The other day I was talking to a client about weight loss. She mentioned how she was in the process of losing weight, using a system of pre-packaged foods, but she felt hungry all the time, so was finding it really hard. Given that this company advertises that you won’t feel hungry, as do many others, who promote their weightloss systems, when people do feel hungry, that promise is broken, so they tend to give up.
When I was telling her about my experience with the 5:2 diet that I’ve been following now since last November, she said she liked the idea of it, but didn’t think she could cope without eating, that she just wouldn’t get through the day. The fear of being hungry consumed her thoughts and made her scared to even try. I remember when I was there, but fortunately I’ve moved on.
What I have discovered doing the 5:2 diet is that I am no longer scared of hunger. I have lost that fear of feeling hungry. I know that I can eat what I like tomorrow, and it’s only 2 days a week that I need to feel the hunger. It’s that feeling of hunger that means my body is doing that complicated biochemical process that turns the fat on my butt into energy to keep me going when I haven’t eaten. I have changed my relationship with that feeling, and it no longer worries me.
I know that I live in a world where food is abundant, I appreciate how lucky I am that lots of good food is available to me. I am aware that it’s the ancient cave woman in me who consumes too much for the fear of there not being anything tomorrow. Times have changed, I don’t have to forage and hunt for my food, so I don’t need that survival instinct to keep me alive. There will be more food when I choose to eat it, but being hungry a couple of times a week isn’t going to kill me, in fact it isn’t going to really affect my performance. I’m still eating 500 calories that day, so I’m not actually starving myself .
Being able to ride out those hunger pangs on my ‘fasting’ days has made me stronger. It helps me make better decisions about eating the rest of the week when I’m allowed to eat what I like. I make overall better choices. Knowing that I can go without means that I know I don’t always have to give into a craving, whatever type of craving that may be.
When we behave from fear, we act irrationally. We overeat because we are scared of an uncomfortable feeling that will pass. That I’ve been able to reframe my relationship with hunger and food has made me feel stronger and has freed me from the fear that is peddled by all weight loss companies. Feeling hungry, it’s actually not so bad, in fact, if you need to lose weight, it’s a good feeling.
Now some other articles I’ve red this week that are interesting:
Really interesting reading from a former Biggest Loser Contestant, what she learned after putting the weight back on after the show finished, and then taking it off again.
Here is a great article about how using a password can change your life for the better, to a more positive experience and can help motivate you to achieve your goals.
Where does the fat go when you lose weight? The reality of physics is that nothing disappears, so what happens to the weight? Watch this fascinating video.
