Friday, January 19, 2007

Taking it for the team

I've been toying with the idea of adding more calories to my meal plan from now on. I have never in my life been accused of eating too little food, but in this case I might. I didn't really notice being hungry until the God-Is-Smiting-The-Midwest-For-Either-Sodomy-Or-Rampant-Production-Of
Greenhouse-Gas-Emissions-Great-Icestorm-Of-Ought-Seven, but hanging around the house for six days straight and doing basically nothing for the entire 144 hours of my snowbound existence left me absolutely ravenous. Isn't that counterintuitive...my metabolism slowing because I'm not working and I'm hungrier? Last night I was so incredibly hungry for a grilled cheese sandwich I whined piteously on my way home from my other work until I reached a Sonic and snarfed one down there. Never in the history of my life has something been more satisfying, and I savored that grilled cheese as if it were a 5-course lobster dinner with paired wines and creme brulee for dessert and served by a disdainful man named Pascal.

One of my friends, a very wise and perceptive man who patiently listened to my heavy breathing on the phone as I stuffed the entire sandwich inside my mouth and chewed for seven minutes straight, suggested that perhaps my craving was indicative of some sort of nutritional deficiency...perhaps a calcium problem or the need for more fats. The sandwich DID cut a horrible headache I had all evening and I really can't articulate just how much better I felt after I ate it, so I'm thinking about this over the weekend and wondering if maybe I need to step it up a little in terms of richer foods and more calories.

This'll be an interesting experiment, because early peeks at the scale this week haven't really indicated a downward trend yet. I've known women who simply couldn't lose weight until they upped their calories and their bodies stopped hanging on to the fat for survival. So this could either be a fantastic idea, or my extra cup of cottage cheese in the afternoon will end up as cottage cheese on my thighs all over again. I'll just have to wait and see..

Thoughts?

1 comments:

DadTo2 said...

Erin, I am not sure how many calories you have for the day, but if you're feeling that hungry at times, then perhaps you need to increase the calories for the time being. Or, perhaps you need to take a look at what you're consuming and maybe increase the protein in your diet. I have increased both protein and fiber in mine and have really had no problems with hunger.

That and when I do get hungry, 32 ounces of water usually helps that out too. Of course by the time I get hungry like that it is very nearly time to eat dinner or supper and by drinking water I have stopped the immediate hunger feeling and when I actually have dinner/supper, I eat less because of the water I just drank. It really is a win-win situation.

I hope that makes sense.

Have a great weekend!

Galen