BLOG 175—I’m Never Hungry

With my words, I hope to throw some oblique light upon your life.
I want to inspire you to see life in a different and/or better way.

*** Remember, to read past blog posts, go to >> kitsummers.com/blog/
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*** Thank you, my wife, Beth, for adding to the blog each week.
*** The happiness I am experiencing in my life is a marvelous thing!
*** I will have places to show you and tales to tell.
*** Secrets to unfold and good news!

BE TAKEN AWAY WITH ME
ON WONDERFUL ADVENTURES! 

Just got this photo of Jon Held and me
performing at our high school.
We made those juggling clubs ourselves. 

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Eating, we do it throughout every day.
Here are some things to think about >>

INTRO TO THIS WEEK

“While weight loss is important,
what’s more important is the
quality of food you put in your body,
food is information that quickly
changes your metabolism and genes.”
Mark Hyman
===========================
From my book series, “Beyond Your Potential.”

Perhaps because of brain change and going through my 37-day coma, I am never hungry, I am never full. The part of my brain which registers food consumption is no longer working right. I basically eat because I know I need to live.

Such a big part of life, something we do almost every day for much of the day. I recently discovered a video that tells about what is happening in the American food area, much of it pretty disgusting. Later, in my daily doings section, I will provide a link to the video, very important for you to watch and do.

Over the next month, Beth and I are going to go through a big change. First, we will fast (not eat any solid food) for some days (I am planning to go without for 1 or 2 weeks.) When we go back to eating we will change our eating habits, you will read more later.

Care to join us?

As I was recovering from my 37-day coma, I found that I had the same eating habits as before the accident but without the same amount of juggling practice and exercise, so I started to gain weight. After a time, I saw that the way I ate was a matter of discipline and control.

If I could learn to control my mind,
I knew that I could also learn to control my eating habits.

With some research, I learned quite a bit about health and eating habits. In reflecting on the changes I needed to make to keep myself from gaining more weight, I realized that much of what I ate was out of learned habit.

Many of us are habituated to eating a certain number of meals at a certain time of day following a prescribed way of making up our plates with this much carbohydrate and that much meat and the list could go on and on.

The first step I took in breaking the learned habits was to eat only when I was actually hungry. I also made sure that I stopped eating when I had had just enough to get me past that hungry feeling.

I also had learned that incompatible food combinations robbed me of energy and added to my weight gain, so I started to make up my meals and my plate in ways that would give me energy and not cause me to gain additional weight.

Control your eating and you control your life.

I later began a form of intermittent fasting and wouldn’t eat anything after nine at night (this later was moved to seven.) There are several reasons to put a buffer of at least three hours between food and sleep.

First, your body does most of its detoxification while you are sleeping, and if it has to digest food instead, you are missing out on crucial detoxification of other gunk and junk floating in your body.

Also, as you sleep, your body has to work extra hard to digest food and that food can transform into excess weight easily.

Many people might look at these habits and think they are difficult to do. Food cravings can be really strong sometimes and when you really want a cookie or some ice cream at eleven-thirty at night, it can be hard to just tell yourself no. Stop and think for a second though:

What is a food craving?

First, it might be helpful to know that you don’t get food cravings, you actually create them in your mind! If you tell yourself you aren’t allowed cookies before bed, and then guess what? You will crave cookies before bed.

You see, we actually create food cravings through our thought patterns toward food. Eventually, many of these thought patterns will become food habits.

Changing my eating habits wasn’t easy, and even now, sometimes, I struggle to maintain them. Especially after my accident, I would crave certain foods depending on how I felt that day, and often times I would be extremely fatigued.

At times, sleep was hard to come by and because I couldn’t sleep, I also had trouble concentrating. Often when I felt tired or frustrated, I would crave sugar, an indication that my adrenal glands were fatigued.

Dopamine is a good thing, sugar is not.

When we are tired, our bodies crave sugar to give us energy. I also appreciated the surge of dopamine the sugar would release in my brain almost immediately upon eating something sweet. Dopamine is known as the feel-good chemical because we feel good when it is released into our brains.

