On Cravings

So during the course of my juice feast I've really begun to learn some things about how we relate to food. What triggered this was an almond commercial announcing a new "portion control" strip on the side that lets you see how much you're eating. This is what I hate about dieting; eating should not involve math goddamn it!

That's my natural feeling on it and up until recently I was thinking that was what was getting me in trouble. I'd get something REALLY good like coconut curry from take-out and mow through it instead of saving half for lunch the next day like I rationally should. This is why the prospect of dieting always seemed kind of grim. You count all your calories and then when you've reached 1500 you just stop eating? That's crazy talk!

In doing the Juice Feast, I have to say, portion control has not been an issue. 4 quarts of juice is a lot to drink in a day, in the first few days I was lucky if i got 2.5. Sure there were cravings, but I was full %100 of the time, not just full, stuffed.

So what changed? I think it was getting all my vitamins and minerals for once. Honestly, it's like all those cravings were my body going into a feeding frenzy searching for magnesium, potassium phosphorus, whatever. And just like a shark I didn't care if I was biting my own tail, I just wanted to OM NOM NOM something.

Now that I think of it, it's quite possible that this is the first time in my life I'm actually getting all my macronutrients, vitamins and minerals. The shark doesn't go on feeding frenzies any more, and I think withdrawal from certain foods (grains, soy etc) has made the shark sort of chill. Like a shark with sunglasses and a martini!