Do you still eat when you're not hungry?

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aerome
aerome Posts: 171 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My calories are set to 1,300 and I figured if I feel that's not enough I'll up it. I've already lost 7 pounds (mostly probably water weight, but I'll take it!). Sometimes it's time to eat and I'm just not hungry. I eat a small breakfast (2 hard boiled eggs and 1 turkey sausage patty) because I'm not very hungry in the morning, then a smoothie mid-morning, lunch, very small snack (like a cheese stick) in the afternoon, and then dinner. Lunch and dinner are usually 8 oz of chicken and half a bag of steamed green beans (sub fish or other veg, too, but just for example) I put off eating lunch because I wasn't hungry. Now it's getting on snack time, still not feeling too hungry. Should I still eat for the sake of nutrition, or should I only eat when I'm actually hungry?
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Replies

  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,949 Member
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    If I were you and I weren't hungry (or tired) I'd save the calories and maybe have a treat after dinner :)
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
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    Eat when you're hungry, but make sure you aren't eating too few calories altogether. I agree with VeryKatie that eating a treat or something is fine too if you aren't hungry during meal times. Or just eat your meals whenever. You also might not be hungry since your food is very boring. Do you enjoy eating meat and vegetables exclusively for a meal?
  • turtlez23
    turtlez23 Posts: 156 Member
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    Last week I wasn't hungry and was only making it to about 800 or 900 calories when my goal is 1430. I forced myself to eat some peanut butter or banana because I was scared that feeling of not being hungry would go away and I would start craving bad foods. So yes- I do eat when I am not hungry for fear of getting hungry and then eating *kitten* food. lol
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    edited December 2014
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    No, but I'm like a starving Hulk. I'm always hungry.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Nope unless I'm craving a treat, but typically I know it won't last so I'm saving calories for days when I'll be hungrier.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    Only when I'm bulking and I'm REALLY short on calories.

    I'm almost always hungry though- so it's rarely a problem.
  • mrsmalloryevers
    mrsmalloryevers Posts: 34
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    Listen to your body. If it's not saying "I'm hungry," then don't eat. BUT don't NOT eat for so long that you're starving because then you're more likely to binge eat (or at least thats how it is for me!)
  • johnseitz
    johnseitz Posts: 30
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    definitely eat...your body will go into starvation mode and your matabalism will screech to a halt...
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
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    I eat every 2-3hrs no matter what. I know if I don't my blood sugars so all wacky and I'll be super hungry later and not care what I'm eating. I feel better when I eat 5-6 small meals over 2-3 big meals spread out. So, that's what I do, but there's not science behind it. Get your calories in your day in 24 hours.
  • rungirl1973
    rungirl1973 Posts: 2,559 Member
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    As long as I don't feel full, yes I eat when I'm not hungry. I know myself.
    If I let myself get really hungry during the day, there's a big risk of a binge when I get home from work.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    johnseitz wrote: »
    definitely eat...your body will go into starvation mode and your matabalism will screech to a halt...

    sigh.

    no. that's just not how that works.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I'm always hungry...
  • janicept77
    janicept77 Posts: 9
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    I do make myself eat breakfast before work even when I'm not hungry but I'm most always hunger in the morning. After that I just eat when I'm hungry. Breakfast at 5 am and if I haven't eaten by 1 or 2 pm but not hungry I'll have an apple. Usually that happen when I'm too busy to think about being hungry.
  • aerome
    aerome Posts: 171 Member
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    I decided to eat. One of my habits is to not eat all day and then eat one huge meal. And now I'm fat. So I think something is off with whatever tells my brain that I'm hungry. Started eating and then I felt hungry.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    I haven't had a problem with not feeling hungry.
    If you are usually getting 1200 calories at least then I would not stress about eating if you were not hungry. If you are ending up below 1200 pretty often I would say to eat or drink a smoothie or something at least. You might look at switching to more nutrient dense foods if the amount you eat is small.
  • aerome
    aerome Posts: 171 Member
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    I'm not really sure how I could make my diet more nutrient dense than it already is. Suggestions?
  • aerome
    aerome Posts: 171 Member
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    I forgot in my OP, I do have a TBS of coconut oil every day, too.
  • SassyCalyGirl
    SassyCalyGirl Posts: 1,932 Member
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    really? Eating when you're not hungry makes no sense. Most people probably got over weight for that exact reason. EAT SMART is my moto. I'm not huge on breakfast, so I eat AFTER my morning workout. I shoot for high protein. Skipping meals is also not good, it tends to make you over eat and not make good choices.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Looks like you've answered your own question, but I'm rarely especially hungry (or especially not hungry), so I always wonder what people mean by hunger in these questions. Do you mean "do you eat when you feel full or when the thought of eating is unpleasant"? If so, no, never, but if I frequently felt that way at normal meal times when eating 1300 calories I'd wonder if something was wrong or change my schedule so I wasn't eating so often (I eat 3 main meals, occasionally a later afternoon snack depending on my workout schedule and/or how late I eat dinner).

    If you mean "do you eat when you aren't feeling like you must or that you will bite off someone's hand or faint" then, yes, of course, but I never feel that hungry for actual physical reasons anyway, not even when I've fasted. When I smell something delicious or am otherwise anticipating something or have gone on some huge hike with the plan to eat after or some such, then I might.

    On the whole, I have trouble sometimes separating hunger signals from other kinds of signals (I'm stressed or want a break or am bored signals can be among them), so I don't eat to hunger much. I eat to "it's mealtime," and on the whole my body now tends to feel hungry enough when it's mealtime and not particularly hungry when it's not. Similarly, I don't eat until I'm full, I eat until I've eaten a reasonable amount of food as planned, although I might stop sooner if I've misjudged how filling something is or if I don't happen to like it after all.
  • mrsmalloryevers
    mrsmalloryevers Posts: 34
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    SassyCalyGirl wrote: »
    Skipping meals is also not good, it tends to make you over eat and not make good choices.

    ^^^^^ MHM!!!
    Been there, done that!

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