LJ's Journey to be Slim by Sixty
- Thread starter LJ22
- Start date
upndown
Gold Member
Well done on ur walk - that's interesting calorie wise - and I can see you're clocking up the miles now on your 100 mile challenge!
If I walk around the block here - it's exactly one mile (I used to run and measured local distances on the car mileometer!) Must get started - I think exercise and sensible eating go hand in had - one supports the other if you know what I mean!
HorrorQueen
Member
Hello! Thank you, I'm a bit of a horror movie nut
Thanks very much! Having some withdrawals from the rubbish I've been eating now tbh, since Christmas I've been eating a ton of sweets & treats so I'm feeling a bit weird without them right now! Yep Freddos have a lovely bite to them Haha I love bubble gum!Thank you! I definitely will do, this seems like such a friendly encouraging place
Hope everyone has a lovely tea!A confession and a psychological observation.
I have been off work this afternoon and although I was full after my lunch I knew I was out of fruit, except for kiwi fruits and I had one muller light left. I got this panicky feeling inside. I was scared about how I would cope if I got hungry. The background to this is simple. I have discussed it with CJ in the past. When I was young mealtimes were strictly controlled. I was made to sit at the table until my plate was empty. That was unpleasant enough but the worst thing was that meals were too far apart for me. I used to get severe hunger pains at times. I suppose the fear of the hunger pains rises up from my subconscious when I know I am low on food in the house. So.... I know the cause for the feelings of panic but I have no idea how to stop them or deal with them.
Eventually I ate the muller light, then I sliced up a potato and made a little dish of SW chips in my air fryer. They are so good! That helped but I decided to go out and get some more yogurts and some bananas for tomorrow breakfast. While in the supermarket a bottle of wine just leapt into my basket! I am home now, drinking a small glass of it and nibbling on grapes thinking that I am too full to eat dinner. Doesn't seem any point in forcing dinner down myself. Maybe if I feel hungry in an hour or so I will have it then. Or egg on toast perhaps.
I have not strayed off plan today but I feel like I have made a bit of a mess of it. I promised myself no wine except at weekends. I stuck to that the last two weeks and now I have broken my promise.
I have been off work this afternoon and although I was full after my lunch I knew I was out of fruit, except for kiwi fruits and I had one muller light left. I got this panicky feeling inside. I was scared about how I would cope if I got hungry. The background to this is simple. I have discussed it with CJ in the past. When I was young mealtimes were strictly controlled. I was made to sit at the table until my plate was empty. That was unpleasant enough but the worst thing was that meals were too far apart for me. I used to get severe hunger pains at times. I suppose the fear of the hunger pains rises up from my subconscious when I know I am low on food in the house. So.... I know the cause for the feelings of panic but I have no idea how to stop them or deal with them.
Eventually I ate the muller light, then I sliced up a potato and made a little dish of SW chips in my air fryer. They are so good! That helped but I decided to go out and get some more yogurts and some bananas for tomorrow breakfast. While in the supermarket a bottle of wine just leapt into my basket! I am home now, drinking a small glass of it and nibbling on grapes thinking that I am too full to eat dinner. Doesn't seem any point in forcing dinner down myself. Maybe if I feel hungry in an hour or so I will have it then. Or egg on toast perhaps.
I have not strayed off plan today but I feel like I have made a bit of a mess of it. I promised myself no wine except at weekends. I stuck to that the last two weeks and now I have broken my promise.
upndown
Gold Member
Hey - we're all human and yes you've not eaten as you planned and whilst that's annoying you seem to be still on plan - so that's the main thing isn't it?
I was sad to read about your early relationship with food - but you've unlocked something there I think? We all just need to understand what we need to do don't we?
Well we now have Minimins which seems to be helping us all - so let's continue to enjoy that for now.
I've been picking today for no reason - just fruit and free stuff - but don't feel like the chicken curry or anything else I have in - no syns left - may go to be early - what a saddo!! Hoping for a better day 2moro!
Pls enjoy ur wine and don't be cross with urself!
upndown
Gold Member
Hello! Thank you, I'm a bit of a horror movie nut
Thank you! I definitely will do, this seems like such a friendly encouraging place
Glad ur going to join us - I think we all struggle the first week - at least SW allows us to have some of our favourites - perhaps you could be more generous with ur syns this 1st week - if u feel ur depriving urself?? Hope it goes well anyway - I usually get in the swing of it after a few days - then lose it a few days later LOL!
