Hunger and 5:2 Intermittent Fasting
I can go months without ever feeling hungry – it’s not something I’m proud of. I’ve developed the dangerous habit of grazing – this means I’m snacking throughout the day so my stomach never really gets empty. My desire to avoid hunger means I’ve been putting my health at risk. My 10 weeks of 5:2 intermittent fasting is to help me develop a new relationship with hunger.
Inability to Recognize Hunger
It is understandable that humans would want to avoid hunger – this is the way the body tells us we need to eat soon. If we ignore this warning for too long, we die. The problem is that most of us experience hunger so infrequently that we lose our ability to recognize it.
When I try to eat away my emotions it just makes me feel miserable. I don’t need anyone to convince me of the dangers of comfort eating. The problem is that most of the time I don’t even realize that this is what I am doing. This happens because I mistake other emotions for hunger.
It came as a real surprise to me a few years ago to find out that I frequently mistook feeling bored or feeling tired for feeling hungry. I’d experience these emotions and automatically go to the fridge. It was only when I began experimenting with mindful eating that I discovered this misperception.
The Danger of Eating to Avoid Hunger
There is a huge difference between eating because we are hungry and eating to avoid hunger. If we never get hungry, it must mean we are constantly grazing. We are eating too much so it is hardly surprising when we put on weight. It also leads to other problems like type 2 diabetes (if there is always sugar in our bloodstream, we need to be constantly producing insulin).
It is true what they say about hunger being a tasty sauce. During my twenties and thirties, I’d often skip meals because of work. Feeling hunger was almost a daily occurrence for me back then, but it never felt like a big deal – in fact, I loved going to eat on an empty stomach. I’d no worries about my weight in those days, and I’d always plenty of energy.
5:2 Intermittent Fasting to Develop a New Relationship with Hunger
I think one of the real benefits of all forms of fasting is that it teaches us to stop being a wuss around hunger. We discover we can go hours and hours without eating and nothing bad happens to us. Hunger pains come and go but they are really not that big a deal. It is not the discomfort of hunger pains that is the problem here – it is the fear of that discomfort.
I’m fasting again today (number 5), and I’m not bothered one bit at the idea of feeling hungry later on – that’s real progress for me. Friday was my last fasting day, and I didn’t feel hungry at all until the very last hour.
I’ve had people congratulate me on going 24-hours without food, but it really isn’t much of a challenge at all. I know my body can easily tolerate it, and I trust the experts who say it is doing me some good. Even if the only benefit of 5:2 intermittent fasting is changing my relationship with hunger, it will be well worth it.
Click on the highlighted text to read more about my experiences with 5:2 intermittent fasting and juice fasting
