Hunger is a strange beast. As a fat guy, it strikes me differently than a lot of people. I’d love to say it’s not as bad now since I had the bypass, but suffice it to say, I’m still hungry.
It’s not physical hunger, though. Most of my hunger is mental… whether it be boredom, habit, or whatever.
I tend to eat when I’m bored. It’s been my MO for quite a few years, and I seem to be bored. A lot. This has lessened, mainly because I don’t act on it anymore. I know if I eat too much, it results in barfs, and, well, that’s nobody’s idea of fun.
Habit is a little harder to nail down. I still feel that temptation to graze if there’s food sitting around. Granted, I’ve been avoiding all the high carb snacks and trying to stick with high protein stuff, but the temptation is real.
Somebody asked me how I dealt with hunger post-surgery. I’ve been wrestling with it for some time. After all, it’s not like you can just simply stop eating. I know I’ve discussed this before… you don’t need to smoke to live or drink alcohol to live, but you do need to eat to live, and that makes it hard for those of us addicted to food. Somehow, you have to teach yourself how much is enough. Whenever I face that question, I can usually count on Joe the Pouch to let me know, sometimes in spectacular fashion.
It does make me try and understand how I got to this point. How did I, a somewhat zany, but mostly rational person, ever let myself get in the position where I needed to have much of my belly rerouted?
That’s going to take a lot of soul searching, but I think the short answer is a distinct lack of mental fortitude. I’m not always as strong-willed as I should be. The worst times are when I am not getting in my workouts, because if I slide on that, I tend to slide on other things. That’s when I try to eat too much and the digestive fireworks start. If I’m going to the gym and getting my work in, I find I can focus better and accomplish more. Take yesterday… I got up, went and got a couple miles in on the treadmill and felt pretty great (other than sore ankles), after which I went and hit golf balls (I know, not crazy on the active scale) for about a half hour, then dragged out the table saw and built my yard sale sign. After that, I still had enough energy to do laundry, clean the kitchen floor, do the ironing and stay awake to pick Supportive Partner Woman up after work.
I didn’t even need to take a nap.
So, that brings us to today. Given the fact that the ankles were misbehaving, I’m thinking I might hit the pool for some laps today. I’m not the world’s strongest swimmer, but I enjoy it and it will be a nice change of pace. I technically should lift weights today, but that schedule messes me up with the boys, so I’ll probably lift tomorrow morning and be ready to go on Wednesday and Friday. At some point, I should probably go more old school and do some pushups… I’m not sure how well I would do, though. I’m thinking it would be like T-Rex trying to do them. The only difference is that I have more proportional arms and smaller teeth.
At any rate, whatever I decide to do, I should probably do it. Hopefully my surgical scars and freaky feet don’t bother anyone if I do opt for the pool, but even if it does, it’s something I need to do.
Hope you all have a great Sunday and I’ll be back with you later in the week.
Song of the Day: Thunderstruck – AC/DC
Memoirs of a Soon-to-Be Former Fat Guy 