Ideas for dealing with psychological hunger
torii995
Posts: 7 Member
I always struggle with feeling hungry, even if I know I shouldn't be. If I'm busy doing things it's normally not an issue, but as a student I spend a lot of my time sitting around studying and I always feel hungry, even though I know it's just boredom.
Apart from that, I end to get hungry soon after eating. For example, I'll eat a bowl of oatmeal and fruit, but by 10:30 I'm feeling hungry enough for lunch, and my stomach would be grumbling.
Any tips for resisting the urge to snack? Or how to train my body to be satisfied between meals?
Apart from that, I end to get hungry soon after eating. For example, I'll eat a bowl of oatmeal and fruit, but by 10:30 I'm feeling hungry enough for lunch, and my stomach would be grumbling.
Any tips for resisting the urge to snack? Or how to train my body to be satisfied between meals?
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Replies
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Either add protein to your meals, or snack, or both. If I had oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, I'd be hungry by 10:30AM, too. There's nothing wrong with having a snack to fill the gap between meals - just plan them into your calories for the day.0
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Stop eating when you're not really hungry.0
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I don't eat my greek yogurt and berries (breakfast) until 9:30 or so. I found if I ate breakfast earlier, I would get hungry earlier. I'm not hungry in the morning until about 9:30, so I just wait and eat my first meal when I get hungry.
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I have some scheduled fruit around 10amish and I always have a bottle of water on my desk. If I feel hungry I drink water, fills the stomach without adding calories0
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I always struggle with feeling hungry, even if I know I shouldn't be. If I'm busy doing things it's normally not an issue, but as a student I spend a lot of my time sitting around studying and I always feel hungry, even though I know it's just boredom.
Apart from that, I end to get hungry soon after eating. For example, I'll eat a bowl of oatmeal and fruit, but by 10:30 I'm feeling hungry enough for lunch, and my stomach would be grumbling.
Any tips for resisting the urge to snack? Or how to train my body to be satisfied between meals?
Oatmeal by itself doesn't have enough protein or fat for me. I typically make oatmeal with milk and then add a sprinkle of nuts. Protein and fat have more staying power for me.
Another option: Greek yogurt parfait: berries, 2% yogurt (or 0% and nuts) & a 1/4 cup of high fiber cereal0 -
Chew gum. When you feel a strong craving, chewing gum tricks your brain for a while because it thinks you're eating. After your brain catches on, have a lunch pale full of snacks in your car. Healthy snacks like almonds and other nuts. Water bottles or mineral/sparkling water (think, San Pellegrino) are also helpful in filling up your stomach. Try one banana a day. It's 110 calories, but it's full of magnesium and potassium. Also, try a protein shake or meal replacement shake in the morning. Protein shakes should be combined with other foods and you want to make sure that it's low on sugar and sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners have been known to cause more food cravings. Last, but not least, don't lose motivation. Keep track of your daily calories. Go to the gym and do the elliptical for 30 minutes if you go over your calories. After a month, it'll become second nature.0
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Adding protein to my breakfasts keeps me from getting hungry before lunch (I eat around 6 am and then at noon). If I have oatmeal and fruit I add protein powder to the oatmeal. I prefer to have eggs (vegetable omelet) and either cottage cheese or plain greek yogurt (or smoked salmon).
For wanting to eat when bored, the longer you stick to eating at planned times vs. grazing, the easier it becomes--the expectation that you will eat goes away. Back when I was in school, what worked for me was going to the library to study (in those days, at least, eating wasn't permitted there). Other things are substituting something else -- now I get coffee instead of a snack -- or else have low calorie things to munch on like raw vegetables or even berries.0 -
Stop eating when you're not really hungry.
Talk about unhelpful. She's saying that she understands she's not hungry and is looking for mental tips to make it less difficult.
I usually stuff myself with something fresh and low-calorie, like fresh green beans. Something for me to grab and munch on, but I fill up long before it breaks my calorie budget.1 -
Coffee suppresses your appetite! Drink it black or with just a little sweetener anytime you need it and it works for me. I have the same issue as u0
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Drink more water, sometimes what you are is thirsty and not hungry !0
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Stop eating when you're not really hungry.
Talk about unhelpful. She's saying that she understands she's not hungry and is looking for mental tips to make it less difficult.
I usually stuff myself with something fresh and low-calorie, like fresh green beans. Something for me to grab and munch on, but I fill up long before it breaks my calorie budget.
It doesn't get less difficult - you have to get past it. If you stop letting yourself eat because you're bored, eventually the desire wanes.0 -
Stop eating when you're not really hungry.
Talk about unhelpful. She's saying that she understands she's not hungry and is looking for mental tips to make it less difficult.
I usually stuff myself with something fresh and low-calorie, like fresh green beans. Something for me to grab and munch on, but I fill up long before it breaks my calorie budget.
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Decide if you're feeling hungry or just bored, those are two separate issues.
If you are hungry between breakfast and lunch, either plan a snack (I like 80 calories of cottage cheese), or eat breakfast later like PP suggested.
If you are truly just bored and not hungry, then I find that drinking something gives me something to do and feels like a "treat" without adding calories. Diet soda, coffee, tea, water, seltzer, etc.0 -
Hey all, thanks for the tips! I was pretty sure I was getting enough protein but I will revaluate, it sounds likely now that I consider my day to day diet.
Also thanks for the boredom eating advice!1 -
A bowl of oatmeal and fruit is like the last thing I would personally eat in a deficit. It would be a snack, not a meal. Where's the protein? Fat? It's a bowl of carbs. That might fill some people up, but not everyone.
