To Lose Weight Means Gnawing Hunger; How To Cope
Even with GLP-1 drugs, you will eventually feel hunger.
Dieting is usually synonymous with deep hunger. That gnawing feeling that makes it difficult to concentrate on what you're doing.
In addition, sleep can be very difficult when your body is urging you to eat. Which is especially frustrating since sleep helps with weight loss!
But to lose weight you need to convince your body that it needs to eat the "food" stored on your hips, not in the refrigerator.
Even if you are taking one of the GLP-1 drugs that magically suppresses hunger, when you stop taking the medicine you will have to deal with the hungry, hungry hippo feeling yet again.
Many people feel relief from hunger with Keto and low carb, but many don't. I never have truly escaped the "food noise". Based on many forums I read, many others haven’t as well.
Below are my tips on how to deal with hunger and dare I say, make peace with it.
Managing hunger takes training, like an athlete.
Learning to handle hunger, whether physical or mental, takes training.
First, get your blood sugar stable.
Changing the diet to low carb or keto before starting to cut back is a critical first step. Having swinging blood sugars due to carb loading makes dealing with hunger almost impossible.
For me, before low carb, it would be common to feel hypoglycemic and experience physical shakes, plummeting energy etc.
Even though the lab work said I was fine, I knew I wasn't based on how my body responded to massive amounts of carbs. Trying to cut back while experiencing sugar swings never works.
Second - get your head set straight.
You won't die if you're hungry but you might become a raging b!tch to those around you.
Feeling hungry can not only put you on edge physically but can also trigger emotional wounds.
All of these are very uncomfortable feelings and requires good coping tools to deal with them.
If you don't identify those coping skills in advance, and practice them, not only will you be unhappy but those around you will be as well. Heck, they might even shove the cake at you!
How to Cope With Hunger
Hunger occurs in waves, learn to ride them.
Imagine the feeling of hunger like a wave in the ocean. Waves roll in, get very frothy near the beach, then roll out. That is hunger. Hunger occurs in "waves" of intensity.
About 30 minutes is the longest for the peak time of the most intense hunger feelings.
When waiting out these feelings, set your timer for 30 minutes and then check how you're feeling then. You might be surprised to realize that the hunger feeling has faded significantly.
Keep busy!
When I was learning to do intermittent fasting, I started skipping breakfasts during work days. It was much easier to ignore feeling hungry while working vs. on the weekends when sitting around leisurely reading.
Journaling, Activity Books and Coloring Books
Anything you can do that is calming, relaxing and involves your hands staying active works. Key is keeping your hands busy. That kinetic energy of the hands moving helps direct the angst in your body outwards.
Meditation
There are many apps that offer guided meditation. Focus on relaxing meditations that help settle those "empty feelings".
It took me time to learn how to handle hunger; physical and emotional. I had to learn how handle the physical hunger so my body would start looking to my abundant stores of fat on my hips.
Then I needed to learn how to handle the emotional triggers. Feeling internally "light" vs feeling "solid" was a trigger for me - it made me feel very vulnerable and exposed. That was a key trigger I had to work through to stop bingeing every couple of days.
You can do this, I know you can! Use the tools above and if needed, seek out outside help such as a therapist or support group.
Hugs,
Jami