Hello,
Today's topic is a good one: Hunger. Ask yourself a question: what is your relationship with hunger?
Mine was twisted. I believed that hunger=weight loss. Which meant that when I was hungry I would feel happy and proud because it meant that I was doing something right. Wow, that is so messed up. And to tell the truth I still believe it sometimes. I had to relearn a lot of things with intuitive eating but this was truly the starting point for me. I had to stop believing that hunger was a good thing. Diet culture had taught me for years that the only way to lose weight was to be hungry. Hunger meant that your body was eating the extra fat you want to get rid of. I was taught that in middle school. I will admit that yes in the short term this is somewhat true. But it is not true in the long term. Hunger actually messes up your metabolism badly. Your amazing body that is a gift from god has the ability to withstand all kinds of hunger. That how people lived through famines, the great depression, the holocaust, poverty, and even eating disorders. It is a true blessing that the body doesn't just shut down and die when its blood sugars are too low. If that were to actually happen people would avoid hunger like any other pain. We would actually be encouraging each to eat! But that doesn't happen.
In order to stop yourself from dying your amazing body will slow its metabolism and go into survival mode. It will actually hold on to as much fat as possible all while using up muscle and other amino acids found in the brain, liver, pancreas and other vital organs. That's right your body will eat the brain before it will eat your love handles. Crazy! Once you are able to eat again the body is still working on a slow metabolism but this time the bodies first priority is to store fat in case this ever happens again. That is why binging is a big part of dieting. Even health professionals know this and they work it into their meals plan. They call it a "cheat day" or meal if they are really heartless. Your body's biological response to hunger is to over eat and store fat. So when you starve or ignore your hunger cues your amazing body tries to save you by eating enough not just for now but for later too. Its also a really sad part of diet culture because everyone blames Will Power for binging but binging is a natural biological response to starvation. You amazing body is just keeping you alive. And when you pound down that bag of chips or eat to the point of feeling like your are going to throw up. That is just an innate survival skill that your ancestors were extremely grateful for.
Dieting is a first world problem. Every one blames the over abundance of food and especially processed food for the "obesity epidemic" (That word is just more fear mongering set up by diet culture and I hate it but more on that later) But in other parts of the world where food is actually a scarcity and a daily struggle. This "epidemic" is actually an unfair advantage that we take for granted. Ask yourself this: When was the last time your were grateful for the food you ate? Now ask yourself: When was the last time you politely said no to any kind of food out of fear that it would "mess up your diet" or make you gain weight?
Hunger is a bad thing. You body does not want to be hungry. You can not walk off a broken leg. You can not stop the feeling of hunger by ignoring it.You amazing body will take over and eat in excess. And if your thinking this does not apply to you. You eat a strict diet every day and you never bing or crave anything outside of your allotted calories and macros. Then we need to have a discussion about eating disorders. Because the only people who can overcome binging habits or completely ignore hunger cues have some kind of eating disorder. More on that later....
To end on a positive not I would like to say: You are good. your body is good. It is doing what is was designed to do. Self Love is the real answer to any body image issue.
"Today I asked my body what she needed,
Which is a big deal
Considering my journey of
Not really asking that much.
I thought, she might need more water.
Or Protein.
Or greens.
Or yoga.
Or supplements.
Or movement.
But as I stood in the shower
Reflecting on her stretch marks,
Her roundness where I would like flatness,
Her softness where I would like firmness,
All those conditioned wishes
That form a bundle of
Never-Quite-Right-Ness
She whispered very gently:
Could you just love me like this?"
-Hollie Holden
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