I like food. I like eating. They’re pretty standard things to like, I know.
At times, however, I also like feeling hungry. Yes, you read that correctly.
It’s logical, though, if you think about it. Feeling hungry is sort of an indication that you need to eat, which makes me anticipate food and eating. Feeling hungry can also just be an indication that you’re dehydrated. But, you know, most food has some liquid content…
Hunger tells me that I’ve sufficiently digested my last meal, and I’m now ready for my next one (or maybe just a snack). Hunger is a way for me to reassure myself that I haven’t really been overeating that much (I probably agonise over this a lot more than people think I do).
Of course, I’m not talking about real, painful starvation-type hunger here – I’m lucky enough to live somewhere where I have easy access to food 24/7 – but I’m talking more about that hunger that’s anything from “feeling peckish” to that gnawing hunger that distracts you from everything else that you’re meant to be doing. I think hunger, in this context, is a good thing.
Most days, I start work around 8am, and I’m usually hungry by about 10am (I would’ve had breakfast by about 6:30am). There was a point when this happened so predictably that I could guess (with some accuracy) when it was approximately 10am just based on when I started feeling hungry (and by judging the severity of my hunger). It’s a marvellous thing, to feel hungry.
I don’t mean to tell people to starve themselves. I’m just trying to encourage people to appreciate different perspectives on hunger.
Waking up hungry (in the morning) is probably best. If it’s the week-end or I have a day off, I like to lie in bed for a few minutes more, just enjoying that sort of gentle, murmuring hunger, and thinking about what I’m going to have for breakfast. It’s great. I’m hoping that I can wake up hungry tomorrow, but tonight I’ve had a burger and a donut, as well as a beer, so who knows – I could still be trying to digest that come the morning.
pistachio conspiracy #63 