Why is the urge to eat totally suppressed when you know you have to fast?

[TandemWalker]

I had to go for blood work this morning. So last night, I had to fast, with no food or beverages (except for water) after dinner.

Here's the thing. When I would normally get urges to munch on something two or three times during the evening, last night I didn't get any such urges. I didn't suffer any hunger pains at all. I didn't have to combat anything. Why is that? Normally, I'd be reaching for a handful of nuts, or a fruit ... 

Well, I have to assume that the brain took over. I knew I had to fast, so the brain automatically suppressed all the urges to eat that I would normally get. No doubt that I am not the only one to have experienced this.

My question is this - would it not be wonderful if we could harvest that trigger that caused the brain to suppress the desire to reach for more food, so that we could invoke it at will?

I guess if we knew the answer to this, we could do away with every diet fad ever invented. But seriously, I just find it amazing that I didn't have to combat anything. I enjoyed the evening, watching our favorite TV shows with my wife, as we normally do; and didn't even once get the feeling that I was hungry for something. I find this mindboggling, really! I'm sure this is nothing new. I'm sure it happened before and perhaps I never took notice of it. But I did last night!  And I wish I could replicate this every night without draining my blood supply! 

Any thoughts!

TW

[SunsetRunner]

Do yoga, to increase the ability of self-control.

However, do eat nutritiously, and do exercise.

[TandemWalker]

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@yarddog wrote:

Do yoga, to increase the ability of self-control.

However, do eat nutritiously, and do exercise.

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Oh, but I do eat nutritiously, I do have self-control and I do have a pretty intensive daily exercise regimen. The question was: How to suppress the urges to munch on something in the evenings! I didn't have to suppress anything last night - I just didn't get any urges. Why is that? And how to trigger the same mechanism, how to replicate this such that the urges to much on something in the evening are surpressed effortlessly, like they were last night?

TW

[MikeBuck · Accepted solution]

Its just habits we have created by eating at nights.  I started to reastrict myself to only eating prior to 7 pm.  Hard at first but easy to create habits.  After a week, I no longer felt the urge to eat after 7. But it is even easier to reverse that habit.  One night eating after seven and its like I am starting from scratch.

[SunsetRunner]

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@TandemWalker wrote:

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@yarddog wrote:

Do yoga, to increase the ability of self-control.

However, do eat nutritiously, and do exercise.

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Oh, but I do eat nutritiously, I do have self-control and I do have a pretty intensive daily exercise regimen. The question was: How to suppress the urges to munch on something in the evenings! I didn't have to suppress anything last night - I just didn't get any urges. Why is that? And how to trigger the same mechanism, how to replicate this such that the urges to much on something in the evening are surpressed effortlessly, like they were last night?

TW

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OK, if not yoga, then it's just resolute will power ...

Being "forced" into it (psychologically, your mind said no, because you knew you couldn't),

so now you need to "pretend to be what you want to be, and you'll be what you pretend".

[TandemWalker]

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@MikeBuck wrote:

Its just habits we have created by eating at nights.  I started to reastrict myself to only eating prior to 7 pm.  Hard at first but easy to create habits.  After a week, I no longer felt the urge to eat after 7. But it is even easier to reverse that habit.  One night eating after seven and its like I am starting from scratch.

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Thank you Mike. Yes, I'm sure bad habits is part of it. But why did my bad habit suddenly quit on me last night, just because I had blood work to do this morning? There was a trigger. The fact that I had to fast somehow blocked the urges. I didn't have to make any effort last night - I didn't even think about eating anything, is was effortless.

TW

[SunsetRunner]

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@TandemWalker wrote:

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@MikeBuck wrote:

Its just habits we have created by eating at nights.  I started to reastrict myself to only eating prior to 7 pm.  Hard at first but easy to create habits.  After a week, I no longer felt the urge to eat after 7. But it is even easier to reverse that habit.  One night eating after seven and its like I am starting from scratch.