The well-known issue with sugar, however, is that it will only energize us for short spurts of time, and the dopamine release it provides is also only short-lived. Shortly after eating something sweet, I would be right back where I started – cranky and tired!

Eat right and you will get through changes better.

Besides feeling cranky and tired, I often also felt unproductive. Because I couldn’t concentrate, I also wasn’t able to do many of the things that I knew I needed to do or things I wanted to do.

Then depression started setting in, harming me in various ways.

I wasn’t physically stuck in bed, but I found it difficult to find any desire to get out of bed and get things started or to get things done.

Eventually, I got to a point where I could see time passing by, but I didn’t care. I didn’t even try to keep up with it because I felt so depressed. I would have frequent pity parties for myself and others didn’t seem to want to be around me anymore given my foul mood.

One of my doctors suggested that I start taking medication to help me deal with the low-grade depression and anxiety, but I decided to opt out of that recommendation. Instead, I decided I was going to retrain my mind to think in other and new directions.

Eventually, I found out that the food I was eating had a direct impact on my mood and was contributing to my depression and anxiety. I started implementing some of the changes that I listed earlier and quickly found that my attitude and my mind changed for the better.

What we eat directly affects what we think and how we feel,
exercise will help, too.

Another secret I discovered was that exercise works as well as any drug (better than, actually.) Work your body, and your mind will clear up any depression of bad thinking.

Brain function is dependent upon the body’s ability to properly metabolize the food you eat. Your brain depends on glucose (blood sugar) as a source of energy. To get your brain to use glucose properly it must have a sufficient supply of vitamins and minerals. The proper functioning of the brain is more dependent upon vitamins and minerals than any other organ in your body.

Your brain is the biggest consumer of what you eat, feed it right.

The food and nutrients that you feed your brain are directly responsible for the functions the brain must perform. These can include thinking, controlling your hormones, and regulating involuntary functions such as respiration and your heartbeat. And can also include controlling motor activity, juggling, and sense perception like smell and taste. If your brain doesn’t have enough energy, you will feel tired and sluggish.

What we eat also directly affects which neurotransmitters are produced and how much of them. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that ultimately determine our frame of mind In turn, your mood will affect your memory, your actions, your ability to learn and perform, and everything else about you.

We discussed previously that while sugar initiates the formation and release of dopamine for a good feeling in the body, that good feeling is short-lived. There are many other nutrients that we can feed our brains for increased production and prolonged release of dopamine.

Although your brain represents only two percent of total body weight, it accounts for over twenty percent of the total utilization of oxygen and fifteen percent of blood sugar. As you can see, your brain is very hungry and is dependent upon your nutritional intake to function properly.

Feed your brain right!

A study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry compared a diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fish with a diet of highly-processed meats, grains, and fast foods. Those who ate the whole foods diet had a one-third lower risk of becoming depressed. Not to mention that eating processed junk foods means you’re more likely to be overweight, often resulting in depression.

So what is driving your mind to eat?

Is your brain out of energy and looking for a refuel? Or are you running to the vending machine at three in the afternoon simply because that is what you do every day because your job is frustrating and you need that short-lived burst of dopamine?

Before you put your coins in the slot, ask yourself, “are you truly hungry?” If the honest answer is “no”, then put your coins back in your pocket. Remember it isn’t your body that craves food, it’s your mind.

Changing your eating habits for the better will literally change your life.

The first step you can take to change your eating habits for better health and mood is to keep a food diary. This is a book in which you record everything you eat or drink, no matter how little or how much of it went into your mouth. Studies have shown over time, people who maintain a food journal are more likely to lose weight.

For at least one week (month?), record everything you eat at meals and snack times and record the time. Use an online site such as SparkPeople.com to figure out the number of calories you have eaten and other nutritional information like how much fat, carbohydrate, protein, and fiber were in your meals.

