Thursday, April 26, 2012

The Hunger Games


I’m sure most of you have heard by now of The Hunger Games. Despite my resistance at the subject matter, once I got into the book, I couldn’t put it down. Fabulous writing. I guess that’s why it’s so popular.

But I’m not talking about the book here. I’m talking about my own version of hunger. And to deal with my hunger, I made it into a “game.”

Thanks to the inspiration of my friend, Rhi Farrell, I started the GM Diet this week. (Rhi runs a parenting website called The Parent 411 and she also does web design.)

I had been counting calories, trying to shed 10 pounds that have crept up over the past several years. But the counting wasn’t working. I’m not sure why; I was pretty good at math when I was younger. My adult version of math wasn’t as reliable :

  •  400 calories for lunch + ignore calories from Goldfish crackers popped into my mouth while serving children = no weight loss

So when I read about the GM Diet on one of her posts, I decided to give it a try. Not only does it claim to offer the shedding of up to 10 pounds in one week, but it’s also known as a detox cleanse.

How hard could only seven days of “dieting” be? After all, the diet plan consisted mostly of fruits and vegetables (the vegetarian version anyway). For someone like me, vegetarian for more than half my life, it seemed perfect.

Day One: Eat nothing but fruit, except no bananas. Drink 10 glasses of water.

My Day One: After consuming almost an entire cantaloupe, some green grapes, and apple slices, I felt fine. Satiated.

But then nighttime came and my son’s track practice where I normally walk laps with my friend, Coach Karen. (Join her Facebook page for some awesome dieting and health tips. She is one of the most encouraging people I know!)

I didn’t take any snacks with me – or any liquids – as I didn’t want to have to visit the bathroom on every lap. But as we walked, the hunger set in. Clawing, scratching at me. Feed me. Now. Eat anything. Now.

How could I deal with it?

I tried centering myself into a meditative state. What would I do if I really had no food around? After all, I’ve never suffered from that dilemma.

I had to make it into a game. Pretending I didn't have the choice.

So maybe that’s what this week is really about. Me learning what it feels like to be hungry.

And even though I do have food within reach, there are many others who do not. To me, it was just a game to get through one night of dieting; to others, it’s a way of life.

[How can you help? One way: Go through your cupboard and pull out things you know you won’t eat (not expired though!). Donate them to your local food bank.]

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20 comments:

  1. Ah... Thanks!!!

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  2. Thanks for reading, Susan.
    And thank you for your encouragement, Karen!
    :-)

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  3. Aw man, now you have *me* wanting to try and be healthy again! The problem is ... I *love* my junk food. That, and it's the end of a semester of stress, so I've gone of health until May, ha-ha, not the best policy but it's what I'm working with :) But this was really encouraging, and I wish you the best of luck--I am thoroughly inspired to put off some of my junkiness for a while at least :)

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    1. Well, I was very good through the diet which ended Sunday. Yesterday and today I also ate very healthy, but finally broke down and shoveled some candy from a secret stash for my son's upcoming birthday. Oops! Back to clean eating tomorrow. *sigh*

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  4. I like hearing the dieting dilemma of someone else with only 10 pounds to lose. Who also fails to count the necessary nibbles. Keep us posted.

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    1. Now that I've hit my mid-40s, it's extra hard to take the extra few pounds off. Those nibbles are evil! ;-)

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  5. I've been thinking about trying the GM diet. Let me know how it goes. Best of luck!! ;)

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    1. Rebecca, It was actually easier than I anticipated. But the tomato/brown rice day was torture for me. I lost about 6 pounds, which I've kept off (although I hope I can still say that now that I've feasted on sugar!).

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  6. Oh, wait. Snacks that you share with the kids and/or finish for them so as not to waste food... those have calories?!?!? Oh...no.

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  7. Okay, one last thing. I love your blog!! See...
    http://rebeccabarray.blogspot.com/2012/04/appreciation-and-feedback-liebster-blog.html

    I hope you like it!!

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    1. That is so sweet! Thank you!! I've got to get my booty in gear now and carry on the liebster award! (I'm having a day of rebellion.)

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  8. I really want to try this... but something tells me that the food I'd purchase specifically for this diet would be consumed by others **cough** in my house and I'd suddenly have nothing to eat! I'm going to mark this link, though, and give it a try once I think "my" food will be safe! ;-)

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    1. That's why you buy temptation foods for them . . . and put yours in an unappetizing disguised box. Can you say chicken gizzards? Oh wait. Or would those un-named others like that?

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  9. Linda - first, thanks for posting the link to my "How To Find Your Calling" blogpost - I very much appreciate that.

    I'm also trying to shed that extra 10 pounds, but am focusing mainly on exercise as a path. Don't know if I could give up bananas!

    Second, you spoke here about an issue that is close to my heart - hunger, but more broadly, poverty. I love the fact that your post emphasizes that the hunger you've been experiencing is a choice, and for many people it's a fact of everyday life. It's difficult to know what hunger and poverty are like without experiencing them, but you have been getting some experience of this, choice or not.

    In my old social service job, we used to stage poverty simulation events for various local, middle-class groups. This is a role-playing exercise that crunches one month into a hour of 15 minute "weeks," and each participant is placed into a "family" and given a role as a person living in poverty. Families get a certain number of possessions, transportation passes and $, and are then expected to live their lives through each week ,trying to survive. They go to work (if they are employed, try to find work if they're not), and parents must keep a roof over their family's head, utilities on and everyone fed, visiting stores and the bank and social services and payday lenders and pawnshops as necessary (these are all located around the perimeter of the room and staffed mostly by volunteers who really DO live in poverty). "Homes" are groups of chairs for each "family," and are turned over if a family loses their home and must go to the homeless shelter. There's a police officer who can remove children if they're left alone, and a criminal trying to entice the kids into making a little money through illegal activities - which the "children" are shocked to find themselves capitulating to, out of desperation to help their families. It's really an eye-opening experience for a lot of people, who for that little while feel the stress of trying to survive with limited resources.

    Our community has also done hunger challenges, asking prominent citizens and officials to eat for a week on a poverty-level food budget, and post a journal of their experience. They are always moved by how difficult this is. My old boss wants to see a transportation challenge - local officials and prominent citizens challenged to get around for a week without a car, using our very inefficient public transportation system.

    Thanks for your post, Linda, and for the reminder that many people are experiencing a hunger that is not of their own choosing. And for asking people to donate - especially in the current economic climate, because food banks are running through their supplies quickly.

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    1. Bonnie, Those events sound amazing. I hope they make a lasting impact and that through the hard times many people are facing right now, we as a society can learn to live more efficiently and not be so wasteful.

      (On a side note, my daughter and her friends decided the day after I posted this, to not eat for a day to see how it feels to have no food. Since she doesn't read my blog, I found the coincidence very interesting.)

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  10. Bwaahhaahaaa. I have the same adult adding problem. Goldfish, cheerios, the crusts off their PB&Js and grilled cheeses. None of those things count.

    You'll have to post about how the GM diet goes! I need to shed 10 pounds (*coughs*, *20*) too.

    :)

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    1. LOL ... well, you know, I really could stand to lose 10 PLUS pounds, too. I'd be happy with 10 to start though. You love those pizza crusts, too, huh?!

      I'm at 6 pounds lost, GM Diet over two days ago, and still trying to be "good."

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  11. It's the one downside of being around your kids...they have such great snacks! They have a designated snack time after school and for some reason, I adopted that as my own as well...not good! I am sending you strength and will-power! : ) (I'll eat the goldfish for you.)

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