Don't be HANGRY!

Hangry:

When you are so hungry that your lack of food causes you to become angry, frustrated or both.

An amalgum of hungry and angry invented to describe that feeling when you get when you are out at a restaurant and have been waiting over an hour to get the meal that you have ordered.

 

"Damn! Where is that steak I ordered? We've been waiting for an hour and a half here. The service here is terrible! I'm starving! I don't know about you, but I'm starting to feel really hangry!"

(definition via Urban Dictionary)

 

  Don't be Hangry! Its one of my many pet-peeves of diets, and people "dieting". But it does happen to the best of us, even when we're not trying to diet...(it happens to me quite a lot actually- and I'm sorry to all of my close friends and family who have experienced my Hangry-ness! Its not pretty!)

 

  To give you some background on the situation (and myself) I was the youngest of five kids. I have two older sisters and two older brothers. Anytime my sisters and I would start mouthing off or get cranky, my mom would immediately ask us when the last time we had eaten was and then tell us to go eat some cheese. For the longest time we couldn't figure it out, especially the cheese thing. We just thought it was some Southern thing (there is a lot that goes on in the South that you don't quite understand as a child...or adult for that matter). Eventually, however, we figured it out! Mom was slightly anemic and knew that we probably had a little anemia too. Turns out she was right all along! Moms always do! So because of that, our Hangry escalates quite quickly once it starts. I've even seen my mom get to the point once of almost fainting because she was so hungry.

 

   Anywho- the whole point to this is --- please don't starve yourself!!!! I've seen so many people who work out regularly and practically starve themselves, and then don't lose the pounds they want to, or at least not as quickly. That's because their body is literally hating them. haha. Well that's how I put it. Its fighting against what it thinks is starvation, and is literally holding on to every little piece of fat it can to survive. Starvation doesn't work for weight loss. end of story.

   Look at all those movie stars- gorgeous, glamorous, yadda yadda yadda...then...they have an off "day" where the camera catches them 20lbs heavier. Or the fan who gets to meet their favorite star and comes back saying how much of a B*tch they were! Its cause they're HANGRY people! I've even read it in an article/interview (that's actually where I heard of Hangry first! haha!) Its not healthy and they know it.

   I'm not saying to go binge eat, or even eat like you were previously (obviously that got you to where you are now!) If your not happy with yourself, or just want to improve, something has to change. But you need to eat the right amount of calories for your body to sustain itself, and if you are looking to tone up, enough for those muscles to be sustained.

  That's why I'm a huge advocate of My Fitness Pal- I'm so excited that we (our little smc group) has decided to use it!!! It makes me so happy to see those calories wisely used, and at the end of the day be slightly under my calorie goal without having been starving all day and night! There are days when I've literally had to add more food to what I was going to eat to make sure I was eating enough. Its definitely a thin line that you have to stick to in order to see the results you want, but I promise your body (and your friends!) will thank you!

    Sorry...I could go on all day about this topic,so I'll stop for now, but I'm sure it will come up again.

  So...to recap----

1-Eat enough Good food--everyone is different- so don't feel bad if you need to have more cals then the next gal, that doesn't mean your bad or eating too much

2- Make sure its GOOD food--- you'll notice if you use my fitness pal, the more junk, the less you get to eat (obviously) and the less full/satisfied you will feel.

3- Check the labels on food --- sometimes you will be pleasantly surprised with the amount you can have. You want the most bang for your buck, so to speak, and it will help you find the right portion sizes for you.

4- Know your own body--- Try to get to the point where you can feel when you're getting Hangry...then try to never let it happen again- once your to that point you will eat practically anything, and probably too much of it! Plan ahead (I always have snacks with me. always. seriously. to the point where my husband and coworkers make fun of me. They're stashed away like nuts for a squirrel, in my purses, in my car, in my desk drawer...you get the point.) Its always that one time when you don't have something that you end up Hangry. oh and always apologize for being Hangry, it will happen at some point, but most people are more understanding when you explain that is Hangryness.

5- ITS NOT EASY, but stick with it.

Usually in Life the Best things aren't Easy.....