Guest guest Posted March 9, 2005 Report Share Posted March 9, 2005 Hi everyone, this is another somewhat long post about satiation, knowing when we are finished eating. Doreen: I am definitely not eating enough, and its making me gassy. Froggy: What's not enough? if I eat when I'm hungry until I'm no longer hungry. Elchanan: Froggy's point here is quite well-taken, though perhaps a bit brief. There are at least several challenges for most people in our culture, even experienced raw fooders: 1. Many people find it difficult to distinguish between eating from physical need (genuine hunger) and emotional eating. My sense is that Froggy is largely (and most fortunately unaffected by this particular challenge, but I know that many are not so fortunate. We have learned to use food to numb out, redirect our attention from boredom, as a place of refuge, a best friend, etc. Learning to distinguish between genuine hunger emotional craving can take time, as it involves working through whatever issues lie beneath the emotional eating. (More on emotional eating some other time.) 2. Most westerners have lost their innate awareness of the distinction between hunger and thirst. Both occur first in the mouth. (Your stomach gurgling is not hunger, it's gas formation due to poor food combining and/or some other cause.) This can be relearned, but there are few who know how to teach it. Thirst occurs fairly deep in the throat, as a dry or even slightly raspy sensation. Hunger occurs further forward in the mouth. 3. In addition to emotional eating/craving, many of us experience altered biochemistry due to years/decades of malnutrition, drug use, chemical ingestion, salt consumption, etc. As a result, we may experience physical cravings that distinct from any emotional cravings. Distinguishing can be quite difficult. 4. Most of us have experienced extensive malnutrition for many years, due to overeating empty calories (e.g., starchy foods) and undereating foods rich in water-soluble and water-transportable nutrients (fruits, greens in particular). As a result, we may be used to overconsuming calories, as our bodies desperately attempt to find missing noncaloric nutrients. ( " Caloric nutrients " include carbohydrates, fats, proteins. " Noncaloric nutrients " include everything else.) 5. Because of the way most of us grew up, we have never really experienced true PHYSICAL satiation from eating. Our systems can provide us with at least three different experiences of satiation: 5.1 Caloric satiation -- we have consumed enough calories for thermomechanical energy. 5.2 Nutrient satiation -- we have consumed all the other nutrients we need, vitamins, minerals, etc. 5.3 Physical satiation -- we are feeling " full " in the gut. In an effective diet, 5.1 and 5.2 should occur before we ever reach 5.3; in other words, by the time we reach 5.3, we have probably overeaten in some respect, even though we may have underconsumed many nutrients (as with a high-grain diet). Yet 5.3, feeling " full, " is the only form of satiation many of us have actually experienced. So given all this discussion, how do you know when you are " eating enough? " In the long run, the solution is to relearn the experience of satiation. However, my observation is that this can take some time for many people, it is an adaptive process. HINT: Anyone who claims to eat a couple of avocados daily, or lots of nuts and seeds all the time, has NOT yet figured this one out, no matter how much they protest to the contrary. What's a girl/boy to do? I know of one strategy that DOES work, but it requires some effort and learning up front. After awhile, things become second nature, of course. Here goes: 1. Buy an inexpensive DIGITAL food scale for about $50 or so. Get one with a tare feature. This is the ONLY way most people can truly begin to comprehend the quantities of food they are eating. You weigh your bananas, avocados, etc. for awhile, then you'll just know by sight. Then you can sell the scale to another RF in your community. Of all the pieces of kitchen equipment valuable to RFs, this may be the most valuable and least comprehended. 2. Guesstimate your basal metabolic rate. (For a rough cut, use your TARGET weight times 10.) Then add a few hundred calories for routine activity, and more based upon your level of physical activity. Problems: most people have no earthly idea what a really honest, healthy target weight would be, as it is confused with body composition. Also, many people have no idea how many calories to allocate for " physical activity. " ASK FOR HELP, it's worth it to know your own body!! 3. Learn the caloric content of the major calorie-bearing foods you eat. By calorie-bearing, I mean that a banana may have 60-150 calories (yes, varies that much with size), whereas a few cilantro leaves have essentially zero calories. Don't spend your time learning the cilantro leaves, focus on the foods that actually bring in your calories. This makes the job much simpler. HINT: We WILL have a publication just for RFs on this some time this year, promise. 