well hello there! Thanks for stopping by ;)
So yesterday, I did the 2nd of 6 experiements in The Beck Diet.
Experiment 1: Prove to yourself that you confuse hunger with other states(done, click here to read my experience)
- Experiment 2: Prove to yourself that hunger isn't an emergency
A couple of quotes from the book:
"Some diet programs encourage you to fill up on such "free foods" as raw vegetables to avoid hunger. The problem with that advice is that you never learn to tolerate the very normal sensation of hunger. And when free foods aren't easily avaiable, you are likely to fill up on other foods."
"It's important for dieters to know that hunger is normal and most people without weight problems get hungry every day, often a little while before meals. If you ask them what they do about it, they usually get a funny look on their faces and say "What do you mean, I wait for dinner."
"People who have never struggled with weight or dieting just don't think too much about hunger. They don't think, oh no, I just finished breakfast...What if I get too hungry before lunch? They don't feel panicky during a busy day, thinking, What if I don't get a chance to eat? They don't load up on extra food during a meal because they think, I might get hungry later on. No, they know that they can tolerate hunger; that its never an emergency;"
I knew this experiment was gonna be a good one because of a situation I faced a couple of weeks ago. That morning, I had woke up and had a 1/2 cup of cereal & skim milk before heading to the gym for a workout (I didn't want to eat too much before the gym). When I got home, we left right away to go to one of Carlos' clients..a restaurant that was getting ready for their grand opening. Carlos had some things to wrap up there and the owner invited us to stick around and sample the foods as the cooks did a run through of the menu.
If you follow me on Twitter, this is the tweets you would have seen:
- 11:35am At a soon opening brazilian restaurant, gonna help owner in exchange for some delish food! Carlos is credit card vendor, ahhh the perks!
- 1:26pm Am STARVING! Food won't be ready for another couple hours, NO snacks available. Only choices are to allow hunger or eat candy bar in purse.
- 2:14pm @bwjen The owner of a brazillian restaraunt gave candy bar to me as a gift.
- 3:42pm @jeepjenn its okay to be hungry right???!!! I won't die?! Ok, not eating the candy bar. I can make it two hours till dinner.
- 5:19pm @nicycle Been here since 12pm, still no sign of food! AAARRRGGGG. I think he is almost done installing, might leave and give up on food
- 6:44pm Finally hear food being plated. I was told it would be lunch time, not dinner. Lemme get some of this!
- 8:53pm Despite the fact that I was hungry, I did NOT give in to candy bar in purse yesterday - I am stronger the my temptations.
So a generalization of the experiment (Read your book for full details!) says to chart your discomfort throughout the day. Eat a sensible breakfast & dinner but nothing in between. Chart your feelings, thoughts & experiences throughout the day.
My sensible breakfast.
Now...I don't know if this would be considered cheating but I
stopped and got a Naked Protein Juice. Have you tried this?
DON'T! It's so chalky and thick and gross!
I took 2 sips and brought it back to
the store to get something else...
A strawberry banana, none of the craziness
protein added. About 200 calories
(Is that cheating? Did I sabotage my day by drinking this?
The book doesn't say we can't drink anything. It recommends
water but doesn't say to not drink anything else).
I was doing fine until about 2:30pm when these two
little babies landed in my mouth after I allowed myself
to believe it was an emergency.
oh - and then two more landed in my mouth.
At about 3pm, I had another Naked Juice (about 200 calories)
After work, I came home and did the Core Fusion DVD. Whoa baby is that hard! I only made it through 30 minutes of it before needing to leave and go to my personal trainer appointment but am looking forward to doing more. It's broken down into 5 10-minute areas of focus. The first three seemed to be very controlled, repetitive movements but that worked muscles beyond what they are used to.
After I got back from the gym, I had (unpictured) some roast beef and carrots.
