Friday Drop: Practical Hunger
Southern comfort breakfast, jambalaya, creamy lemon chickpeas, and mini bagel and lox
Check out part 1 (physical hunger) here and part 2 (emotional hunger) here.
Practical Hunger
Friendly reminder: Rehab is a great time to learn to listen to the signals your body communicates with; pain, tightness, etc. Your hunger and cravings (or lack thereof) and the voice in your head that responds to those cues are also fantastic conversations to bring more awareness to.
Did you know there are four types of hunger to consider?
Physical Hunger
Emotional Hunger
Taste Hunger
Practical Hunger
You can’t always eat based on hunger alone.
Practical hunger is knowing you need to eat even if you are not feeling hungry. This can happen
When trying to form a new breakfast habit
To fuel pre- or during a game or practice
During post-op for many people
During illness
Within a busy schedule
During eating disorder recovery
With medication that suppresses your appetite (like most ADHD medication)
and more. Hunger cues can be impacted by exercise, heat, stress, sleep, travel, medication, medical history, diet history, type of food consumed, and so much more. Sometimes, it’s important to allow your brain to override your physical hunger cues with logic.
For example, your lunch period at school is at 11:00. You’re not hungry yet, but your next opportunity to eat isn’t until 3:00PM. You should use practical hunger.
General rules of thumb
Most people should aim to eat breakfast.
Most people need to aim to eat a meal or snack every 4 hours or so.
Most people need to eat to provide nutrients and energy in the first few days post-op even if lacking an appetite.
What is the hardest part about practical hunger for you?
Today’s Drop is brought to you by:
Most athletes think recovery is about doing more—more discipline, more control, more “perfect” eating.
But what I see every day is something different.
Athletes who feel disconnected from their body.
Who second-guess their hunger.
Who are trying to “eat well” but still feel stuck, frustrated, or behind.
If you’re ready for more direction to fuel the way you need to, subscribe to 1:1 below.
Breakfast:
Biscuits, cheesy, jalapeno scrambled eggs, fruit
Maybe living in the south is impacting me, but I think you should prep some biscuits this week. Get the easy Pillsbury or Annie’s tube and throw ‘em in the oven on Sunday. Scramble a dozen eggs with cheddar cheese and chopped jalapeno, and enjoy a southern comfort sandwich with 16-25g of protein. (Try to use at least 2 eggs per sandwich, but 3 is even better.) Add fruit on the side for your color.
Lunch:
Easy Jambalaya
Dinner:
Creamy lemon chickpeas and white fish
Some notes on this recipe:
I skipped the flour and swapped the heavy cream with greek yogurt and it was… somewhat effective. It makes the recipe easier (basically just throw it all together), but the yogurt will slightly curdle if your pan is too hot.
I also did half chickpeas, half cannelini beans and loved the texture that provided.
If you love pasta, this is a great option, and I love that it is yet another way to add more beans and fiber.
It’s worth using fresh garlic and lots of it. Go the extra step to sautee it in your butter.
I think it’d go really well as a side with a white fish like cod or tilapia. You might already have some in your freezer you’ve been ignoring.
Snack Spotlight:
Mini bagel & lox
Last but not least, your prompt for this week:
What was the biggest barrier to eating post-op for you?