In my fourth year of raw, I realized that I feel much much better when I eat when I am truly hungry, and that I had been overeating in the past. So, I decided to pay attention to this component of my lifestyle. For example, I noticed that I really do not feel hungry until about midday. This tells me that my body does not need any food in the morning.
How do you know when you're no longer hungry when you eat raw? I know that I am no longer hungry when I lose the desire for foods. When food I eat suddenly loses its appeal and does not taste as good as at the start of the meal, it is the sign for me to stop eating.
Below is my interview on the topic of True Hunger with Harley, a raw-vegan athlete known as durianrider,
conducted at the rawpleasure forum in 2008. I thought that the insights in the nature of true hunger recorded in this interview were so interesting that I felt compelled to preserve it here.
TRUE HUNGER INTERVIEW
with durianrider
Q: So, Harley, how do you know
that you have had enough?with durianrider
A: that last photo would answer that one..but seriously ive had enough when fruit just doesn't look appealing to me..and then i leave it a few hours before going to bed.
Q: How can you tell that you haven't had too much?
A: i can eat fruit too fast and get 'melon belly' ie an ache for 10 minutes. if i ate a mono meal as a low fat raw vegan and had pain in my stomach, and i knew i had been doing proper food combining AND i was eating slow and chewing my food well, then i could say i had eaten too much fruit...but it hasnt happend. sure ive eaten too much fruit on a DRY system where i was better off drinking BEFORE eating..but i chose to put sugar into a dry system and reaped the negative consquences of that..
Q: How do you decide when to stop or start eating?
A: when i desire something sweet its time for sugar. when i desire something fatty i havent had enough sugar, when i desire something salty its time for greens..when i need my food 'prepped nicely' im not really hungry...
Q: Do you ever calculate the calories and then decide to start/stop eating?
A: yes, i calculate in a race or post race or pre race. i make little maths in my head and make sure my body is getting the carbs it needs. only when i eat the carbs i need do i get sufficient amino acids etc. i never stop eating cos ive gone over maths wise. i never walk away from a meal cos ive had too many calories..cos with my lifestyle more calories than i need will equate to fat gain which i can use when im in times of hard to find fruit availibility ie fasting on an airplane or riding outback.
yet, i no longer 'stuff' food in. sure i inhale or guzzle, but only to how much by body comfortably desires. last night i was throwing durian in the bushes. im happy to share my food with nature rather than eat more than my body desires or put it in a fridge for it to get stale..
when it comes to eating competitions i will only do speed eating. or i would do volume if it was against a small eater. cos i can comfortably, when hungry, eat 30-35 large bananas in a sitting. and i KNOW i could do over 50. maybe 60. but im not gonna find out. thats too much food in one hit. better off eating it in 3 meals over the course of a day or whatever fits our schedule. i watch them hotdog eating champs on you tube whom do over 60 hot dogs. and i say 'yeah i could down 60 bananas in a world where there is no consquences.'
i dont eat on the run. even in a race i take time to chew my food properly. even if your holding that chunk of banana in your mouth cos the hammer just got dropped and no way you can swallow anything for another 5km whilst your breathing thru your eyeballs..
Q: How often do you eat because your calculations tell you to eat?
A: i always eat before im 'hungry'. if im really hungry then my body is close to switching over to mostly fat metabolism. for an athlete this means decrease power. for a sedentary person this means they will be scared to exercise..hence the remote control, car dependant society..
Q: Or, do you always only follow the hunger?
A: i rarely wait for true hunger. as it means ive almost depleted my carb stores. ie muscle, liver, blood glycogen and my body has to switch to fat metabolism. ie ketosis. that is why people fasting have so little energy. that is why people on high fat diet have less energy than the same person on a high carb diet. in feb this year i did a 140km ride with a mate. i didnt plan to be riding that fast. it was a fun ride. we overtook over a 1000cyclists. my mate was pepped up on something and riding like a diesel. so i just sat behind him and we cranked along. i could feel the 'bonk' coming from an hour out. he had food and i didnt. then it hit me up this steep climb. my vision got blurry and i couldnt keep up the wattage.i told my mate i will be right and will see him at the finish line. all of a sudden i was getting passed by guys with beer guts...i just had to laugh and make it to the finish line. i got some watermelon into me and was ok. but yeah, it was an out of body experience..just like armstrong in the 2000 tdf. when he forgot to eat up the penultimate climb and lost mega time.
i ate enough that morning to ride at the pace i set. but when i tried to go harder on less fuel..i knew i would crack at some stage. i wasnt ever scared. as ive ran out of glycogen many a time on the bike and runnning marathons etc. but runnig out of water..that really dangerous! something i avoid at all costs. i havent been thirsty since dec 2006. when it was over 40c and i did a 220km day out past wilcannia...
Q: Can you really feel the true hunger or have you just heard/read about it?
A: yes i can feel true hunger. your eyeing off green bananas, you have a euphoric feeling in your body in your throat and mouth. your smell becomes hyper. you can not stop thinking about fruits. cooked food starts to smell better than the slop it really is. you dont care if you dropped your melon slice in the sand...you just need food now!
ive burnt over 17 000cals in a day..i know what hunger is. as an endurance athlete spending time on podiums after races, you gotta get in touch with what hunger is and how to avoid it. ride across the nullabor doing 200km a day..adelaide to perth solo in 15 days..you run out of food sometimes and salt bush looks tasty..
for me hunger is any fruit. hunger for me is when i eat grass. (have done that for dinner out bush once) for me appetite is something specific. ie 'oh im not sure what i feel like? lets have a look in the pantry, oh what your eating looks good, could i try a piece? no that soesnt taste good, let me have a read of the menu..
Q: How do you distinguish it from the feeling of thirst?
A: thirst is felt in the mouth also. i know when im needing more water. my mouth feels warmer and if i shake my head and my brain hurts then im dehydrated. it can be a dry day on the bike and im hyper hydrated but i still need to sip water to keep my mouth wet from the heavy breathing intense exercise requires.
i always drink BEFORE i eat. im NEVER thirsty after a meal. when i was it was for 2 reasons. i was eating toxic thnigs and or i didnt hydrate before my meal. so now im asking my body to process foods with less liquids to aid nutrient uptake, delivery and transport...
society is massively cooked and massively dehydrated..
Harley,
your
response is in-depth, full of relevant details, real and factual,
meaningful, tool-providing, and exactly what I was after!
meaningful, tool-providing, and exactly what I was after!
THANKS!!!
Gosia
Gosia