CJ32
Full Member
Evening all
Horror queen, welcome! I hope you find LJs thread as helpful as we all do! I seem to have ditched my own thread haha If your a chocolate fan, then I have discovered the little mini 10g Lindt bunnies (out for Easter) are only 2.7 syns! are you going to a group? Me and LJ have weigh day on Weds... *scared* lol
Well I have managed to get back on track today, after yesterday's little munchfest! I out it down to a filling breakfast.
scrambled egg and beans with a little bit of Cheese
lunch my homemade tomato soup
A banana and mango as a snack
tea was be good to yourself oven chips, cheese omelette and a big salad!
feeling stuffed. To many chips lol but they were so yummy.
i get on so much better at work, although the girl I sit next to eats chocolate, popcorn and crisps all day... And she's tiny! But I just throw myself into my work! So busy at the minute I don't have chance to think about snacking much.
upndown sorry to hear all your syns are gone! There's always yummy yogurt or fruit to snack on. You are still on plan, so you have done well today! Has your appetite returned now?
LJ you might have cracked one of your food issues there. Maybe you should try just letting yourself get hungry.. See that it's not so bad? And that you don't have to eat as soon as the hunger strikes? I like our challenge hehe
Fat2go how has your weekend been?
Jules how are you getting on? Back on track?
Ooh i I was watching Jamie Oliver's new cooking programme last night.. They were making donner kebab... *drool* I must try that donner recipe next week! If anyone would like it i can post it up for you
Horror queen, welcome! I hope you find LJs thread as helpful as we all do! I seem to have ditched my own thread haha If your a chocolate fan, then I have discovered the little mini 10g Lindt bunnies (out for Easter) are only 2.7 syns! are you going to a group? Me and LJ have weigh day on Weds... *scared* lol
Well I have managed to get back on track today, after yesterday's little munchfest! I out it down to a filling breakfast.
scrambled egg and beans with a little bit of Cheese
lunch my homemade tomato soup
A banana and mango as a snack
tea was be good to yourself oven chips, cheese omelette and a big salad!
feeling stuffed. To many chips lol but they were so yummy.
i get on so much better at work, although the girl I sit next to eats chocolate, popcorn and crisps all day... And she's tiny! But I just throw myself into my work! So busy at the minute I don't have chance to think about snacking much.
upndown sorry to hear all your syns are gone! There's always yummy yogurt or fruit to snack on. You are still on plan, so you have done well today! Has your appetite returned now?
LJ you might have cracked one of your food issues there. Maybe you should try just letting yourself get hungry.. See that it's not so bad? And that you don't have to eat as soon as the hunger strikes? I like our challenge
heheFat2go how has your weekend been?
Jules how are you getting on? Back on track?
Ooh i I was watching Jamie Oliver's new cooking programme last night.. They were making donner kebab... *drool* I must try that donner recipe next week! If anyone would like it i can post it up for you
upndown
Gold Member
Evening all
Horror queen, welcome! I hope you find LJs thread as helpful as we all do! I seem to have ditched my own thread haha If your a chocolate fan, then I have discovered the little mini 10g Lindt bunnies (out for Easter) are only 2.7 syns! are you going to a group? Me and LJ have weigh day on Weds... *scared* lol
Well I have managed to get back on track today, after yesterday's little munchfest! I out it down to a filling breakfast.
scrambled egg and beans with a little bit of Cheese
lunch my homemade tomato soup
A banana and mango as a snack
tea was be good to yourself oven chips, cheese omelette and a big salad!
feeling stuffed. To many chips lol but they were so yummy.
i get on so much better at work, although the girl I sit next to eats chocolate, popcorn and crisps all day... And she's tiny! But I just throw myself into my work! So busy at the minute I don't have chance to think about snacking much.
upndown sorry to hear all your syns are gone! There's always yummy yogurt or fruit to snack on. You are still on plan, so you have done well today! Has your appetite returned now?
LJ you might have cracked one of your food issues there. Maybe you should try just letting yourself get hungry.. See that it's not so bad? And that you don't have to eat as soon as the hunger strikes? I like our challenge
Fat2go how has your weekend been?