Experiement 2: Thoughts
I started the day off right but am wondering if I screwed up the experiment by drinking the Naked Juices. The book doesn't say I can't drink anything. I never experienced hunger pangs like I did in the 1st experiment. I did become very fatigued around 2:30pm which is about the time I reached for the little Snickers.
Follow-up: The book recommends to skip lunch on several days in the coming weeks to convince myself that hunger is not an emergency. Each time I successfully repeat the experiment, I will become more and more certain that I can tolerate hunger.
Questions:
- Have you done this experiment? If so, what was your experience like? Did you make it through without eating anything? Did you drink anything other than water?
- Do you think I didn't experience the full intent of the experiement because I ended up drinking those Naked Juices?
- Do you ever allow yourself to be hungry for a period of time before eating? Is hunger an emergency...do you normally stop what your doing to find something to eat or are you able to allow yourself to be hungry for a small period of time?
- How do you think allowing oneself to be hungry and weight problems correlate? Do you think "healthy" people really do allow themselves to be hungry more than "non-healthy" people?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts! Comments are open, say what you want in a respectful way!
Fine Print Disclaimer: The advice and information contained on in the PriorFatGirl Beck Diet Discussion may not be appropriate for all individuals. Consult a physician before starting any diet or exercise program.
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37 comments:
Great post. I dropped almost 40 this summer and fall and have about 30 to go.. but I've been stuck at the same place now for the last 4+ weeks. I'm blaming the naked juices to be honest. I was quaffing those thinking they were OK.. on a couple hundred calories or a few points as I'm doing WW> Actually.. I think all that sugar messes me up. Add in some dried fruit for snacks and I'm pretty sure that's why I'm not going anywhere.
I can appreciate you being thirsty, but would think that a 200 calorie drink is not really what the plan is aiming for. That would be what, like 2 medium apples? Could you try water for just 1 day? Good luck with it no matter what you decide.
Going thruogh your day on only a bowl of cereal may not be the best plan. You're doing a little bit of sabatage to yourself there! Perhaps keep a good protein or fruit bar in your purse for emergencies?
Kat and sank might be right, but those naked juices are delicious!! and super filling (I think) for a beverage. Personal favorite is red machine. yummm.
Just a side note- I love your blog. So inspiring! Keep up the good work :)
My question with tolerating hunger - I can tolerate the hunger, but what about the headaches that come and won't leave, and then my stomach feeling like I have to eat more more more because when I eat the sensible dinner I'm still so freaking hungry?
I think I might have to get this book! I tend to think hunger stinks.
Probably you didn't experience the full meaning of this experiment because of the juices. I have fasted before (for non-weight loss reasons) and if I have juice it's easier.
Glad to hear about the Core Fusion, I read a review somewhere that it wasn't a tought workout?!
200 calorie drinks are the problem, I lost 55 pound on weight watchers and that 200 cal drink would be like 4 points which, if you had 2 of them that would be 8 points, which is a significant part of my daily allowance.
But I think the real issue with those drinks is the sugar, sugar tricks you, makes you feel full at first then makes you MORE hungry and can easily cause your hunger headaches, you need to find sensible snacks that provide nutritional value.
Weight watchers is a great plan because you can eat the foods you like and at the core is a portion control program! Good luck!
Good job with the experiments! I think from reading the book that the juices might not be okay for this particular experiment. He made it seem like maybe only water should be consumed between lunch and dinner. I think I could do this on a weekend but at work..I think I'd go crazy. I know I should try to get the full benefits of the book though! The gum thing will kill me too..
As a food addict, I always struggled with hunger. I'd find myself stopping at the drive-through because I was "hungry". Problem was that I did that on the way home to eat dinner. I wasn't sure I'd get enough food at home to not "feel" hungry.
As far as the experiment to force feeling hungry, I dunno about that. I eat my calorie targets and I eat them during my normal meal times even if I start to get hungry earlier. I don't know if I would have been following the Beck rules or not. Sometimes hunger is simply your body telling you it needs nourishment.
