Intuition vs. Compulsion, halfi-versary, and more

How many times have you read or heard somebody say "If I ate intuitively, I'd weigh 500 lbs!" or "Eating intuitively is what got me to nearly 300 lbs in the first place!" or something along those lines?

If you've been following me for long, you know that I have been struggling more with eating the last few weeks. It doesn't matter why - we all have our excuses and our times when we struggle more than others. I've been eating for entertainment which is the hardest habit for me to break. Yes, I love food -yummy yummy food that isn't good for me. Yes, I find comfort in eating what i want. And when I feel "blah" for whatever reason, I am compelled to eat and eat and eat said yummy, fattening food because that's what I want to do in the short term. That's what compulsion is all about - satisfying urges for short-term pleasure as opposed to using your intellect and determining what it is we really want out of our food and out of our lives as a whole.

Setting aside the compulsion and focusing on what we know is eating right is at the center of every one of our "diets" or attempts at healthy living. We have to make ongoing choices and sometimes circumstances make those choices more difficult than others. It's okay to have setbacks as long as we don't let them become a way of life. Replacing the compulsion to eat with other compulsions isn't going to lead us to where want to be either. Working things through, keeping your intuition keen and sharp, that's where it's at. And that's what we all work to do every day to make our lives better and longer.

Now HERE is some amazing food for thought!

This dude Mark Haub is a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University. He was overweight and as a class experiment, he decided that he would severely limit his caloric intake but eat mainly junk food such as Twinkies, Little Debbies, and HoHos.  He had significantly fewer calories but food which was considerably not "healthy". He would eat a cake-let every 3 hours or so WHEN HE WAS HUNGRY and only EAT TO SATISFY THE NEED for food. And he counted calories while doing it.  He lost 27 lbs and discontinued the diet when he reached his healthy BMI.
Best quote from the article right here:

On August 25, Haub, 41, started his cake diet focusing on portion control.


"I'm eating to the point of need and pushing the plate or wrapper away," he said.




What's freaky? His cholesterol levels and triglycerides IMPROVED.

Now, he's not promoting this "snack-centric" diet. And he's not sure what the long term effects are going to be. He does admit to starting the day with a protein shake and also eating a vegetable or two a day (sissy) but I won't hold it against him (much).  Especially since he ate the veggies at the dinner table with his family to avoid setting a bad example for the kids.

Adding meat back into his diet after the experiment, increased his cholesterol levels.

Oh, did you want to read the article yourself? Here it is, straight from those crazy fellas at CNN!