Does depriving yourself of what you like make you happy?

I noticed something in life.

If I eat food all the time, I dont really enjoy it much.

It just becomes something regular, which brings no much joy.

But if I deprive myself of food for a day or two, I start thinking about food, and all I can think of is food, and once I eat it, it feels really good.

Additionally, if I only eat some food, but not too much, if I am not overeating at time when I eat, the feeling becomes even better.

This stands as counter to over eating.

When I researched about satanism, I learned that it teaches overeating.

At the time, it seemed really good.

But now I am looking at other extreme, which is eating only a small amount of food in a day.

I use same logic with water drinking.

After I wake up, I dont drink water for about 8 hours of the day, and then after some time of thirst, I drink lots of water at once, about 700 mililiters, and then few hours later another 700 mililiters, and then some time later some more water.

It seems that

"thirst and drinking"

"Hunger and eating"

"Depriving of something and something"

These are opposites which are best when they each exist for some time, and then get negated by the other.

Even masturbation feels better when you dont masturbate for a week or for a month.

Of course, there is an ideal ratio.

As a general rule, its okay to not eat for one day or two or for most of the day.

Its usually okay to not drink water for 8 to 10 hours unless you become too thirsty.

Its okay to reduce amount of calories you eat as long as you are still getting all the vitamins and you are not losing weight too quickly.

Its okay to eat once or twice a day. In fact, it probably works better for health if you are not constantly eating and digesting food.

In Japan, people live very long and they have a rule where they dont "eat until full".

They dont practice things such as "eat until you are full and cant eat anymore", because they think its bad for health.

And it feels good to stop yourself from eating before you feel like you had enough.

Actually, drinking more water can help you to burn more calories by regulating your metabolism, which is your body's ability to convert food into energy. By drinking 17 ounces of water per day, your metabolism could speed up by as much as 30 percent.

Take your weight in pounds and divide that number in half. That is about how many ounces of water you should drink each day. So a person who weighs 200 lbs should drink about 100 oz — or 3 L — of water per day.

Thats a good way to calculate.

I guess its possible that I was not drinking enough water recently.

I tend to drink about 2 liters per day, but I probably should be drinking closer to 2.5 liters or maybe even 3.

But its kinda hard to not drink for 8 hours, and then drink 3 liters in 6 hours.

Its possible, of course, if I drink 700 mililiters once every 1.5 hours in those 6 hours.

It does within reason. However total deprivation won't. You need some dopamine rush just to feel good and happy at all.

I would suggest that striving to achieve happiness is a tad counterintuitive.

Modern lifestyles and accompanying social expectations will have more of an impact upon ones state of mind, though this does certainly include dietary issues.

And of course, youthfulness, comes with all of it's inbuilt procreational stresses.