Anyway, I think it is a very valuable lesson to learn.
Kyle
Getting Better and Better
p.s. I officially dropped below 200 pounds for this morning's weigh-in. 39+ pounds in 10 weeks...yeah baby!
When I get hungry, I usually don't think twice about wanting to grab something to eat. If I don't, my stomach starts growling and I can't concentrate.
Hi, I'm a new reader here. I think you ended up consuming 500 calories, mostly sugar. Practically the same caloric intake of a small meal. Not exactly the spirit of the experiment? When you try it again, substitute water for the juice.
And I'm going to try the first two Beck experiments too and share the fun. Thanks for the pointers to it.
I did this a few years back. I did drink only water. And you know what? The hunger comes and goes.
I often don't eat when I am hungry if I am busy. I eat later when I have time.
If I was you I would try again with a better breakfast and just water during the day.
Good luck!
Skipping a meal is just not an option for me being diabetic - but I do like the part about being hungry is temporary and its okay!
And baby snickers are definitely insulin worthy! :D
You want to know something really sick? My boyfriend is one of those people who forgets to eat, is rarely hungry, never eats until lunchtime, it's CRAZY. I don't even talk about my "issues" with him, he just looks at me like I'm the crazy one. :) I'm buying that book!
My problem with this is: if I let myself get too hungry, I get major heartburn. Then I try to eat to squash that acid in my stomach, and it usually takes a whole day to finally get all that gas out. (TMI?) Sometimes I feel that my hunger is just...different from other peoples. My waif roommate eats whatever he wants. But he also can go way longer without food than I can.
I think when we do our cleanse this summer it will help with the desire for sweets. One of the girls from my board had eaten a half a package of organic oreos. After the cleanse she took a bite and had to spit it out. Maybe you should try an apple with low cal caramel sauce or an orange dipped in chocolate sauce. Then at least you would be getting something healthy...Hmmm now those sound good-Can I have them for breakfast.
Love you!
I have done this experiment, and I've also allowed myself to be more hungry in the last few weeks than I otherwise might have. I don't think it's useful or helpful to get super hungry, since doing so increases the likelihood that you'll make bad food choices.
I think the Naked Juices didn't allow you to fully experience the hunger in the way Beck intended. If you try this again, how about the following:
A healthy breakfast in the morning.
A plan to eat a healthy lunch at 2pm.
Once per hour, charting your desire to eat and it's source (hunger, cravings, etc.).
Knowing you have a definite and reasonable end time to the experiment might allow you to really just experience it rather than giving in to candy or drinking the juices.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Ok I did this one too. I was at work however and stayed busy to the point where i didn't even notice it. My stomach growled a few times, but I just downed some water (or crystal light) and moved on.
As a Jew, I've fasted for a day several times int eh past, so it's pretty dang hard. Just drinking water alone makes a big difference. I still think this would be a good thing for me to try again in this new light- fasting to prove to myself I won't die and can incorporate being hungry into my normal life versus religious observance.
I think you should re-do the experiment without the juice- if you really thought it was ok you wouldn't have asked us :) It's just a crutch- you can do it without it!
Great post!!!! I admit that I have not yet cracked open my copy of the book because it is sitting at the post office and I haven't had a chance to go pick it up. But, this post, like your previous ones, makes me want to read it asap! Love this "experiment" and it is certainly something I am putting to use...asking myself if I really NEED the food, letting myself know that I am okay if I am hungry. I can survive until my next meal. Thanks Jen!
I'm really bad about thinking hunger is an emergency :( But, I think this experiment would just set me up to come home and binge.
I don't think that you sabotaged anything by having the juice, but I would re-try the experiment only letting water enter your mouth. I did it, and it's not nearly as bad as you think. Because she even says that you shouldn't "fill up" on water during this experiment, give it another go. She WANTS you to be hungry, which I'm guessing the juice somewhat took care of. What I learned in doing this is that skipping a meal won't kill me—which I wouldn't have known without doing this!