Jules how are you getting on? Back on track?
Ooh i I was watching Jamie Oliver's new cooking programme last night.. They were making donner kebab... *drool* I must try that donner recipe next week! If anyone would like it i can post it up for you
Thanks CJ - it's so good reading everyone's posts - glad to hear ur back on track and you didn't seem to do much damage anyway!
Yes pls to the Jamie recipe - it's always good to have something that's 'normal' and SW proof!
Today hasn't been my best day - somehow eating my syns early on - put me off anything remotely healthy - or is that just an excuse?? I've been picking rather than bingeing but I've drawn a line under it now and will be back on plan 2moro - I'm def living up to my sign in name LOL!
Hope everyone has a good day 2moro - is it selfish to say esp me!?
CJ32
Full Member
Upndown you make me laugh lol Yes just draw a line under it and start fresh tomorrow at least all these little bumps in the road we keep finding are helping to discover more about ourselves and our eating.
I would like to say the donner recipe was a Jamie Oliver special., but his was with big chunks of fatty lamb on a homemade kebab BBQ thing! Although I do have the recipe I found on here, which people have commented that it tastes just as yummy as a "real" donner kebab!
Doner kebab!
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon plain flour
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
500g/1.1 lb lamb mince (or beef)
Method:
Preheat oven to gas mark 4/180C/350F
In a large bowl, combine the plain flour, dried oregano, dried Italian herbs, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper.
Add the lamb mince and mix thoroughly for 2-3 minutes. Take out all of your aggression on the kebab mixture, punching and kneading until no air pockets remain and the kebab meat is extremely smooth.
Shape the seasoned mince into a loaf and place on a baking tray.
Bake in the middle shelf of the oven for 1 hour 20 minutes, turning the loaf half way through the cooking time to ensure even browning.
Once cooked, remove from the oven and cover with foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Slice the donor kebab as thinly as possible and serve with pitta, salad and sauces!!!
sounds pretty easy and tasty to me, so I will attempt it at the weekend and post some pics.
Have a good evening and bring on a new day tomorrow
I would like to say the donner recipe was a Jamie Oliver special., but his was with big chunks of fatty lamb on a homemade kebab BBQ thing! Although I do have the recipe I found on here, which people have commented that it tastes just as yummy as a "real" donner kebab!
Doner kebab!
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon plain flour
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
500g/1.1 lb lamb mince (or beef)
Method:
Preheat oven to gas mark 4/180C/350F
In a large bowl, combine the plain flour, dried oregano, dried Italian herbs, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper.
Add the lamb mince and mix thoroughly for 2-3 minutes. Take out all of your aggression on the kebab mixture, punching and kneading until no air pockets remain and the kebab meat is extremely smooth.
Shape the seasoned mince into a loaf and place on a baking tray.
Bake in the middle shelf of the oven for 1 hour 20 minutes, turning the loaf half way through the cooking time to ensure even browning.
Once cooked, remove from the oven and cover with foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Slice the donor kebab as thinly as possible and serve with pitta, salad and sauces!!!
sounds pretty easy and tasty to me, so I will attempt it at the weekend and post some pics.
Have a good evening and bring on a new day tomorrow
upndown
Gold Member
Upndown you make me laugh lol Yes just draw a line under it and start fresh tomorrow at least all these little bumps in the road we keep finding are helping to discover more about ourselves and our eating.
I would like to say the donner recipe was a Jamie Oliver special., but his was with big chunks of fatty lamb on a homemade kebab BBQ thing! Although I do have the recipe I found on here, which people have commented that it tastes just as yummy as a "real" donner kebab!
Doner kebab!
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon plain flour
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
500g/1.1 lb lamb mince (or beef)
Method:
Preheat oven to gas mark 4/180C/350F
In a large bowl, combine the plain flour, dried oregano, dried Italian herbs, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper.
Add the lamb mince and mix thoroughly for 2-3 minutes. Take out all of your aggression on the kebab mixture, punching and kneading until no air pockets remain and the kebab meat is extremely smooth.
Shape the seasoned mince into a loaf and place on a baking tray.
