"Sitting with My Hunger" (thanks LadyTazz)

LadyTazz said something the other day that has really stuck with me.  I think the original poster was asking about what to do when she got hungry again.  Tazz said she "sits with her hunger," and acknowledges it.

I have heard variations of this for many years.  "Be Present", "Be Aware", etc but I never heard it put the way Tazz did. 

Sitting with your hunger means that for a moment, contemplate that it's there.  Acknowledge that you are hungery.  Say to yourself, what will happen if I don't eat right this minute?  Of course, the answer is usually "nothing."  Nothing will happen to you.  You won't starve!  Hunger is not an emergency!

I work in Manhattan and live in the Bronx, and it takes me a half hour to go back and forth.  In the morning, I take my protein shake in a to-go cup.  In the evening, I am hungry and want to have dinner.  Pre-surgery, I suppose I thought that it would be unbearable to be hungry for that half hour and a little more while I rode the train and put my frozen dinner in the microwave.  On the way to the train from work there are a half dozen delis as well as food carts of every variety --- pretzels, hot dogs, fruit stands, smoothies, and falafel / gyros.  And it only takes me five minutes to get from my office to the station!  Temptation is everywhere.

Post-surgery of course I avoided all of these things.  But now that hunger is slowly making a comeback, I have those same old urges to buy something so I can eat it on the train.  I actually did, twice, before I read LadyTazz's statement. 

Now, as I'm walking down the street, I think to myself, "I am sitting with my hunger, I am sitting with my hunger -- and I can make it all the way home where I can cook myself a nice healthy dinner."

Somehow this phrase really got into my head and for once I am paying attention.

Thanks LadyTazz for your wisdom and insight!

Thank you for posting this.  I tend to get too hungry, then eat too fast, and regret it.  This should help me to focus on eating very slowly, and don't worry about the hunger.

I missed this the first time Tazz posted it, so I'm glad you put this up as a seperate topic.

I said that?  I didn't think I was that smart, lol.
I don't remember saying it but if it helped you that is all that matters.
I remember once someone telling me that no one ever starved to death between dinner and breakfast.

Sometimes when I am hungry, I focus on the empty feel, and the flatness of my stomach...it feels good.

Sometimes I really think hunger is more in the head than the stomach. I went to a camp this fall (they feed you) and I took fruit, nuts and protein bars, honest to goodness I really felt like I was going to STARVE to death....in the wilderness (20 minute drive in a car to the store). It just took about 24 hours and some overeating, to realize that not only was there food (and plenty that I could eat) but that there was WAY WAY more food than I ever normally would eat. It was really all in my head, but honestly it was as if I was afraid I would go without. I got over it...and if I go again....I will not worry about starving, or take a bunch of stuff with me to eat....in fact I think I probably need to miss one of the meals....but the meals were the social times. I will plan better next time.

Sitting with hunger....or any feeling, without stuffing it with food is a good thing. I think 'foodies' sometimes have the same issues as alcoholics....we eat/drink to make the bad feelings go away, then when we stop we are overwhelmed by them. It is okay to feel....and you can survive it...or plan ways to deal with it.

That's what I do too -- I focus on the empty feel and the lightness of myself and it actually does feel good.  And to the person who mentioned mindfulness -- thank you, I was trying to think of that word when I wrote my original post! 

And you are not kidding about packing the food "just in case." Pre-surgery I did it all the time.  I took bags of nuts and granola bars ON A CRUISE SHIP just in case I got hungry.  Of course, I would eat them even if I wasn't hungry!  Actually, there's currently a protein bar at the bottom of my purse for an emergency.  But who am I kidding?  I don't need that.  I'm never more than an hour from anywhere where I could get food and I certainly won't starve in that time!  So I'll be hungry, so what?  I think I'm going to take it out of my purse tonight.

Staying mindful and sitting with my hunger for the long run will be key.  Someone later in the thread said something about "practicing your willpower."  What a good concept!  SItting with your hunger and learning again and again that you will not starve, or even be too uncomfortable, will make you more likely in the future to stop that mindless eating.

I love this. I was in therapy for a short while and she told me to just do this when I was "hungry" and I have been forgetting to do this since I haven't been in therapy. Thanks! :)

Another thing I remember hearing is "If you want to know why you overeat, don't overeat".

I love all this and believe it.  We all know the days we can go all day without eating because we are really busy doing something we enjoy and realize, gosh, I missed a meal.  Didn't hurt us at all. 

I listened to a piece on NPR the other day about will power.  They were saying it can be enforced and strenghened like a muscle by using it often and acknowledging it.  So not just with food, but making the call you have been avoiding, tackling the job at work that isn't any fun, cleaning the bathroom, whatever.  Just by picking something, saying you are going to do it, then doing it, increases your "will power" then it is stronger when you need it for other things.  I find when I eat mindlessly, it isn't because I don't have the will power to not eat it, I just don't think about it.  If I move it to my thoughts before I put it in my mouth, I can resist it.

But for a more practical focus, sometimes when I think I am hungry, I am thirsty.  I try to have 20 oz of fluid between each meal.  I would suggest a big drink before leaving work to "fill you up" for the trip home. 

i needed to hear this today. thank you.

and hello fellow nyc'er!

Thanks for posting... I need this reminder too!