I have an older copy of this book and I am so happy to have found your blog to discuss it with other people.
I don't think having the juice gave you the real experience. You had too much sugar which starts a whole cycle of high blood sugar and then a crash and then cravings.
I would try it again and stick with drinking just water.
I did this experiment one day last week. I have low blood sugar so I was not sure how this was going to work.
Much to my surprise I did great. Those hunger pangs hit and I thought for sure I was going to "need" to eat. I kept busy and guess what? The hunger and urge to eat, left me. It completely left! I was distracted on the computer and I forgot all about food.
This is a new experience. I usually feel the need to feed my hunger as soon as it hits. I now know that a little hunger does not signal a crisis situation.
If I become shaky and disoriented, sure, I am going to eat something to bring my blood sugar back up. If I don't have those symptoms going on, I now know I can make it to the next meal.The urge to eat will subside.
I think being an emotional eater myself, whatever emotion I am having, be it anger, anxiety, happiness or hunger my first reaction is to "feed" that feeling.
I have associated food with comfort for so long that it has become a way to distract myself from certain feelings.
I know a few naturally thin people and they do allow themselves to feel hungry and they can wait to eat with out panicking. It simply is not an issue with them.
I have actually SPIT candy out after I realized I put it in my mouth!
I have lost 113 lbs in the last year by eating 1500 calories a day and exercising 6 days a week!
My question is...did you really take back the protein Naked drink after you already tried it? Did they take it back? I didn't know you could do that!!
I read every day and rarely comment. I don't want what I say on this post to be misconstrued as critical or rude, and I apologize in advance if it sounds that way. Email is an imperfect medium and often tone is not precise. Having said that...I am not familiar w/Beck other than what you and your readers have written about it. I DO agree that analyzing and becoming aware of your triggers, relationship with food, etc. is VERY important and very helpful for long-term success. Experiencing hunger, as a one-time experiment, might be constructive but I disagree that "naturally" thin people regularly experience hunger and are able to ignore it. Keeping your blood sugar stable all day by eating small meals that combine protein and complex-carb is a lot better for you. Not getting "hungry" keeps you from making that mistake and "allowing" yourself to eat way too much to make up for it. It keeps cravings away and discourages binging. So that juice...bad idea. Juice in general is a bad idea. 200 calorie DiGiorno pizza...(again, my apologies, no offense intended)...from a health standpoint? Bad idea. It's 200 calories of extremely processed, refined, chemically altered, artificially flavored nothingness...that (for me, often, at least) leads to a cycle of craving. I remember in a much-debated post a month or so back, you and your readers talked about convenience/packaged "diet" foods vs. whole foods...and most came down in favor of frozen dinners and bagged 100-calorie junk snacks. I could write a book about what's wrong with that lifestyle, but so many good ones have already been written. Lifelong fitness and health is 60/40 diet and exercise (and exercise success is 60/40 strength training and cardio). Your body adapts to and wants what you give it...you give it crap, it wants more crap. You give it fresh vegetables and a nice salmon filet and it wants more of that. After a year or so of eating chicken breasts and broccoli on my own, a friend told me about the Eat-Clean Diet by Tosca Reno (who is a priorfatgirl, as am I..200 pounds two years ago, 140 lb competitive athlete today). I'm not saying it's perfect or I'm perfect (not by far) but it only makes sense to think of food as FUEL and to make every calorie count, if that makes sense. Yeah, you have to make the effort to shop for fresh foods, prepare and cook them and pack them...but the effect it has on your metabolism, energy and, very quickly, your body -- and long term, your health -- is more than worth it. Just my opinions...
I did the experiment as well. I think you should try it again. Either way, it tests your will power but I would try it sans the chocolates at least. Maybe the juice was what caused you to need more sugar?? Anyway, I found I would get really hungry and then it would go away and come back, over and over again. By the time dinner came I was no longer hungry, but you better believe I ate lol.