Bake in the middle shelf of the oven for 1 hour 20 minutes, turning the loaf half way through the cooking time to ensure even browning.
Once cooked, remove from the oven and cover with foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Slice the donor kebab as thinly as possible and serve with pitta, salad and sauces!!!
sounds pretty easy and tasty to me, so I will attempt it at the weekend and post some pics.
Have a good evening and bring on a new day tomorrow
Thx for taking the time to post that - I need lots of tasty stuff to keep me on track this week - I'll have a go at that - it'll seem like a non SW treat!
upndown
Gold Member
Hi - just found this - as a few of us have mentioned emotional eating - thought it was worth posting - may help in a small way to unlock something?? If it's useful I'll try to find parts 2-4 - or maybe we cd write those between us eh??!!
Feeling better today - so must do some exercise 2moro - I'm scaring myself when I see how much time I've spent here since I've been ill!! Night night!!
Emotional Eating 101 (Part 1 of 4)
by Roger Gould, M.D. This is the first of several articles on the subject of emotional eating. Over the next couple weeks, we are going to explore emotional eating, how it leads to obesity, why it should be considered a real addiction, and the strategies that work and don't work in dealing with the addiction.
Emotional Eating
If you are like most people, you are keenly aware that diet programs don't work for long. It's safe to say that no new diet or exercise regimen, no matter how biologically sound it may be, is likely to result in lifelong weight loss. But why is that? It's because you can't control what you eat.
The bottom line is that you already know how to lose weight. You know that if you eat less and exercise more eventually you'll see the pounds come off. But if you know that eating less and exercising more will result in weight loss, why don't you just do it? What's getting in your way? Or, if you do succeed in losing a little weight with a diet, why do you usually regain the weight you lost? Why can't you hold onto healthier habits as a way of life? Why do you overeat despite your best intentions?
The answer to all these questions is the same: emotional eating. Most simply defined, emotional eating means you eat to satisfy emotional hunger; it means you use food for comfort or as a way to cope with life; and it means you eat for reasons other than what your body needs.
Take any moment in time, focus the camera lens on your neighborhood, take a close look, and you'll find emotional eating. You'll find dozens of people—maybe even hundreds or thousands—breaking their diets at this very second. All those people woke up this morning determined to stay away from fattening treats or eat reasonable portions, but by afternoon, many had one hand on the Twix Bar and the other on the forehead, wondering why, why on earth they had no willpower. In fact, you are probably one of those people. Maybe boredom at work has propelled you to the snack table, or a snub from a friend or an ugly new assignment. Whenever you reach for a boredom-breaking snack despite your commitment, or whenever you eat to quell anxiety, that's emotional eating. Whenever you binge after a fight, or double up on portions because your day turned sour, that's emotional eating. Whenever you feel that sharp craving for your favorite food, that's emotional eating.
When it comes to emotional eating, people aren't eating to feed their body. No one needs a candy bar after a fight to make it through the night. When people eat at times like these, they are eating to satisfy, numb, or avoid their emotions. And unfortunately, it's all too common.
People who are suffering from emotional eating are driven to eat so they won't have to face what's bothering them internally. And in many ways, they become addicted to this way of handling life. They feel compelled to eat in this way and can't control what they eat. That's why diets don't work. If you're struggling with emotional eating and can't choose to eat less and exercise more, you can't lose weight. It's that simple. And since no diet ever teaches you how to control what you eat, they are doomed to fail sooner or later. In other words, unless you can learn to stop emotional eating, you will never be able to lose weight and keep it off. Period.
Emotional Hunger
Emotional hunger is what fuels emotional eating. Unfortunately, you will always have emotional hunger no matter what you do. That's part of being human. However, emotional hunger is not so much the problem as how you deal with it.
People who suffer from emotional eating usually only deal with emotional hunger by eating. And, since life is rife with emotional turmoil, emotional eaters are normally overweight. They are so attached to dealing with the ups and downs of life with food that any suggestion that they can stop emotional eating makes them nervous. Many people cannot imagine being able to handle a bad day without turning to food for comfort. In this way, the tendency to handle emotional hunger with food is no different then a smoker's tendency to handle stress with a cigarette.
