Yet another good reason to do intermittent fasting. It’s comparatively easy to execute skipping 2 of your 3 meals by default once you get used to it, and then you only need conscious self-control for one meal a day.
That sounds like a rather bad idea to me. Not eating means being hungrier next meal, and will probably lead to… overeating. What’s more, it seems having many small meals is better than having a few big meals (your glucose level is more stable, and your insuline regulation will be less likely to make you overweight).
Actually for me it’s all mental. Normally I hate being hungry: that gnawing feeling in your stomach that says “FEED ME NOW”. But if I’m trying to lose weight, I somehow flip my mental state such that the gnawing feeling is a GOOD thing: that’s what losing weight feels like. As long as you’ve got that feeling, you’re losing weight. However, if you eat enough that the gnawing feeling goes away, that’s a bad thing: you’re not losing weight any more. And god forbid you should eat enough to actually feel FULL—that’s the absolute opposite of losing weight! Whatever happens, you don’t want that!
Because of the mental flip, I don’t feel like I’m depriving myself of something—instead I feel like I’m moving towards a goal, which is a positive feeling, not a negative one.
I wish I could tell others how to perform that mental flip, but I really wouldn’t know how to start—it’s one of those things you just DO.
Leverage the insight from above, don’t rule out all food some of the time, rule out some food all of the time. In other cultures outside the States, at least in many sections of society, these kinds of rules are followed. 1). No sweets, cakes, donuts, any mixes of fat and sugar (or at least never eat these on your own or when not celebrating something) 2). stick to meal times. … then if that still doesn’t work you can do things like buy smaller plates, rule out meat or dairy… there’s always a rule that will fit.
Over-eating is probably more difficult for other reasons like image and identity, ideas of physical permanence, the brain chemistry.
I have definitely achieved that state before and I know exactly what you mean. Unfortunately, it was while I was a) not especially overweight, only thought I was, being 14 and self-consciously trying to be anorexic so I would be “less ugly and more popular”, and b) swimming 7 times a week. I now associate making myself hungry with that not-especially-healthy period in my psychological development, and also with constantly feeling like I’m about to pass out. Also, when I’ve used that technique in the past, once I’ve either lost the weight I wanted to lose or given up, I tend to stop caring and just eat high-calorie foods all the time. I can definitely see how it would work in specific circumstances, though.
Yet another good reason to do intermittent fasting. It’s comparatively easy to execute skipping 2 of your 3 meals by default once you get used to it, and then you only need conscious self-control for one meal a day.
Or 1 day out of every 2, if you do it that way.
That sounds like a rather bad idea to me. Not eating means being hungrier next meal, and will probably lead to… overeating. What’s more, it seems having many small meals is better than having a few big meals (your glucose level is more stable, and your insuline regulation will be less likely to make you overweight).
Actually for me it’s all mental. Normally I hate being hungry: that gnawing feeling in your stomach that says “FEED ME NOW”. But if I’m trying to lose weight, I somehow flip my mental state such that the gnawing feeling is a GOOD thing: that’s what losing weight feels like. As long as you’ve got that feeling, you’re losing weight. However, if you eat enough that the gnawing feeling goes away, that’s a bad thing: you’re not losing weight any more. And god forbid you should eat enough to actually feel FULL—that’s the absolute opposite of losing weight! Whatever happens, you don’t want that!
Because of the mental flip, I don’t feel like I’m depriving myself of something—instead I feel like I’m moving towards a goal, which is a positive feeling, not a negative one.
I wish I could tell others how to perform that mental flip, but I really wouldn’t know how to start—it’s one of those things you just DO.
Leverage the insight from above, don’t rule out all food some of the time, rule out some food all of the time. In other cultures outside the States, at least in many sections of society, these kinds of rules are followed. 1). No sweets, cakes, donuts, any mixes of fat and sugar (or at least never eat these on your own or when not celebrating something) 2). stick to meal times. … then if that still doesn’t work you can do things like buy smaller plates, rule out meat or dairy… there’s always a rule that will fit.
Over-eating is probably more difficult for other reasons like image and identity, ideas of physical permanence, the brain chemistry.
I have definitely achieved that state before and I know exactly what you mean. Unfortunately, it was while I was a) not especially overweight, only thought I was, being 14 and self-consciously trying to be anorexic so I would be “less ugly and more popular”, and b) swimming 7 times a week. I now associate making myself hungry with that not-especially-healthy period in my psychological development, and also with constantly feeling like I’m about to pass out. Also, when I’ve used that technique in the past, once I’ve either lost the weight I wanted to lose or given up, I tend to stop caring and just eat high-calorie foods all the time. I can definitely see how it would work in specific circumstances, though.