HUNGER vs. CRAVINGS
What do you think is the difference between hunger and cravings?
The definition of hunger is a feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food.
Do you think people in the Western world have experienced true hunger?
For example:
You are watching the television, and you see one of the actors eating a delicious Italian pizza. With homemade tomato sauce. Its a calzone. You can already imagine the zucchini inside and the melted mozzarella.
Did I succeed in making you want to eat pizza?
Ha!
Now that’s a craving…
I like to compare it with the urge to smoke. You are out and about, you’ve had a few beers, and you get this craving, to smoke a cigarette. The problem is you quit.
There is this period, where you need to substitute the craving with something else. For me, it was fire spinning. I loved it because it gave me a proper kick, and at the same time, I was training. A lot of people turn to food to substitute. Which eventually will make you feel even worse. Been there, done that too.
I invite you from today to try and identify if you are hungry or craving food. When its a craving, substitute the feeling with a workout, go for a walk or get on that mat and start training. Kick that craving in the face!
You are the master of your fate!
You are the captain of your soul!
From this lovely poem: Invictus by William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
Would you like to test if you’re hungry?
Next time drink a glass of water and go for a walk.
Find a way to distract yourself, and see if the hunger is still there in 30 minutes, or if it passes (like for cigarette cravings). I can assure you, that it won’t be, or at least not as strong.
Soda water also works! Even better :-)!
When you change your diet, consuming healthy types of food will make you feel more satisfied after your meal. Which means you’ll have fewer food cravings, intense hunger can indicate that you consume the wrong type of food.
