Appetite Thermostat

My journey to weight loss made me really get interested about the organs of my body that works with food digestion. The desire to get acquainted with the organs that help with distributing nutrients to my organs has helped me with understanding the benefits of weight loss to my stomach, small intestines, colon and my blood supply; so with my kidney and bladder.

From what I gathered from WebMD on line:

Myth or Fact: Digestion takes place primarily in the stomach.

Answer: Myth. The major part of the digestive process takes place in the small intestine. The stomach takes in the food, then churns it and breaks it into tiny particles called “chyme.” The chyme are then released in small batches into the small intestine, where most digestion occurs.

Contrary to popular belief, foods do not digest in the order they are eaten. Everything lands in the stomach where it’s all churned together, and when it’s ready it’s released into the small intestine together.

Myth or Fact: If you cut down on your food intake, you’ll eventually shrink your stomach so you won’t be as hungry.

Answer: Myth. Once you are an adult, your stomach pretty much remains the same size — unless you have surgery to intentionally make it smaller. Eating less won’t shrink your stomach, but it can help to reset your “appetite thermostat” so you won’t feel as hungry, and it may be easier to stick with your eating plan.

FROM: Breatharian Mony Vital PhD, author, Ageless Living:

“The human stomach is the same size as your fist, eating more food than the size of your fist, 3/4 to 1 cup, causes abnormal distention of the stomach.
Most people would live better, longer and healthier if they ate 1/3rd of their daily intake and limited portion intake to the size of their fist.”
 

Eat better portion sizes. Remember that your stomach is about the size of your fist. Don’t expect to stuff 10 times that amount of food into it without negative consequences. Something many people don’t realize is that your stomach will stretch when you’re used to eating a lot. If you only eat small amounts of food at a time, your stomach won’t stretch out so much. With a smaller stomach, it won’t take as much to make you feel full.

FROM: Dr. Joseph Mercola, this I gathered:

• Calorie counting may make portion control easier. The average adult needs 2000 calories a day.
• Don’t worry about how many calories you’re eating in a particular meal. The calories only matter over the course of the entire day. You can break up your calories into many smaller meals, two large ones, or anything in between. It’s up to you. Breaking up your meals may be better for your metabolism, however.

With this information from these health experts, I can team up with my organs to better deal with food I eat by not loading them up with too much eats; that they have to work for me in overtime phase, which is not really what they are created to do. I’ve learned that for them to work to my health advantage is to give them just enough and feed them their nutritional daily needs for them to work properly. They would then work much better with my microbiome  that also influences my body weight and health.

What is Satiety?

The dictionary states that Satiety is the quality or state of being fed or gratified to or beyond capacity. With regard to a losing weight journey, it is when the food ingested reaches the small intestine where you feel satisfied.

But then again, it depends on the food combination that we eat that will have an effect where you can feel full for at least 3 hours and you don’t feel to have a snack before the next meal.

There are times, for breakfast, that I can have a homemade smoothie consisting of small portions of raw spinach, kale, broccoli, carrots, blackberries, raspberries and banana and seeds (hemp seeds, chia seeds or flax seeds), and I would last without nibbling anything for snack for about 3 hours. But there are times, that I would need to have more for breakfast to completely feel satisfied, by having whole grain cereal and non-fat milk that I will feel satisfied. It will hit the spot of satiety. Until lunch.

This morning, I had Berry Fruitful Cereal by Kashi -139 calories, 133 grams of strawberries -43 calories and an organic fat free milk – 60 calories mixed together in a bowl. Total calories I consumed so far is 242 calories. And it’s been two hours now that I did not need to snack on anything. And I still feel full. When I eat cereal without fruit, I feel hungry in no time. The additional fiber from the strawberries helped me reach satiety.

Breakfast is the most important meal for me, as it helps me not to overeat later in the day as I calorie count. I aim for at least less than 300 calories for breakfast, so I have enough to cover my entire meal plan later in the day. To continue to lose weight I have to eat less than 1,433 calories per day. My weight was down to 113.1 the day before.

Yesterday, I’ve decided to eat a little bit more and go over my daily calorie allowance and find out how much I would gain back, without any exercise involved. I had a total of 1,520 calories eaten, eating 87 calories more. My total breakfast intake was 542 calories, 640 calories for lunch and 340 calories of snack. This morning I gained 6 ounces from 113.1 to 113.7 lbs.

In this weight loss journey, I do not eat dinner nor snack at night. To lose weight the following day, I have to eat about 711 calories or less to lose 4 to 5 ounces a day. I eat early lunch/dinner as early as 3 pm with some snack to feel satisfied the rest of the evening without grabbing anything else to eat and still feel satisfied until bedtime. I drink plenty of water the entire day, at least 8 glasses, and it helped me feel satiation without thinking of anything else to eat.

