Hunger pain vs fullness pain - why do we gravitate more to fullness?

kallemann67

Having started CICO I have learned two things- understanding portion size and the naturalness of being hungry. Not 'clawing at walls and boy doesn't my cat look rather yummy right now' hunger, but rather an echo like hunger - as though there is still room in the suitcase. I carry this hunger around a bit and when I finish a meal there is that 'room still available ' feeling but I pass now. I leave the table light on my feet, I don't have to unbuckle my pants, nor do I feel like sludge. And yet I feel I am missing something.

Talking with a friend she admits to filling up to the point of full. Overeating. And we spoke about this... the pains and discomforts that come with overeating. Physical and mental. And we wondered why is it that so many of us move towards overeating pain over the hunger pain? And when on the road to health and wellness why hunger pains seem so much more gruelling?

gonettie2015

I have no answer to the question of why we do this but I have noticed since I stopped doing it that it's some peoples' operating mode more than others. That may be obvious in extreme cases but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the difference between being a healthy weight and carrying some extra weight. The people with extra weight seem to eat too much and/or too often. I know that on some level I feared being hungry or the possibility that I would get hungry, as if it were a dire situation to be avoided. Since then, I've learned to make friends with the other feeling - lightness - and it feels so much better. Sometimes I have to remind myself that if I feel a little hungry, everything will be okay.
I have 3 cats all rescued as kittens, one of which was a bit overweight starting at a young age. I noticed that if there was food, she would eat it. The other cats would eat for a bit and walk away. If one of the other cats left food, she would eat it from their bowl. Once I stopped letting there be food available all the time and controlled the portion sizes of the meals, she trimmed right down. I don't know why it is that innately she wants to eat more than she needs but I think about how easy it is to keep her from gaining the weight back. Years later, it seems she is not quite as bad about it now that she has adjusted, but still, if someone forgets to pick up the dishes after a few minutes and then we hear someone is eating from them, it's always her.
Is the cause physical or mental or both?

yesimpson

I used to eat like this when I was younger when I was upset or hurt or worried. I would start eating because I wanted to cheer myself up, it was supposed to be a treat or a small temporary distraction. I would continue to eat to the point of feeling sick and in pain because I was trying to soothe a feeling of need or panic which was obviously being caused by something emotional rather than physical hunger or starvation. It never worked. As I've got older I've dealt with that better and better. It's a very odd link to make mentally, to think that food will cure a broken heart or fix money worries, but maybe I connected something about tasty food and times of happiness, feeling secure or celebrating, and that for me was a leading cause of overeating.

I mean, obviously I do still overeat at Christmas and on my birthday, or sometimes just if my BFF makes one of her incredible cakes or I go to a really good BBQ, but I'm eating for enjoyment rather than to stifle pain so it's much more manageable.

kallemann67

Thanks for your responses. I do wonder if this is something primal/ primitive. As we were hunter/ gatherers if there was the time to gorge on a good kill or a rich find of food we would for fear and experience of knowing that a next meal may be a day or two or three away. However now food is one 7Eleven away and available 24/7. We are no longer phyiscal in the manner of which we were in those Neanderthal days but as been pointed out we eat/ overeat for emotional reasons so our gorge is based on much more complex societal triggers/ stresses/ anxieties that food and modern food especially with its feel good factor in the fats and sugars. I suspect hunger pains are more linear in that they release a set of fright chemicals in the brain (something maybe I'll research) whereas overeating pains are symptomstic from satiating the brain's understanding that if there's food to be eaten well then eat.

kommodevaran

Yes, the feelgood factor as you call it, or the hyperpalatability as I call it - our usual foods are getting less and less nutritious - food is everywhere, all the time - fewer people cook - feeding must be quick - everything has to be more, cheaper, faster, bigger - food culture dissolving while our obsession with nutrition billows - this suboptimal eating creates a slight malnutrition - increased by the hyperpalatable junk food - the habit of constant snacking creates a feeling of emptiness as soon as the "meal" is over. Normal fullness is just a subtle sensation of satisfaction. It feels like nothing special. The food industry has taught us to fear hunger, which we never even get the chance to separate from fullness.

kallemann67

@kommodevaran - I really appreciate your astute insight. Some thoughts to 'digest'...

tomatoey

I'm not sure it's a universal. I'm sure that in the past, I managed to stretch out my stomach a bit over time, so that it would accommodate MORE food than it could before I gained, but I don't often eat to the point of pain. The few times I've done that, I've felt really unwell and didn't want to repeat it.

RodaRose

kallemann67 wrote: »

Thanks for your responses. I do wonder if this is something primal/ primitive. As we were hunter/ gatherers if there was the time to gorge on a good kill or a rich find of food we would for fear and experience of knowing that a next meal may be a day or two or three away. However now food is one 7Eleven away and available 24/7. We are no longer phyiscal in the manner of which we were in those Neanderthal days but as been pointed out we eat/ overeat for emotional reasons so our gorge is based on much more complex societal triggers/ stresses/ anxieties that food and modern food especially with its feel good factor in the fats and sugars. I suspect hunger pains are more linear in that they release a set of fright chemicals in the brain (something maybe I'll research) whereas overeating pains are symptomstic from satiating the brain's understanding that if there's food to be eaten well then eat.

I had hypnosis for exactly that:
eons ago when we had hunger signals we had to act on them to keep ourselves and the rest of the group alive.
Now that we live in a time in which we can go to the refrigerator to act on those "hunger" signals, we need to delay responding to the body's call to eat.
So "hunger" is not really what we think it is. We can ignore it for a while.
Also, see this chart

runningforthetrain

I like to eat until #6 on above scale. My main challenge is that food has a sedating effect- I hate to feel anxious and food usually solves this immediately. This could be biological, psychological, primal memory (you must eat to survive), or any combination. I very rarely stuff myself-- don't like that feeling. Also, I have heard that it takes the brain 20 minutes to"catch up" with what you have eaten; a good reminder to eat slowly, which is hard to do if you wait to eat until your "starving."

UnicornAmanda

yesimpson wrote: »

I used to eat like this when I was younger when I was upset or hurt or worried. I would start eating because I wanted to cheer myself up, it was supposed to be a treat or a small temporary distraction. I would continue to eat to the point of feeling sick and in pain because I was trying to soothe a feeling of need or panic which was obviously being caused by something emotional rather than physical hunger or starvation. It never worked. As I've got older I've dealt with that better and better. It's a very odd link to make mentally, to think that food will cure a broken heart or fix money worries, but maybe I connected something about tasty food and times of happiness, feeling secure or celebrating, and that for me was a leading cause of overeating.

I mean, obviously I do still overeat at Christmas and on my birthday, or sometimes just if my BFF makes one of her incredible cakes or I go to a really good BBQ, but I'm eating for enjoyment rather than to stifle pain so it's much more manageable.

Exactly this. I really couldn't even have summed it up better myself!