4. Figure out a comfortable mix of foods that will bring in roughly the daily calories you WOULD need if you were at your target weight. Emphasize high water-content foods as much as possible. And yes, this will mean an increase, often a BIG increase, in the volume of food you eat. After all, high water-content foods are, well, mostly water!!! If you do these things, here's what to expect, over a bit of time: 1. ALL your metabolism will normalize, from blood sugar to elimination. 2. You will experience, steady, consistent, available energy all day, every day. 3. Bad breath, crud in your mouth, and smelly poop will disappear, eventually body odor as well. 4. Particularly if you emphasize high water-content foods, as your body rehydrates and reoxygenates, you will begin to experience more calm, better poise, etc. Of course, there are significant emotional components here, in addition to food. 5. Over time, you will begin to notice which foods " fill you up, " feel " heavy, " etc. And your innate/inherent sense of satiation will return, to the extent that you are self-observant. Best to all, Elchanan -- ---------------------[ Ciphire Signature ]---------------------- vlinfo signed email body (5099 characters) on 10 March 2005 at 05:09:04 UTC rawfood ------------------------------- : Ciphire has secured this email against identity theft. : Free download at www.ciphire.com. The garbled lines : below are the sender's verifiable digital signature. ------------------------------- 00fAAAAAEAAABw1i9C6xMAADIDAAIAAgACACBZ36NZd8ice9rJ4ZlYrt6BrEjH8O zzmKDQLsTNDUWDmAEAhgSkE5NuzzvORJkeFIi/NVXB9GCG1XVfaMj+yPGZ0X1Yvx PHmrLu6LPhaGqtfXkx4TwNud+9ZLGNzL4RNFgEuw== ------------------[ End Ciphire Signed Message ]---------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2005 Report Share Posted March 9, 2005 It has taken me over a year to distinguish between emotion cravings and genuine hunger/ thirst. If you are having the same problems, I suggest you keep at it as the dividing line does get clearing in time, and I assume that depends upon the person. By the way, I don't get the connection between eating enough and gas. Jesse 14 months raw - " INFO @ Vibrant Life " <VLinfo <rawfood > Thursday, March 10, 2005 12:08 AM RE: [Raw Food] Eating " enough " > > Hi everyone, this is another somewhat long post about satiation, knowing > when we are finished eating. > > Doreen: I am definitely not eating enough, and its making me gassy. > > Froggy: What's not enough? if I eat when I'm hungry until I'm no longer > hungry. snip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 9, 2005 Report Share Posted March 9, 2005 The person to whom I responded wrote: I am definitely not eating enough, and its making me gassy. I suggested that these are not, in fact, likely connected, just as you say. Best, Elchanan Jesse Parris [studio53] Wednesday, March 09, 2005 9:20 PM rawfood Re: [Raw Food] Eating " enough " It has taken me over a year to distinguish between emotion cravings and genuine hunger/ thirst. If you are having the same problems, I suggest you keep at it as the dividing line does get clearing in time, and I assume that depends upon the person. By the way, I don't get the connection between eating enough and gas. Jesse 14 months raw - " INFO @ Vibrant Life " <VLinfo <rawfood > Thursday, March 10, 2005 12:08 AM RE: [Raw Food] Eating " enough " > > Hi everyone, this is another somewhat long post about satiation, knowing > when we are finished eating. > > Doreen: I am definitely not eating enough, and its making me gassy. > > Froggy: What's not enough? if I eat when I'm hungry until I'm no longer > hungry. snip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 " Buy an inexpensive DIGITAL food scale for about $50 or so. Get one with a tare feature. " Question: What is this " tare " feature you refer to? Thanks! All the best, Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 rawfood , " INFO @ Vibrant Life " <VLinfo@e...