Thank you for hosting the book club. I love hearing so many different point of views on this.
I don't quite get why you would want to do this experiment. Hunger is not an emergency, that's for sure but being hungry isn't really required for losing weight either. I think there might be a little hunger involved with a healthy lifestyle but not to the point of skipping lunch on a daily basis. IMO that is just setting yourself up for weight gain when your body starts storing food because it's starving.
I really love what Norma said and agree with the others that the juice isn't your best option. I am a nutritionist and for the most part, I tell my clients to avoid drinking their calories as much as they can, (except for possibly some skim plus milk on cereal.)
I don't want to come off as sounding rude and I do love that you're trying to get to the bottom of your cravings and need to eat beyond merely nutritional reasons the insight you gain is going to help you (and probably those who read about it) so much.
Honestly... I was reading this book but this experiment seemed unreasonable to me. I'm pretty sure that I read that you should stay away from drinking too much (even water) as it wouldn't allow you to feel the hunger that Beck wanted you to feel. You would essentially fill up the 'emptiness' feeling and not feel the 'emergency' hunger. I've since switched to another book by Beck, "The Beck Diet Solution - How to Train Your Brain to Think Like a Skinny Person'. It is along the same lines - by the same author - but allows you to follow whatever eating plan you like. I am currently following WeightWatchers and this book is definitely having a positive impact on my program. The most important thing I've learned is that every time you give in to temptation, no matter how small (i.e. mini snickers bars), you strengthen the part of you that is able not able to say not to temptation. The more often you say no, the more likely you will be able to say no in the future as that part of your thinking is strengthened. Thus making you more successful with your chosen eating plan.
Good luck :) Love reading your blog!!!
I think you were scared to actually be hungry. You used excuses to not follow the experiment as she had intended.
I worked through the Beck diet solution and did this experiment about a year ago. The point of the experiment is to prove to yourself that you can live through hunger for a few hours and you don't have to do things like eat 4 mini snickers.
I think you strengthened your 'giving in' muscle on this one.
Interesting stuff... I haven't read the book, but I've had many days where I've simply been too busy to get out of work for lunch before 3 or 4pm, so hunger is no stranger to me.
Like some other people have mentioned, waiting that long to eat sets me up for a very bad meal when I finally have a chance to eat anything. It's true that the hunger comes and goes in waves, and it's certainly good to know that it's not the end of the world, but it is the end of a good day, for me at least!
What would have been a sensible, healthy lunch at 1pm turns into a bingefest if I don't eat until late afternoon. I dread to think how bad it would be if I waited until dinner!
As I said, haven't read the book, but I do hope it advises that hunger should only be ignored for a short amount of time, before you're at risk of going out of control... like me...
Caren, thx...I get asked for advice by a lot of overweight friends & acquaintances who see how I've changed my life...and I am generally kind of reluctant to give it, because I end up feeling like they're going to take what I say as criticism, but also because 99% of them go, WOW, I could never DEPRIVE MYSELF of xyz junk food...and they continue on their path without even trying. It's this childish mentality that their lives would be sad and unfulfilling without potato chips or 1,000 calorie cheeseburgers & fries from nasty chain restaurants. Processed foods are our downfall, I truly believe it...half of those ingredients you've never heard of and can't pronouce are altered or chemical forms of sugar that poison your body, mess up your metabolism, mess up your insulin and send you into a cycle of craving/eating that is actually rather easily broken...and like some other people posted, once you get that junk out of your system and eat foods with nutrients that your body needs, uses and loves, your cravings disappear and the sight of something sugary or dripping with fat becomes a turn off rather than making your mouth water. Like I said, I'm not perfect. But I do make a huge effort to eat and to feed my family foods in their most natural and whole form whenever possible and I believe it makes a huge difference in our general health as well as our weight.
