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I want to conquer all my fears before I die. This year I want to face a couple of them head on. I want to para sail and I want to be hungry. Jesus did it. No, not para sail (although, he'd probably be really good at it). Be hungry. He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, why can't I not eat in 4 hours?! What would it be like to be that hungry? Why am I so afraid of the least little hunger pain? First sign of hunger, I'm running to the frig to eat a chicken leg. Not completely necessary.
My wish is to make hunger my friend. Embrace it. Even learn how to enjoy it. After all, hunger is a prelude to great pleasure, a satisfying meal.
Why am I so afraid of being hungry? Maybe it's because of all those ads you see for diet products: "And you never have to go hungry again!" "Loose weight and never, ever feel hungry!!!" Or maybe it's because once upon a time, when I was a mere infant in swaddling clothes, while my mother was busy watching her soaps, I was left to cry in my crib...hungry and alone. OOhh, or maybe it's because in a past life I was a missionary who was starved to death in a strange and brutal place and then buried barely alive among heathens. Or maybe I'm incredibly over-imaginative and simply just hate feeling deprived.
I eat every 2 or 3 hours if I'm hungry or not. I've been told it's good to keep the metabolism revving. And that's true. It is! But I do it just so I don't have to feel the horror of hunger. I've become conditioned to stave off hunger, be offended by it, prevent it, kill it before it kills you!
I bring nuts in my nap sack, bananas get bruised in my backpack, yogurts rot in my purse, kiwi fruits get squished in plastic bags. I have luggage of food. I carry around bags of essentials. Yes, that diced watermelon in the worn Tupperware is essential. It's seedless, you know! I look like a homeless woman, except instead of carrying all my worldly possessions, I am carrying my dirty gym clothes, sneakers and snacks for 12 hours.
I pack for a trip, not shoes and dresses, but almonds and oranges. I go into the city for the day, I've packed half my refrigerator. Sometimes I pack a snack on my way to getting a snack. If I don't pack a tuna sandwich and 5 oranges for the ride to Six Flags, I might just die of starvation! Do I not have faith in the accessibility of food?
Vulnerable and naked is how I feel without some sort of reliable edibles on my person. I know this is probably a good thing, and a healthy way to eat, and that's okay, that's not what I want to change. I am happy with my eating habits. I really just want to change my relationship with hunger. The way I feel when I think about being hungry. I want to know that I can allow myself to be a bit hungry and that my world will not come to an end. You see, I've made hunger my enemy. And what you resist persists.
This summer I am going to experiment. I want to shake things up a little.
I will accept those first signs of hunger and smile knowing that I am on the right track. My body is doing what it is supposed to do. I will allow myself to feel that hunger knowing that when I do sit down to eat a meal, it will be all the more delicious.
This summer I am going to para sail hungry.
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Janet Podleski is one half of the sister act that wrote the bestselling cookbooks, Looneyspoons, Crazy Plates and their latest, Eat, Shrink & Be Merry! Janet and her sister, Greta, are also monthly columnists for Canada's number-one magazine, Reader's Digest, and were voted into Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2000. The sisters and their inspirational, self-publishing success story have been featured on dozens of national TV programs such as The Today Show, CNN, Canada A.M. and QVC, as well as on hundreds of radio shows, and in magazines and newspapers across North America. In addition to a B.A. in Psychology, she has also earned a degree as a Registered Holistic Nutritionist. 
Brenda J. Ponichtera is a registered dietitian and author of several award-winning cookbooks, all designed to prove that "healthful eating doesn't have to take a lot of time in the kitchen."
Calorie Bargain: Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt
Calorie Bargain: Green Mountain Gringo Mild Salsa
