Feel the Hunger

[Dan Carter]

Hey guys,
I want to share this with you. I was reading a few books on diet today and this just kind of came out in my notebook. I hope you enjoy it.

What IS hunger? Why are we so victim to it and not its master? We have such a powerful brain yet we create foods to fool the very creator using survival mechanisms that are no longer relevant in today’s society. Just to make ourselves feel good. Stop this slavery!

You are a human being. Look at the amazing things we have created. Skyscrapers. Airplanes. Computers. Are you telling me we can’t even control our own hunger? We fall prey to a cute golden M with a smiley face underneath it for a few minutes of bliss. This followed by hours of drudgery.

Our mind allows us to plan for the future. Not scramble through each day like a dog. You can save for a house, study for a university degree. Why not eat and live for a slim, sexy body with streamlined, efficient energy levels to do what you want with your life?

Life expectancy has risen to 80 years since the dawn of man. This is because we’re learning new things about ourselves and the world every day. Question conventional wisdom. Question advice designed to increase volume of sales and not your own well-being. Arm yourself with the knowledge you need to get the life you want and deserve. And don’t stop till you know you did everything you could have hoped to.

Be hungry for the right stuff. Knowledge is power. Go out and find it.

[Aware]

Thanks for the thread Dan. I realize that a lot of the time it is not even hunger for food, but for something sweet in ones life, and because we (naturally (?) ) take the easy way out by using what is most familiar to us and constant in our lives, we use food to either supplement the "want" or to numb the feeling/s

[KazeCraven]

I can't really relate, because I hate food with a passion.

I play along so as to not come off as the cynical pessimist, considering EVERYONE seems to like food where I'm from. But I'm used to being the odd one out, as EVERYONE is supposed to like football where I'm from. I don't hate that with a passion, but I do dislike that too.

God this thread makes me sick, not what is said, but the concept behind it.

[Aware]

Originally Posted by KazeCraven

God this thread makes me sick, not what is said, but the concept behind it.

And what do you think the concept is?

[KazeCraven]

Just the idea that we are slaves to food. I guess it was said though. But it's more than that and I'm not sure exactly what else there is that upset me.

[Amandaaa]

That is definitely motivational Dan, if you feel like you're addicted to food.

It seems like some people here take this a little too far though...

I can't really relate, because I hate food with a passion.

^That's not healthy either.


You have to have the right balance, of being free from the addiction, but still deeply appreciative of nourishing/fresh foods.

[Kasha]

Has anyone tried eating less for a few days, or not eating at all? If you're reasonably healthy and free of addiction, it feels great to not eat, and is very freeing. I also found that I looked better, my skin cleared up and my body felt really toned.

Maybe we don't need to eat everyday. Food for thought! hahahahaha....!

[ginkgo]

What you are saying it true. But the problem is that people do not know the purpose of life and then do something about it. So for people eating is the purpose of life. They live to eat, not eat to live.

"How to gain, how to keep, and how to recover happiness is in fact for most men at all times the secret motive for all they do."
William James (one of the most prominent psychologists-- graduated Harvard Medical School)

"Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence."
Aristotle (Aristotle is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy.)

"Happiness, though an indefinite concept, is the goal of all rational beings."
Immanuel Kant (philosopher, Wikipedia says "He is regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of modern Europe and of the late Enlightenment.")

Without happiness people try to fulfill themselves by filling themselves with food. The quotes about happiness come from my webpage on Enlightenment and the purpose of life. I also have a webpage all about fasting since I am an expert on that also. They are on the website below about cardiovascular health.

[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by Kasha

Has anyone tried eating less for a few days, or not eating at all? If you're reasonably healthy and free of addiction, it feels great to not eat, and is very freeing. I also found that I looked better, my skin cleared up and my body felt really toned.

Maybe we don't need to eat everyday. Food for thought! hahahahaha....!

See my above post about me. Wikipedia says that Arnold Ehret is the original father of naturopathy. He fasted a lot and attained great health and became an occassional eater. This meant that he ate very little food (compared to your normal fat people) and may only eat once in a couple of days. After eating no food at all for 49 days as monitored by Swiss and German officials (like he did), you see that people need a lot less food if they eat good, nutritionally dense food.

He had a fasting center in Switzerland that healed people of incurable diseases like some (not all) cases of blindness and deafness! You may have heard that masturbation makes you blind, but it does not. But according to the above eating can make you blind or deaf. Actually modern medicine now knows that eating a lot of fried food and certain oils can make you blind-- called macular degeneration. I have a book on nutrition by an eye doctor (Stephen Pratt, M.D.).