When you are an emotional eater, the odd thing about emotional hunger is that you feel truly hungry, and at the moment when the craving for food grips you, you can't tell that your hunger originates in your mind, not in your belly. People who are not emotional eaters, who never really satisfied emotional hunger with food, usually eat less when they are troubled by emotional hunger. Their emotional hunger doesn't feel like physical hunger, just as a non-smoker's stress doesn't give them the urge to smoke.
I like to think of it this way: emotional eaters eat when they aren't really hungry because they have two stomachs—one real, the other a phantom. The hunger in your belly signals you when your system has a biological requirement for food. If that was the only signal of hunger you received, you'd be thin. It's the phantom stomach that causes the problems. The phantom stomach sends out a hunger signal when unruly emotions and unsolved personal agendas start pushing themselves into awareness. A short-circuit occurs, and you feel so hungry that you're compelled to eat.
I see the power of the phantom stomach demonstrated almost daily in my work with patients. The other day, a patient who had just finished breakfast told me in the middle of a difficult session that she suddenly felt extremely hungry. As soon as we started talking about her sexual problems with her husband, her appetite kicked in and she could hardly wait to get to McDonald's. Her phantom stomach was shouting, demanding action.
Phantom hunger has such power that it drives you to go to almost any lengths to satisfy it. I saw this fact demonstrated in Technicolor when I consulted at the Pritikin Institute in Santa Monica, California, where clients paid ten thousand dollars a month to take part in a controlled diet and exercise program. Although the tuition for the program far exceeded the cost of attending the most expensive private university in America, I frequently found participants sneaking out for hamburgers and french fries at a corner stand. These were all highly motivated people sent to Pritikin by their doctors because of serious, life-threatening health problems, but positive motivation clearly wasn't enough to help them resist phantom hunger. As you know, all dieting programs depend on positive motivation, ignoring the obvious: that there's such power in the emotional forces underlying the desire to binge or overeat that if you don't expose those forces and conquer them, you'll always be at their mercy—you'll always have weight problems.
In a later article, we will discuss the 12 types of emotional hunger that I have identified, but for now, let's point out the main differences between emotional hunger and physical hunger so you can begin to differentiate between the two in your daily life.
First, emotional hunger normally comes on like lightening, while physical hunger develops slowly. Emotional hunger is like a rocket going off: it happens suddenly. Physical hunger develops little by little: first there's the tummy rumble, then the grumble and then it really starts complaining with hunger pangs. But, the slow stages of physical hunger are very different from the quick onset of emotional hunger.
Second, emotional hunger demands food immediately, whereas physical hunger is bit more patient. Much like its quick onset, emotional hunger demands immediate satisfaction. On the other hand, even if you are ravenously hungry, your physical hunger will wait for food.
The third difference between the two involves mindfulness. Satisfying physical hunger involves a deliberate choice and awareness of what's being eaten. How much of what's being eaten is noticed, meaning you can stop when full. However, emotional hunger on the other hand usually doesn't notice how, why or what's being eaten. Emotional hunger will even demand more food even after the person is stuffed.
Fourth, physical hunger is open to different types of foods, but emotional hunger often demands very particular foods in order to be fulfilled. If you're physically hungry, even carrots will look delicious. If you're emotionally hungry, however, only cake or ice cream might seem appealing.
Fifth, satisfying emotional hunger often results in guilt, or promises to do better next time. This is in sharp contrast with physical hunger, which is viewed as necessary to survival and therefore has no guilt attached to it.
And sixth, emotional hunger, of course, results from something emotionally upsetting, while physical hunger results from a physical need.
Whenever you feel compelled to eat in a way that doesn't match the patience or speed of physical hunger you are struggling with emotional eating and hunger.
Now that you've read this article and thought about it a little, it's time for you to personally evaluate how it applies to your life. Below are some questions and activities that you should answer and do before the next article becomes available. Taking these questions and activities seriously will help you get a better understanding of emotional eating.
Feeling better today - so must do some exercise 2moro - I'm scaring myself when I see how much time I've spent here since I've been ill!! Night night!!
Emotional Eating 101 (Part 1 of 4)
by Roger Gould, M.D. This is the first of several articles on the subject of emotional eating. Over the next couple weeks, we are going to explore emotional eating, how it leads to obesity, why it should be considered a real addiction, and the strategies that work and don't work in dealing with the addiction.
