Hunger Games

Nope, this post is not about the movie phenomenon where, as I understand, teenagers are in a game to the death. This post is about the physiological response of hunger and how I swear it tries to kill my resolve to get this blasted weight off! Many years ago someone said that they embrace the sensation of hunger. They said that whenever their stomach was growling they thought to themselves "GOOD now my body has to draw on my fat stores to fulfill it's hunger". Sounds like eating disorder talk doesn't it? But this person is far from suffering from an eating disorder, they just have a different mindset. If they know they have eaten enough, and they do because they log everything they eat, when the growling stomach comes along they just ignore it. "Let it snack on my thighs for awhile!"

I wish I was this strong. Hunger pangs are stressful for me. I am slowly getting better but not long ago, that feeling in my stomach would almost cause anxiety. The urge to eat would become overwhelming just to stop my stomach from growling. I would grab something quick, eat it quick and the feeling would quickly go away. Great right? NOPE because it would just be a matter of an hour or two and the feeling would be right back. See, I am ALWAYS hungry. I could eat a really nice and nutritious meal and I would be hungry an hour later. My husband, who is a big guy, could eat the same meal and be completely satisfied whereas I am physically hungry. Not just that psychological urge like "I could go for something sweet right now" or the munchies, I am full blown, stomach growling hungry. Why is this? There are several reasons:

1. I have a condition called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome which is largely a condition off hormone imbalance. One of the hormones that is out of whack is INSULIN. When I eat, I secrete a large amount of insulin but the receptors to pick it up in my body are not very effective so my body secretes even more insulin to try to bring my blood sugar down. This results in a dramatic drop in blood sugar that leads to hunger.
2. Poor nutrient quality in our food and poor assimilation in our bodies leads to trace nutrient deficiencies. When this happens the body registers this lack of nutrients as hunger no matter how much you have just eaten.
3. My body is dehydrated. Even though I drink a lot of water compared to most people, I also drink a lot of coffee and my water requirements are higher just based on my size alone. The body can easily mistake thirst for hunger.
4. If you are exhausted, the body may signal hunger so that you consume more "energy" to help get you through the day. Also when I am tired, I know I don't take the time to eat consistently or consciously. I eat mindlessly.
5. Not enough fibre and fat in my diet. Both fibre and fat signal the brain to secrete CCK (cholecystokinin) which is a hormone that tells the body that it has had enough. It is one of the main satiety hormones.
6. Certain components of food, gliadin proteins in wheat for example, are actually powerful appetite stimulants so the more you eat, the more you want.

If you look at this list, a lot of the points are related. For example, say I don't eat enough fruit and vegetables during the day. I am missing all those valuable trace nutrients (point 2) and fibre (point 5) but also all of the water that naturally occurs in fresh fruits and veggies (point 3). Before when I would feel that hunger sensation, I would grab whatever was most convenient to just make it go away. Now I am trying to stop and ask "WHY am I hungry?". If I still have some Weight Watchers points left for the day I will certainly eat but I am still trying to ask myself where the sensation is coming from.

Yesterday was a prime example. I was FAMISHED last night. Part of the problem was  that I hadn't eaten enough early in the day so I still had 1/4 of my daily points left after dinner. But there was more to it. I made a  really nice curried chicken stir fry for dinner, lots of veggies and we each had a good sized portion. I shouldn't have been hungry but I literally felt like I could eat a horse even after eating dinner. So began the "2 point spiral" snack time. What I mean by this is I started snacking and eating a pile of 2 point, nutritionally void, snacks. A bag of pop chips, a snack bar, a turkey bite. Of course none of this crap was going to fill me up in fact it was going to cause big fluctuations in my blood sugar and it did. I would finish one snack and then 30 minutes later want something else until finally I asked myself "WHY THE HELL AM I SO HUNGRY!!??" Well the answer was clear. I looked back at my day and I barely ate any fruit, I ate a ton of wheat and I hadn't gotten in much water. So I filled up my 1 litre bottle of water and grabbed some fresh pineapple and within minutes.....relief. My stomach stopped growling and I was finally satisfied. I won the hunger game this time but only after a few time-outs and a tactical change.

"Hunger knows no friend but its feeder."
-Aristophanes