Cravings vs. hunger
 

Back to first principles here. The longer I stay on SB the less I understand the and more confused I become. I'm beginning to think it's just not for me.
Especially as I'm into Phase 2 (after 3 weeks in Phase 1) and don't honestly think I've lost any weight.

What's the difference between a craving and hunger?

The way I see it if I'm hungry, I'm hungry and I eat. To me hunger is when your stomach is empty and your body needs food and a craving is psychological.
But I suspect that there's a different definition on SBD.

2/3

I would have to agree with your basic definition, however I'd like to add that some cravings could have a psyiological (sp?) basis. I've heard many stories where people start craving food items when their body is lacking in certain vitamins or nutrients. However, if you're craving chips and doughnuts, that's probably just an emotional craving. I could of course be totally wrong here. :D

If that's the case (craving something you're deficient in) then cravings aren't bad things then.

And maybe we should just listen to what out bodies are telling us instead of trying to supress 'cravings'.

I really am confused and it's getting worse by the minute.

2/3

I'm sorry that you're confused. Below is our Meal Plan Guide that comes from the official SBD web site. Perhaps this willl help you....it helped me a lot!!

Hunger is hunger and when we follow the meal plan, we should not feel hunger as we eat every few hours even if it something small. When I feel hunger, I too will eat!!

When I was starting my phase II, I tried a wheat cereal one morning and become ravenous that entire day....I realized that it was the wheat that triggered my appetite and do avoid it now. to me, this was good information to learn about my body.

This is what phase II is all about. Finding out which carbs work for your body and which do not. This is why we need to go very slowly as we add foods back into our plans. One item per week...save the grains for last and wait for flour until way down the road, ie: you are very close to your goal weight.

Hope this helps!! :)

I've not really been excessively hungry. I was just wondering about the definitions of the terms.

I wouldn't say I've had any cravings at all.
Only on weekends, where I don't tend to have much structure to my day and forget to eat. But I always keep some nuts handy and will have a few of those to keep me until I can cook something.

I was a bit more cautious about going into phase 2 and only added one grain, at lunch times.

I'm into my 2nd week doing that now.

2/3

I have just started back on SB - 6th day - and I knew before I started back that I would need to stock up on "legal SB" phase 1 foods as I was going to have "cravings". Sure enough, this past Saturday (day 3) I was "starving" all day long but I got around this by just eating stuff that I can have in Phase 1. When I weighed on Monday morning (day 5) I had lost 2.8 lbs. And, after Saturday, the hunger (cravings) has stopped.

Excellent!! :thup: Good job!! :D