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I Know When I’m Full

Whoa. Head blown.

Here’s something interesting I’ve been noticing lately.

A (very little) background: I have always had problems with bingeing and restricting. I’ve never been an in-the-middle person.

One issue I seem to have is that I never know I’m REALLY full. I mean, I feel when my stomach is starting to fill up, but…when am I really “done”? It just goes on and on.

Taking highly processed foods and artificial sweeteners, wheat, and dairy out of my diet, I get that “I’m done” feeling that I’ve had maybe a handful of times my entire life.

I get worried because I’m hungry – and what if I just overeat until I explode? But then I eat whatever it is I was eyeing, grain-free granola or fruit or chicken or whatever it is, and I finish and…I’m done.

I’m full.

Amazing.

One reason I’ve never been able to go all-in on intuitive eating is that I don’t have that “all done” button, somehow. But I have read that with hyper-processed foods, these can override that normal satiety response, so you just keep munching. The food manufacturers do have to make money, you know. Dolla dolla bills y’all.

Interestingly, unless it’s some sort of psyching-myself-out thing, without those particular foods I do find I know when I’m finished.

Very cool stuff, this.

Can Fast Food TRIGGER Old Addictions?

I quit junk food. And I’m craving a cigarette.

There has been a lot of buzz about the so-called additive qualities of processed foods.

We have all heard of sugar being “as addictive as heroin” (an assertion that’s far from proven), and some researchers are diving into how it’s the specific combination of elements – fat, sugar and salt, for example – that hits on the center that makes us want more. This is supported by certain studies suggesting foods have certain negative effects on the brain.

“But we have to eat,” is the usual answer (mine as well). “How can something we have to do be addictive? We don’t get addicted to breathing.”

The obvious answer is that we don’t get addicted to breathing regular air, no. But if something were added to the air, or if the air was changed in a fundamental way that made us feel very, very good, we just might.

But Not Me! (I Think)

“Not me,” I’ve always said. “That’s so stupid. I haven’t walked two miles in the snow for a candy bar.”

I have, however, done that for a cigarette.

Fifteen years ago I quit smoking for the final time. I had tried for twenty years. I used the patch and was finally successful.

Every once in a blue moon, I’ll pass a smoker and for the next day or so, having breathed in the smoke, I’ll feel a random craving for cigarettes. It lasts about a day. It’s interesting how quickly that happens. A day after that, it’s gone and forgotten.

I Quit Processed Foods and Here’s What Happened

As I close out my first week without sugar, artificial sugars, wheat, dairy or highly processed foods (I do still cook my food, which technically is processing), I find myself suddenly craving, of all things, a cigarette.

I woke with the craving this morning and I’m still struggling with it now. It’s that empty “something is missing…find it NOW” feeling.

If I had access to a cigarette right now I would definitely take a drag. 100%. No question.

This is fifteen years after quitting, folks.

Head blown.

Is Fast Food Addictive?

So, ARE fast and processed foods addictive? Studies suggest they can be, at least in some combinations. For myself, well…this is crazy. And it’s hard. I truly feel as if I’m quitting my smokes for the twentieth time.

I’ll ride it out, but I find the tie-in interesting. IF (that’s a big “if”) food combinations or chemicals, or even categories (such as dairy), hit on certain centers of the brain that trigger cravings for more, then I feel as if I’m living those results right now.

I’m literally going through withdrawal.

Have you experienced something similar? What do you think – can foods be addictive? Sound off below!

NIH Study: We Eat Faster (and More) When Food is Processed

Here’s why you wolf that burger down.

This surprised me.

I mean I realize there’s a psychology to food – for example, there have been studies where people were told the food was lower in calories, so they ate more regardless of the actual calories.

But I didn’t realize that the pace and amount of food could vary when the food was presented as “the same as” a less-processed dish.

To me, the most interesting point is that the diets were matched exactly in macros – fat, calories and carbs – as well as in sugar and fiber.

The processed-foods group ate 500 calories more per day and gained more weight than the less-processed foods group.

This video explains a study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) describing the difference in eating behavior when the body takes in highly processed foods. Study was published in the journal Cell Metabolism. Worth a watch! Enjoy!