True Hunger – Are you Eating Less of More or More of Less?

Warning: this post may be a real mind twister, but hang in there.

When I first launched Nutrient Rich.com in 2005, our motto was “eat better, not less”. The idea was simple, the better you eat, the less you need to eat.

That original tag line seemed simple; however, it also opened up many dynamics and raised many questions.

For instance, the biggest question was; can you eat unlimited amounts of plant based, whole, nutrient rich foods?

Well, the answer to that question is NO!

At first maybe, when you first begin your transition from nutrient poor eating to Nutrient Rich, healthy eating it may seem like you can and that you should. But then, something changes. The more you eat nutrient rich, the more your body becomes nutrient rich and then you simply don’t need as much food.

The law of quality selection kicks in.

Believe me, that was a difficult lesson for me to learn especially since I was used to eating so much food in my earlier days as a bodybuilder, in the off season that is

Over the years we continued to talk about eating better, not less, a play on “taste great, less filling”  slogan from the famed Miller Beer commercials but we have evolved in our thinking as we realized that it’s not as simple to just say “eat better, not less”. It’s probably one reason why we brand Nutrient Rich as the next level in healthy eating, because there are so many concepts to learn when it comes to Nutrient Rich versus the “better” but often still nutrient poor way of eating that most people do.

So in this post I’m going to share a few more thoughts on the subject.

Are you eating less of more, or more of less?

If you find yourself eating less of more, you are eating a Nutrient Rich diet. If you find yourself eating more of less, you are are eating a nutrient poor diet or a diet that is nutrient barren.You can learn more about The Food Class System here.

Eating “Less” is only possible when you are eating nutrient rich food.

Eating “More” is driven by taking in less nutrients, nutrient poor foods, and needing to eat more to get more nutrients; unless you are merely eating for stress or recreation which is a different subject.

conversely,

More nutrients equals nutrient rich foods, and less nutrient equals nutrient poor foods.

So you can see, depending on what “more or less” is attached to, it creates a converse dynamic.

The more nutrient rich foods you eat, the less you need to eat. You don’t have focus on eating less, it will happen naturally. This is not possible when you eat a nutrient poor diet, unless you require that chronic feeling of hunger that let’s people know they are dieting. Those people only feel like they are doing something when they feel hungry all the time.

When you are eating a nutrient rich diet you don’t have a chronic feeling of hunger – you just aren’t hungry in the same way. I found that I only experience true hunger, a term that Dr. Fuhrman sourced, after I haven’t eaten for a while, or after prolonged physical activity where my immediately accessible nutrient reserves are depleted.

The less I ate, “naturally”, not “proactively”, the more I could experience true hunger.

The more I ate of less, (nutrient poor) or for the wrong reasons, the less I could experience true hunger.

Here are two reasons:

1. Nutrient poor foods bring with them a withdrawal factor, headaches etc. that are often confused as “true hunger”. This is because nutrient poor foods are not just nutrient poor from what they don’t contain. They are nutrient poor because of what they do contain that the body does not need.
2. Living in a chronically anabolic state (meaning you are always eating and keeping the bodies energy in a position where it can rarely focus on digestion, assimilation and utilization) is not a good thing.It’s also probably the biggest detractor from slower aging and longevity. Just ask the Calorie Restriction advocates.
   • Note: as you may have noticed, I’m not a fan of calorie restriction.  I believe that proactive restriction of calories leads to the wrong mindset and I have seen many a CR (calorie restriction) advocates take it way to far. This is one case where more can be less in the wrong kind of way.

You can over eat with more of less and when you eat more of more nutrient rich foods for the wrong reasons and over “nutrify” the body that only ends up leading to excess FAT!

It’s very important for you to understand true hunger. Once you do, you will start making the right decisions that are best for your PerformanceLifestyle.

I told you this post might be a mind twister.