> wrote: > Hi everyone, this is another somewhat long post about satiation, knowing > when we are finished eating. > > Doreen: I am definitely not eating enough, and its making me gassy. > > Froggy: What's not enough? if I eat when I'm hungry until I'm no longer > hungry. > > Elchanan: Froggy's point here is quite well-taken, though perhaps a bit > brief. There are at least several challenges for most people in our culture, > even experienced raw fooders: > > 1. Many people find it difficult to distinguish between eating from physical > need (genuine hunger) and emotional eating. My sense is that Froggy is > largely (and most fortunately unaffected by this particular challenge, > but I know that many are not so fortunate. We have learned to use food to > numb out, redirect our attention from boredom, as a place of refuge, a best > friend, etc. Learning to distinguish between genuine hunger emotional > craving can take time, as it involves working through whatever issues lie > beneath the emotional eating. (More on emotional eating some other time.) Rich: I know that eating and emotions are connected and I currently eat more than I truly need physically for emotional comfort. Hopefully, as the emotions settle out, calm down, etc., I'll only eat as much as I need to satisfy my physical needs. But I guess my point was that regardless of whether it's physical needs or emotion needs or actually a combination of both, that if I just eat until I'm physically satisfied (and the mental satisfaction too) then I've had enough to eat. If I eat a little extra for mental/emotional satisfaction, like having some extra raw nuts, that's OK, it's not going to hurt me in any way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 I eat until Im full too, but Im still gassy Froggy <seconaphim wrote: rawfood , " INFO @ Vibrant Life " <VLinfo@e...> wrote: > Hi everyone, this is another somewhat long post about satiation, knowing > when we are finished eating. > > Doreen: I am definitely not eating enough, and its making me gassy. > > Froggy: What's not enough? if I eat when I'm hungry until I'm no longer > hungry. > > Elchanan: Froggy's point here is quite well-taken, though perhaps a bit > brief. There are at least several challenges for most people in our culture, > even experienced raw fooders: > > 1. Many people find it difficult to distinguish between eating from physical > need (genuine hunger) and emotional eating. My sense is that Froggy is > largely (and most fortunately unaffected by this particular challenge, > but I know that many are not so fortunate. We have learned to use food to > numb out, redirect our attention from boredom, as a place of refuge, a best > friend, etc. Learning to distinguish between genuine hunger emotional > craving can take time, as it involves working through whatever issues lie > beneath the emotional eating. (More on emotional eating some other time.) Rich: I know that eating and emotions are connected and I currently eat more than I truly need physically for emotional comfort. Hopefully, as the emotions settle out, calm down, etc., I'll only eat as much as I need to satisfy my physical needs. But I guess my point was that regardless of whether it's physical needs or emotion needs or actually a combination of both, that if I just eat until I'm physically satisfied (and the mental satisfaction too) then I've had enough to eat. If I eat a little extra for mental/emotional satisfaction, like having some extra raw nuts, that's OK, it's not going to hurt me in any way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 Why do you believe you're not eating enough if you eat until you're full? rawfood , Doreen Nash <doreennash> wrote: > > I eat until Im full too, but Im still gassy > > Froggy <seconaphim> wrote: > rawfood , " INFO @ Vibrant Life " <VLinfo@e...> > wrote: > > Hi everyone, this is another somewhat long post about satiation, > knowing > > when we are finished eating. > > > > Doreen: I am definitely not eating enough, and its making me > gassy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2005 Report Share Posted March 10, 2005 Oh, sorry! The tare feature allows you to weigh the plate, then add one food and weigh it, then another food, and so on, getting individual weights for each item. Without this feature, you can achieve the same result by writing it all down and subtracting from the total. Just nice to have, not necessary by any means. Elchanan Jennifer [simplify] Thursday, March 10, 2005 8:20 AM rawfood RE: [Raw Food] Eating " enough " " Buy an inexpensive DIGITAL food scale for about $50 or so. Get one with a tare feature. " Question: What is this " tare " feature you refer to? Thanks! All the best, Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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