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Thank you Mike. Yes, I'm sure bad habits is part of it. But why did my bad habit suddenly quit on my last night, just because I had blood work to do this morning? There was a trigger. The fact that I had to fast somehow blocked the urges. I didn't have to make any effort last night - I didn't even think about eating anything, is was effortless.

TW

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OK, one more time ...

The trigger was, that you were forced to do it, so you resigned yourself to it.

Now you need to exercise enough self-convincing, so you will do it.

[TandemWalker]

@SunsetRunner - Yes, for sure willpower is a big part of it, along with breaking the cycle of bad habits.

But the night I had to fast for blood work the next day, I didn't have to use any willpower or make any effort at all. So yes, my mind switched off those impulses to munch, because I knew I had to fast. I understand that. But the mind was at work, correct? It was not willpower at work, since it was completely effortless. So it is the power of the mind that caused me to spend the whole night without feeling any urges to eat; and I didn't even feel hungry until we got back home from the medical clinic the day of the blood tests. So it follows that our mind has the capacity to suppress hunger pains. 

The power of the mind to suppress pain has received an awful lot of air time over the years. If you Google it, you'll find plenty to read on the subject. So what I was getting at with my question is simple - if my mind was smart enough to suppress the urges to munch that evening when I had to fast, how does one go about harvesting that power and be able to turn the swtich off when we need to?

Here is an interesting link on the subject: Mind-body medicine.

TW

[kabooper · Accepted solution]

I think you syched yourself into not craving because you knew you couldn't. but I also think you are the exception to the rule. when I know I CAN'T eat. I am starving and have all sorts of cravings. even for things I don't normally eat!

[WendyB · Accepted solution]

I agree with @MikeBuck Its a habit and just needs to be broken. I used to think I needed that something else at night. But just chnaged my way of thinking and I quit it. took a while.

[TandemWalker]

Thank you @SunsetRunner , @MikeBuck , @kabooper  and @WendyB  for taking the time to respond to my original post.

So yes, I understand that snacking and munching in the evening is a bad habit, one that can be brought to a halt if one really sets his/her mind to do so. And I also agree that even though one can succeed in doing so, one slip and you're back to square one - I know, I've been there!

I also understand that if I didn't feel the urges to snack that evening (because of blood work the next day,) it did indeed had a lot to do with the fact that I knew I couldn't eat. So yes, my mind blocked those signals, I get it. How to replicate this state of mind effortlessly is another matter though, isn't it?

I did a lot of web surfing yesterday and came across this link: Mindfulness or surfing the urge. I tried it last night and it worked. That may not be exactly what I was looking for, be cause it was not effortless, I had to purposely engage into an exercise. Notwithstanding, this technique actually worked for me last night. I guess I'll have to wait and see if I can replicate this going forward. We all know that if we're strong enough to not indulge when the hunger pains show up, that they will eventually pass. They may last five minutes or 30 minutes; but eventually the feeling will vanish. But this little mind exercise here allowed me to play with the thought and be mindful of the feeling ... And guess what, the urge went by the way side in no time! I used Sarah Bowen's 8-min audio soothing file at the bottom of that article.

It's an interesting subject, I think. I am curious to see if anyone else will come forward with other suggestions that, like this one, would allow us to quench cravings, perhaps not effortlessly but almost. 

Thanks again everyone! Much appreciated.

    TW     

[WendyB]

Thanks for the link @TandemWalker  I found it very interesting. Will check it out more when Im not working

[dancefoxtrot]

Hi Tandem walker,

I don't know the answer exactly but when I have to fast I do. Simple as that if a craving comes up it is completely out of the question. Some people fast a couple days a week. No food after dinner period.

Once they decide clearly they do it. They drink water instead of eating.

Thanks for the mindfulness link that I'll check out. 

The mind is a powerful thing.

Thanks,

Barbara 

[TandemWalker]

@dancefoxtrot 

Hi Barbara.

