This is really interesting. I think this is something you couldn't even begin to assess until you were really steady, in order to be able to distinguish what kind of hunger you were having, just like it took me a while to be able to tell real hunger from BE hunger.
Allison

: Hi Everybody:

: After reading today's newsletter I
: was compelled to write and tell my
: tale. I started with Radiant
: Recovery some 15 or so years ago
: when I first picked up Potatoes
: Not Prozac. Kathleen's information
: and generous soul gave me back my
: life. I have lifelong gratitude
: for all her gracious knowledge and
: support.

: But even after "doing the
: food" and being a 7th Stepper
: for many years, I remained over
: 100 pounds overweight. Even with
: continuous exercise.

: At 63 years old, I had completely
: given up the notion of ever losing
: weight but I gave it one more try.
: I went to a eating disorder
: nutritionist/therapist who showed
: me a book called, "Eating
: Less - Say Goodbye to
: Overeating" by Gillian Riley.
: Although this book came out a
: couple of decades ago, I had never
: heard of it.

: By reading this book I realized I was
: addicted to food QUANTITY. In
: short I was eating way too much
: food to lose weight. But when I
: limited my food intake, I felt
: hungry and deprived, even right
: after a full meal. This was not
: carbohydrate craving from blood
: sugar or brain chemistry, which I
: knew well. "Eating Less"
: explains this is caused by a
: neurological pathway from the
: "survival" part of your
: brain (hindbrain and medulla) sent
: to your "decision
: making" part of your brain
: (frontal cortex) saying "You
: must eat or else you will starve
: to death". Or it may be
: hunger triggered by a sensory
: memory. Either way, it is
: basically a "habit" of
: brain thinking you are hungry when
: you are not. I call it Phantom
: Hunger. It took a while to be able
: to distinguish my hunger signals
: as just a habitual thought. Not
: only did they FEEL real, I
: experienced REAL physical hunger,
: REAL gnawing in my stomach - even
: after completing a full meal. But
: I learned to realize it was not
: true hunger and did not ignore it
: or try make it go away - I just
: breathed deeply and sat with it
: and realizing, "this is
: uncomfortable, but in time it will
: go away." And slowly but
: surely, it did. I continue to
: reset my neurological pathways not
: to inundate my thoughts with
: Phantom Hunger. As such, I eat far
: less food, have far more energy
: and at last, after all these
: years, the weight is coming off.

: I would be SO interested in your
: thoughts, Kathleen!!

: With much love and gratitude,
: Barbara Rosenberg