# Hungry for Change (documentary)



## ThatFatGirl (Mar 20, 2014)

Has anyone seen this 2012 documentary? It's currently streaming on Netflix. It seems like there is a lot of good information here and maybe just a little hype. I know I'll never be able to give up some of my processed foods or deny the urge for fast food when it hits - and I'm okay with that, but this doc really has me thinking about what I eat.

I don't think I realized how many forms (and names) of MSG existed and is likely present far more often than I'm aware of in the processed foods I eat. I also feel like I have to completely commit to giving up my sugar-free sweeteners (Aspartame in particular, diet soda, etc.). I've been trying to reduce my consumption of it for months, but I still use a fair amount of it.

In a perfect world, I'd crave the taste of whole foods rather than Krispy Kreme and cheese fries, but I'm not there. A few months ago I bought a juicer and have gotten into the habit of starting the day off with a juice of cucumber, carrots, celery, spinach or kale, and an apple. I hoped it would be the beginning of eating healthier altogether, but that hasn't happened. I do love the morning juice. It seems to clear my head and wake me up faster than a giant mug of coffee which I still drink about 15 minutes later, and I think my nails are a little healthier than they were (less peeling which was a huge problem before). My juicer had a sticker on it promoting the "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" documentary (also streaming on Netflix). I watched it too recently, but other than the segment in the middle about processed foods, I wasn't moved by the idea of juice fasting (too extreme). 

Just wondering what others took away from "Hungry for Change" (or the other film I mentioned) or how you might be approaching eating healthier.


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## Yakatori (Mar 20, 2014)

ThatFatGirl said:


> "_..or how you might be approaching eating healthier._"


I made a conscious decision to re-direct my focus away from what I shouldn't be eating and necessarily towards what I need to have lots of energy and function at what feels like an optimal level.

And to stop over-thinking the small day to day decisions.

And to eat & drink in a timely manner.

So, I figure your juice is probably good for you, just because it's giving you a bunch of stuff that you need straight-away. And at a point in the day where you haven't eaten or drank anything for a while. And so, I don't think that's fairly or otherwise negated by following it with coffee or bacon & eggs or whatever else. I take it more like you have to measure things on somewhat of a larger scale (day to day, month to month, year to year) and relative to what else is going on with your body (activity levels, age, growth, illness, etc..) That is, to the extent that you even bother with measuring things at all. I mean, at certain level, it can become like counting change in your pocket.

I don't really crave fast-food, per se... In fact, now-a-days; and even more so since I've begun to do this; it sometimes tastes kind of garbag-ey to me. Especially McDonalds.' (Albeit sometimes more than others.) However, if it's lunchtime, or if it's a time when I haven't eaten for a few hours, and Burger King is right there; then I'm going to eat. 

But, instead of going through a drive-through, I will go inside. And instead of getting as much as I _*might*_ want, I purchase one Value Meal with and a small drink. And I eat it. With, maybe, a few sips of water as well. Knowing that, if I'm still hungry, I can just go up and purchase more if that's what really I want. But, typically, that does not happen. 

And even if it does, I just forget about it within an hour or so. I don't, like, deliberately try to somehow compensate for that by eating less or exercising more for rest of that day or week. 

I feel like I've had some success like this. Much more than when I was trying not to eat this or that.


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## ThatFatGirl (Mar 22, 2014)

Yakatori said:


> I made a conscious decision to re-direct my focus away from what I shouldn't be eating and necessarily towards what I need to have lots of energy and function at what feels like an optimal level.
> 
> And to stop over-thinking the small day to day decisions.
> 
> ...



This is all so sensible. Unfortunately, sensibility and eating are two things that have never worked in concert for me and I have a life-long history of yo-yo dieting and weight fluctuations to prove it. I think you are onto something approaching eating not as denying yourself anything in particular, but adding more of the good stuff. 

The HFC movie has me thinking of the line from _Say Anything_, "Why do you eat that stuff? There's no food in your food." Sometimes I just have to have a can of Spaghetti-O's and I like cheese puffs and Doritos as much as anyone, but this science of creating food cravings with chemical additives kind of pisses me off.

Netflix streaming is full of documentaries on eating and health and various food industries at the moment. I am about halfway through "Food Matters" now. Its focus seems to be on the body's ability to heal itself through nutrition. Some of the subjects discussed thus far include taking incredibly high doses of vitamin C to treat cancer and niacin to treat chronic depression and alcoholism... very interesting stuff. As a three-year Cymbalta user for depression and back pain, I'm very curious about a natural approach to treating depression. I'm on several other meds for other ailments and concerned about my liver. It's something to talk to my doctor about anyway.

I'll probably watch "Food, Inc." or "Fork Over Knife" next. Meanwhile, I had Wendy's for dinner last night and Indian take-out for dinner tonight.


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