Experiencing Hunger

It’s a strange thing-experiencing hunger.  Real hunger, not just a faint grumbling in your tummy.

I have been experiencing real hunger for virtually the first time in about 40 years.  You see, in my twenties I was diagnosed with hypoglycemia, so I was told to eat 6 small meals a day and never allow myself to get really hungry.  So that’s what I did.

Since being diagnosed with prediabetes last month, not only have I stopped eating sugar and flour (bye-bye chocolate chunk cookies), I am allowing myself to get hungry in between meals.  And it’s not a pleasant sensation.

It’s no wonder we have a tendency to snack and to overeat.  Nobody likes that feeling of emptiness inside.

But I have been doing a lot of research, and it seems allowing ourselves to get hungry can be a good thing.  When you don’t eat the minute you start to get hungry, your body will turn to your fat stores for glycogen when it runs out of circulating glycogen.

I, for one, am happy about that!  Now when I get hungry and don’t eat and that hunger gets stronger, I wonder which area of fat on my body is getting sucked up.  Yippee!!

I am not talking about starving yourself.  This is definitely not a good thing.  And opens you up to overeating later.

But truthfully, what do you do when the hunger hits?  How do you delay eating?

1.  Recognize that you are not going to die if you don’t eat right away. (please consult your health care practitioner before trying this.) I used to be afraid I would faint or get shaky if I didn’t eat.  But I discovered when actually testing my blood sugar when I am super hungry and a bit cranky, it is in the normal fasting or above fasting levels.  Which is really OK. Test your blood if you need proof that you are not in the danger zone.  If you are prediabetic, you should be testing yourself periodically anyway.
2. Wait 20 minutes.  Do something else.  Take a short walk, Read a chapter of your book.  Play with your dog.  Scroll through Facebook.  Hunger comes in waves and it will dissipate.
3. Don’t pick a fight with your significant other.  I say this facetiously, but I have taken it out on my husband a few times in the past few weeks.  He says my word for 2017 should be HUNGRY.
4. Plan what your next meal or snack will be.  Have it available when you are ready to eat.  Waiting another hour when you have already waited a while, may put you over the edge of tolerance.  Make it a combination of protein/fat/carb when you do eat.
5. Remind yourself that during the time you are waiting and delaying eating, your fat stores are being used up.  This can be a powerful motivator.

I would love to hear what happens when you try experiencing hunger.  Let me know in the comments section below.

Need help managing your prediabetes, insulin resistance, or diabetes?  Feeling stuck and not able to do what you need to do to get healthy and lose weight?  Contact me now to schedule your 20 minute discovery call!

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