Has anyone used hunger scale to lose or maintain weight?

Cbestinme
Cbestinme Posts: 397 Member
edited November 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
A couple of days ago there was a blog on mfp about emotional eating that had a link to another blog about hunger scale. I can't find them again! Are people familiar with that hunger scale (0 ready to eat everything, 10 really stuffed and uncomfortable, 4-6 just ok)?

Has anyone managed to use a hunger scale to achieve their loss goals or maintain weight?

Maybe most people on mfp are here because we need additional tools?

I'm guessing that people not on mfp that are not overweight have something like a hunger scale or something else that works for them? (Too bad they can't answer this)!!


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Replies

  • Cbestinme
    Cbestinme Posts: 397 Member
    Do lower calorie beers help, if there are such?
  • Cbestinme
    Cbestinme Posts: 397 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    To use a hunger scale someone has to be able to distinguish between real hunger and "feeling" hungry. IMO, the lack of this ability is the reason for many people's weight issues.

    Great points, thanks!
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I do eat to my hunger, not exactly a scale, it's more of a vague feeling that I've had enough and I'm happy with what I've eaten. When you've been at it for as long as I have you learn a few things about your hunger and how to satisfy it best with as few compromises as possible. That said, I'm not afraid to be hungry when my appetite is up or when I'm saving the calories for something else.

    It's kind of a balancing game where all the pieces need to fit right, like a puzzle board or a game of Tetris. Some days the pieces fall right into the needed spots and it feels easy, other days are harder and feel like trying to push a square through a circle. It's just so many puzzle pieces... You need to consider hunger, nutrition, desires, food available, future and past meals, what other people around you are eating...etc..etc, so some days a piece is bound to fall crooked. In general, though, dieting has been a pleasant experience hunger-wise. I didn't expect it to be this manageable because you always associate the word diet with being always hungry and eating tasteless food.
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
    Cbestinme wrote: »

    I'm guessing that people not on mfp that are not overweight have something like a hunger scale or something else that works for them? (Too bad they can't answer this)!!


    I know a few of those people and the thing they have going for them is that they don't love foods as much as the overweight. To give you an idea, just look at kids. Alot of kids have to be pressed by their parents to eat, otherwise they would be very frail.
  • codename_steve
    codename_steve Posts: 255 Member
    I used MFP to relearn what portions should be, at first I ate only based on MFP and if I had calories left I ate. Then I started being mindful of how I felt, even if MFP said I had calories left but I wasn't hungry then I didn't eat. Eventually I was able to transition to eating based only on hunger, and I've been able to maintain my weight for about 6 months without logging.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    I've never heard of the hunger scale, but I lost 30 lbs by simply listening honestly to the hunger cues my body gives. Like most people, I gained weight from eating when I wasn't hungry and continuing to eat long after I'd satisfied the hunger.
  • szkodzt
    szkodzt Posts: 124 Member
    I wish I could, and hope to get to that point!
  • Cbestinme
    Cbestinme Posts: 397 Member
    amusedmonkey wrote: »

    In general, though, dieting has been a pleasant experience hunger-wise. I didn't expect it to be this manageable because you always associate the word diet with being always hungry and eating tasteless food.

    Agreed I too thought "diet" meant something unpleasant like starving, but like you I agree it's been surprisingly pleasant (using mfp&counting calories) so far.
  • Cbestinme
    Cbestinme Posts: 397 Member
    codename_steve wrote: »
    I used MFP to relearn what portions should be, at first I ate only based on MFP and if I had calories left I ate. Then I started being mindful of how I felt, even if MFP said I had calories left but I wasn't hungry then I didn't eat. Eventually I was able to transition to eating based only on hunger, and I've been able to maintain my weight for about 6 months without logging.

