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Writing Prompt 2: Famine Logic

From the book:

If you’d been in a famine, how long do you think it would take to refeed yourself? A few months? A year? What feels right based on how long you had been restricting? And when would you know things were back to normal?

This is a tough one. If I were in a real famine, one beyond my control, I would say at least a one to one recovery period...like a month for a month. But since my "famines" have all been self imposed, and I've always had open access to food (i.e. binges) between the moments of self-imposed famine, it's harder to say.

I've actually been, at least mostly, in recovery for a little over a year now. I have been through three or four refeeding phases in that time, as I would occasionally dip back into diet mode for a day or two, or half a day. And then psychologically/emotionally, I would feel the need to refeed. I went through a refeeding process after my husband died. During those times, I was always hungry. Not always physically hungry; a lot of it was emotional eating, but that's okay too. I ate a lot of sugar and white flour, and pasta. A lot of pasta. Thank god my kids like pasta!

I've dieted, off and on, for about 30-32 years now. I don't think it's unreasonable to say this process will take me a while. Maybe a couple of years, even.... And how would I know when things are back to normal? I think when I don't think a diet will fix things, or I'm not planning out food hours/days in advance (besides regular menu planning). I am starting to feel what I would consider normal. I'm not sneaking candy surreptitiously at work. I am not obsessed with calories, grams of protein, huge amounts of water, or anything like that. I east meals on a regular basis. I eat more if I'm hungrier, and less if I am not. I don't feel like I have to finish the food on my plate, but it is also okay to go back for more. I plan meals around what sounds good (to me or the kids), or what came in our Imperfect Produce box, or what is on sale at the grocery store (I am on a budget, after all), instead of trying to make it all match some magical ratio of macronutrients.

I don't have indigestion anymore. I am sleeping at night. I am not falling asleep at my desk mid-afternoon. I don't feel sick from overeating. My digestive system seems to be working well and regularly. I get some form of exercise every day (mostly walking, more on that later). I think that all feels pretty darn normal, and I am loving it!
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