"I'm Hungry" Vs. "I Want to Eat"

When I started the hypnotherapy, one of the things that Julie told us was that there's no snacking on this diet.

(which leaves me perplexed as to why there are snack recipes on her website...)

She repeated over and over, "Eat when you're hungry, not when you're not."

So I started not shoving food in my face first thing in the morning if I didn't wake up hungry. I really never do wake up immediately hungry.

I started doing what Julie said - I ate when I was hungry, whenever that happened to be.

For the first few days I was going long stretches without being hungry but after a while I found I was getting hungrier more often.

I generally eat 3-4 times a day: a decent breakfast, a small lunch, a small lunch again about 2 hours later, then dinner around 8:00.

By 9:30 or 10:00 I always feel like I'm ready to eat again.

But I discovered something very important about that...

There is a qualitative difference between being hungry and just wanting to eat.

I want to eat because that was all I ever did.

It was my hobby.

It was my replacement for a lot of things that I felt were missing in my life.

Food was my friend. It was my lover. It understood me and comforted me.

I had to break up with it if I wanted to get well.

Of course, at night, when things are quieter and things slow to certain pace, you have a lot of time to think.

So I think a lot about food.

And I get "hungry."

Here's the thing: I've discovered that in those moments I'm not really hungry. I just want to eat.

Big difference.

I don't want more chicken and peas. I want popcorn. I want PB&J and I want it loaded on thick. On toasted rye.

Hey, it's MY food fantasy - get your own.

I want a Tastykake Chocolate Junior and a Coconut Junior smacked together and a big glass of milk to wash it down.

I'm not hungry. I just want to eat.

So early on I would indulge that feeling to the extent that I WOULD just eat some more chicken and peas at 10:30 at night.

20 minutes later I felt hungry again.

It took a couple weeks but I wised up to what was happening.

See, this is how you're supposed to feel when your body is processing food properly.

That little buzz in your stomach - that's not hunger. That's your metabolism expending energy.

And when you expend energy your brain will ALWAYS ask for fuel.

That doesn't mean it needs any right that instant.

So I started just focusing my attention elsewhere.

I stopped giving in to the urge to eat when I knew I'd eaten enough.

I'm starting to teach my body when enough is enough. It's a foreign concept to it because I've been indulging it for four decades now.

But it's learning... and so am I. And so will you.

"Eat when you're hungry, not when you're not."

And learn the difference between being hungry and wanting to eat. It's one of the best lessons you can learn from this low-carb diet experience.