Are You Listening (Copied from an Article in B. Thompson's Monthly Newsletter)

Please realize that this would not apply to those in early post-op, but for those of us further down the road and just yesterday in a support group I attended for 2 year and further out post-ops, we had a discussion of a similar nature, so I thought I would share it with you folks. . . Are You Listening? (as copied from an article in this month’s Barbara Thompson’s Life After Weightloss Surgery Newsletter)

One of the hardest things to do is to listen to your body, and try to discover if you are interpreting the messages correctly. If you get a feeling about something, for instance if you have a craving for a food, is it your body telling you that you need that food, or are you having an emotional eating craving?   Something happened to me this weekend that really started me thinking about that question. My husband and I were in Asheville, NC at their huge and wonderful annual arts and food festival called Bele Chere. It was wonderful. It went on street after street with art vendors, food vendors, bands and very friendly people. If you have never experienced it, I highly recommend it.   Like the rest of the country, Asheville was very hot this weekend, and we were there in the afternoon. Despite our attention to staying hydrated, I suddenly became very shaky and dizzy. I sat down on a step and asked Frank to get me some bottles of water, because I was sure I was dehydrated.   He soon returned with some water which I downed quickly. I rested awhile and felt much better. Suddenly, without even thinking, I said, “I want a funnel cake." Those words rarely pass my lips, but that is what I wanted. We found a funnel cake stand and I actually ended up getting a much lighter version with a little powdered sugar on it. I shared it with Frank and felt good.   The next day, I was watching Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN who described side effects of heat, whi*****luded a drop in blood sugar that described my symptoms exactly. So, did my announcement that I wanted a funnel cake mean that I had a craving and was indulging myself, or was I giving my body what it physically needed at that point in time? The big question is, how do you know the difference?   Well, I don’t know the difference, but I can take a guess that it was a message from my body, and here is why: 1. I don’t usually eat funnel cakes; therefore I don’t have a strong association of wonderful fairs and the fun of eating funnel cakes. This was really my biggest clue. 2. When I got to the booth, I chose a light flaky-pastry stick with just a little powdered sugar on it. I was not looking to binge on goodies. 3. I had absolutely no sense of guilt about the whole process. It just seemed like the natural thing to do. 4. I physically felt better after I ate the pastry, and did not experience dumping syndrome as I am likely to after eating something sweet.   We assume that all eating, except the healthiest food is bad. That is not necessarily true. And this of course is not an endorsement to eat anything you want because your body tells you to. But one of the most important things we need to do on our journey to healthy eating and living, is to really listen to what our bodies tell us, and to respond appropriately. If you really want a banana, possibly you are deficient in potassium. Or if you really want a salad, perhaps you are deficient in vitamins A, D, E, or K. That interpretive skill when you get the thought that you want to eat something, can mean the difference between deficiency and health.

Great article Laureen....very interesting!!!

Sure gives us something to think about doesn't it??

Hugs....connie d

I agree that your body is very good at telling you what it needs.  Unfortunately we are very bad at knowing the difference between wants and needs.  That is human nature.  It is not only our food wants that get us in trouble.  Our other wants contribute to bad decision making in many areas of our lives.  When i taught first grade and tried to teach kids the difference between wants and needs i was surprised how dificult it was to make them understand that they did not NEED the newest michael jordan tennis shoe or game boy or whatever was "in" at the moment.  Between Madison ave. and hollywood we have become a people who constantly struggles with consummerism.  My mother says when she was growing up they were poor but she didn't know it because everyone was poor.  They were happy because they had their needs (food, shelter, clothing and loving relationships) met.

Don't know why I chased that rabbit.  oh well

Thanks for the article.