Not playing the hunger game.

Mavrick_RN

I'll admit I am a freaky eater. I blame it on my long years as an ICU nurse where I never had a scheduled meal. I ate standing up or walking by the break room and grabbing something handy to eat at any time of the day (or night). I call myself an "opportunistic grazer".

That said, I can't judge when to eat by hunger cues. I can go 20-24 hours without food and not feel particularly hungry. I am now trying to eat by set meal times but when I am on call and working weird hours that gets tricky.

At some point I will have to rely on eating when hungry and stopping when satiated.

My question is: Do some people just not have a working hunger center?

booksandchocolate12

The "stopping when satiated" thing is something I've been working on my whole adult life. I have no "off switch".

Good luck to you. "May the odds be ever in your favor".

kommodevaran

The hunger center is overrated.

I'm working on getting to know and rely on my appetite, hunger and satiety pattern, but it's not easy. Too many years of "force feeding" and intentional and unintentional overeating and halfassed compensatory restricting for that.

In the meantime I eat by the clock. It works very well.

Lydilod

Try to eat slowly so that your stomach has time to recognise you've eaten

ClosetBayesian

Lydilod wrote: »

Try to eat slowly so that your stomach has time to recognise you've eaten

This doesn't help those of us who don't feel hungry on a regular basis.

I eat by the clock, OP. If I don't, I'll have lunch at 4PM (if at all), and will skip dinner because I just ate lunch.

RodaRose

It is o.k. to go 20 hours without eating. Instead of daily intake, look at a weekly average.
People can learn hunger cues. Google "mindful eating."

Sued0nim

Mavrick_RN wrote: »

I'll admit I am a freaky eater. I blame it on my long years as an ICU nurse where I never had a scheduled meal. I ate standing up or walking by the break room and grabbing something handy to eat at any time of the day (or night). I call myself an "opportunistic grazer".

That said, I can't judge when to eat by hunger cues. I can go 20-24 hours without food and not feel particularly hungry. I am now trying to eat by set meal times but when I am on call and working weird hours that gets tricky.

At some point I will have to rely on eating when hungry and stopping when satiated.

My question is: Do some people just not have a working hunger center?

I wonder if what you are currently doing is working for you why you feel like the bit I bolded

If it suits you it suits you

myheartsabattleground

Bumping, because ADHD.

Mavrick_RN

rabbitjb wrote: »

Mavrick_RN wrote: »

I'll admit I am a freaky eater. I blame it on my long years as an ICU nurse where I never had a scheduled meal. I ate standing up or walking by the break room and grabbing something handy to eat at any time of the day (or night). I call myself an "opportunistic grazer".

That said, I can't judge when to eat by hunger cues. I can go 20-24 hours without food and not feel particularly hungry. I am now trying to eat by set meal times but when I am on call and working weird hours that gets tricky.

At some point I will have to rely on eating when hungry and stopping when satiated.

My question is: Do some people just not have a working hunger center?

I wonder if what you are currently doing is working for you why you feel like the bit I bolded

If it suits you it suits you

I am trying to learn better eating habits. At some point along the line, hopefully by the time I get to a maintenance weight, I will have a habit of eating proper portions and selecting more healthy choices. Right now I am really working at weighing, measuring and reading labels. I am also trying to notice how different foods affect me, what full enough feels like and when am I hungry.

I am so used to grazing and eating all the time I really haven't been associating eating with hunger. I get up, I eat. I'm sent to lunch at work, I eat. I'm sent to dinner at work, I eat. My wife prepares dinner, I eat.

I have assumed that normal weight people respond to their own body and don't have to be told when to eat or how much to eat.

So, yeah, it's working for me now. I was just curious.

lorrpb

I can't rely only on hunger or I would still be 300 lbs.

Mavrick_RN

ClosetBayesian wrote: »

Lydilod wrote: »

Try to eat slowly so that your stomach has time to recognise you've eaten

This doesn't help those of us who don't feel hungry on a regular basis.

I eat by the clock, OP. If I don't, I'll have lunch at 4PM (if at all), and will skip dinner because I just ate lunch.

Exactly! On a work day, I'll have breakfast at 0815, lunch at 1430, dinner at 1730, a snack at 2230, a late snack at 0100. Sleep til 1000 the next day, not eat until a snack at 1400, eat dinner when wife cooks at 1800.

bclarke1990

This has always been my biggest struggle. I've honestly found that the more I occupy myself, the less food I actually want. If I'm bored and all I have to do is hours of homework, I feel like I need/want to eat every 20 minutes. If I alternate between studying, watching a tv series or playing a game I can go 5-6 hours without even considering food.

