GLUTTONY

As I reported on March 4th, I recently discovered the CUT THE FAT podcast available on Apple iTunes.   On the CUT THE FAT podcast,  Episode 28, The 12 Principles of Fat Loss - Part I (originally released October 7, 2010)  I heard something which I thought was very interesting from one of the hosts, Dr. Ray Hinish.

Dr. Hinish was talking about the three 'settings' that our stomach has.

I'M STARVING
I'M FULL, BUT I CAN EAT MORE
I'M STUFFED

He explained that the sensation of 'starving' is the same whether you have not had a meal in 8 hours or not had a meal in 24 hours.  He said, "Once you reach the starving level, you just can't get any hungrier."  If you think about it, it is true.

He defined the 'stuffed' level as the condition where if one were to eat more, they might actually vomit.  This is the level that too many of might agree we reach at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Looking back, I was apparently striving for this level everytime I went back for 'seconds' (or 'thirds') at home, or went to any buffet or all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant.  I was never satisfied, changing my hunger from 'starvation' to full - I always went further.  I did actually eat until I could literally eat no more. It didn't matter how full I was, when there is free food, or unlimited food on hand - I wanted 'my share'. This is very destructive behaviour and I will not be behaving that way anymore.

The level, 'I'm full, but I can eat more' is self-explanatory.   We must train ourselves to stop eating when we are full, when we are sated.  This is an area where I used to be woefully inadequate.  The trick to eating (and it is not a trick at all) is simply to stop eating when we are satisfied. And it is important to feel satisfied long before we are stuffed.   

Wisdom often seems so much like common sense.  However, if this particular wisdom was common, the vast majority of overweight and obese people walking around would be a lot thinner.  

Two ways to insure that we are satisfied long before we stuff ourselves is to:

EAT SLOWLY - It takes twenty minutes for the stomach to signal to the brain that it has been satisfied.

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR MEAL WHILE YOU ARE EATING IT - distractions block satiety signals to the brain.

Dos Equis spokesman, 'The most interesting man in the world'  

ONE OF 'THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS'...GLUTTONY (TRY TO AVOID IT)  TRY HARD.

glut·ton·y   ˈɡlətnē/

noun     habitual greed or excess in eating.

1. synonyms:

   greed, greediness, overeating, gourmandism, gourmandizing, voracity, insatiability; informal piggishness "the gluttony you displayed last evening was reprehensible"

HOMER SIMPSON being physically removed from an ALL YOU CAN EAT SEAFOOD RESTAURANT as he simply would not stop eating. He sued the restaurant.  On the witness stand, Homer's wife, Marge, had to tearfully testify that after being tossed out of the ALL YOU CAN EAT SEAFOOD RESTAURANT - HOMER WENT FISHING!  (There might have been a couple of times when a restaurant might have wanted to kick me out - although it never did actually happen to me.)

MONDAY MENU 

breakfast  cup oatmeal w/prune, two turkey sausages, two poached eggs           360 calories
lunch       JASON'S DELI SPICY SEAFOOD GUMBO - BOWL                      301 calories
dinner      JIMMY JOHN'S  #14 bootlegger club unwich w/mustard                  280 calories

total calories consumed   941 calories

CALORIES BURNED
6AM  home elliptical machine 35 minutes    450 calories

MONDAY NET CALORIES   491 CALORIES

I was particularly out of control at a buffet.  I virtually never considered a meal complete until I was stuffed. It all seems so ridiculous now. 

This cartoon captures my old self only too well.
FLYING BUTTONS...so appropriate for me as I am a button salesman!
(My wife, Jennifer, found this excellent cartoon. Thank you, Jennifer)

Why does this bear look so angry?