After a week or so, review your diary and see where you need to make adjustments. Are you eating too many carbohydrates and not getting enough protein? Are you getting at least twenty-five grams of fiber each day?

Also, remember that nutritional guidelines and advice are just that – guidelines and advice.

When you eat, record how you feel afterward. If brown rice gives you gas, it obviously isn’t the healthier food for you regardless of what the food gurus say. If you start drinking soy milk and your cholesterol skyrockets fifty points, then soy products aren’t for you.

A Paleo diet isn’t for everyone, but neither is vegetarianism. All of our bodies have been through different triumphs and trials and will respond differently to different foods and eating patterns.

Review your diary for other eating habits.

Do you just eat without thinking? Perhaps you eat to feel better mentally. Inspect the causes of pressure in your everyday life, and one by one, take steps to remove each stress factor. Stress management could help you to control emotional eating or binge eating.

Make each bite smaller, but make each bit an experience.

Another thing to try is intentional eating. This is eating at its best. Don’t grab your bagel at ten of eight in the morning and chew it twice then swallow it while you are driving through ridiculous traffic to make it to that eight o’clock appointment that is thirty minutes away.

Instead, plan your meals, and when you get hungry, sit down and enjoy it. Savor each bite of food that goes into your mouth. Relish the smells as you bring the food to your mouth.

Chew your food thoroughly before you swallow making sure to get all of the juice and flavor out of it before it goes down your throat and into your belly to be dissected into the nutrients that your brain needs to function.

Yes, we can mindlessly stuff food in our mouths, or we can delightfully savor each morsel we consume. If you really take the time to just put your fork down between each bite and taste all of the aspects of your food, as well as examine the texture with your tongue, you can have a delightful eating experience, and you can do this each time you eat.

Make this way of eating intentional, and make it a habit.

Taking your time and relishing every aspect of your meal may be a new way of eating for you. This new way of eating might sound like a lot of bells and whistles, but you will quickly find that you will eat less but you will enjoy your food a lot more. If you are eating less food, then it follows that you will lose weight and keeps your mind and body in better shape.

Change your mind and change your taste.

Eating less won’t necessarily take you all the way to your weight loss goal. We also must be careful of what we eat. While the cravings might be strong, remember, you have control!

After I had been released from the hospital, I was drinking a lot of diet soda. I would typically have two or three cans a day. This went on for five years and diet soda had become simply another habit for me.

I happened to read an article reporting on how bad soda is for people. The chemicals in soda are known to cause bone loss and can also disrupt and inhibit organ function. Not a drop of soda has gone down my throat since then – and that was over thirty years ago.

It helped me to quit my habit by switching to tea instead. At that time, I would liven up the taste of my tea with some cream and non-sugar sweetener. Eventually, I came across some studies that talked about how artificial sweeteners can be extremely harmful to the body and brain. That was the end of my romance with non-sugar sweeteners. Now I use honey, honey (yes, you.)

Think before you put stuff down your throat

Of course, the literature is full of contradictory reports of this or that food is good for you or bad for you. The truth is, you have to be the one to figure it out for your body.

Some things are a matter of common sense, like the fact that an apple has more nutritional value than a sponge cake. Other things, like eating vegetarianism and a Paleo diet, as I mentioned before, are really about what your personal and individual body needs.

Salad, anyone?

In 1991 I started a habit of eating a salad every afternoon. I make my salad out of a combination of various types of lettuce, broccoli, spinach, carrot, and a few other things. In the summer, I grow much of my salad myself.

I start each week by making a salad big enough to last me for the rest of the week so it is always prepped and ready for easy munching. I hardly ever go a day without my salad and if I am out and about and wind up eating something else, I feel strange.

You too can develop better eating habits.

Don’t try to change everything at one time though. Changing everything all at once will be overwhelming and lead to a quick defeat.

This week or this month, pick one of my tips and give it a try. Next week or next month, pick another one while still maintaining the first. A year from now, you’ll look back and try to figure out why you didn’t make the changes sooner – they were so easy!

Develop a good habit for yourself
(and, no, not a chocolate chip cookie habit.)

