Beck Discussion - Day 11

Day 11 - Differentiate Between Hunger and Cravings Can you tell the difference? I feel I struggle with this but as I get more back on track I am making really good efforts to really understand the difference and what a big DIFFERENCE it makes! She says it takes the brain 20 minutes to get the message from our bodies that we are full. So if you think you are still hungry and you have eaten your measured out portion (notice I said measured) then you need to wait 20 minutes and see if you are still hungry, 9 times out 10 I bet you are not. This is what happens for me! Or say, ok, I am still hungry but I will eat again in X many hours again.. i won't starve. Use your resistance muscle.. practice "working" it. Don't strengthen your "giving-in" muscle. Monitor your Hunger. Hunger is when you have been without food for several hours and have felt ravenous.. this is TRUE hunger. After eating a big meal and you still wanted more.. this is DESIRE. Having a strong urge to eat which is accompanied by a feeling of tension or unpleasant yearning sensation in your mouth, throat or body.. this is a CRAVING. I once read that if you desire something salty or sweet and feel you HAVE to have one of those in order to satisfy your "hunger" it isn't hunger.. its a craving. True hunger, you would eat ANYTHING... makes sense to me, always has. I try to remember this. Before you sit down to eat a meal, notice how your stomach feels. Rate your hunger on a scale of 1 to 10 before you eat. Repeat this halfway through your meal also, then again once you complete the meal. Notice your thoughts.. do you still want to eat? Is the sensation more in your mouth or throat? What does it feel like? How strong is it? Is there a specific food you long for (means craving!) or will any food do? (notice what i said above.. she is reiterating this!) She has charts for examples on 117/188, you may want to do this for yourself and see how this exercise pans out for you, its pretty eye opening for me! She says after paying attention for a day at your sensations in your abdomen and body, you will be better able to distinguish between "hungry" and "not hungry". If still unsure, repeat this task again. Do as many times as you need to and discuss the results with your diet coach. Something I want to throw in also.. make sure you aren't thirsty! make sure you are getting your fluids in between your meals.. we many times mistake hunger for thirst! If it has been 20 minutes to 3 hours since you eaten a reasonable-size meal, remind yourself that any urge to eat is probably due to desire to eat not real hunger she says. She then talks about typical sabotaging thoughts u might have after reading this chapter, be sure to review those. She then concludes by saying "once I learn to tell the difference between hunger and craving, dieting will be easier." Be sure you do your to-do list! I will be out of town on Monday and Tuesday I will be back late Tuesday night and then work Wed and have bible study Wed night. Does someone want to do Day 12 for me? its on Practice Hunger Tolerance. It's a very short chapter.. if not I will try to pick up on Wed night! Have a good weekend everyone!

Pre-op I just wanted to eat; recreational eating basically. Post-op I decided to limit the amount of food eaten to figure-out what I really needed to feed the hunger. The measuring / weighing is still a part of my routine eating habit. Most times I was actually thirsty and would get headaches. At first, I thought it was hunger, but once I increased my water to about 64 oz+, I had less "hunger". I like the feeling that food has less "control" over my actions and that I finally feel that I'll eat a bit more later... spacing-out the portions. When I do over-eat, I've always had the feeling of "tension or unpleasant yearning sensation in your mouth, throat or body.." So I did learn something new! This is a CRAVING! Have to get a plan for dealing with this... maybe just repeating... "This is a Craving"... over and over...until it's really mealtime will help!?!?

Ro, I'm definitely back at this point again now. Having to relearn the same as non-ops to deal with hunger and appetite issues isn't fun. But I have to keep working at it so that I don't lose the progress I've made with my surgery. Food still has too much control over me, I want to get to where you are that I am in control of IT. What is becoming really evident for me a lot now is that times when I think I'm hungry are times when I am actually thirsty so I have to stop myself from eating and drink something instead. But my stinkin' thinkin' is kicking in and I'm resistant of drinking jus****er and want something flavoured instead. So I've got to start keeping some herbal iced tea or something in the fridge as a preventative measure. Too many times I'm fighting these good urges (to drink instead of eat) by using excuses like all my easy-to-make drinks are caffienated or have energy stuff in them and it is too late in the day. Gotta get some other things on hand to combat this!!! Molly

I hear ya Molls.. It has only been lately that I have just been literally forcing myself to down water again. It has made a world of difference in my satiety and need to "munch". I think it honestly is one the key things I let go to wayside that I should have never let go of. Many times we think we are hungry and we are indeed thirsty. How I can tell this.. if I reach for something "juicy" like a strawberry or popsickle or want a protein shake.. many times its b/c I want the liquid out of it and I am really just thirsty. Dr. Beck makes a good point.. do you have a need for something specific? do you feel it in your abdomen or in your head/throat, etc.. I have REALLY focusing on this and making sure I eat on a schedule with nothing inbetween meals and pushing water hard core again (basically water loading) and wouldn't ya know.. it is helping me immensely.. why did I ever stop? Amazing when we follow the rules the way we are supposed to, it all just falls into place. Hang in there, I know what you mean about food not ruling you.. I am starting to feel like it doesn't rule me all over again but it will always have some control over me as I will always be an "addict"...