    Great job, thanks for sharing. 6 months maintain sounds like you're doing really well :)
  • Cbestinme
    Cbestinme Posts: 397 Member
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    I've never heard of the hunger scale, but I lost 30 lbs by simply listening honestly to the hunger cues my body gives. Like most people, I gained weight from eating when I wasn't hungry and continuing to eat long after I'd satisfied the hunger.

    That's great you're making hunger cues work for you! 30 pounds is amaxing!! The hunger scale was on an mfp blog not sure whether it's a universal concept? It was a fun read :)
  • Cbestinme
    Cbestinme Posts: 397 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    I have used the hunger scale in combination with MFP, to learn how to eat like a normal person - in fact I feel a lot more normal now, it's not just that I have a normal weight, I have normal eating habits. I lost 50 pounds and have kept them off for two years. I still use the hunger scale, every day, every meal. I used to think I was overweight because I loved food, but in fact I would compulsively eat because of worry about not being capable of managing my food intake and eating the "wrong" food. I appreciate food a lot more now, and I feel relaxed and safe around food for the first time in my life.

    Great progress! Sounds like you're more mindful about eating! 50 pounds is a great achievement and to keep them of two years plus is wonderful, thanks for sharing!
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    I found that post interesting too. I've been losing since January and during that time ate every few hours to avoid getting famished and scarfing up whatever. But, that isn't working for me in maintenance. Lately, I've been eating all my calories by lunch and I'm starving when I get home from work at 6. There's probably some seasonality factored into that too with it getting dark and cold.

    I'm doing 16:8 IF for two weeks in an attempt to regulate my hunger cues and to eat only when I'm legitimately hungry. I'm attempting to use the hunger scale for this effort.
  • Cbestinme
    Cbestinme Posts: 397 Member
    jaedwa1 wrote: »
    I used it for years when I was in maintenance mode and it worked well for me. Then I began to overeat on a regular basis and "broke" my internal scale. So now I'm back to measuring and logging. I went to brunch last weekend and was nervous about overdoing it. I ordered a toasted English muffin with two scrambled eggs. Halfway through the plate, I did a tummy check and realized I'd had enough to eat. The waiter was concerned there was something wrong with the food and I assured him I was completely satisfied. I'm still proud of myself for that. :)

    Great job on restaurant brunch! Maybe with more practice your internal hunger scale will get back (maybe it's just a muscle that you weren't using for a while and now you've retrained it)!
  • Jim_1000
    Jim_1000 Posts: 52 Member
    I've notice that sometimes I eat when I'm not hungry, but then I get hungrier as I eat. As well, I noticed that high carb/low fiber foods actually make me hungrier. Try intermittent fasting to see if you can skip breakfast or even breakfast and lunch so you get to know what hungry feels like. I admit I hardly ever feel truly hungry, just eat out of habit.
  • Sara1791
    Sara1791 Posts: 760 Member
    I was able to do this back in the day. When I cared to pay attention and didn't medicate myself with food and when I didn't have so much to lose. It takes constant attention, but then again so does counting calories.

    In my experience eating less than you burn causes hunger (some disagree) - which can be mitigated but not eliminated. That being so, it is hard to lose weight using hunger cues unless you recognize that you may need to be a teensy bit hungry some of the time. You know a scale from one to five is helpful. Never let yourself get too hungry or too full.

    I also think this method works better with high volume/low energy foods than it does with energy dense foods. A lot rests on the need to know good portioning for different types of foods. For example, a bowl of peanut butter is calorie dense and even if your satiety cues aren't triggering, it's still too much. (Oh peanut butter, how do I love thee…)

    I will probably try eating this way at some point during maintenance, but I'm not there yet.
  • VeganRaptor
    VeganRaptor Posts: 164 Member
    I'm trying to work towards using a similar system (intuitive eating) :smile:

    The issue with this system for me is that having an eating disorder completely stuffed up my hunger signals. I find myself constantly tracking at a score of two or three, never above a four- and get full really easily after even small meals. This means that I can't really use the system at the moment (otherwise I wouldn't end up eating much). I use a meal planning technique where I plan out three meals and two to five snacks a day in the hope that it will eventually even out my hunger levels and I can eat more intuitively :)

    I think this method works best for people who already have a regular balanced diet. It might be a good idea to work towards eating a sensible calorie level or a sensible eating timeline with decent portions to teach your body and yourself what healthy eating feels like before starting on using a hunger scale?
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    I have learned through hard experience that my hunger signals are totally unreliable.

