Learning to be hungry

PeachyCarol

I had to relearn hunger cues, because I didn't have a sense of what true hunger was going into this initially.

Learning to distinguish what true hunger was was a huge step for me. I used to be a very fast eater, and I've slowed down a LOT. That really helped. For me, intermittent fasting (I do a 18/6 protocol) has also helped manage my hunger signals.

The other important thing I've learned to manage my hunger is to not skimp on protein or fat. When I first started cutting calories, I cut back on fat to have as much volume in my food as possible to feel full. That worked for a while, but it eventually caught up to me. I've since cut back on some of the volume calories and put those towards fat calories and I feel so much more satisfied with my intake now.

The bottom line is that if you're feeling hungry all the time, there are measures you can take to address it. The first is to make sure that you're not eating at too aggressive a deficit. After that, you can tweak some things like I did and employ some strategies that might work for you.

DeguelloTex

herrspoons wrote: »

DeguelloTex wrote: »

Pu_239 wrote: »

rebprest wrote: »

I used to think the feeling of hunger was kind of like the feeling of pain: something to be immediately treated. Now I think it is kind of weird how low my hunger tolerance is. I'm just curious... do many of you think you should try to avoid feeling hungry during weight loss or have you learned to just accept feeling hungry during parts of the day?

If you're hungry, you're doing it wrong.

Can you show your work on that?

Don't feed the troll. He's just hungry.

I've been away for a while. The topics are the same but the players have changed.

Virkati

I can't tolerate hunger pangs for very long. It gives me a headache that's very different from stress or being tired. So I've learned to eat when I'm hungry. The biggest lesson I had to learn was being able to tell the difference from bored "hunger" and actual "I need food now" hunger. I don't do the lowfat stuff either. I've learned that I need the fat to help with my overall health and weight loss. Listen to your body, be willing to make changes that might seem counter-intuitive, and be patient. You'll figure yourself out and you'll know how tweak things as needed.

higgins8283801

I don't think I have ever made myself be truly hungry during the entire time I lost weight.

What I always attributed to be hunger was either false hunger due to needing water or my brain playing because I was bored.

I ate when I was hungry and learned to stop when I felt satisfied. Took awhile to learn it, but I got it down for the most part now.

maxit

It's ok to feel hungry - I made peace with it. I also attend to hunger, and eat to fuel myself and to enjoy the taste of food, too

rebprest

I am not starving myself! I'm trying to stay around 1,500 calories a day. I tried eating around 1,600-1,800 but I wasn't losing any weight. If I need to, I can go back up and try to fit in more exercise, but diet control seems more sustainable to me than ramping up my exercise.

There are really only a few hours out of the day that I'm hungry, usually right before lunch or dinner. I just used to feel like I needed to immediately eat when I was hungry, and now I'm getting more comfortable waiting, knowing that I will be fine and have lunch in an hour or two. Maybe that is "doing it wrong". I guess I'll find out.

azulvioleta6

I am hardly ever hungry unless I completely miss a meal and/or do more than 1500 calories worth of exercise in a day.

Getting lots of fiber, eating real food and being well hydrated seem to be the keys.

I am very tall and very active, but I feel fine on 1200 calories a day. Lately I've bumped myself up to 1400 calories and it feels like an enormous amount of food.

azulvioleta6

I took a look at your tracker for the last week. No wonder you are hungry!

--you are drinking a lot of your calories
--you are not eating full meals (wine and an apple is not dinner)
--you are barely consuming any vegetables at all, so you are missing out on filling fiber
--you are getting too many carbs and not enough protein--this will make you hungrier
--you are spending lots of calories on things that aren't going to fill you up, such as ramen noodles and sugar cookies

Be careful about accurate tracking too--I'm pretty sure that a sugar cookie with frosting doesn't have zero carbs!

LAWoman72

rebprest wrote: »

I am not starving myself! I'm trying to stay around 1,500 calories a day. I tried eating around 1,600-1,800 but I wasn't losing any weight. If I need to, I can go back up and try to fit in more exercise, but diet control seems more sustainable to me than ramping up my exercise.

There are really only a few hours out of the day that I'm hungry, usually right before lunch or dinner. I just used to feel like I needed to immediately eat when I was hungry, and now I'm getting more comfortable waiting, knowing that I will be fine and have lunch in an hour or two. Maybe that is "doing it wrong". I guess I'll find out.

