As one of the most hardcore types of roadies, I’ve experienced many of the extremes of human endurance. Like the need for sodium, magnesium, and potassium from massive leg cramps, or calorie crashes when it feels like your tank runs so empty you hit a massive wall where your body all but quits.
One of the things I’m only just becoming self aware of is the need for iron/protein as a direct craving, not some common indirect theoretical knowledge.
I’ve been on the same basic daily diet for a year with very little variation. I’ve noticed times when I crave eating extra stuff. I used to be massively overweight, so I’m super aware of avoiding binge eating and most junk food. However, I’ve found a pattern where sometimes I need a fresh fruit, and others–I need something with protein and iron. If I go straight to those resources at the right time, the cravings stop. If I get it wrong, I feel hungry again and crave something more in a short amount of time.
I get the impression I was overweight when I was younger because I lacked the awareness to connect these dots… along with a nutrient poor base diet.
It is just a thought I’ve been mulling over in the back of my mind for a few days. I wonder if others are either more subconsciously able to crave a better available food that meets their needs, or if I just failed to RTFM when I was born and most people are aware of this kind of connection. So… are you self aware of different types of hungry where eating a small amount of the right thing can make the issue go away when you would otherwise eat too much?
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Yeah. I never considered that this wouldn’t be normal, though. I kinda always had a “healthier than average” palate throughout my childhood as well as doing physical activities, and maybe the discernment comes from that as you’re suggesting.
Is there anyone in particular you’ve spoken to that doesn’t have this sense?
I specifically was craving protein last night, but not my usual junk food drive-thru “protein” on a bun. So I went out and got stuff to make a nice little meat sauce for some pasta at home, and damn did it hit the spot.
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I couldn’t tell you the actual mineral/vitamin or whatever most of the time but I definitely get cravings when I’m missing something
Quite often just go eat a raw bread roll from the supermarket when I’m low on carbs and flagging, fixes me right up
This started happening to me more and more after I hit my 30s, and it stopped happening once I started taking a daily multivitamin.
Yeah, the most prominent is actually thirsty.
More often than not when I feel like I want some kind of unhealthy throwaway snack I’m actually just thirsty and the craving goes away if I drink water.
Hunger and thirst are very easily confused.
I think this is my issue. I’m really trying to learn to drink when I’m thirsty and eat when I’m hungry. I forget to drink and then end up with headaches and leg cramps.
Honestly I think it’s more of just becoming responsible as you age and your body’s requirements get more specific. When I was young, I could eat anything and anything. Now, dairy is fully off the table, breads and carbs in general need to be of a minimum quality, and volume of consumption absolutely cannot be what it used to be. I think the key of it is to just be cognizant of what works and what doesn’t, and have the self control to direct yourself to the right choices (especially when options are limited). It certainly comes with experience that aging provides. I’m sure there are some people that are so well tapped into their bodies that it’s automatic like muscle memory, but for the rest of us it’s definitely learned and steered.
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I occasionally get into a state where I feel hungry but the thought of eating almost any food, including foods I usually like, is disgusting. I end up eating something really bland, like raw tofu.
Also, I didn’t have any cravings after I became a vegetarian. I was never seriously tempted to eat meat. However, I did eat a lot of cheese and now that I eat very little if it, I want cheese all the time. I’m not even hungry right now and I’m still salivating because I’m thinking about cheese.
Cheese is an absolute pinnacle achievement of humanity. It’s delicious.
Yeah, and while vegan imitation meat is delicious (so much so that even my meat-eating friends will happily eat it with me) vegan imitation cheese ranges from mediocre to terrible. And then it costs several times as much as real cheese too!
I was vegetarian for about 20 years and never really missed meat (feel like for most people, giving up meat only means giving up 4 things - pigs, cows, chickens, and fishes), but vegan I couldn’t do. Cheese. And mayo and eggs. I joke with my vegan daughter that the vegan versions are made from xanthan gum and wishes. But yeah things like chicken nuggets? Processed meat things I can’t tell the difference and for some items do like the veggie or vegan versions much better - burgers in particular, I love all sorts of veggie burgers but hate hamburgers. Order black bean burger with bacon and cheese at my work cafe and nobody bats an eye so I’m not the only one.
Healthier as an omnivore, I’m sure that’s different for different people, but for me personally it is working better.
Seems like it’s happening to me, too. Don’t know how accurate it is, but I do seem to be craving certain types of food.
Yeah I often get specific cravings. They’re usually in the following categories:
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sweets (not too often but when I do, I usually hit chocolate)
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fruits (sometimes I crave sweeter, sometimes acidic) I think the water and fiber here plays a role because when I crave these the chocolate doesn’t fix it, and isn’t enjoyable
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protein ( eggs or any meat, dairy doesn’t cut it)
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fatty stuff (here I’ll go for cheese, butter, peanut butter, perhaps canned kippers if I got some or if the only thing available is chocolate I’ll take it)
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very salty stuff ( green olives, prosciutto, rarely chips, I get what I can)
Nuts are sometimes good at quenching protein and fat cravings but many times it won’t work.
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Yes, mostly learned through endurance sports and multi-day backpacking trips that make it easier to sense during normal activity days. Hunger for sugars and salts is very different from hunger for protein.
I also know bodies are dirty liars. No amount of craving means my body needs another ice cream sandwich.
After sport I just don’t feel hungry for anything. I eat a lot at home out of sheer boredom, so that is my trigger. But if I am entertained? I can go days without food no cravings
My one trick to not get hungry is to eat a teaspoon of olive oil before I go to work or after meals. The best diet to not get hungry on is the high fat low carb diet, so a spoonful of olive oil is a good fat to keep you from getting hungry. I do not recommend keto (true keto for some rare forms of epilepsy and lifestyle keto are not one and the same and it’s not good for your vascular system), but a high fat and low carb diet is the best way to go.
Bro delete this I just shi myself omw to work
Sometimes I’ll crave specific meats, or diary, but I never feel fruit cravings. I have a weird aura where I crave iced tea before a migraine, but cola will help block the migraine or reduce its intensity (and I know it’s the same caffeine, just with extra stuff).
Oh man I crave peaches hard. A good peach is delicious.
The question is, then, if you could, what’s your current diet as a roadie? Given the options available, I predict it’s VERY hard to stick to a diet that’s not only not going to kill you this year, but actually maintains something like health. The options just can’t be there while you’re working on the road.
Edit: by ‘roadie’, I’ve assumed your job is road crew with a touring rock band or similar touring group. If you work for a regional transportation entity maintaining roads, that’s of course a different kind of roadie. Sorry for the assumption.
Roadie in this context is cycling. Sorry for not making that clear.
You are spot on!
I had to hire a nutrionist who specializes in it to help identify hunger cues ane what they meant. I had an eating disorder growing up and Adhd on top of it so I could go days without food and not notice and also binge uncontrollably until I made myself sick.
She showed me how to navigate and I will be forever grateful.
