I KNOW what causes obesity
I am absolutely sure of it. There is no doubt in my mind. It's happened to me twice and I am positive I am right. Let me explain.
Yesterday ended up being a very strange day. I had a lot of things to do in a fairly short amount of time. I know, I've been screaming all week that I was bored I could have done some of the things then, but I didn't. Anyway, I got up and worked out right away, that was good. Then I jumped into cleaning the house. I had to scrub Grumpy's cage down because I was taking him to his new owners. That took longer then expected. I finished cleaning the house only to discover that it was time to get ready and leave for my bird club meeting. The one thing I hadn't done all morning was eat. We had this cinnamon crumb cake around so I grabbed a piece on my way out the door. The bird club meeting is a pot luck so I figured I'd eat something there. The problem with that plan is that there was no protein. I had macaroni salad, lil' mini cream puffs, cabbage salad, etc. No protein to be had. I didn't notice too much because I was busy running the meeting, but towards the end I started to realize something was wrong. I was full but I was hungry. I kept eating the mini cream puffs, but I seemed to remain hungry. It was a very odd feeling, being full yet being hungry. I got home and was really tired and we had a party to go to that night. I knew I should eat some protein but I just didn't feel like it. So instead I had a piece of apple pie. Good idea. Within 1/2 hour I was hungry again. Now, if I had sat and totalled up the calories I had eaten so far I probably would have topped out around 3,000. Seriously. Yet I was hungry. I had some hummus which helped but I think by then I was so far into a protein deficit I could not recover. We went to the party and I stuck to eating protein, steak, chicken, etc, and veggies. No carbs at all. I even passed on the birthday cake. When I got home I was a little bit hungry but not enough that I couldn't sleep. So I did. I went straight to bed with the intention of making today a perfect eating day.
Something like this has happened to me once before and I really believe I finally understand what causes obesity. I was eating lots of calories but very little nutrition. My body kept sending out hunger signals because it was looking for nutrition. It wasn't looking for food, I was giving it too much of that, it was looking for nutrition. To me it's crystal clear now how obesity occurs. For breakfast you have some processed thing; sugary cereal, pop tart, breakfast sandwich; you get full but you don't get proper nutrition. In a little while you start to get hungry, so you grab something quick usually a processed something. For lunch you have a burger and fries, more processed stuff. 3 pm comes around, you start to get sleepy you grab something from the vending machine, something processed. By dinner I bet your hungry because your body is craving nutrition. You eat a big meal and fall asleep on the sofa because your body now has a ton of stuff to process before you get up tomorrow and start all over again. I totally get it. Totally.
You can eat a boatload of calories but your body still sends out hunger signals because it needs nutrition. I think the only reason I made this connection is because I generally eat so well. I am so aware of the nutritional values of what I'm eating that it was amazing me to be eating so many calories and still getting hungry. I also believe that if you continue to eat this way your body will stop sending out hunger signals, it's not getting nutrition it's just getting junk food.
This is so incredibly clear in my head I wish I could just draw you a picture. I also wish I could get this out to everyone who is struggling with their weight. I don't know exactly who the culprit is fat, sugar, carbohydrates. These 3 usually go hand in hand so it's hard to separate them out. But really, do you need to eat those things at all?? I generally don't and I'm doing fine. So the message of eating whole foods is the best one to follow. I absolutely believe that and I not going to be convinced otherwise.
Wow, I feel like I've been freed from something. Knowledge really is freeing.
Yesterday ended up being a very strange day. I had a lot of things to do in a fairly short amount of time. I know, I've been screaming all week that I was bored I could have done some of the things then, but I didn't. Anyway, I got up and worked out right away, that was good. Then I jumped into cleaning the house. I had to scrub Grumpy's cage down because I was taking him to his new owners. That took longer then expected. I finished cleaning the house only to discover that it was time to get ready and leave for my bird club meeting. The one thing I hadn't done all morning was eat. We had this cinnamon crumb cake around so I grabbed a piece on my way out the door. The bird club meeting is a pot luck so I figured I'd eat something there. The problem with that plan is that there was no protein. I had macaroni salad, lil' mini cream puffs, cabbage salad, etc. No protein to be had. I didn't notice too much because I was busy running the meeting, but towards the end I started to realize something was wrong. I was full but I was hungry. I kept eating the mini cream puffs, but I seemed to remain hungry. It was a very odd feeling, being full yet being hungry. I got home and was really tired and we had a party to go to that night. I knew I should eat some protein but I just didn't feel like it. So instead I had a piece of apple pie. Good idea. Within 1/2 hour I was hungry again. Now, if I had sat and totalled up the calories I had eaten so far I probably would have topped out around 3,000. Seriously. Yet I was hungry. I had some hummus which helped but I think by then I was so far into a protein deficit I could not recover. We went to the party and I stuck to eating protein, steak, chicken, etc, and veggies. No carbs at all. I even passed on the birthday cake. When I got home I was a little bit hungry but not enough that I couldn't sleep. So I did. I went straight to bed with the intention of making today a perfect eating day.
Something like this has happened to me once before and I really believe I finally understand what causes obesity. I was eating lots of calories but very little nutrition. My body kept sending out hunger signals because it was looking for nutrition. It wasn't looking for food, I was giving it too much of that, it was looking for nutrition. To me it's crystal clear now how obesity occurs. For breakfast you have some processed thing; sugary cereal, pop tart, breakfast sandwich; you get full but you don't get proper nutrition. In a little while you start to get hungry, so you grab something quick usually a processed something. For lunch you have a burger and fries, more processed stuff. 3 pm comes around, you start to get sleepy you grab something from the vending machine, something processed. By dinner I bet your hungry because your body is craving nutrition. You eat a big meal and fall asleep on the sofa because your body now has a ton of stuff to process before you get up tomorrow and start all over again. I totally get it. Totally.
You can eat a boatload of calories but your body still sends out hunger signals because it needs nutrition. I think the only reason I made this connection is because I generally eat so well. I am so aware of the nutritional values of what I'm eating that it was amazing me to be eating so many calories and still getting hungry. I also believe that if you continue to eat this way your body will stop sending out hunger signals, it's not getting nutrition it's just getting junk food.
This is so incredibly clear in my head I wish I could just draw you a picture. I also wish I could get this out to everyone who is struggling with their weight. I don't know exactly who the culprit is fat, sugar, carbohydrates. These 3 usually go hand in hand so it's hard to separate them out. But really, do you need to eat those things at all?? I generally don't and I'm doing fine. So the message of eating whole foods is the best one to follow. I absolutely believe that and I not going to be convinced otherwise.
Wow, I feel like I've been freed from something. Knowledge really is freeing.
Comments
Sometimes, we get so dehydrated that our body starts to crave food because it needs the water that is in the food, as we have been ignoring our thirst.
I have found that by drinking water every time I feel hungry first, sometimes I find that I wasn't really hungry after all or it holds me over.
It amy be something to try - but you are absolutely right - getting rid of empty calories is a must