Weird Revelation

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-26-2003
Weird Revelation
5
Mon, 05-24-2004 - 9:40pm
I had a weird revelation last night. I know Rely recently had kind of a revelation, too.

So I was laying in bed last night and I was mentally going over my day. I'd been hungry through a lot of the day and was thinking about the total number of calories I ate. I started to get all down on myself about how I could be hungry when I ate around 2000 calories that day. What a pig I was, how terrible it is to be hungry on that much food, etc., etc., so on and so forth. Suddenly I realized that I weigh 245 pounds and that my body is trying to maintain a weight of 245 pounds, and when I eat fewer calories than are required for that number of pounds I will be hungry. It's kind of like getting mad at your car for being greedy if it needs x number of gallons of gas. Being hungry when you eat 2/3 as many calories as your body requires for its everyday functioning doesn't make you bad or greedy or a pig, it's just simple math. I know this might not seem like such a revelation to a lot of you, but we all have some irrational thoughts (we therapists call them dysfunctional cognitions) that mess us up and keep us from being happy and meeting our goals. I uncovered one of mine: not being "satisfied" with an externally determined number of calories means that I am disgusting and bad. Clearly an irrational thought. Okay, I'm rambling now, but I just wanted to share.

To anyone who might remember earlier posts, I am still only eating when hungry, but I'm also trying to monitor what I eat when I am.

Erin

http://www.GlitterMaker.com/ - Glitter Graphics
Mom
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: oonagh96
Tue, 05-25-2004 - 7:17pm

Erin, I saw this this morning and forgot to reply.

  Shawna-- Proud Cl for 100 Pounds or More to Go 

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-05-2000
In reply to: oonagh96
Tue, 05-25-2004 - 8:51pm
I totally agree. I sometimes get so down on myself, but when I compare to how I was last year at this time, WOW. I am eating so much healthier. We need to give ourselves a break for crying out loud!!! :-) Stephanie 280/225/170
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: oonagh96
Tue, 05-25-2004 - 9:41pm
I TRY to remind myself that things used to be much worse.

  Shawna-- Proud Cl for 100 Pounds or More to Go 

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2004
In reply to: oonagh96
Thu, 05-27-2004 - 12:47pm
Erin,

>>Suddenly I realized that I weigh 245 pounds and that my body is trying to maintain a weight of 245 pounds, and when I eat fewer calories than are required for that number of pounds I will be hungry.<<

Not necessarily, you don't have to be hungry while losing weight. You're right that 2,000 calories is a lot of calories.....but, sometimes, it's all in the choosing. I mean, some foods are more calorically dense than others (obviously) and so depending on the choices made....it may not be a lot of food to be a lot of calories. It's all in the choices we make. I heard something on the news last week about the govt saying females shouldn't eat over 1,600 calories per day and males not over 2,000 and one of the problems, re obesity in our country, is that adults are making a series of bad food choices and, while it may not look like a whole lot of food they're eating, in terms of calories the average American is overweight and eating abt 2200. It all adds up, for sure!

Forte

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-26-2003
In reply to: oonagh96
Thu, 05-27-2004 - 5:19pm
Forte,

I am respectfully requesting that you no longer reply to my messages. I will grant you the same courtesy. I come to this board for support, and your replies lack both support and information. I get my information about nutrition and weight loss from medical journals. As a scientist, this is my preferred method. You generally refer to television shows, this is your preferred method. The information from these sources often does not match.

I am completely done with you. You can rest easy knowing that I am no longer a factor in your life. I will no longer post data from actual studies that contradict blatantly false things you say (like when you said that obesity was not inherited). However, I reserve the right to report you to ivillage when you do so. As I am certain you are aware, posting innacurate information is a violation of TOS. Anything you post that is incorrect and is aimed at making fat people feel bad about themselves will go reported.

Enjoy your nature walks, REAL key limes and your ice cream maker. You aren't worth one more keystroke. Reply with all the thinly veiled nastiness you like, and feel free to use mulitple user names.

Erin

http://www.GlitterMaker.com/ - Glitter Graphics
Mom