The FastDay Forum

I've read that hunger is a sign of bat burning. When our bodies start to dip into fat stores for fuel, blood glucose levels dip and the hunger hormone is released. Can any nerds clarify the science please?

This theory really helps me get through hunger pangs. Hoping it's more than just a theory.

I've read that hunger is a sign of bat burning. When our bodies start to dip into fat stores for fuel, blood glucose levels dip and the hunger hormone is released. Can any nerds clarify the science please?

This theory really helps me get through hunger pangs. Hoping it's more than just a theory.

Actually, NOT being hungry is a sign of effective fat burning. Hunger is an indicator of the body recognizing the reduction of an energy source.

Hunger is also the necessary and primary trigger for the body to initiate changes in its internal chemistry to that of being able to (once again) burn stored fat.

Done properly, hunger pangs will lessen and eventually disappear completely so that you will easily be able to skip one or even two meals and not notice or care.

Hunger for the majority of people, most especially cyclical hunger that occurs between meals or snacks, is caused by an overdependence on carbohydrate foods. After a meal, insulin controls the flood of blood sugars into the body by storing them as fat. At the same time, as a further attempt to quickly rid the blood stream of too much sugar, insulin also prevents fat from being burned! In healthy people, insulin is so effective that it reduces blood sugar levels to the point of causing a deficit, which is why we get hungry again so soon. As we all know, this cycle repeats.

Because of habit, culture and relative cost we've supplied our bodies with so many different carbohydrate based foods that it has become extremely efficient at utilizing them. Unfortunately at the same time we've become incapable of burning our stored fat which continues to accumulate.

The types of foods you eat control the level of hunger. Carbohydrates are the most reactive. Proteins far less. And fats least of all.

By controlling carbs, you effectively control insulin, allowing the bodies processes to re-learn how to burn that stored fat. Do this long enough and all that excess fat will go. And your body will be far happier for it. Mental attitudes and energy levels improve as well.

Does this mean that you will never be able to eat your favorite foods again? No, definitely not for the majority of people losing weight. You will however learn to moderate the quantity and, surprisingly as it might seem now, discover that you can be completely satisfied with far less.

Realize that cheating effectively shuts down the bodies relearning process for as much as two weeks. It is all too easy to reactivate old detrimental ways.

Don't look at fasting as a short term process to be endured; that you'll lose the weight and go back to how you ate before. That's how people fail. Consider it instead as a way to provide a better life for yourself in which your body approves. If weight comes back, you know how to adjust to make your body happy again.

BTW, hunger pangs are transient even though they don't feel like it at the time. Distraction can be as effective as sipping water or a bouillon cube (stock) drink.

[carieoates]

What he says....
To be honest I don't use hunger pangs as a sign of needing food now. Since I started fasting I recognise that it's just like a toddler screaming for sweeties at the checkout....no more of that for me thank god.

Hehe! Dont take it out on the poor bats!

No seriously,@ADFnFuel has explained it so well,am sure it will help! X

Bummer. So when I'm hungry during my fasts, I'm not actually burning much fat?

[Tracieknits]

I think it's a big trade off. Going 12 or 18 hours fasting will do great things for you, hunger or no. But it's a miserable way to try to go to sleep at night. This is why so many of us save our calories for dinner.

To minimize hunger discomfort during the day, I've found warm drinks help a lot. A cup of salty chicken broth/bouillon/consumme helps so much to get me to dinner time without too much discomfort. Avoiding carbs at dinner really helps make bedtime much more pleasant. I think if you aim for 300 calories at dinner and 200 calories before bed, that's an ideal situation for most people to get the most out of their fast and minimize the problems with hunger.

Good luck!

Restating what ADFnFuel says above:
When you eat carbs, your body responds by releasing insulin, which starts a roller coaster of effects, and generally leads to wanting MORE carbs in short order. This is why it's important to avoid concentrated carbs on light days; just makes it SO much harder to deal with blood sugar/mood swings/hunger. (I don't count foods such as broccoli as carbs, as my body doesn't react to them that way. But potatoes, yes...though ironically, if you add butter etc, much more satisfying/lower glycemic load...but not light day friendly!)

I have long known that I can't eat high sugar food (without major protein accompanying) first thing; if I go out for brunch, have got to have a scramble with those crepes, or I'll feel like crap all day. And though we have been brainwashed into "fear of (eating) fat," it's actually very useful. I add a tiny blob of coconut oil to my afternoon cup of veggie broth, really helps!

I don't limit carbs on normal days, though many here do; I probably would if I thought I could keep that up permanently, but I've learned that for me, when I start adding restriction upon restriction, I give up and go back to my bad old ways. Better to be moderate and keep what I've lost off, than to be "ideal" for a short time and backslide. But (see above) that doesn't mean I gobble naked carbs all day long, even on normal days.

Before I began 5.2, I could go much longer without eating than most people I know. When I'd go running around with my male friend and adult son, they'd get all hangry and bitchy and I wouldn't be needing to eat at all...(they seemed to think I should "remind" them to eat, when I wasn't hungry!). I used to carry Kind bars and the like, but hardly ever need / use that anymore. 5.2 has really helped me identify when I really do "need" to eat, and when I just want to...

[quote="ferretgal"]Restating what ADFnFuel says above:

But (see above) that doesn't mean I gobble naked carbs all day long, even on normal days.

I love this quote! Could be words to live by!