Hungry Diet

So I’ve embarked on something I’ve never tried before: purposefully waiting until I’m hungry to eat. I stumbled upon this “diet” by accident when I ran out of money last month and was not able to buy snacks throughout the day or eat much for dinners. For the first time since college, I dipped below 170lbs (I’m just over 5’10”) and started seeing and feeling my abdomen become concave (a first).

I am learning how often I WANT to eat, and how that differs from how often I NEED to eat. I’m learning just how much I have in common with the house’s pit bull beggar.

For instance, today I had Kashi 7-grain cereal and greek yogurt with unsweetened coconut for breakfast. I went to work, and did not become actually hungry for 3 hours, though I thought about food sooner. I had a butternut squash tamale and about 3oz gouda cheese for lunch, which was super delicious (food tastes way better when your stomach growls). Two hours later I was not hungry, BUT a birthday cake was being served so I had a small piece of chocolate and yellow cake with a ton of frosting. I had to sit next to the cake for another 1.5 hours, being tortured, knowing that I could not have another piece because I was not hungry, yet still craving the sugary sweetness. That was very difficult! However, I made it all the way home without taking another slice and by 7pm I was still NOT HUNGRY. At home there was sweet and sour chicken on the stove so I helped myself to two pieces, as I was feeling a bit weak/low blood sugar, yet not hungry. I took the dog out for a nice run, came home, still not hungry. Finally, as I type this at 10:30pm, I am starting to feel hungry. Perfect timing, as I am ready for bed. Going to bed slightly hungry helps me to wake up feeling light and awesome.

I will continue the experiment tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if I need any more or less calories. Today seemed like barely over a thousand calories were consumed. I have eaten a lot of fattening roasted peanuts and cheese/yogurt the past few days so I assume my lack of hunger is due to a fat overload. Will find out soon!

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ajit
ajit
13 years ago

I love your experiments. Looks like you truly want to turn into a naturist which is actually very good. However on the subject there is another theory that has worked for me. There are many theories and eating only when hungry is one of them and supported by various ancient Indian health disciplines such as Yoga and Ayurveda. However there is one outrageous theory which is exactly opposite of it and says that you should not wait to get very hungry because you would end up pushing a lot of food into your food pipeline at once and the way our system works is that a good amount of the new energy would go into storage (read fat). The author recommends that you should eat frequently (healthy food of course) but in small amounts. The author was personal dietician of top bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor who was supposed helped by author to achieve so called size zero (is there such a thing?) with this theory. The book is here : http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Lose-Your-Mind-Weight/dp/8184001053/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1299740355&sr=1-1

I am glad to come across your blog, I look at it when I have time out of my busy schedule. I also write (but much much lesser than you) at http://ajitpasi.wordpress.com/ . Check it out when you gotta time to read some weirdo bits coming straight out of the neural networks in my brain. I am currently writing a novel, I hope I complete it :) i tell this to everyone so that I have a lot of pressure to complete it and not abandon it. Keep writing, you are awesome!

CMC
CMC
13 years ago

Cool! Thanks alot Ajit! Love the poetry on your site; I will be happy to keep checking your blog as well.

Yes, I have tried eating small meals frequently throughout the day, but nothing had the same effect as actually feeling hungry more often. You do have to watch that line so that you don't feel like binging, I agree! I will check out that book however, thanks for the recommendation.

A Naturalist, yes I can see that. Very funny! I still enjoy shaving my body hair however ;-) Not 100% Natural, haha.