Another thing you may want to consider when it comes to food is the idea that you have to eat three square meals a day and snacks in between.

Most of us eat at least three meals daily because we just always have.

I broke this cycle once by doing a four-day fast (and I did it really quick.) I drank water, but no food, and I lost fifteen pounds. The strange thing was that I didn’t get hungry at all in those four days. Since I didn’t get hungry, I’ve always been curious to know how long I could push myself to go without eating.

I enjoyed the challenge of the four-day fast. For me, being hungry doesn’t hurt. I’ve been through other things that were much more painful than I think hunger ever could be.

Going through the fast was quite interesting, and when it was over, I found it much easier to make healthier food choices, almost like the fast was a reboot towards eating success.

How quickly can you do your fast?

I’m thinking I might challenge myself some time to see just how long I can go without eating—I’ll let you know how it turns out (or you’ll hear about my death.) Mainly I did the fasting as a challenge to myself.

Barring any health or religious reasons not to fast, I challenge you to try it sometime (safely, of course.) Don’t eat anything for a day or two and see how you feel. You may want to have a friend or doctor watch you carefully as you go through this.

Remember to drink plenty of liquids.

This can be a new and different experience for you. I’ve mentioned before that the more experiences you have in your life, the more fulfilling a life you can lead. Going through this experience might open your mind and body to new thoughts and ideas. 

Get away from the idea that you HAVE to eat.

Food is often the focal point for social gatherings. Family picnics and community events always feature a plethora of palatial delights – hot dogs, hamburgers, potato chips, soda, and funnel cake—It’s party time!

It might shock you (and the other people at the party) to learn that you don’t have to join the crowd and eat what they eat or eat at all. It never hurts to ask for some vegetables or fruit or to just pass everything up altogether.

Examine your own life and what you eat.
Make changes where necessary.
Change your eating habits and change your life.

Remember, don’t eat for your stomach, eat for your brain – feed it right!

LIFE IS HAPPENING ALL THE TIME – ARE YOU KEEPING UP?

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WORDS TO INSPIRE YOU! >>

Inspirational quotes and motivational sayings have an amazing ability to change the way we feel about life and can change our thinking.

This is why I find them so interesting, challenging, and important on our path to joy and happiness and finding ways to inspire ourselves as well as others.

Inspirational quotes and ideas provide us with a quick and timely burst of wisdom to get our focus back, offering the inspiration needed for the day or occasion.

I hope to inspire you with my words.

Words have power.

At any age, you can (and should) make changes to make your life better.

You see, the way you think and feel about yourself, including your beliefs and expectations about what is possible for you, determines everything that happens in your life. It all derives from your quality of thinking.

When you improve the quality of your thinking,
you change the quality of your life—sometimes instantly!

Just as positive words can make someone smile, and/or, a well-timed amusing quote can make someone laugh, your own thoughts react to the world in real-time. You have this control!

In fact, you have complete control over only one thing in the universe — Your Thinking — and that’s where motivational quotes come in!

To keep your motivation, you have to use each day as an opportunity for improvement, to be better, and to get a little bit closer to your goals. It might sound like a lot of work—and with your busy schedule—next to impossible. But you can do it!

Self-talk is so important—THINK RIGHT!

Motivational words, yes, they’re just words.

But they’re positive words; they will keep you on track.
Remember, you are only as young as the last time you changed your mind.

Keep your thoughts and self-talk fun and productive and always reaching for advancement.

VERY LITTLE IS NEEDED TO MAKE A GREAT LIFE.

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I HOPE THE FOLLOWING WORDS INSPIRE YOU >>

Let these words about eating inspire you.

1. “You are what you eat, so don’t be fast, cheap, easy, or fake.” – Unknown
It’s true – you are what you eat. Foods that contain unnatural ingredients are surprisingly quick to prepare and cheap. But you will pay a heavy price later. So, be mindful of the food choices you make now.