Emotional Eating
If you are like most people, you are keenly aware that diet programs don't work for long. It's safe to say that no new diet or exercise regimen, no matter how biologically sound it may be, is likely to result in lifelong weight loss. But why is that? It's because you can't control what you eat.
The bottom line is that you already know how to lose weight. You know that if you eat less and exercise more eventually you'll see the pounds come off. But if you know that eating less and exercising more will result in weight loss, why don't you just do it? What's getting in your way? Or, if you do succeed in losing a little weight with a diet, why do you usually regain the weight you lost? Why can't you hold onto healthier habits as a way of life? Why do you overeat despite your best intentions?
The answer to all these questions is the same: emotional eating. Most simply defined, emotional eating means you eat to satisfy emotional hunger; it means you use food for comfort or as a way to cope with life; and it means you eat for reasons other than what your body needs.
Take any moment in time, focus the camera lens on your neighborhood, take a close look, and you'll find emotional eating. You'll find dozens of people—maybe even hundreds or thousands—breaking their diets at this very second. All those people woke up this morning determined to stay away from fattening treats or eat reasonable portions, but by afternoon, many had one hand on the Twix Bar and the other on the forehead, wondering why, why on earth they had no willpower. In fact, you are probably one of those people. Maybe boredom at work has propelled you to the snack table, or a snub from a friend or an ugly new assignment. Whenever you reach for a boredom-breaking snack despite your commitment, or whenever you eat to quell anxiety, that's emotional eating. Whenever you binge after a fight, or double up on portions because your day turned sour, that's emotional eating. Whenever you feel that sharp craving for your favorite food, that's emotional eating.
When it comes to emotional eating, people aren't eating to feed their body. No one needs a candy bar after a fight to make it through the night. When people eat at times like these, they are eating to satisfy, numb, or avoid their emotions. And unfortunately, it's all too common.
People who are suffering from emotional eating are driven to eat so they won't have to face what's bothering them internally. And in many ways, they become addicted to this way of handling life. They feel compelled to eat in this way and can't control what they eat. That's why diets don't work. If you're struggling with emotional eating and can't choose to eat less and exercise more, you can't lose weight. It's that simple. And since no diet ever teaches you how to control what you eat, they are doomed to fail sooner or later. In other words, unless you can learn to stop emotional eating, you will never be able to lose weight and keep it off. Period.
Emotional Hunger
Emotional hunger is what fuels emotional eating. Unfortunately, you will always have emotional hunger no matter what you do. That's part of being human. However, emotional hunger is not so much the problem as how you deal with it.
People who suffer from emotional eating usually only deal with emotional hunger by eating. And, since life is rife with emotional turmoil, emotional eaters are normally overweight. They are so attached to dealing with the ups and downs of life with food that any suggestion that they can stop emotional eating makes them nervous. Many people cannot imagine being able to handle a bad day without turning to food for comfort. In this way, the tendency to handle emotional hunger with food is no different then a smoker's tendency to handle stress with a cigarette.
When you are an emotional eater, the odd thing about emotional hunger is that you feel truly hungry, and at the moment when the craving for food grips you, you can't tell that your hunger originates in your mind, not in your belly. People who are not emotional eaters, who never really satisfied emotional hunger with food, usually eat less when they are troubled by emotional hunger. Their emotional hunger doesn't feel like physical hunger, just as a non-smoker's stress doesn't give them the urge to smoke.
I like to think of it this way: emotional eaters eat when they aren't really hungry because they have two stomachs—one real, the other a phantom. The hunger in your belly signals you when your system has a biological requirement for food. If that was the only signal of hunger you received, you'd be thin. It's the phantom stomach that causes the problems. The phantom stomach sends out a hunger signal when unruly emotions and unsolved personal agendas start pushing themselves into awareness. A short-circuit occurs, and you feel so hungry that you're compelled to eat.
I see the power of the phantom stomach demonstrated almost daily in my work with patients. The other day, a patient who had just finished breakfast told me in the middle of a difficult session that she suddenly felt extremely hungry. As soon as we started talking about her sexual problems with her husband, her appetite kicked in and she could hardly wait to get to McDonald's. Her phantom stomach was shouting, demanding action.
