The Beck Diet Solution: Day 11

Thursdays here on the blog is supposed to be about my "bookish thoughts," but because I realized I have stopped sharing the lessons from the Beck Diet Solution and would like to go back to it, I decided to create a little space in the blogosphere for my bookish thoughts. It's still not as ready as I want it to be, but feel free to hop on my newest blog.


For today, subject's about differentiating hunger from desire and cravings.

I admit, on days that I don't exercise, or during my couch potato days, my mind always tell me I want to eat, even if I just ate a few minutes ago. I guess "doing nothing" sort of allows the mind to think hunger thoughts.

In the book, Dr. Beck shared:

• You haven't eaten for many hours and really felt ravenous. That empty sensation in your stomach, often accompanied by stomach rumblings was hunger.
• You ate a big meal and yet you still wanted to continue to eat more. That was a desire.
• You had a very strong urge to eat, which was accompanied by a feeling of tension and an unpleasant yearning sensation in your mouth, throat, and body. That was a craving.

There was something in this lesson about having a hunger monitoring chart - checking how the stomach feels before, midway, immediately after, and 20 minutes after eating. Well, I guess I don't have to do that anymore because I have set myself to eat just the three main meals in the day, although I would say that even after eating my meal, I'd still feel "hungry," but then again, I am used to eating lots during meal time (I can eat like a truck driver), so adjusting the food intake is an everyday battle for me.

Sometimes I still give in to the desires - like when I go to the kitchen to have a glass of water and I'd see some food inside the fridge or see some packed snacks (junk or not) around, I oftentimes can't control the urge to eat some. I don't know if giving in to cravings and desires is a bad thing, but I guess I have to control it.