hungry today!

I woke up with an appetite this morning, pretty much for the first time in MONTHS.  Drat.

Two possible reasons leap to mind, and i'm praying it's not this one:  my fat cells may be producing less leptin, and leptin (as we know) is the body's own appetite suppressant, the most important signal of energy repleteness.  I didn't think this reaction set in till much later in the weight-loss war....   :-(  When one loses fat weight, the cells get smaller and they secrete less of this precious hormone (because the fat mass is not inert flesh, as was the theory until very recently -- it is, in fact, your largest endocrine gland).  Producing lots of leptin tells the brain that there's enough energy storage on board, thank you very much, and we don't need more.

When the quantity produced by the fat cells significantly decreases, the brain gets the notion that something may be wrong with the food supply; if there's going to be a shortage, we'd better ramp up appetite and store more if possible.  THIS IS USUALLY WHY PEOPLE CAN'T KEEP DIETING INDEFINITELY -- they get unmanageably hungry, and the brain causes them to fixate on food.  It has nothing to do with willpower -- this is how animals are hard-wired.  In starvation (dieting), metabolic and brain changes are triggered, whose purpose in the world is Survival.  This is NONCONTROVERSIAL -- how do you think the better research scientists have kept themselves busy recently?  ;-)

The other most likely reason for my hunger this morning is the quality of my meals yesterday.  There are plenty of animal studies which show that what you eat today influences what you want to eat tomorrow.  I'm wondering now if the seafood chowder i had last night might have contained enough carbohydrates to start the blood-glucose-insulin-hypoglycemia-hunger roller-coaster.  If so, i'll have to be more careful with that dish in future, which would be a pity because it was REALLY GOOD.

Although i was still in ketosis when i checked first thing today, i'm hoping it's the latter, because that's easily fixed:  i eat plenty of good fats and moderate protein today and go light on the carbs, and my body happily continues burning fat and ketones as its main fuels.

Just in case, i'll knock back a couple of ounces of coconut oil later -- doesn't hurt to have the heavy-artillery of the weight-loss war on alert....