This won't apply to everyone, but drink lots of water and try to eat fibrous foods/veggies with your meals, even if it's just 100g of carrots. Then try to stay busy and when you feel hungry just eat a smaller meal, or each something every few hours to be safe

Sued0nim

Mavrick_RN wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

Mavrick_RN wrote: »

I'll admit I am a freaky eater. I blame it on my long years as an ICU nurse where I never had a scheduled meal. I ate standing up or walking by the break room and grabbing something handy to eat at any time of the day (or night). I call myself an "opportunistic grazer".

That said, I can't judge when to eat by hunger cues. I can go 20-24 hours without food and not feel particularly hungry. I am now trying to eat by set meal times but when I am on call and working weird hours that gets tricky.

At some point I will have to rely on eating when hungry and stopping when satiated.

My question is: Do some people just not have a working hunger center?

I wonder if what you are currently doing is working for you why you feel like the bit I bolded

If it suits you it suits you

I am trying to learn better eating habits. At some point along the line, hopefully by the time I get to a maintenance weight, I will have a habit of eating proper portions and selecting more healthy choices. Right now I am really working at weighing, measuring and reading labels. I am also trying to notice how different foods affect me, what full enough feels like and when am I hungry.

I am so used to grazing and eating all the time I really haven't been associating eating with hunger. I get up, I eat. I'm sent to lunch at work, I eat. I'm sent to dinner at work, I eat. My wife prepares dinner, I eat.

I have assumed that normal weight people respond to their own body and don't have to be told when to eat or how much to eat.

So, yeah, it's working for me now. I was just curious.

Makes sense

I came to the conclusion that the way I lose weight is the way I maintain the loss so my go-to foods, common recipes cooked and habits have changed and my movement patterns and I consider those my lifestyle changes

But my weighing and logging has become part of my lifestyle ..I think this is my normal and see no reverting to any instinctual form of eating in my future ...for me instinct made me lazy and overweight for decades despite yo yo weight loss so this is my normality

Mavrick_RN

rabbitjb wrote: »

Mavrick_RN wrote: »

rabbitjb wrote: »

Mavrick_RN wrote: »

I'll admit I am a freaky eater. I blame it on my long years as an ICU nurse where I never had a scheduled meal. I ate standing up or walking by the break room and grabbing something handy to eat at any time of the day (or night). I call myself an "opportunistic grazer".

That said, I can't judge when to eat by hunger cues. I can go 20-24 hours without food and not feel particularly hungry. I am now trying to eat by set meal times but when I am on call and working weird hours that gets tricky.

At some point I will have to rely on eating when hungry and stopping when satiated.

My question is: Do some people just not have a working hunger center?

I wonder if what you are currently doing is working for you why you feel like the bit I bolded

If it suits you it suits you

I am trying to learn better eating habits. At some point along the line, hopefully by the time I get to a maintenance weight, I will have a habit of eating proper portions and selecting more healthy choices. Right now I am really working at weighing, measuring and reading labels. I am also trying to notice how different foods affect me, what full enough feels like and when am I hungry.

I am so used to grazing and eating all the time I really haven't been associating eating with hunger. I get up, I eat. I'm sent to lunch at work, I eat. I'm sent to dinner at work, I eat. My wife prepares dinner, I eat.

I have assumed that normal weight people respond to their own body and don't have to be told when to eat or how much to eat.

So, yeah, it's working for me now. I was just curious.

Makes sense

I came to the conclusion that the way I lose weight is the way I maintain the loss so my go-to foods, common recipes cooked and habits have changed and my movement patterns and I consider those my lifestyle changes

But my weighing and logging has become part of my lifestyle ..I think this is my normal and see no reverting to any instinctual form of eating in my future ...for me instinct made me lazy and overweight for decades despite yo yo weight loss so this is my normality

Hey, thanks for your comments. I may have to just accept that even "normal" people measure and watch their food intake and I can do it too.

janejellyroll

I can't eat instinctively and maintain my weight. My husband likes to joke that I'm always ready to eat. And it's true. Unless I have literally just finished a Thanksgiving-style meal, if I see something tasty, I'm ready to eat it. I need guidelines and structure to maintain my weight. I am maintaining now and I anticipate logging for the rest of my life. I'm okay with that, because I think it's worth it.

Is it "normal"? I have no idea. Does it work for people who are maintaining weight loss? Absolutely. That's all I need to know.