2. “If you keep good food in your fridge, you will eat good food.” – Errick McAdams
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever got! A kitchen makeover (includes your fridge and pantry) is essential if you want to eat healthily. No matter how much self-control you have, if you have unhealthy food stashed in your fridge or kitchen cabinets, you will end up eating it. So, toss out the unhealthy foods and re-stock them with healthy foods.

3. “By choosing healthy over skinny you are choosing self-love over self-judgment.” – Steve Maraboli
Healthy doesn’t mean skinny. We all have different genes, different body types, and different shapes. Eat healthily, stay active, and take less stress. Skinny or not, you will be in better shape than when you were eating unhealthy and not working out.

4. “Your diet is a bank account.
Good food choices are good investments.” – Bethenny Frankel
Think about it, good food is equal to a good investment. Money is not the only type of investment. You invest in yourself as well. You learn new skills and also pay for your food. Why not pay for food that’s healthy and gives a return in terms of good health and a fit body and mind? Choose right.

5. “Eat breakfast like a king,
lunch like a prince,
and dinner like a pauper.” – Adelle Davis
Never miss breakfast!
Have a light lunch!
Have a lighter dinner.

6. “Healthy eating is a way of life, so it’s important to establish routines that are simple, realistically, and ultimately livable.” – Horace
You are the one to choose what you eat, and, I am sure you know of thousands of diets. Most people fail to continue eating right because it’s different. Choose a diet that goes best with your food habits, make it a habit and part of your lifestyle over a period instead of a stint for three days. If you are used to eating apples, nothing wrong with that. Make sure you practice portion control and consume a source of protein and lots of veggies with it.

7. “Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food.” – Hippocrates
Food should be your medicine. Fruits, veggies, whole grains, healthy fats, lean proteins, seeds, and nuts are loaded with vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that you need and they have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

8. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu
Start small, just start now. You might be craving unhealthy food and going back and forth deciding whether or not to have it. Don’t! Take control and action now, and you will not feel the same kind of craving tomorrow.

9. “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” – Jim Rohn
Well, of course, that’s obvious, yes? It’s not the four walls of your house, but your body is where you live. Keep it clean, keep it healthy. Choose foods that are good for you.

10. “The greatest wealth is Health.” – Unknown
Money cannot buy happiness or health. And it sure can buy a little bit of time. But why settle for “a little bit” when you can LIVE a long and fulfilling life for yourself?

11. “If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it.” – Common Sense
It’s as simple as that! Check the ingredients list at the back of packaged/canned/bottled foods. Most people don’t. If you see more than five ingredients, and you take some time to pronounce them, put them back on the rack.

12. “You don’t have to eat less, you just have to eat right.” – Unknown
It’s not how much you eat, you are the one to choose what you eat. Eating less is not going to make you healthy. It sure can make you skinny fat, which is not healthy either. Eat. But choose the most nutritious foods and practice portion control.

13. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” – Proverb
Apples and other fruits have many health benefits. Include at least two fruits in your daily diet. Your health will improve, and so will your nails, skin, and hair.

14. “Health is a relationship between you and your body.” – Terri Guillemets
The middleman is food. Take charge. Depending on the type of food you consume, your health will either improve or deteriorate.

15. “The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.” – Ann Wigmore
Think fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, healthy fats, and plant and animal lean proteins.

COMPOSE A NOBLE BOOK AND WRITE A BEST-SELLER.
YOU ARE AMAZING—PLAY YOUR PART!

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MY DAILY JOTTINGS >>

Do you keep track of our daily doings?
At times, hard to remember the past week, but brings life fuller meaning by writing.
You might try keeping a daily writing of what you accomplish each week.
Let me know how it goes.

At home, the horses, the Kit, and the Jemma are quite happy

6/5—Today, Beth and I discovered this video.
We will be changing much in our eating habits.
Might it help you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-xrOHpDMj4&t=4046s

Also, I installed a new mailbox for Nancy up the street.
Just used the right tools, and now the mailman (or mailmame) is happy.6/6—In my last blog post I wrote that it is time to get in shape.

