Embrace Hunger, Resist Fullness

My post title was inspired by Linda Moran's slogan "Embrace Stress and Resist Greed" in her book "How to Survive Your Diet". However, I need a more precise slogan to remind myself that hunger is okay, because I NEED to feel hungry before I eat, and that fullness is overeating, but satisfaction or 'just enough' is desirable. I finally realized why I'm still struggling with 3 extra pounds which cling to my waist area. While I was sick with c-diff and enduring nausea from flagyl, I learned to eat when I was NOT hungry and even ignore fullness, while I continued to eat. When I learned normal eating 7 years ago, I embraced hunger as normal and necessary and resisted feeling full but especially 'stuffed'. However, while I felt ill, I abandoned everything I knew about 'normal eating' and comforted myself with too much food too often. Although I recently changed what I ate, I'm only just 'dieting', if I don't change when and how much I eat.

I also decided to embrace my body and resist the scale. Everytime I lose a pound or 2, I return to overeating, as I rationalize that I can 'get away with' a little extra. Of course, I immediately gain back whatever I lost by overeating. So I intend to avoid weighing altogether. I need to focus on the process (eating less) which will produce the desired product (less inches around my waist). My weight is still within normal healthy range (for me), but the extra fluff around my waist makes several garments too tight. I've heard that belly fat moves (disappears) quickly with decreased intake. So I'm anxious to test out that theory. I suspect I will lose inches all over, but notice it more in areas where I don't want to lose. Meanwhile I'll keep doing my situps and other stomach exercises to firm up the flab. Nevertheless, I can only eat less if I embrace hunger and resist fullness.