My new date is July 22nd! My original date was May 18th but they canceled the day of my preop
I was provided that date two months prior and they flew by. Here I am waiting another two months and hoping it fly's by again!
Drives me crazy when people call every kind of hunger "head hunger." Head hunger is when you've just eaten a balanced full calorie meal and you see a donut and think you want it. THAT is head hunger. Or you've just eaten the last of your maintenance calories for the day....and your husband is eating ice cream in bed and you think...damn some ice cream would be good! That's Head Hunger. Or you have a carefully balanced small piece of pizza and a salad, and you think...damn, another piece of pizza would be better than this salad....that's head hunger again. Your nutitional needs have been met, but you are craving something that you don't really need.
When you've just had surgery and you are subsisting on less than 1000 calories a day....you are HUNGRY. Like, really genuinely hungry. So hungry, in fact, that your body's needs are NOT being met by nutritional intake, so it is consuming itself.
Anytime you are losing weight, by definition....your body is genuinely hungry. Your body is so desperately hungry, in fact.....that it is eating human fat (and hopefully not muscle) to meet its fuel needs.
Lack of food and consuming body=HUNGER.
Most of us are hungry. A lot. Being in denial about it and telling people they're lying to themselves about being hungry isn't helpful.
Hunger isn't a dirty word. It's ok if we're hungry. We've got a lot of stored calories and excess flesh to consume.
But YES, I am HUNGRY when i'm losing weight. And yes, hunger sucks.
Sometimes, I think this lie worsens the pathology of food addiction. We already have enough issues with a history of lying to ourselves about food. Sometimes honesty is healthier and better.
When I lose weight...I'm freaking hungry. It sucks to feel hungry, but it's necessary. It feels good to be thinner, it feels good to be healthier, and good health is worth it. I can handle feeling hungry. Enduring hunger is part of the work. Resisting cravings is another part of the work. Two different things. Both are tough.
Describing this honestly...is a hell of a lot easier to swallow, in my opinion, than "No, you're not hungry, your head is playing tricks on you."
We know better. Lies don't help.
"Damn, this part of work is boring... aren't there some crackers in my desk? Or maybe I should take a stroll for coffee to the kitchen? A diet coke might be nice as well. Not, that I'm really thirsty or anything."
"Feeling pretty tensed tonight... why does this Turkish delight seem to be calling my name all of a sudden? The open package is sitting in there for a week and I didn't give a single thought about it?"
"I'm freaking tired today... no chance to squeeze a nap in though. Am I working up an appetite right now?!"
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Some more typical examples of head hunger I think. Though external triggers are a major problem as well of course. Maybe worse than the internal ones after a while. At least sometimes I think of it this way.