With this weight loss plan, I always make sure that I either have fish, beef, seafood or chicken for lunch. And always with a bowl of veggie salad and some brown rice mixed with Quinoa. When I have extra calories to play with, I would snack on fruits, like guava, cherries, apple or watermelon early afternoon before or after late lunch. Or I’d have some unsalted garlic peanuts for my protein intake. Nuts are high in calories, so I’ve learned to eat them moderately, even those unsalted sunflower seeds have sky-high calories!

Though I ate 87 calories more than my daily allowance yesterday, I was not feeling so full, but well satisfied. I noticed though, that I was sleepy and needing an afternoon nap. With less than my daily allowance of 1,433, I feel energized and not sleepy at all, unless, I did not get my 8 hour of sleeping time at night.

I changed my weight plan with a different target weight of 107 lbs.; since 113 is not so far from my original target weight of 110.

For me, it’s fun to know or be knowledgeable on calories. Understanding the importance of calories in, I’ve learned that I was excessively eating more than I should; and that I do not need the extra food intake to live. Less is more even in meals. Knowledge is power. Getting enough food wisdom and understanding on the benefits of enjoying eating healthy would lead to a purposeful living.

Food Digest

In this journey of losing weight the proper way by eating nutritious food, I’ve read and researched articles upon articles on the right food to eat to sustain good health. Yesterday, as I was finishing up my lunch of fish, brown rice quinoa and mixed salad greens, I started wondering about how our food are digested and processed in our tummy; and how much our stomach can hold as we feed it. I’ve learned that our stomach is the size of our fist that can expand comfortably to hold 1 liter of food. When we swallow our chewed food, it goes to the esophagus and then to the stomach.  The stomach does its job with the food we ingested before it goes to the small intestine. I’ve learned that to know when we feel satisfy with the food we ate, it would take 20 minutes from the time we swallowed our food to feel satiation. Health experts suggest not to eat too fast and learn to chew many times to give the food a chance to properly get digested. The reason for this is the stomach does not release the next batch of food we swallowed to the small intestine until it is able to do its own job of breaking down the ball of food and extracting nutrients from it. In the small intestine is where we started feeling full and it gives signals to the brain that our body has enough food and it’s time to stop eating. The stomach is the food storage or the holding tank of what we ate. And if we eat more than 1 liter of food, the stomach will get cramped. Maybe that explains why we get stomach ache from so much food we ingested.

The stomach which is the size of a close hand, expanding it to allow 1 liter of food is not really part of the normal function of the stomach. When we eat dense food such as meat and chicken, it takes the stomach 6 to 8 hours for this protein to be released. And depending on how we chewed this type of protein, they may linger in the stomach longer as the stomach is trying to break it down. Health Experts say meat may stay in our intestines 24 to 72 hours before it’s released. Red meat takes 1 to 3 days to complete the digestion process because of fat content and high protein. It takes 30 to 40 hours to complete the digestion process and elimination from the small intestine to the large intestine (colon).

I can see now why research say we can last without food for 3 days because we still have the food we ate in our system 3 days ago, especially protein food or animal protein. Vegetables and fruits take a back seat in the stomach when eaten with animal protein to allow this slow digested food to be let go to the small intestine. While waiting, the veggies and fruits get fermented in the stomach.

I’ve noticed that if I have 2 glasses of water in the morning, followed by my regular veggie and fruit smoothies, things seem to work well in my stomach and I would have a  food waste elimination after an hour or two if I’m not adding any animal protein to it first thing. Now, it makes sense why the food pyramid showed a plate with majority of fruits and vegetables and small portion of animal products. This type of eating is what our digestive system prefers as it helps with digestion and we do not compromise the health of our organs. Working hard our digestive tracts can take its toll on them on the long term. Which makes us prone to chronic illnesses and diseases in our body.

Bottom line for me, I don’t need extra food in my body that I don’t need especially junk food, loads of sugar and salty foods. Exhausting my stomach is cruelty to it when it’s only a size of a fist. My small intestine is completely satisfied with small portion of food by the time it reaches it. And if I have a small portion of protein such as meat or chicken or pork, which I seldom eat, I have to remember the slow and long digestive process before I can eliminate the waste from it after my small intestine extract the nutrients from it. I always have to remember to love my body because no one can love it as much as I do by not abusing the natural process of its creation.

Successful weight loss

I never knew losing weight can be easy even at the age when metabolism gets slower. I’ve been on and off with dieting through the years. Bought books to learn the secrets of losing weight successfully. I’ve tried different programs from Atkins to Weight Watchers, and Paleo in recent months.

I was successful in losing 20 pounds when I was younger after having a baby. My weight hit the roof when I could not get into a size 9 anymore. I clearly remember when I went into a panic mode, and I immediately went into a strict dieting, barely eating and then, supplementing my body with a diet pill daily. I lost the weight in a matter of a few months, but my body was experiencing so much fatigue and I was so hungry all the time. I was always getting a headache. But I still managed to lose the extra weight and I especially like that I reached my weight goal where I can wear my size small outfits again. I eventually incorporated exercising to my diet plan to be able to maintain my ideal weight. I’ve exercised everyday. Bought exercise videos, and got different exercise equipment. That was my workout regimen each and everyday of my life. I also did not go overboard with food. Unbeknownst to me, I was dehydrated all the time. I’d get dizzy most days and I lack good sleep. Since I was not eating properly, which I was aware of, I’ve taken supplements of Vitamins and Minerals, with additional Vitamin C.