I find this normal - to begin to feel hunger at some point before meals. It's not screaming, gnawing hunger, it's just the point between having eaten, and coming up to need to eat again.

I no longer feel the need to grab and stuff something the instant my stomach no longer feels completely full.

TimothyFish

I think it is good to feel hungry part of the time. It makes food taste better. I feel less hungry now that I'm closer to my goal weight, but when I started losing weight, I couldn't remember the last time I had felt hungry. I suspect that if you never feel hungry, it is a sign that you're eating too much.

Cortneyrenee04

I used to be panicked the moment I felt hungry! Now I realize hunger isn't an emergency and I will not starve and die.

There's a difference between hunger and feeling peckish. Only took about 30 years to figure that one out.

castelluzzo99

I think there are two kinds of hunger. One is just the twinge that grows if you think about it. The other is a legitimate, blood-sugar-is-low-and-I-must-eat feeling. I got the latter in church today, and because the sermon was long, I didn't eat for over an hour after I first felt the sensation, which continued to strengthen in spite of my trying to ignore it. But I made it just fine, and thanks to planning my lunch the night before, I didn't overeat, and I felt really good once I did eat.

Naptownbabi

azulvioleta6 wrote: »

I took a look at your tracker for the last week. No wonder you are hungry!

--you are drinking a lot of your calories
--you are not eating full meals (wine and an apple is not dinner)
--you are barely consuming any vegetables at all, so you are missing out on filling fiber
--you are getting too many carbs and not enough protein--this will make you hungrier
--you are spending lots of calories on things that aren't going to fill you up, such as ramen noodles and sugar cookies

Be careful about accurate tracking too--I'm pretty sure that a sugar cookie with frosting doesn't have zero carbs!

this

ogmomma2012

Also, where is the iron in your food?? Neither diary entries had food with a good source of iron.

Laughter_Girl

I make it a point to never get hungry. I try to eat balanced meals, and I always have snacks with me.

I think the biggest thing I have learned is how to eat until I'm satisfied without stuffing myself. My tummy feels so much better because of it.

piggysmalls333

ExRelaySprinter wrote: »

I try to eat every 3-4 hrs (so that i don't get hungry).
I've always been like that.
Only now, i try to eat more healthier foods than before.
If i know i'm gonna be stuck somewhere without access to food, i'll bring snacks with me.

Ditto!

rebprest

This was not a typical day for me. I ran my first 5K, went on a long walk, and then went to an additional weight lifting class. It was too much exercise too fast. For reasons outside my control I had lunch at 3:00pm, so at dinner I wasn't hungry. I typically drink only water unless I'm having a smoothie. Weirdly, though, today I wasn't hungry at all. I think it was due to over-exercising.

I do need to log more accurately, though. I'm just not really sure how when I go out to eat or eat something I didn't make.

ogmomma2012

rebprest wrote: »

This was not a typical day for me. I ran my first 5K, went on a long walk, and then went to an additional weight lifting class. It was too much exercise too fast. For reasons outside my control I had lunch at 3:00pm, so at dinner I wasn't hungry. I typically drink only water unless I'm having a smoothie. Weirdly, though, today I wasn't hungry at all. I think it was due to over-exercising.

I do need to log more accurately, though. I'm just not really sure how when I go out to eat or eat something I didn't make.

How hard to you try to get iron-rich foods into your diet? Also, many places have websites with nutritional information so you can choose from their menu. Or just order smart. Dressing on the side, half sizing etc.

azulvioleta6

ogmomma2012 wrote: »

Also, where is the iron in your food?? Neither diary entries had food with a good source of iron.

Good point!

Try:

clams, mussels, oysters
turkey
beef
sardines
chicken
halibut, haddock, perch, salmon, or tuna
ham
veal
lentils
beans
spinach
breakfast cereals (fortified)
tofu
pumpkin, sesame, or squash seeds
dried apricots
broccoli
wheat germ
nuts
peaches, prunes, raisins
green peppers

rebprest

Thanks for the advice! I do take a multivitamin for iron, I just don't always remember to log it. I will try to eat more vegetables. Some of them are just included in things: the tuna melt had vegetables, the hummus sandwich was filled with vegetables. I just grabbed a random similar item from the database because the restaurants I go to don't have calorie counts. Those that do tend to be chains, which I snobbishly hate.

I live at home and it is hard to tell my parents I won't go out to eat with them or make them eat somewhere lame when they are being generous and want to spend time with me.