One of the reasons I lost weight and have managed to keep it
off so far is that I’ve stopped
listening to my body. I listen to my doctor, I listen to my nutritionist, I
listen to other people who have been successful at maintaining a large weight
loss. If I listen to myself, I just hear a lot of whining. “Oh woe is me, this
is soooooo hard!” “But I don’t wanna stop eating after dinner!” “This is not
fair! Not fair at all!”
Still, I like the idea of listening to my body and, in ways
unrelated to food, I do. When I feel tired, I go to sleep. When I’m cold, I put
on a sweater. When I get really grouchy, I know it’s time to kick back and have
some fun. But when I’m hungry? Whole different story.
The thing is, how do I know I’m really hungry? I think
there’s a big difference between being hungry and having an appetite for
something. We blur that line an awful lot (at least I did), eating not because
our body actually needs nourishment, but because we’re seduced by the
anticipation of a flavor that we’ve become addicted to. Or because we’re in the
habit of eating something sweet after dinner. Or because it’s a family
tradition. Or because whatever. Yada yada yada. There are a million reasons why
we eat; hunger is just one.
And let’s be honest. I know for a fact that chocolate causes
cravings, as does ice cream, and cheddar cheese, and heaping bowls of macaroni.
But does anyone really crave broccoli? Cauliflower? Brussels sprouts? I like
those vegetables and I’m glad when I eat them. But I don’t lay awake at night
having cruciferous dreams. So to say that my body would somehow tell me to eat
those foods because they’re super-nutritious doesn’t jive with my experience –
it’s my head that tells me to eat
those foods. Decades of being extremely overweight have severed any connection between
what my body really needs and what it tells me it wants.
This is the real tragedy of obesity, this disconnection of
our minds, our spirits, our souls, from our bodies. As I can no longer trust
myself, I have to trust others, which is good if they are telling me to do something
that is healthy, not so good if they are selling a scam. I often feel quite self-righteous
about my resistance to dietary mumbo-jumbo since, after all, I’m following the advice
of a doctor, but then I remember that
doctors used to think letting blood was an acceptable treatment. Who’s to say
that a hundred years from now, people won’t laugh at what passes for standard
medical advice now?
So, should you listen to your body? When I have an answer, I’ll
be sure to let you know.