Phantom hunger has such power that it drives you to go to almost any lengths to satisfy it. I saw this fact demonstrated in Technicolor when I consulted at the Pritikin Institute in Santa Monica, California, where clients paid ten thousand dollars a month to take part in a controlled diet and exercise program. Although the tuition for the program far exceeded the cost of attending the most expensive private university in America, I frequently found participants sneaking out for hamburgers and french fries at a corner stand. These were all highly motivated people sent to Pritikin by their doctors because of serious, life-threatening health problems, but positive motivation clearly wasn't enough to help them resist phantom hunger. As you know, all dieting programs depend on positive motivation, ignoring the obvious: that there's such power in the emotional forces underlying the desire to binge or overeat that if you don't expose those forces and conquer them, you'll always be at their mercy—you'll always have weight problems.
In a later article, we will discuss the 12 types of emotional hunger that I have identified, but for now, let's point out the main differences between emotional hunger and physical hunger so you can begin to differentiate between the two in your daily life.
First, emotional hunger normally comes on like lightening, while physical hunger develops slowly. Emotional hunger is like a rocket going off: it happens suddenly. Physical hunger develops little by little: first there's the tummy rumble, then the grumble and then it really starts complaining with hunger pangs. But, the slow stages of physical hunger are very different from the quick onset of emotional hunger.
Second, emotional hunger demands food immediately, whereas physical hunger is bit more patient. Much like its quick onset, emotional hunger demands immediate satisfaction. On the other hand, even if you are ravenously hungry, your physical hunger will wait for food.
The third difference between the two involves mindfulness. Satisfying physical hunger involves a deliberate choice and awareness of what's being eaten. How much of what's being eaten is noticed, meaning you can stop when full. However, emotional hunger on the other hand usually doesn't notice how, why or what's being eaten. Emotional hunger will even demand more food even after the person is stuffed.
Fourth, physical hunger is open to different types of foods, but emotional hunger often demands very particular foods in order to be fulfilled. If you're physically hungry, even carrots will look delicious. If you're emotionally hungry, however, only cake or ice cream might seem appealing.
Fifth, satisfying emotional hunger often results in guilt, or promises to do better next time. This is in sharp contrast with physical hunger, which is viewed as necessary to survival and therefore has no guilt attached to it.
And sixth, emotional hunger, of course, results from something emotionally upsetting, while physical hunger results from a physical need.
Whenever you feel compelled to eat in a way that doesn't match the patience or speed of physical hunger you are struggling with emotional eating and hunger.
Now that you've read this article and thought about it a little, it's time for you to personally evaluate how it applies to your life. Below are some questions and activities that you should answer and do before the next article becomes available. Taking these questions and activities seriously will help you get a better understanding of emotional eating.
Hmmm...how very interesting.
Isn't it strange how parents can have such a huge [negative] impact on their kids. Whereas your parents were possibly treating you the way they were brought up, or following the do's and do not's of the time. That panic you suffer, I wonder if you may have subconsciously picked it up from your mother because, back in the day, shops opening hours were so strict, which would have included being shut on a Sunday. Wonder if there were times (or even a single time) in your own childhood where something happened and the household was short of food for a day or two - perhaps even the awful winter of 1963...or something like that.
I guess if you can talk to yourself in times like that, it may help to cope. Just have to tell yourself just how easily shops are accessible these days. None of us are ever that far from a 24 -hour supermarket or a 24-hour garage or a late night opening smaller store.
Did your parents grow up through the war (or just after it) where food was scarce and rationing was in full flow? You can understand why we, as children, were moulded not to waste food.
I guess in all this you can't blame our parents too heavily, they may have gotten it wrong but they were only doing what they knew. Obesity or being severely overweight was not really an issue back then, let alone being highly advertised on all sorts of TV programmes. If you want me to explain what I mean by that, then cast your mind back to when you were 12 and in school and in a class of 40 odd kids...Ask yourself how many of those kids were fat.
All that said, you are proving to be one amazing person and I so want you to succeed in your quest to battle the demons. You know you can do this!!!!!!!!
Morning all. I wrote half of a long essay in reply to fat2go but have not finished it and have run out of time.
I feel a little wobbly this morning. I know I have the afternoon off again and I think it is dangerous! I must find something productive to occupy myself and take my mind off food.
