Staying Hungry or Eating Junk
I have always been debating with myself over this point and finally it came to a head when I heard about Daniel Vaz's hospitalisation from these pages. I remember reading that Daniel, on landing in Chandigarh, forgot to have his meal. Don't know whether Daniel took ill because of that, but hope and pray that the man who guides us so articulately recovers soon.
The eternal debate has been whether to eat whatever is available OR stay hungry to eat the right (healthy) food. Now (since November last year), I have been at peace with myself. I eat what is available. I do not mind walking an extra mile if I know that good food is available and I have the time is on my hands. But sometimes, I just do not have the time and end up eating what is available, which could even be a Wadapav. I always strived to have four meals because anything less will make me feel weak. So, to keep up with the energy levels, I eat four times.
Eating Junk is never right, and despite the constraints, I keep away from certain foods. Michael Jordan loved junk food and it was only when he started getting pushed around that he realised that he needs the strength that he hired a trainer Ed Grover to help him increase his body weight. Jordan cut down on junk food and subsequently won three NBA titles. Jordan, of course, is a top-class athlete who does not have to commute and work in offices like we do.
There are enough qualified people amongst our ranks to guide us on this subject. Please pour in your thoughts.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Srivatsan M K on -
@Anand - rightly put that u r at peace with what you get to eat. I have decided not to be too harsh on myself if I have to eat a bhel or a sandwich on the long commute home. I have decided not to feel too guilty about this and try to make up through proper eating at other times. Am sure I can get fitter even faster if I stick to healthu food but long meetings with no breaks mean I am not always in control on when/what I eat.
I carry a fruit in my lunch box - usually an apple - which I consume at 11 am. I also carry 3 biscuits of britannia 5 grain biscuits which I eat in the evenings. I also carry some buttermilk in lunch box which I drink at 4 pm. I always ensure I eat a hearty breakfast. I am ok with this arrangement - suits me :)
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Permalink Reply by Nathan Duraisamy on -
Anand,
Nice to see your example about Jordon. We definitely should not stay hungry until we get good food. Once the body enters starvation mode because of not eating enough food, then it starts to store everything you eat for later usage. this in turn changes as fat and gains weight. Read from a book related to metabolism, the part of the brain that controls our eating behavior is same as the that controls our fight-response and survival under critical circumstances.. when it knows that body is starving it tells the body to store as much food as possible as fat for later survival.
So being hungry wont help in health.. in case of having to eat available food, you can go for small portion of it.. just to get you going.. like a snack..
Let me know how you are managing between junk food and healthy food.. Good to know from a fellow runner than a doctor..
thanks
Nathan
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Permalink Reply by Natasha on -
I can only speak for myself, but I need to eat four meals a day. If I skip a meal (or delay it by more than two hours), I end up with a raging headache and/ or nausea, which goes only after a good night's sleep.
Like Srivatsan, I carry a packet of multi grain biscuits with me for emergencies, but if a bhel is what I need to carry me through the next two hours, I have it.
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Permalink Reply by Niranjan on -
In my case it depends on how hungry i am and how far i am away from healthy food. If i am just about a little hungry i dont mind drinking either plane water or even tender coconut to make sure i have the energy in me to carry on for more time. The same applies if i am not so far away (in terms of time & distance) from healthy food.
Yes however you would allways have cases where you might feel very hungry at wierd times and good healthy food is distant apart. For such situations carrying multi-grain or digestive biscuits, a apple in my bag is allways a bad option. But if the stomach is crying for food its allways better to feed. You can allways excercise more later.
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Permalink Reply by Shilpi on
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I always carry some fruits or cereal with me so that I dont gravitate towards the junk food kept in the cafetaria... But when nothing is available, I would rather eat something, biscuits mostly as fillers... Although absolute junk does not work well for me at all... One evening I had a Mcdonalds burger for dinner and the next morning, i did not feel so good while running and cursed the burger profusely.
Some people I know eat only ONE gigantic meal a day, bless them they are not runners.... otherwise god save them. I feel quite happy with the fact that being regular with my running, naturally helps me choose healthy foods over junk and take extra care not to stay hungry. Do others feel that way too or is it just me?
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Permalink Reply by V Anand on
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Thanks Nathan, Natasha, Niranjan and Shilpi. I will start carrying some fruit or a cereal or even biscuits with me. That will be a good advice. Yet, the occasional moment of descretion is always there, like a craving. But I guess time will come when I will be able to control that too.
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Permalink Reply by Nathan Duraisamy on
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@Shilpi: I couldn't even imagine if I can survive with ONE meal even if it is heavy..
@Natasha: Yes. it is better to have that bhel than starving.
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Permalink Reply by Nathan Duraisamy on
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While we are talking about food, I like to ask about the energy/hydration drinks. Do you know where can you buy drinks or drink mixes like gatorade, Vitamin Water, Gu, etc? Or some store which you can buy online and ship to south India.
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Permalink Reply by Mani on
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Nathan : Gatorate/Lucozade is available in Hypercity/Dmart. check it out. Whereas Gu gel is not available here...
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Permalink Reply by Nathan Duraisamy on
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Mani,
Thanks for the info. Anything in Chennai?
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Permalink Reply by Vignesh Eswar on -
Hi all - Lucozade is now available to order online. Though I havent ordered from there myself.
http://www.lucozade.govasool.com/
Also I guess its a little more expensive to order online, though I cant imagine why it should be!
Thanks to the "timepass" culture in Bombay, the streets are scattered with chana wallahs (verkadalai vendors). A hundred grams of chana (muzhu pottu kadalai roasted) - not groundnuts - to go with your evening coffee or chai in office does wonders to keep the hunger down till about 8pm, by when you can get home to a full meal. Plus its damn healthy, besides adding the fibre thats usually little scarce in our regular meals.
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