Mindful Eating in Maintenance

nowine4me

I've been trying to practice more mindful eating in maintenance. I still weigh, measure and log -- but I'm trying to better understand my hunger and satiety cues. While I was losing, it was my tactic to eat a meal or snack at 8,10, 12, 2, 4 and 7, hungry or not. I tried to avoid getting hungry.

This weekend, I decided to let myself know what hunger feels like. I am not advocating this in any way, but simply sharing my experience. I ate only fresh fruit and vegetables and one protein shake a day for 3 days. About 1,200 calories -- and did my 10k steps per day (slowly).

I'm glad I did it. You know what, I never got beyond a little dull ache in the belly hungry until this morning. I wasn't agitated or irritable. I knew that I had plenty to eat if I really was going to faint or die of starvation. But I didn't. Now I remember what hungry feels like and know that I can live through it.

One of the hardest parts of losing weight for me was really the FEAR of being hungry. I was always fretting about my next meal. So, I survived being hungry and I'm still here to tell the story. Back to my normal 2000 calories today. Happy Monday.

scootergirl110

I'm curious if those 3 days of 1200 calories resulted in some weight loss. I think doing what you did during maintenance was a smart thing. I've done the same in the past, though I probably had a bit more protein.

nowine4me

Not much -- and I'm guessing it bounces back up. It wasn't a goal, just a by-product.

kommodevaran

Good job getting in touch with your hunger and satiety cues. First world fear of hunger is really blown out of proportion. I find myself thinking "must not get hungry" too, even though I have never been one day without food. Have you checked out "The Hunger Scale"?

nowine4me

@kommodevaran The Hunger Scale blog post here on MFP is actually one of the things that triggered my experiment. I'm also reading the series of books by Judith Beck, including The Diet Trap Solution, which I find a bit basic (understatement) but there are some nuggets in there that have been enlightening. I paraphrase, but she basically says "if you're reading this book, you are probably not actually going to starve to death."

amyk0202

I have a very strong sense of hunger and don't have much tolerance for it. Because of that, I don't time my meals. I use my calories when I feel the hungriest. I wake up very hungry, but I'm not that hungry at lunch time. For me, hunger is like a wave. It builds until I'm nauseous, but if I get through that & don't eat it will subside some & eventually go away. I know I'm not going to starve, but I don't like feeling sick to my stomach so I don't generally let myself get that hungry.

nxd10

I have always trusted my body to tell me when it is really hungry. Which it has. I don't eat a lot when it nudges me, but I eat a little. This is not at all scientific, but I think of it as a 'trust' thing between me and my body. It says 'feed me'. I give it something small but satisfying. It is less likely to bug me when it doesn't really need something.

I also know that if I eat when I'm already full I'm going to feel lousy 30 minutes later. It takes me a while to feel my fulness. I have to stop when I'm around 3/4 there.