Taming the cookie monster: adequate fueling is the antidote for cookie cravings

American Fitness, Nov-Dec, 2004 by Nancy Clark

"I know I shouldn't eat cookies--but I just can't help myself. I'm a cookie monster!" Sound familiar? Everyone knows cookies, candy, cakes, pies, ice cream and other sweets offer suboptimal nutrition. But, why are cookies so popular? Why do we eat larger portions than we intend to?

Because cookies and other sweets taste good. Because athletes--and all people, for that matter--who get too hungry tend to crave sweets. Most athletes believe cookies are the problem.

I challenge that belief. I see eating cookies as the symptom and getting too hungry as the problem. That is, when you get too hungry, you experience a very strong drive to eat.

Hunger, a Simple Request for Fuel

Hunger is a powerful physiological force that creates a strong desire to eat. When a child complains about being hungry, parents readily provide food. But when athletes experience hunger, they either have no time to eat or, if weight-conscious, fear food as being fattening--equating eating to gaining weight.

However, most athletes eat without getting fat. Food, after all, is fuel. But cookie-monster problems arise when time-deprived or dieting athletes consume inadequate fuel and hunger becomes the norm. The result is an abnormal physiological state known as starvation or more commonly as "being on a diet." Although starvation is associated with famine in poor countries, it is also common among busy and dieting athletes.

In 1950, Ancel Keys and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota studied the physiology of starvation. They carefully monitored 36 young, healthy, psychologically normal men, who were allowed to eat only half their normal intake (similar to a very restrictive, calorie reducing diet) for six months. Three months prior to this semi-starvation diet, researchers carefully studied each man's behavior, personality and eating patterns. They also observed the men three to nine months after the diet.

As the subjects lost weight, researchers learned that many of the symptoms considered specific to binge eating were actually the result of starvation. The most striking change was a dramatic increase in the subjects' preoccupation with food. The hungry subjects thought about food all the time. They talked about it, read about it, dreamed about it and even collected recipes. The men dramatically increased their consumption of coffee, tea and chewed gum excessively. They became depressed, withdrawn, lost their sense of humor, had severe mood swings, cold hands and feet, experienced irritability, anger and anxiety, felt weak and dizzy. During the study, some of the men were unable to maintain control over food; they would binge eat if the opportunity presented itself--similar to "breaking a diet." When the study ended and the men could eat freely, many of them are continuously--big meals followed by snacks.

So, what can we learn about binge eating from this study?

1. Preoccupation with cookies and sweets indicates your body is too hungry.

2. Cookie binges stem from starvation. If you are unable to stop eating once you start, you have likely gotten monstrously hungry (or are very stressed).

3. Dieters who restrict to the point of semi-starvation are likely to "blow their diets" and consequently acquire some benefits: less hunger and more energy.

Living Without Hunger

In our society, people live in hunger because of the prevailing "I don't have time to eat" and "food is fattening" messages. Athletes believe the best way to lose weight is to severely restrict calories. The only opportunity dieters have to eat cookies and other tasty foods is when they "blow their diets." However, there are other ways to manage cookies:

* Prevent hunger by eating enough at meals. You can lose weight by eating 10 to 20 percent fewer calories per day, not 50 percent fewer.

* Enjoy a cookie or two, as part of an overall healthful daily food plan.

To learn how many calories (and cookies) you should eat to negate hunger and manage your weight, do this simple math:

Take your weight and multiply it by 10. This estimates your resting metabolic rate (RMR, the amount of energy you need to pump blood, breathe, etc.). If you weigh 140 pounds, your RMR is about 1,400 calories--the amount you'd burn if you ran 14 miles!

Add about half that number to your RMR for activities of daily living. For example, if you weigh 140 pounds and are moderately active (besides your purposeful exercise), you need about 700 calories for daily living. Add fewer calories if you are sedentary.

Next, add calories for purposeful exercise. For example, a 140 pound person would need about 1,400 calories (RMR) 700 (daily living) 300 (for 30 minutes of exercise) = 2,400 calories to maintain weight. To lose weight, deduct 20 percent to about 1,900 calories. This translates to 600 calories for breakfast/snack, 700 for lunch/snack and 600 for dinner/snack (or the equivalent of 11 to 13 Fig Newtons per section of the day).

The next time you get into a cookie frenzy, use food labels to calculate your day's intake. You'll likely see a huge discrepancy between what you have eaten and what your body deserves. No wonder you are craving cookies! Once you recognize the power of hunger, you can take steps to prevent it by eating before you get too hungry.