    Too many years of emotional eating under my belt, sadly.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    No hunger scale here.. OMG my hunger can be all over the place, being female puts that into another category. Hunger scale has been broken since the beginning of time for me.

    I use a food schedule.. That schedule keeps me accountable, and if I am significantly hungry, then I alter the schedule.
  • Cbestinme
    Cbestinme Posts: 397 Member
    All very good points, for now it looks like keep counting calories to lose weight & hopefully find happy middle to honor the feeling of real hunger (maybe allowing a teensy bit of hunger some of the time, & learning to stop before fullness or discomfort most of the time if not always, &decent portions &schedules or meal plans).
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    fenderman9 wrote: »
    I've notice that sometimes I eat when I'm not hungry, but then I get hungrier as I eat. As well, I noticed that high carb/low fiber foods actually make me hungrier. Try intermittent fasting to see if you can skip breakfast or even breakfast and lunch so you get to know what hungry feels like. I admit I hardly ever feel truly hungry, just eat out of habit.

    I think you may be confusing hunger with appetite. And high carb/low fiber will typically contribute little to satiety because of little nitrition, and at the same time stimulate appetite. A good meal schedule, any good meal schedule, and whatever you call it, can help with adherence for people who don't have strong hunger and satiety cues. Nothing wrong with following a schedule, most people do that anyway.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    I am always hungry so this would not work for me!
  • HealthyBodySickMind
    HealthyBodySickMind Posts: 1,207 Member
    edited November 2016
    While I hadn't heard of the hunger scale per say, I've always been able to eat intuitively. You are right that the majority of people using mfp are trying to lose weight, but I am one of the many exceptions to that. I've never been overweight. My entire adult life pre-pregnancy I stayed between 104 and 118 lbs, but that was on the extreme ends. Normally I was between 107 and 114 lbs, without ever being on a diet, just eating when I was hungry and what I was hungry for. I started calorie counting in 2011 because I got sick of people telling me that I "had no idea what I was eating" and that I "wouldn't have that metabolism" when I got older or after having children. (I had a reputation for eating a lot). From that long and on going experiment, I learned basically that I ate a reasonable amount of food for my size and activity level.

    Starting in 2011, that would be 553 days tracked pre-pregnancy, 244 days tracked during my pregnancy, and 946 days tracked while breastfeeding (yes, I am breastfeeding a toddler). I have experimentally determined my TDEE through "normal" times, periods with weightlifting (I started weightlifting to gain weight so that I wouldn't be underweight trying to conceive), through each trimester, and while my daughter nurses less and less. I keep all of this in excel sheets where I also track results from blood work, steps, body measurements, my pump outputs when I was still pumping, and other health metrics. My macro split has been basically consistent through all of the tracking (except no ethanol while pregnant).

    Now I wonder if all of the tracking has affected how I eat? In other words, has the measuring affected my ability to eat intuitively?
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    HealthyBodySickMind wrote: »
    Now I wonder if all of the tracking has affected how I eat? In other words, has the measuring affected my ability to eat intuitively?

    Very good point. I'm sure there are days that i'll eat just because I've pre-logged it in my diary, and there are times I've logged 500g of goulash for example, and i'll keep adding to the plate until the scale says 500, whereas if that scale wasn't there i would have stopped at around 400g. This has happened a few times to me, less looks enough but I go by what the food scale says instead of what i think would probably be enough.

    Of course this goes the other way too, where one serving of peanut butter, cheese, ice cream etc looks mighty pitiful.

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