Wiki. says "High fat intake is associated with an increased risk of macular degeneration in both women and men. Fat provides about 42% of the food energy in the average American diet. A diet that derives closer to 20-25% of total food energy from fat is probably healthier. Reducing fat intake to this level means cutting down greatly on consumption of red meats and high-fat dairy products such as whole milk, cheese, and butter. Eating more cold-water fish[12] (at least twice weekly), rather than red meats, and eating any type of nuts may help macular degeneration patients." This is saying that not being a vegan can make you blind!

[st33med]

Originally Posted by ginkgo

Wiki. says "High fat intake is associated with an increased risk of macular degeneration in both women and men. Fat provides about 42% of the food energy in the average American diet. A diet that derives closer to 20-25% of total food energy from fat is probably healthier. Reducing fat intake to this level means cutting down greatly on consumption of red meats and high-fat dairy products such as whole milk, cheese, and butter. Eating more cold-water fish[12] (at least twice weekly), rather than red meats, and eating any type of nuts may help macular degeneration patients." This is saying that not being a vegan can make you blind!

It's hardly saying that. It is saying that nuts and fish help people GOING blind, and saying that going vegan helps stop blindness is weird since it says that fish helps people with macular degeneration.

Not to mention, fat is not bad. Ingesting fat provides you long-term energy (which is why that 'calories from fat' is important to note on the Nutritional Facts panel). Hunger is actually caused by the lack of fat in your adipose tissues surrounding your abdomen. This fluctuating tissue releases leptin hormones that triggers our appetite. Leptin is a hormone that signals low energy.

Eating the right foods is more important to notice than the quantity of foods I eat. For example, eating several dozen celery sticks will not get you fat (fun fact: eating celery actually makes you loose more calories than you gain from the celery itself).

[joanmhe]

Dan - nice!
I find that I sometimes use food as a coping mechanism when I am under stress. I am trying to be more aware of the various ways that I cope with stressful situations - then I can choose ways to cope that are healthier.
I read recently that people are more successful at weight loss when their motivation is health, not appearance. Though having a nicer looking body is certainly a perk!
I have a daughter who is has an eating disorder - she has been abusing laxatives. Before that she was restricting herself to 300 calories a day. So I am very concerned about those who suggest to fast or not eat - be careful! Also, you may be encouraging others to develop an eating disorder.
Joan

[Aleksander Krstic]

Absolutely! You can go sungazing if you live in a sunny country.

Like you said, we are in info age, the limits that were there yesterday are gone.

The sky's the limit really, as you are an amazing and powerful being!

[CroMagna]

What's the difference bteween these types of eating habits and anorexia?

[merveilles]

Originally Posted by CroMagna

What's the difference bteween these types of eating habits and anorexia?

These eating habits seem to be more for health. Anorexia is more a fear of food and obsession with your weight/size/looks.

[Dan Carter]

Thanks for those quotes ginko. It makes me wonder how many more amazing things we can do in our lives if we make the choice to "eat to live" instead of eating to feed some addiction to sugar rush or fatty foods.

[Dan Carter]

Originally Posted by joanmhe

I read recently that people are more successful at weight loss when their motivation is health, not appearance. Though having a nicer looking body is certainly a perk!

Definitely! Only just recently I realized that by changing my diet I can change the quality of my life. The values you hold definitely have an effect what you eat. On one hand, you may value spending time with those who matter to you, being more energetic, and exploring the world. On the other hand maybe you haven't consciously thought ahead and considered how your eating habits will affect your situation.

I hope your daughter finds a diet that works for her. I'd definitely encourage her to read some books and learn what good nutrition can do for her. Steve recommended some books a while back and I really liked "Eat to Live" by Joel Fuhrman. He outlines the long term consequences of a bad diet backup by hundreds of cited references.

[KazeCraven]

Originally Posted by Amandaaa

^That's not healthy either.


You have to have the right balance, of being free from the addiction, but still deeply appreciative of nourishing/fresh foods.

I'm not proud of it, but that's how it is. I wonder if I've killed some of my taste buds though, because while I can taste foods, the 'pleasure' part of the brain rarely seems to activate.

ginko: You know what? I'm not even satiated unless I have good-quality food. I had a wrap full of highly-preserved junk the other day and it was like I hadn't ate anything. Never eating there again. But I don't know if I have access to so high quality food that I can just eat 4 meals a week or something. I can almost do one-a-day though, which is nice. But I am on college dining diet, which has OK options, but not top-notch by any stretch.

Kasha: I wonder if my body is addicted to food, because it feels great not to eat only for a little while. THen my body cramps up and I get irritable.