That’s what it feels like to eat less!
Here’s the thing… usually… you should probably be hungry. There, I said it. I will admit that I don’t like saying it. Not because I think we should all eat whatever we want. No, the reason I don’t like saying that usually you should be hungry… is that most of us associate hunger with diets, and we associate dieting with a restriction, denial, and hardship… almost punishment.
God knows that our fast food everything has to taste good culture is killing us all. 65% of Americans are Overweight, more than a third are clinically obese. I know what I’m talking about, I was one of those obese statistics. Most people, claiming to have the answers to weight loss are out there telling you that its all about what you eat. I completely disagree with that position… so it almost pains me to write about eating, let alone eating very little, and even worse being hungry. But the truth is that weight loss (and even maintaining a normal weight) is about balancing calories in with calories out. And unfortunately we’ve become so accustomed to what balanced calories feels like, that almost all of us take on more calories than we really need.
What makes me think I’m an expert on this subject? Well, first of all, I’m not an expert, and that may be one of the best reasons why you should listen to me. I won’t tell you what will work for you. But I can fairly and honestly report what works for me.
Here’s what I know about my body after losing more than 50lbs (more than 25% of my body weight) , and transforming myself from an overweight high tech worker into a two time Ironman triathlete. I know that my body is really really good at store fuel, and conserving its fuel stores. If I didn’t have such a low metabolism, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to complete the 12+ hours and 140.6 miles of racing involved in an Iron distance triathlon. Sounds like an advantage right? Well, not if you sit in front of a computer all day.
There are some very interesting theories out there about the evolution of man from hunter/gatherer to agrarian to now processed food consumer. I find most of those theories pretty compelling. The main thing I take away from them is that we humans are highly adapted to live off of very low quality calorie sources while still being able to produce incredible amounts of energy to power our massively complex brains while simultaneously out running or out smarting the faster, stronger, much more dangerous predators around us.
The problem is, we’re not all being chased by saber tooth tigers. In fact, I suspect that none of you reading this blog have ever been chased by a saber tooth tiger. So we don’t really need all that energy we take in on a daily basis from the highly concentrated calorie sources we’ve developed as we learned to master the world around us.
So even when we go out and move our body… more than the next guy… we’re still not moving our body nearly as much as our prehistoric ancestors were as they walked for hours on end looking for nuts and berries to eat. And when they found those nuts and berries, they usually only found a few handfuls, which they took back to their tribes to feed for the next three to five days.
Have you ever picked berries from a wild black berry bush? It’s hard work… man they taste good… but you have to be determined to get those berries.
So today, I made a point to try to eat less. To try to remind my body what hungry was supposed to feel like. I spaced out my meals. And made a point of balancing carbs, protein, fats, and fiber. Maybe I was a little low on calories for the day… and certainly, the Christmas candy at the end of the day wasn’t the best way to fill in those extra calories.
- Breakfast: Egg Whites and Turkey on English Muffin - 200 cals
- Lunch: Turkey Sandwich with Hummus -325 cals
- Dinner: Tortellini with Chicken Sausage, Spinach, Zucchini, and Parmesan Cheese - 500 cals
- Post-Run Recovery: Banana+Peanut Butter Smoothie - 260cals
- Not so healthy snack: Left over Christmas Candy - 220 cals
In addition to eating fewer calories today, I also went for a 5.5 mile run… more on that in my next post. The end result is that I feel hungry. Not a deep hunger… not a regretful hunger… not a punishment. But instead, I have a sense that I am alive, my body knows what to do to keep me that way, and tomorrow maybe I’ll find that wild black berry bush… or maybe I’ll be chased by a saber tooth tiger… but I know my body has plenty of fuel to make it through the night… and well into the next day… where I’m sure I’ll find some high calorie super concentrated energy source to replace the fuel I spent between meals.
Health:
- Date: 01/02/2008
- Weight: 148.6
- Mood: Normal
- Sleep Pattern: Normal
- Calories: 1505
Filed under: Clinically Obese, Diet, Ironman, Losing 50lbs, Overweight Americans, exercise, saber tooth tigers, triathlon, weight loss |
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6 Comments: :
That’s what it feels like to eat less!
