Starving All The Time

[bluejeangirl]

I was one of those lucky celiacs that gained a lot of weight prior to diagnosis. I lost it all pretty quickly, but recently gained about 5 lbs due to a lot (a LOT) of overeating over the holidays. I've gotten back to my regular exercise and healthy eating (I count calories), but I just can't kick the hunger pains. I'm getting a normal, safe amount of calories (approx. 1800 a day), but I'm hungry almost immediately after every meal. I don't believe my body could have gotten used to eating so much since it was about 2 weeks total.

Seeing that I need to lose 5 lbs, I certainly don't want to gain anymore or prevent myself from losing, but I'm wondering if I need to add more calories because I might not be absorbing nutrients correctly, which could lead to hunger? Or am I just having a hard time getting back into the swing of normal caloric intake?

In case anyone was wondering, here's what yesterday, a typical day, looks like for me:

coffee with coffeemate

1 cup cottage cheese, 6 oz. fat-free yogurt, blueberries

lentil and vegetable soup

cannelini bean, turkey sausage and kale stew

large salad with veggies and cubed turkey, 2 T. dressing and a few cheese cubes

grapefruit, english muffin with peanut butter

I'm having protein with every meal, lots of veggies and fruit, and complex carbs.

I don't know what it is about beans but I get really hungry after them. Especially if your just having a serving of them which I suspect you are. I would of got real hungry after having that lentil and veggie soup. I would up my protein even more if I were you to avoid hunger pains. I know advice for people who have a hard time with their stomachs taking a long time to empty is to avoid fats so I kind of agree with what people are saying. Fat slows the digestive process.

Gail

[hathor]

Oh, so much to respond to and so little time

Just a brief note to say that I welcome everyone's comments and I do want to be able to take the time to research everything rather than relying on what I remember from books and newsletters read years ago.

I have heard of the Weston Price people and their recommendations. I have also read scathing critiques of their methodology. I will endeavor to look them up and share. Not that I necessarily disagree with everything they say -- as I recall, they don't like junk food. My memory is too foggy to offer more right now.

There are all sort of bits and pieces of comments now in this thread I think I could spend all next week answering. Are people interested in what I come up with or would my efforts be futile?

This weekend it looks like my research time will be spent trying to figure out if the more expensive chimney relining system is worth it. I spent hours today on the 'net getting nowhere. Just folks saying THEIR system is the best. Completely irrelevant, I know, but right now I have to figure out if the added 1000s of $ is worth it -- why two bids for the same work are nine hundred bucks apart -- etc., etc.

So if you don't hear from me in the near future, do not assume I am licking my wounds in defeat And let me know if there is any evidence I could cite that would change anyone's mind on this issue and what that evidence would be. My husband has started asking that question on internet forums -- sometimes people just say nothing he can say would change their minds. This at least keeps him from spending hours drafting meaningless responses.

[Mango04]

Dr. McDougall in his books (in addition to all the studies he examines) also reports his experience as a doctor on a Hawaiian plantation, dealing with first and second generation immigrants. The first generation, sticking to their traditional diet, was invariably trim and healthy. The second, adopting a Western diet, were often fat and unhealthy. This is what started him off on his life's work.

That is interesting. In fact, that's very similiar to the research Weston A. Price did. It looks as though they likely had similiar findings. I think we might all be agreeing with each other more than we realize.

Look, we've all posted some research, viewpoints etc. ect. that we believe in. (I am glad others here find Weston A. Price interesting ... and you do recall correctly Hathor - they don't like junk food. ) Each person is capable of reading both sides of the argument and making decisions for themselves.

I don't think there would be much of point in endeavoring to find "scathing critiques" of the Weston A. Price methodology. Reading the research first (even if you decide you don't agree with it) might be more worthwile.

Beyond that, I don't think any desperate attempts to try and change each other's minds are going to help Elizabeth figure out why she's starving all the time.

[hathor]

Beyond that, I don't think any desperate attempts to try and change each other's minds are going to help Elizabeth figure out why she's starving all the time.

True My observations about that subject for what they are worth, based on a lifetime of trying to get down to the weight I'm at right now (and reading the experiences of others too) ...

1. Just the idea of limiting calories can make one feel hungry. I've found it better to eat when I'm hungry and not to get into portion control. Improve the quality of your diet and step up the exercise.

2. Don't try to lose too quickly. If you are coping with a holiday weight gain, realize that where excess calories go first is your glycogen stores. For each pound of glycogen, there is something like four pounds of water associated with it. So just getting a little below maintenance calories can have a marked impact on what the scales will say. This is why there is often rapid weight loss at the beginning of any diet; all that glycogen-related water is going away. Well, the process also seems to work in reverse if you overeat.

-- a confession: I gained over the holidays, primarily due to traveling (hard to eat right, exercise), parties, and food gifts (what do people give vegans? it seems like everyone happens upon nuts. Lots and lots of wonderful nuts, sitting in my house calling to me. My particular bete noire ) Anyway, I just went back to exercising and my regular diet (watching for those second servings motivated by taste rather than hunger). The weight came off fairly quickly without the need to count calories.

3. Hunger and satiety can be a complicated thing. For me, it is a function of having enough calories and having enough fiber. If I were Elizabeth, I would eat more and up the fiber. Particularly for breakfast -- the most important meal of the day, if you listened to your mother -- the fiber and calorie content seems too low. Start out the day hungry and you will spend the day trying to catch up. My experience, anyhow.

About reading original sources -- might I suggest that people actually read the folks I've cited, too. Particularly the effective treatment of heart disease, diabetes, and other disorders by use of a low fat, vegan diet. And what Weston Price actually did and said (judging health by looking at teeth), and not just the interpretations drawn by the Foundation. And modern, more comprehensive examinations of particularly healthy cultures and what they eat. Remember that Weston Price was comparing a primitive diet to one that I wouldn't view as particularly good. The fact that diet A is better than diet B doesn't establish that diet A is preferable to diet C. Also, there are considerable differences in the primitive lifestyle that could explain the health he (thought he) saw -- more exercise (just as important as diet IMO), less stress, more social supports, less pollution/chemicals/additives/etc. about, no processed food.

I can't help asking if those of you that are followers of the good dentist -- have you also pulled out all your teeth that had root canals and pull all new teeth that need them, rather than having the procedure? He thought that many modern diseases stemmed from root canals.

Actual statistics would be good, too. The stats I've seen, to the extent they see any effect on disease and longevity of being vegetarians, show that it is healthier. (Not enough vegans to measure accurately it seems). The effect is understated probably because most vegetarians still eat things that I wouldn't judge to be good for them.

OK, I said I wouldn't go into it. Just letting you know I've done some research on your side. May I urge you all to do some on mine? I will continue to do so. I never stop reading about nutrition and its impact on health. That's how I recently came to be going gluten-free after all. Just within the last few months I've cut out high fructose corn syrup and isolated soy proteins too.

I refuse to give up chocolate, though, no matter what the WPF says. And I won't be throwing out my microwave or pulling any of my teeth, either

OK, enough of this for now. I have a life that needs tending. All this talk about hunger has made me hungry and I haven't had breakfast yet ...