you reach the moment of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting and irrelevant. Learning to honor this first biological signal sets the stage for rebuilding trust with yourself and food.

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