What if cravings aren't bad?

In class last week, Paula made the comment that our bodies have only one way of telling us that it needs a specific food: it tells us we are hungry. Well, duh! But this week I have spent a lot of time thinking about this and had some big AHA! moments.

First let me go back and explain that I'm not sure I know what it means to be hungry. Before making all these changes in my life a couple years ago, I assumed that to be hungry was to get this hunger pang and your stomach tells you that you're hungry. I don't get that unless I haven't eaten in 24 hours. And when I do feel that way, I have a tendency to overeat. So I knew that couldn't be what people are talking about. So I've had to take a step back and relearn what hunger is - to figure out when my body is telling me it wants something.

The best I can figure what "hunger" means to me is when I start thinking about food after I haven't eaten in a few hours. There's no hunger pang. There's no stomach growling. I don't "feel" anything - I just think about food. I don't know if that's the same for everybody, but that's my "hunger."

I can't tell you how many times I've stood in front of the refrigerator completely full but still looking for something to eat - still thinking about food and still hungry. Until this week, I've assumed that this is emotional eating and I lack willpower to stop myself from eating.But what if it wasn't? What if it was simply my body telling me that I still did not provide it with the nutrition it needed?

I'm learning sooo much about nutrition and am realizing how poorly I have been fueling my body. I've even been trying to get in my fruits and vegetables, my protein, etc... on a daily basis. But I'm learning that a balanced diet doesn't necessarily mean a good diet.

This week I have had one of those "green smoothies" every morning and my eating has totally changed - without even thinking about it. The cravings are almost gone! My portion control was easier to manage and I actually forgot about eating dessert - FORGOT! I have 3 Magnum ice cream bars in my freezer right now. They have been in there untouched for 4 days. That's a record!!

So what if all this time, all I needed to do to  lose weight was give my body the nutrition it needed?  I'm not saying that a green smoothie is the way to fix my weight loss. That, like every other lose-weight-quickly program is too simplistic.I have years of poor eating habits to unlearn. But it'll be a lot easier to control my eating when/if my cravings are under control IF I'm right....

The goals for this week:
1. make the butternut squash casserole (made it yesterday!!)
2. make the watercress potato soup
3. make the quinoa salad
4. drink a green smoothie everyday
5. don't make a frozen meal all week!

Talk about a healthy diet week. I'll let you know what happens with my cravings and my hunger!!