You are not yourself when you are hungry…but before you grab a snickers bar, there is a way to handle your hanger.
Han-gry: irritable or angry due to being hungry.
Many of us have been there, our stomachs are growling, and our patience is hanging by a thread.
So why does this happen and more importantly, how can we stop it?
By eating throughout the day, we are burning calories rather than using fat stores for energy.
Here is an analogy I love: Picture yourself going to Costco…you buy food in a bunch of food in bulk and bring it home.
You put the fruit on the counters, some food in the fridge, but there just isn’t enough room for all the food you bought. You decide to store the rest in the deep freezer in your basement.
A couple days later, your family comes and eats the food on the counters and in the fridge. They are starving. You hear cries of “Where is the food???” followed by the slamming of the fridge door.
No one remembers that you stored extra food in the basement’s deep freezer. Those meals sit untouched as you head back out to the grocery store to restock the fridge.
Being a sugar burner is like being the family who eats only to food they see. Being fat adapted refers to remembering that you stored your extra food in the deep freezer.
The food in the deep freezer is the same as the fat stores in your body. When we get more than all the energy we need from our meal, and we have extra food that isn’t needed, that extra food is sent to the liver to be converted into fat.
If you are a sugar burner, your body doesn’t remember to use the fat as a source of fuel, only the calories from the most recent meals.
Being hangry is like the upset family members demanding food rather than going to the basement.
How can you resolve this?
Well, just like you must remind your family there is food in the deep freezer, you have to train your body to use the fat stores for energy when calories are not readily available.
I recommend some form of intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating.
If you have diabetes, be extra cautious and test your blood sugars as blood sugars under 70 mg/dL are dangerous!
Start with a 12 hour fast. This is usually pretty easy as if you stop eating about 3 hours before your bedtime and sleep for 8 hours. For instance, you stop eating at 7pm and do not eat anything (with the exception of water, unsweetened tea or coffee–no sugary creamer or sugar, you can do like a splash of milk or half and half) until 7am. (I have written about this in a previous blog here.)
After a few days, consider extending the fast by 15-30 minutes. Maybe you wait to eat until 7:30am then move it to 8am a few days later.
If you are able to move it 16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of an eating window, you will find that you will not be as hungry, irritable or foggy brained. You may find that you actually have more energy and can think clearer.
Your body goes into a process called ketosis and starts to burn the fat stores.
You will not only feel better, but you will also start to lose weight and find your blood sugars start to regulate.
I recommend that if you decide to do time restricted eating or fasting, make sure you touch base with your health care provider, be very careful with monitoring your blood sugars, and be sure that you incorporate plenty of healthy fats (like avocados, coconut oil, olive oil, nuts, seeds), protein, and fiber in your meals so that you are not starving! We are trying to avoid feeling hangry, not cause it.
Let me know how it goes!