When I'm home alone I have my dinner and snacks planned out and the time I will eat them as well. So I look forward to them and don't want to snack ahead of time so I can actually have them. In the meantime I drink a lot of delicious tea, chew gum, drink diet soda. Sometimes I'll account for some salted yellow pepper and cucumbers which you can get a lot of for very little calories. Sometimes I'll take a shower...I know that sounds weird but I'm going to need one anyway, so why not?0 -
ClosetBayesian wrote: »Either add protein to your meals, or snack, or both. If I had oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, I'd be hungry by 10:30AM, too. There's nothing wrong with having a snack to fill the gap between meals - just plan them into your calories for the day.
+1. I have a more substantial breakfast than you and I still have a mid-morning snack. A mid-morning snack keeps me from binging at my next meal. This morning I think it's an apple with almond butter.
If you're hungry, eat. If you're not hungry, distract. Keep your hands busy. Take up needlework or crossword puzzles, start a journal, do anything that keeps your brain and hands busy. It helps.0 -
If you are sure that it is hedonic hunger rather than actual hunger the following thought process in this order can help:
1. Give yourself absolute mental permission to eat what you are craving in the quantity you would like (bear with me here...)
2. Accept fully that you are making a choice and think of the specific the negative consequences that come with it (so, longer to reach your goal, disappointment with yourself and so on)
3. If you still want to eat the particular item then give yourself permission to do so...but in 30 minutes
More often than not the craving will pass. The more often you go through this process the easier it becomes and your overall snacking may fall.
Sometimes you may end up eating but that is fine as well. If you have an itch which just has to be scratched then better to do so when it is only a little itchy then keep fighting and let it build until you scratch yourself raw
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I'm the same way, I get bored or depressed.
Reading comments for tips
Some ideas I've heard are taking a walk/treadmill for me or drinking water which never works for me0 -
I always struggle with feeling hungry, even if I know I shouldn't be. If I'm busy doing things it's normally not an issue, but as a student I spend a lot of my time sitting around studying and I always feel hungry, even though I know it's just boredom.
Apart from that, I end to get hungry soon after eating. For example, I'll eat a bowl of oatmeal and fruit, but by 10:30 I'm feeling hungry enough for lunch, and my stomach would be grumbling.
Any tips for resisting the urge to snack? Or how to train my body to be satisfied between meals?
Find a way to make your studies more active? For example, create study cards and walk around while reading. Recite chemical formulas while busting out a handful of squats. Conjugate your French verbs while doing high knees. You get the idea.
I have the same problem except it's my desk job. If I am running around the office, I only notice hunger if I'm hungry and also not boredom eating. But if its a slow day? I'm tortured by psychological hunger.0 -
If you are sure that it is hedonic hunger rather than actual hunger the following thought process in this order can help:
1. Give yourself absolute mental permission to eat what you are craving in the quantity you would like (bear with me here...)
2. Accept fully that you are making a choice and think of the specific the negative consequences that come with it (so, longer to reach your goal, disappointment with yourself and so on)
3. If you still want to eat the particular item then give yourself permission to do so...but in 30 minutes
More often than not the craving will pass. The more often you go through this process the easier it becomes and your overall snacking may fall.
Sometimes you may end up eating but that is fine as well. If you have an itch which just has to be scratched then better to do so when it is only a little itchy then keep fighting and let it build until you scratch yourself raw
I like this mental exercise. It reminds me of dialectical behavior therapy - connecting your behaviors with thoughts. Mastering my "mood dependent" behavior has been a struggle like OP but connecting my behavior with the results is very effective.0 -
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I always seem to get hunger pangs around 10:30 am. Lunch is at 11:30, and I really don't want to eat anything until then. I enjoy a nice 16 oz cup of hot lemon green tea. Then I chew a piece of sugarless gum. This combo turns off the hunger pangs and holds me over until lunch every day.0
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When I'm sitting around at home in the evenings or on weekends and feel the urge to snack out of plain boredom, I will make myself get up and do something that puts distance between me and food. So I'll take the dogs for a walk, or go upstairs (away from the kitchen) and find something to do up there. Sometimes for me its literally physical distance from food - increase the effort it would take to give into the craving- that helps.0
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I found doing intermittent fasting at the beginning of my weight loss journey, which in my case meant not eating breakfast until 11a or noon, helped fix my mindset on food. Nowadays I don't worry much when I feel like eating but I'm not truly hungry.0
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Another vote for a higher protein breakfast. Like others have said, you can add protein powder to your oatmeal or eat something inherently higher in protein like eggs. I save oats for a pre-bed snack.1
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Stop eating when you're not really hungry.
Talk about unhelpful. She's saying that she understands she's not hungry and is looking for mental tips to make it less difficult.
I usually stuff myself with something fresh and low-calorie, like fresh green beans. Something for me to grab and munch on, but I fill up long before it breaks my calorie budget.
It doesn't get less difficult - you have to get past it. If you stop letting yourself eat because you're bored, eventually the desire wanes.
+1 on this.
I don't agree with the distraction part 100 percent cause then you either create a habit that just replaces the psychological hunger or you'll be in bed at 11pm and feel physiological hunger, yet you're not going to go run or go on a 30 minute walk? I agree getting active during the day to avoid it, or just to be healthy by being more active is a good addition to deal with it, but it is not a solution. The solution is in the mental aspect of avoiding the urge. You have the control over your body. Listen to your actual hunger cues and use common sense. If you know you just had a satiating and macro filed meal, you need to resist that post hunger feelings since it's not true hunger, and the urge will slowly go away.0
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