My life was so hectic with work and socializing; work hard, play hard was my motto. I was able to maintain my ideal weight for quite sometime; until I was in a phase of my life where fine dining in a good restaurant became a thing with me and my hubby. We worked so hard on weekdays, so why not splurge with food on Fridays and weekends. Especially when work was so stressful, I felt comforted with dining in a restaurant. I am not into fast foods then and even now. Not that I knew already the pitfall effects of eating junk foods in our body system. I was just not attracted to foods that can be cooked so fast in no time. From time to time, maybe when things were rushed that I succumbed to having burgers at the fast food joints.

Though I was  still working out, my weight gain started to creep up slowly. For one thing, I stopped weighing myself in the morning. No matter what other people say about weighing everyday, it worked for me when I stepped on the scale each morning. I was able to lose some pounds here and there because I knew what my weight was. I’d workout harder or I’ve avoided eating three meals a day.

When I finally threw caution to the wind as in not weighing each day, started eating out not only in the weekends but almost everyday, my weight went haywire. This was during the time where eating out in newly opened restaurants was the in thing. Everyone at work who can afford to eat out and trying different authentic foods, enjoying sushi, all you can eat seafood places like Todai and the likes were rubbing off on us. And I must admit, my hubby and I had a great time and memories with the abundance of restaurants catering to our taste buds.

The catalyst that broke the camel’s back was when my hubby and I relocated to another state; sold our house and just enjoyed being non working citizens. Food was our best friend. No cares in the world is not a good thing most of the time; especially if it concerns your health. Over indulgence with fine dining has its price– our health. Slowly but surely, I’ve lost my energy. I did not feel so good. I bought a treadmill but if I did not use it all the time, it’s no help to me. When I checked my scale one day, the weight report was not a welcoming change. I’ve got to do something about it.

I’ve started searching online about healthy lifestyle. I’ve learned so much about plant based food. That vegetables and fruits can do wonders to your body, especially when you eat them raw. Slowly, I’ve changed what we have in our kitchen, refrigerator and pantry.

I’ve Facebook liked almost all of the health gurus and functional doctors and I’ve learned so much from them. When we’ve changed our eating habits to healthy eats of vegetables, fruits, whole grain bread and seeds, grass fed beef, organic chicken, and wild caught fish to nuts and all organic, I feel like I have so much energy. I can tell that plant based food is doing me so much good and I was so happy that feeling sluggish will be a thing of the past.

Knowing that we have embarked into counting on nutritious and healthy food to make us feel good, I rest easy that this eating lifestyle is what we are looking for. Not eating out as much is for the best as we became GMO aware and organic food educated. I’ve learned to cook healthy food which gives me the driver seat in regards to salt and sugar intake. But all food has calories whether good or bad. Although the calories on fruits and vegetables are lower than meat, poultry, wild caught fish, grains, seeds and nuts and other food on the health chart, if you eat a lot of them, you will gain weight or just maintain your current weight. And we still need to lose weight.

So what’s the next best thing we discovered? Counting calories! With the help of an app that we found online, counting calories have made my husband and I lose weight. We bought a food scale so we can get right measurements in regards to grams, ounces, and so on. Weighing ourselves everyday again on our weight scale is the facts of life.  Seeing the weight goes down is the reward of calorie counting. It works for us!  My hubby has lost 27 pounds since May 2015; and I’ve lost 8 pounds so far since June 8th last month. I’m only aiming to lose 10 pounds for now. I am now down to 114 pounds. I’m hoping to get back to 105. Eventually, down to 100 as my ideal weight.

We finally found the right way to lose weight successfully, feel full and be nutritiously healthy. I’ve got into the habit of drinking 8 glasses of water daily; and I’ve been sleeping 7 to 8 hours each night. The rise in energy is amazing, as we continue to eat organic veggies, fruits, brown rice, quinoa, chia seeds, hemp seeds, flax seeds that we mixed in our veggie and fruit nutrablast each morning; and some grass fed meat, organic poultry and wild caught fish and shrimps, in moderation that is, we are on the right track of combating the weight gain we dreaded all these years. There’s hope to losing weight— for us it’s counting calories!

Memorizing Scriptures

Memorizing Scriptures

Joshua 1:8 – Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night, so that you maybe careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is. His good, pleasing and perfect will.

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Recently memorized –

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:8  Finally Brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent and praiseworthy, think about such things.

Recently memorized (July 10):

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you hope and a future.

Proverbs 2:6 For God gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.