January 3rd, 2008 6:49 am
Kate says:
Very interesting post. I always hated how diets were associated with such hunger. Sometimes, you need to just eat less and feel a bit of hunger. That’s how you know to gage how much you should be eating.
January 3rd, 2008 8:17 am
Melissa says:
I love this post! I’ve been eating less too and although it shocks me at first and I feel “hungry” I do actually feel better. It is hard work picking berries. You are right though, I’ve never been chased by sabre tooth tigers - only a few dogs
Oh - and I’m running the Charlottesville, VA 1/2 marathon in April and the NYC marathon in November. I’m hoping to add a few more and I already plan to sign up for this DC race (all in an effort to admire cherry blossoms and laugh with my friend Mandi) I’ll post some details soon and links.
Happy New Year! All the best to you and your family!
January 3rd, 2008 9:36 am
gardenmentor says:
I’ve really been intrigued by the bits and pieces I’ve read about people who intentionally eat very little, believing it will extend their lives. I love food, so its hard for me to believe extending my life a minute or a day by staying hungry throughout everyday is worth it. And, if I try to go to bed hungry at night, I just don’t sleep well. Not a balanced approach to life — for me. (But, ask me about that opinion after I’m dead to see if I still agree with myself.) Still, I do try to balance what I eat and not eat too much of the crap. Often, I miss meals because I don’t like to eat alone. I find myself putting off food until I’ve got a rumbling tummy or a lightheaded feeling, and that’s not good ’cause I tend to then eat a little too much or not the right things. Of course when Bob’s home at night, I love to munch away on things I shouldn’t, often right before bed. Hmmm…a weird eating disorder? Probably nothing to really worry about…
So what’s my point?
Mostly that I agree that balancing inputs and outputs is really critical. I’ve definitely gone through periods where I was overweight but moving regularly and times when I was probably at a proper weight but I was horribly out of shape. Starving myself and sitting on my butt may mean I’m skinny but under the “wrapping” its just no good. However, if I’m eating and exercising, the scales are balanced; I am balanced. And, since I like to eat (and I like all foods so stay pretty well balanced), I may not lose a pound, but I look and feel and AM a lot healthier.
Oh, and before I shut up… one of the best things I’ve learned is to keep the “easy to eat” foods out of my house. If you buy prepared foods — even instant cereal, canned soups, slimfast type drinks, frozen dinners, etc…… — you make eating EASY. If you buy foods that you must prepare — whole grains, a chicken, fresh fruits/vegies — it makes eating a more intensive process. It makes you really think about what you’re going to consume. You have to work a little harder to get the food to a point where you actually eat it. Kind of like picking the blackberries and hauling them back to the tribe.
January 3rd, 2008 10:12 am
Brad Hefta-Gaub says:
Just to be clear… I love to eat. I love food. I love fresh well prepared food. There’s no way I would ever want to live my life in a manner that I couldn’t enjoy great food. But I also know that you can enjoy food without enjoying large amounts of it… it’s hard to do, because your caveman brain tells you that you need to eat everything you see, because it could be days before you find more wild berries….
January 22nd, 2008 4:55 am
From IT geek to triathlete » Too light » Sweat365 » Fitness Community says:
[...] After reading this article by Brad, I decided to see with how little food my body could get away with. I still eat 3 meals per day, with a small snack in between. As Brad suggests, you should be hungry at times which is the case. I have gotten used to it now and I hardly notice it anymore. [...]
February 10th, 2008 8:05 pm
Gable454 says:
Brad,
Nice post. Being in touch with our bodies is so important. It is a shame that our children are experiencing epidemic proportions of diabetes, an insidious disease. We are rewarded with sweets from the cradle (e.g. Christmas candy), so have positive reinforcement from an early age that sweets are something associated with love and affection. “Feel good”, high fat foods reward us on a hormonal level, and if you have teenagers, you know that hormones always win. Thanks for the post, and I will do the hunger thing tomorrow, since I know that I can access food within minutes if necessary, and that hunger can be a good thing.