Three weird questions.

[Toadie]

Hi everybody,

If anyone could provide some guidance on what's happening here I'd appreciate it!

I've been doing Mary's Mini for a few days now, and there's a couple things I don't quite understand.

1.) I seem to always be completely satisfied or completely starving! I eat a meal, feel great, get a boost of energy, then BAM when I get hungry, I'm HUNGRY! It's like within an hour, my stomach feels COMPLETELY empty! I know I'm not eating enough (worked 32 of the last 48 hours - *yawn*) but should my appetite really be roller coastering like this?

2.) Also, has anyone experienced this odd phenomenon...in just a few days, my belly is getting, um, jiggly. That is, it's not as "dense" feeling as it has been. It kinda feels like there's less fat in there, and what is there is moving more freely under my skin. Is this my imagination? Loss of water weight? I'm confused (and somewhat amused while poking my belly.)

3.) Anyone decided AGAINST weighing themselves? I don't have a scale, so thought I'd judge my progress based on how I feel and look, rather than on my actual weight. (I don't even know what I weigh exactly, I'd estimate about 330 pounds, but I'm 6'4" with a very large frame, which helps quite a bit.)

Any insight greatly appreciated!

Hugs,
Toadie

[hope101]

Hi, Toadie, and welcome. It sounds like you're off to a great start.

Wrt your appetite, yup, that's exactly what I experienced when I began. It seemed to settle down with time. As in a couple of weeks. I have never found my hunger to feel exactly the same, however, as when I was eating SAD.

Wrt your belly, that actually sounds promising. You probably are losing weight at a substantial weight.

Wrt weighing yourself, there is nothing in the program I know of that requires you to look at the scale at all. (Although I have to say personally, I needed to the motivation of the numbers dropping to shift my lifestyle at the beginning.) You know yourself best. If the scale is going to hinder you from following the program in any way--if you don't get the numbers you want as rapidly as you want--then don't use it. You can always change your mind later.

What I would recommend is that you read Jeff's posts on caloric density. It can be found on the top of his page under the sticky of "Read this First". If you follow the principles there, whether you weigh or not, you're going to achieve the weight loss you want.

[Faith in DC]

toadie
I just wanted to add, that during changes of seasons I get the same appetite for a week or so, and then bang, I'm normal or even less hungry than normal. It's weird.

[Calix]

I find beans and potatoes to be very satisfying and help to even out the appetite. However, I love that hungry, empty feeling -- it means I'm losing weight.

[DebbieSLP]

You don't say what kind of diet you came from, but if it was at all SAD, you might want to look at Dr, Fuhrman's descriptions of "toxic hunger."

When moving to a healthier diet, you may get cravings or feel "hunger" when what's happening is the better-nourished body is now finally able to get rid of some of the unhealthy build up of waste products from your former diet, and some cellular repair is taking place. Those processes produce symptoms which people mistake for hunger.

I found this description helpful when I first switched from SAD to a whole foods, plant based diet, but I don't know how well Dr. Fuhrman is accepted on this web site, as I'm new here.