Quips & Anecdotes - How I Automated Hunger

Okay the image above looks quite crazy but yes, that is a screenshot of our shared Google Calendar (week 10/13-19) with all its pretty colors. We try to keep busy as I'm sure you can see but we also need to stay organized for it to work out. Somehow we've learned which colors mean what on whose calendar so though this chaos may take some deciphering time for the bystander, we've pretty much got our system down pat; that includes what this post is about. Take a look at the recurring events every single day...those short blue blocks. What do they say? Eat.

You see, back before this blog was born, I came to the delayed realization (why the heck did it take me SO long to figure it out?!) that I've quite the sensitive stomach in regards to hunger. As in, the slightest twangs of hunger, and I feel quite unwell. I start physically shaking sometimes even. It's weird, and it makes me weak. So I decided that I should start making reminders for myself to have a snack every 2 hours with buffer time of about 30 minutes each way. Since I had just gotten my smartphone then (yes, late to the game), I set up Google Calendar alerts so it would buzz about 10 minutes before each "Eat" period to remind myself to get something to eat.

And it worked. I would eat just a small portion every time my phone reminded me so that I wouldn't hit hungry-level. I made sure not to eat junk food that would make me crash later either. These were not morsels to tide me over until "real meals" but actual wholesome choices in small portions. Somehow in the first three months of following this practice, I lost 15-20 lbs. Now I'm not a health expert, and therefore you should not take my anecdote as scientific proof of anything but this method seemed to work for me. It was difficult to get started at first but once I finally got the hang of it, it made sense. I was never stuffing myself so I never felt heavy or uncomfortable. I was just always sated.

But here's the real story: I called this post "How I Automated Hunger" because after a few years of this recurring practice, I've somehow turned myself into a Pavlovian dog. I've since removed all of these Calendar "events" from my account and phone but I now feel the unprompted urge to have a bite every two hours. My internal clock has become conditioned to the established habit so that I don't need the buzz anymore to tell me it's time to eat. It just happens. I figured it was time to share the info in case anyone was looking for a way to get themselves on this type of schedule. Habit makes condition I guess. Of course, it took several years in the making but I think it's a bit worth it. Now if only I could get back into making sure everything was healthy again that I'm having at these two-hour intervals...