How I lost 100 pounds using the pancake principle

 Hello my friends. Thanks for helping me unpack some of my CPTSD issues from narcissistic abuse by four narcissist parents. I'm feeling more about now to return to the purpose this blog was created, to show how I lost 100 pounds without weight loss drugs or gastric bypass surgery. Tonight I'm going to explain, from an experience I just had, how I lost 100 pounds using the pancake principle. And it dovetails nicely with intermittent fasting and calorie restricting. 

The pancake principle is a term I coined to explain why it's so easy to overeat, past satiation. I noticed this early on in my parenting when I would make pancakes for the children's breakfast. Round one went down fast and if asked, the kids would say they wanted seconds. Seconds went down a little more slowly but still they'd say they wanted more. By the third pancake, they were usually full. And there sat the pancakes. So I figured out (yes, I'm a little slow) to only make the third batch pancakes after round two had had time to digest. 

Because that's what happens. While you are eating, the food hasn't reached your stomach yet. So you are at that point, still hungry. So part of how I lost 100 pounds was to wait until my food has settled to see if I am still hungry. I often find that I'm not only no longer hungry I'm actually really full. Like now for instance. 

I came home from work hungry enough to eat anything that wasn't nailed down. Seriously, the cats were looking tempting. KIDDING. So I made myself a high protein bread sandwich with smoked salmon and lots of vegetables. (about 300 calories, less the parts I shared with the cats) We're Catholic and its Lent so we are fasting from meat, sweets and alcohol. Eating Lent is also part of  how I lost 100 pounds. 

I wrote a blog post for my Great Food 4U blog while I was eating my keto sandwich and said that I was still so hungry, I might make myself another one. I rounded off my meal with two dates which are great for curbing hunger, curbing sugar cravings and boosting metabolism. As such dates also help prevent Type 2 diabetes, prediabetes (insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome) After my meal I still felt hungry for about 10 minutes. And then what I ate hit my stomach and now I'm almost too full. On a meal of about 400 calories. Weight loss isn't just about calorie restricting. It's about how, when and what you eat too. More on that later!  

How I lost 100 pounds with the "pancake principle" or how "feel full" hype fails weight loss

For those who just tuned in, this blog explores how I lost 100 pounds and kept it off, without gastric bypass. Today we look at how understanding hunger (what it is and what it isn't) helps lose weight and how the "feel full" hype can fail weight loss. I'll illustrate, using what I call the "pancake principle", but first some background. 

"My 600-lb Life" is a show that that chronicles morbid obesity and weight loss after gastric bypass. A common complaint on "My 600-lb Life" and even in the comments in online Facebook groups about "My 600-lb Life" is that they can't lose weight with calorie restricting, such as on the 1200 calorie diet, because they won't get full. 

It's like feeling hungry is something to be avoided at all costs. People eschew salads for lunch, for example, because they aren't "filling." To which I say, so? That misnomer is part of how we get overweight in the first place. The road to obesity is paved with overeating in an attempt to feel full. But feeling full is not satiation of hunger. That occurs much earlier in the meal, but takes awhile for the stomach to recognize. 

Now to that pancake principle. When I made pancakes for my kids, they'd devour the first round quickly and want seconds, which went down more slowly. Because the pancakes hadn't hit their stomachs, they'd ask for thirds, which they couldn't eat because in the time it took to cook them, the previous two had filled them up. This pancake principle is part of why we overeat. 

We keep eating past the point of satiation because we fear hunger and (worst yet) we don't even know when we're full. And the more overweight we get, the more food our bigger stomachs need to feel full. Further, as we head toward obesity, we develop cravings which get worse the more overweight we get. But happily, those cravings subside as you lose weight. 

Part of how I lost 100 pounds by calorie restricting on the 1200 calorie diet and by deconstructing "cravings" (I've blogged about that earlier. I was surprised when I first began calorie restricting, how much I could eat on the 1200 calorie diet. After weight loss, I can eat salads, or even just a big box of spring mix and feel satisfied (actually really good because of all the minerals and electrolytes!) 

Even my rascally cat Mordecai (R) (who seriously overestimates his own hunger LOL) now thinks lettuce is a treat! His brother Moishe is not so convinced! 😂😂😁