I need to also, so I joined >>

https://www.facebook.com/TalmadgeFitnessandWellnessComplex/

My Humana health insurance covers the cost which is nice.
Additionally, I rode my bike over there, to add to my workout.

It’s funny to me that someone who, perhaps, lives only one or two miles away, loads up everything in their car and drives to where they can work out. Why don’t they walk, or run, or bike, to get there, so it adds to their workout?

Plus, with the increases in gas prices, you really should be using your bike to get you there (anywhere), as often as you can.

Today we found a baby snake as we’ve done before. Not knowing if he was safe or not, I held the little one by the end of the tail.

6/7—Dandelions, they’re everywhere. If you have a lot of them all over the lawn, it can be very nice. Yet, they seem to take over and I didn’t want that on our grassy areas. So, out they come. But, they are not wasted, the rabbits love eating them. Without them on the lawn, the grassy areas do not even need to be cut.

The ramp I built had plane wood that I got from a few pallets. Today I painted the ramp white, just for now. Turned out nice. Building and adding to every day, I love that I am able to.

As I’ve written, I want the entire area of our yard to not be wasted. As I am building the areas for growing vegetables, the lawn and dandelion area are getting smaller. Eventually, the whole yard will be growing eatable merchandise.

6/8—My hand has been having significant pain a few times each week. I don’t know what brings it on, but it is very intense, like someone smashed my hand with a hammer. And, this happens in a very small area of my hand.

Today I went to see Dr. Christian at Orthopedic associates of the Lakelands. They put me through four x-rays of my hand, he found nothing. As I said, it flairs up just once or twice a day for just a few minutes. But, I find the pain to be intense.

Dr. Christian set me up to see a hand specialist.

Bought a sombrero (2 bucks) today to shade my head. 

6/9—Went to Gary’s land to clear more roots and rocks from the pathway. Things are turning out quite nice there.

6/10—Last night was kind of like a scary dream. Beth had giving me some Cannabidiol (CBD) Gummies to help me sleep, which has worked in the past. CBD—the abbreviation for cannabidiol, a substance that’s generally derived from the hemp plant—has skyrocketed in popularity over the last five years.

I found these words >> “Some of these research-backed uses of CBD even suggest it may help you feel relaxed. That can feel a bit like a high, though it’s not intoxicating. Research suggests CBD is beneficial for relieving symptoms of anxiety and depression. It might also ease inflammation and pain”.

At 8am I had a dentist appointment that was 40 miles away. I was driving extra carefully, knowing my mind was not as sharp as it usually is.

Per last night, Awakening at about midnight, I did not hear soundly, talk very audibly, or see clearly.

I was so scared!

Beth told me to relax and go to sleep, I heard her and thought, “no fucking way, if I go to sleep I will never wake up.” That is where my mind went, a very chilling place.

I did not know what was happening, my mind could not comprehend anything distinct. I remained quiet and knew I could get back on track. Somehow I had been drugged and had no control.

Awake from about midnight to 2 am, I tried to, but could not reenter my sleep brain—3 am, awake for the day I was.

I’ve never used drugs and you can see why I shant.

And, as you would know, I will never partake of this CBD ever again. Actually, my mind is still a little slow from the drug. As I know that I am being careful what I take up next. I have to use my brain, I would hate to lose that.

Now it is 2:30 in the afternoon and I am back home with Beth. The tiredness from not sleeping is affecting me now.

Here is Beth lounging in the hammock

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YOUR CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK >>

Is eating an unconscious habit for you?
Do you eat just because you are used to it?
Take control, learn to train your mind to eat right and it will add much to your life.

This week, take at least a few days (I will be doing a week or two) and do not eat any food, drink fluids, though.
“FAST”—as they say.
Report back to me how it goes for you.

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NEXT BLOG >>

I will be starting my 1 to 2 week fast on Monday.
You will hear details in the next blog.

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THIS WEEK, MAKE YOUR LIFE SOMETHING
THAT YOU CAN WRITE ABOUT!