Protein Cravings

Well That Didn't Last Long

So cycling home on Saturday night, I suddenly found myself thinking about burritos. And this struck me as weird, because I haven't had a burrito for a very long time, apart from the one last week that ruined my recarbing plans.

My sources inform me that the body decides what food to desire, not by a sober analysis of food composition and physiological variables, but by the simpler method of remembering previous distressing physiological states, and remembering what foods previously fixed those states.

When I had my burrito a couple of weeks ago now, I was clearly still in a state of carb-deprivation (water-weight not fully regained). So it would not be unreasonable to think that my appetite had noticed a lack of carbs, and was remembering that a burrito had recently fixed this.

So I wondered perhaps if I was short of carbs.

I was in a bit too much of a hurry to go to the burrito place, but I was about to cycle past Gardenia's, traditional and beloved purveyor of traditional and beloved Greek foods, such as polystyrene trays of chips fried in non-specific vegetable oil and covered in tsatsiki.

So I thought "Maybe a quick tray of chips, a few PUFAs won't hurt if it’s a one off."

And I was surprised to notice that that thought didn't appeal at all, even though chips from Gardies is one of the things I regret about the whole no-PUFAs thing. The thought of stopping for a chicken souvlakia did appeal, but that would have involved a certain amount of time, and I had a party to get to, for which I was already running late.

So I thought: "What have I got at home that I can snaffle quickly?" Stew, cream of various sorts, toast? Nothing seemed good.

And then I thought: "Hang on, haven't you just written a whole blog post about low protein? What's unambiguously got lots of protein?"

Steak sounded good. As did cheese. And I thought: "I would totally fancy cheese on toast!".

And suddenly I was slavering. Literally slavering. And starving hungry. I would have done just about anything in return for cheese on toast. If that’s what real hunger feels like I’m surprised anyone can resist it for more than ten minutes.

So as I went past Sainsbury's I bought a stack of cheese.

And when I got home I started making cheese on toast. But I couldn't wait for the bread to toast, so I started eating blue stilton straight out of the packet.

Six pieces of cheese-on-toast later, the mad cravings stopped and I stopped eating. But by that time I'd eaten one-eighth of a wheel of blue stilton in various forms. At that point I stopped feeling hungry.

The next morning, with perhaps a tiny hangover, I made cheese on toast for breakfast. It was OK, but it was nothing special. At time of writing I can contemplate all forms of food without desire, which is my usual state.

And so I think I must have been in a fairly low protein state these last few weeks, and edged recently into actual protein deprivation, which my appetite has wisely persuaded me to fix as a matter of the most extreme urgency which it can communicate. Presumably I’d got to the point where I didn’t have enough protein for general maintenance needs any more.

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A conclusion immediately follows:

I've been in an approximate state of "No-PUFAs and low protein" (in the sense of 'no excess protein', rather than 'less protein than I need') for the last five weeks, give or take.

If that's true, and my “New Theory: No-PUFAs and Low Protein” is the answer, then I should have lost at least 0.5kg/week over the whole of the last five weeks. Because that's the average weight loss I've been getting in the 'magical weight loss periods" over the last few months.

So that's sort of a prediction I can check against the last few weeks’ records

The week before ex150ish-4-sour-etc (starting 23/10/2023) went: 95,95.6,95.3,95.2,94.9,95.3,94.2, for an average of 95.07

The last week of data that I've actually got round to typing up (starting 26/11/2023) went: 93.4,93.1,93.4,92.8,92.8,93,93.5, for an average of 93.14

34 days is five weeks, and five lots of 0.5kg is 2.5kg.

95.07-93.14 is 1.93kg.

Close. Very close. 1.93kg is 0.4kg/week.

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For the first six months of this “Heart Attack Diet”, I was unknowingly eating plenty of PUFAs in the form of peanut butter, and plenty of protein.

Things carried on as they had before, I was mysteriously gaining 1kg every three months, just like seemed to have been happening since the end of the pandemic.

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I think that I could believe that all my experiences of the last six months have been determined by the simple rule that:

Against a background of no-PUFAs (finally achieved when I spotted the problem with peanut butter)

If I get into a state of:

Protein at only just above the point where it causes protein cravings

Then I should see:

Weight Loss at roughly 0.5 kg/week.

But If I get into a state where I have considerable excess protein:

Then my weight will rise at roughly 1kg/week.

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For the next couple of weeks, I am going to keep my protein intake as low as I can without experiencing protein cravings. And see what happens.

That does rather raise the question of what I am going to do with my vast new supply of cheese. I will leave it in plain sight in the fridge. If it seems very tempting, I will eat it, and otherwise I will leave it alone. I will not under any circumstances exert willpower.

I predict continuing weight loss at 0.4kg/week, and continually falling thyroid dose as PUFAs deplete.

And I think that if I don’t see something like that then my New Theory must be refuted, along with lots of other promising looking ideas.