I used to have to eat every few hours or I'd get massive headaches and be totally hungry. But since I've cut out all sugar and grains I can go 6 -8 hours (if needed) without eating and feel fine. I've increased my fat and protein intake and this has helped my body fat decrease and my workouts much better. of course, the first 3 weeks sucked when I switched. I always felt hungry and had no energy to workout. But now I feel excellent!
here are a few videos that have educated me on my nutritional choices:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCFZoqmKf5M
btw, I love Naked Juice, especially Green Machine! But now I force myself to drink one bottle over a 2 day period. way too much sugar, even if it is natural sugar.
I like what Beck says about the normal sensation of hunger and also found with my clients that they were still stuffing.
Sure they werent gaining weight when it went from snickers to broccoli but for many of them is was still a tactic employed to distract themselves from what they were feeling.
I'm not reading that book currently, but this post made me think...
I remember, before I really committed myself to trying to track what I'm eating and trying to be healthier, that I would prepare for hunger to hit me.
I specifically remember that when I would go out with friends and know that dinner would be in there somewhere, I just wasn't sure what time we would be going, I would make sure to eat something before I left (thinking back, probably something that was dinner sized) because I didn't want to end up being hungry. I was sooo worried that either I wouldn't get enough food to fill me up or it would be much later in the night and I would get hungry before we had a chance to get food. It's kind of crazy for me to think back that I would freak out so much that I would be hungry. Now it doesn't even cross my mind, like, ok so I'll be hungry, whatever.
I mean don't get me wrong, I have a stash of snacks at my desk at work, but that is more so that when I do eat a snack I pick healthy versus vending machine, and its not an emergency if I run out.
It's just interesting because I was so worried about getting hungry that I probably ate 2 dinners some nights and didn't even think that just being hungry was an option.
I agree with Summer and Norma. Eating processed foods and simple carbs like sugar and white flour are poor choices for overall health and terrible choices for weight loss. All calories are not equal in terms of their contribution to your health and your general well being. I think juices are wasted calories - high in sugars and without the fiber found in whole fruit. In my opinion, rather than trying to skip a meal (but drinking sugary juice and then eating candy -thus consuming more calories than would be in many healthy lunches) a better experiment would be to try to go a week or two without eating any sugar or flour (or other white carbs). Eat only real food you make yourself with fresh produce, lean protein and small amounts of healthy oils (olive oil, nuts, avocado) and complex carbs (beans, oatmeal). You may find that you feel better and that your cravings for sugar, carbs and processed foods disappear or at least are much diminished. I think it's worth a try. I don't mean to offend you but everytime I see you promoting and/or giving away a processed food-like product I cringe. Most of them are full of sugar and so will cause blood sugar spikes, then drops and then carb cravings. Not good, not good - it just makes it all harder.
Absolutely, Babbalou. Getting rid of all those additives, chemicals, artificial colors/flavors (and white carbs like potatoes, white rice, pasta, etc...which your body treats the same a heaping tablespoons of refined sugar) will shock your body and eventually change it completely. Cravings for such things literally disappear (I used to drink about 6 cans of diet Pepsi a day...after a couple of weeks of eating clean, I realized there were two 12-packs sitting unopened in my refrig...without even trying, I had completely lost my taste for it) and the only time they come back is when I make an excuse, like, "OH, it's xyz special occasion; I'll have a tiny piece of the cake/pie" whatever...and then a few hours later I'm looking for sugar again...and it's hard not to give in but I know if I do, the cycle will start all over again. Also I'd like to mention that I have a metabolic disorder called PCOS which causes insulin resistance and is definitely something any overweight woman who has a carb/sugar issue might want to be tested for. PCOS predisposes you for weight gain (The very unhealthy abdominal type), diabetes, heart disease, etc...so eating clean and avoiding sugar is extra important to me. But I also cringe at the processed food giveaweays and the thought that we "need" fake chocolate and artificial strawberry flavored crispy things to be "happy"...JUST my opinion, again.
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