Have a great day!
I feel a little wobbly this morning. I know I have the afternoon off again and I think it is dangerous! I must find something productive to occupy myself and take my mind off food.
Have a great day!
upndown
Gold Member
Hi - I'm sure we'll all look forward to ur reply to fat2go - these are deep issues and the posts are very helpful in getting nearer to understanding our relationships with food.
Good too that you recognise this afternoon is a potential danger zone - could you go for a walk or something to take you away from food? Hopefully you'll have worked it out by the time you finish work - fingers crossed - my blip has passed but I'm a bit cross with myself - why do I sabotage myself?? Hope everyone has a good day.
I predicted a problem this afternoon and I suppose I made it come true. Stupid stupid.
The day started well. Had my normal muller light with fruit for breakfast. Banana today and a cup of tea. Went off out to work. Was home by about 12.30pm with nothing planned for the rest of the day. I considered going for a walk but the sky was grey and it looked like it was going to rain. Also I have been feeling quite tired the last few days. I do think I am lacking in some nutrients. Perhaps it's the fat soluble vitamins. This week, doing my vegetarian green week I have eaten almost zero fats. I will try and remember to have a glass of berocca in the morning. Perhaps that will help. I believe that when we are lacking in a vital nurtrient that our body tries to make us eat whatever it needs to replenish that.
At lunchtime I ate a banana and had a cup of tea while I heated up my soup. I ate soup and a 60g HexB and followed it with a muller light. I have some financial and work worries which are weighing heavily on my mind. My mind said eat something to take your mind off it. So mid afternoon I ate the remainder of the pack of grapes I bought yesterday. Then the brain chatter says, there's some wine in the fridge... So I poured a glass and put on a film to watch. Sipped the wine, watched the film, relaxed a bit. 4.30pm brain says hungry, need food. So I sliced up two potatoes and made SW chips in the air fryer with a grating of cheese. It's too quick and easy! Ate those, had the last of the wine, watched another film.
Teatime. Decided I wouldn't have anything because I felt full from the chips. I still feel quite stressed and not sure I can trust myself near the kitchen so at 7.30pm I went to bed. And here I am typing this. My account of another rubbish day on SW. I am within my syn allowance but cross with myself for not eating more healthily.
I am really worried about weigh in tomorrow. I just hope its not a gain. A STS will be alright. On Wednesdays I often don't work in the afternoon so I can't afford a repeat of today. I think the prospect of the WI will help me stay on track though. At least until I get home afterwards!
The day started well. Had my normal muller light with fruit for breakfast. Banana today and a cup of tea. Went off out to work. Was home by about 12.30pm with nothing planned for the rest of the day. I considered going for a walk but the sky was grey and it looked like it was going to rain. Also I have been feeling quite tired the last few days. I do think I am lacking in some nutrients. Perhaps it's the fat soluble vitamins. This week, doing my vegetarian green week I have eaten almost zero fats. I will try and remember to have a glass of berocca in the morning. Perhaps that will help. I believe that when we are lacking in a vital nurtrient that our body tries to make us eat whatever it needs to replenish that.
At lunchtime I ate a banana and had a cup of tea while I heated up my soup. I ate soup and a 60g HexB and followed it with a muller light. I have some financial and work worries which are weighing heavily on my mind. My mind said eat something to take your mind off it. So mid afternoon I ate the remainder of the pack of grapes I bought yesterday. Then the brain chatter says, there's some wine in the fridge... So I poured a glass and put on a film to watch. Sipped the wine, watched the film, relaxed a bit. 4.30pm brain says hungry, need food. So I sliced up two potatoes and made SW chips in the air fryer with a grating of cheese. It's too quick and easy! Ate those, had the last of the wine, watched another film.
Teatime. Decided I wouldn't have anything because I felt full from the chips. I still feel quite stressed and not sure I can trust myself near the kitchen so at 7.30pm I went to bed. And here I am typing this. My account of another rubbish day on SW. I am within my syn allowance but cross with myself for not eating more healthily.
I am really worried about weigh in tomorrow. I just hope its not a gain. A STS will be alright. On Wednesdays I often don't work in the afternoon so I can't afford a repeat of today. I think the prospect of the WI will help me stay on track though. At least until I get home afterwards!
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