Eating or Drinking Cold Foods or Beverages…

I read a whole book on this subject a while back and although I don’t remember hard evidence to suggest if eating or drinking cold things excessively will absolutely cause obesity, I thought it was worth looking into. The book I’m referring to is The Hot Diet: The Real Reason You’re Gaining Weight . . . and How to Lose It Fast and Forever (Hardcover) by AJ Djo. There were some interesting facts that were hard to ignore – which may or may not just be coincidence… the most interesting one to me being that we, in America [US and Canada] use ice in almost every cold beverage we drink, all day long. The rest of the world doesn’t and we happen to be the ‘fattest’ people on the planet. 

Supposedly, when you have an ice-cold drink with a meal, it can actually numb your stomach enough that it may delay the satiety signal, causing you to eat more than you would if you were drinking a room-temp or hot beverage. I remember hearing the story that that’s why restaurants always keep your ice water glass full – to get you to eat more. Then there’s the fact that if a meal isn’t hot, it comes out of the fridge, ice cold – salads, fruits, dairy, etc., but in most other countries they don’t refrigerate produce and they eat non-hot meals at room temperature instead of ice cold. 

I’m sure ice cold anything is a pretty big shock to the system and can cause your body to use extra calories to regulate itself – which you would think would make you thinner. But if you’re hungry, it’s because your brain needs fuel, and if the calories you’re taking in are going to balancing your body’s temperature, then your brain would theorhetically tell you to eat more and send out even stronger hunger signals, which could maybe lead to overeating…

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Thoughts: 8.20.08

Yesterday was rough. I ended up falling into bed as soon as I got home and napping for a couple of hours, I was so tired… and I never nap… I ended up going to bed a little early, too and woke up feeling much better. My energy level is back up already, thank goodness! I did get on the scale this morning, and was kind of surprised it hadn’t really moved since the last time I got on, maybe 6 months ago. Optimistically-speaking, that means I haven’t gained weight – which is amazing because I’ve been basically eating anything I want for months now – until this Monday. So, it’s nice to know that when I do reach my ideal body shape, I can maintain it pretty easily using the routine I do now for exercise. 

I’ve also noticed that my body’s signals seem to be getting easier to recognize. Yesterday my thirst came back… and later in the day, my need for sleep did, too. It’s not like me to go home and immediately go to bed because I have to have sleep RIGHT NOW! lol… I also was able to walk away from the Olympics and get ready for bed at a more decent time than usual. I also noticed with both dinner last night and breakfast this morning, it seems much easier to tell when I’m pleasantly full. Normally I don’t get that signal and just keep eating until I physically feel stuffed, which is uncomfortable. I’m not sure if this is all in my head or not, or if there is a correlation between body signals and inflammation [due to the liver and colon being ‘distracted’ by too much junk to process???], or maybe excess insulin in the bloodstream, or both…

Either way, I’ll take it. It just makes my life – and this process of getting healthier – that much easier.