I agree. Obviously, when you know you have to fast, you just do it. But admittedly, it is usually not effortless, especially when in the habit of munching a little at night - not unhealthy foods, but a handful of nuts and piece of fruit for example; or a couple of home-made cookies with a glass of milk, that sort of things. 

But that particular evening prior to my bloodwork, there were no cravings, no urges, nothing; same thing the morning of the test, and I didn't feel any urgency to rush home afterwards to eat. We just got home, got a pot of coffee going and prepared breakfast as we normally do every morning. No hunger pains.

I am 66 years old. So sure enough, this was not the first time I had to fast for bloodwork. But I can't remember ever another experiecne where fasting was so easy. 

As for the mindfullness link in my earlier post, it is obviously directed at people with alcohol and substance abuse. It's a relaxation technique that takes your mind off the craving for a few minutes and reinforces your willpower to fight off the urge.  

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I think it's an interesting subject, the power of the mind. On that particular evening, it turned off a switch that made that evening and the next morning enjoyable, free of any urges whatsoever.

Have a nice day.

TW

[josephz2va]

You want to be careful as far as fasting goes. Many only need to fast for a day like colonoscopy. But overlengthening it for days to weeks to a straight month:

Potential risks

Death occurs if fasting is pursued to the point of complete starvation. People have died from a Liquid Modified Protein Diet during which they lost an average of 35% of their body weight over a 5-month period.

Changes in blood chemistry during fasting, in combination with certain medications, may have dangerous effects, such as increased chance of acetaminophenpoisoning in people with hepatotoxicity.Excessive fasting for calorie restrictive purposes, accompanied by intense fears of becoming overweight, are associated with mental disturbances, including anorexia nervosa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasting

[TandemWalker]

@josephz2va - Oh, I agree, absolutely. But this was never about long periods of fasting, but just having to fast one evening, because of scheduled blood tests the next morning; and the realization that the hole experience was effortless.

    TW     

[josephz2va]

Nah. I've fasted that short.

"It's important to fast 12 hours before your surgical procedure" says my doctors. So skip dinner and focus hard enough not to eat or you know eat dinner at snack time. I've had 30+ surgeries, so yup. Tons of fasting then. Left leg and right ear had quite a few of those fasting times.

Most of mine was 8:00 am, 9:00 am. So I shut off foods at 8:00 pm, 9:00 pm. Sleep that time, wake up with sufficient amount of time to drive up and be in 15 minutes to the appt.

[Mermaid3011]

I have made that same experience after juice fasting. 

The body craves solid food for a short while and eventually gives up because it's not getting anywhere with the cravings. It's a very old human mechanism in the brain. 

A lot of people who fast for more than 3 days usually experience this. The brain stops demanding food and starts saving it's energy that it would use to "crave" and it would use to "digest" solid food for your vital organs and brain to function and to make use of whatever resources you have (stored energy as in fat and muscle).

Luckily most of the energy is used by using your fat depots, but loss of a bit of muscle tissue also comes with that. 

Watch the movie "Sick, fat and nearly dead" - it's really well explained in there what happens when you put your body into the situation of fasting. You are still giving your body the carbs and micro nutrients needed for a fully functioning brain and body, but the fact that your body doesnt have to digest much food gives you the energy to keep going.

It's pretty cool. Obviously you can't juice fast forever, but you can use it as a kick starter and at the same time create new habits as in "I don't eat after 7 pm"... 🙂 Just an idea.... 

[Malmo-Bo]

Hi TandemWalker, 

Did you drink a lot of water the night you fasted? That could explain the lack of cravings. If you were consuming more water than usual in the evening that could have kiboshed your usual snack craving hunger! I know when I think I want something sweet in the PM I usually down about 500ml water over 20 minutes and say goodbye to those 'bored hunger' feelings. 🙂

[cadenny]

I so agree. This became a problem when I was going to school at night and then I would eat dinner when I got home I'm still doing the same thing 5 years later. I'm down to just snacking but still not a good thing for my health