Weight Loss Theory

laurimaki

I don't know if there's any science behind this, but I am interested to hear what other people think. Often I read a comment online or a post on MFP with someone complaining about things not keeping them full or mentioning which snacks keep them full longer. My theory is that we are meant to feel hunger, ESPECIALLY if we are trying to lose weight. I mean, if your body adjusts to eating a certain amount of calories when you are at a higher weight, it needs that many calories every day to not feel hungry and sustain said weight. So if you start eating less and feeling hungry, doesn't that hunger mean that you are burning fat? Doesn't that mean there is no food in your stomach being burned up as fuel, so your stomach is shrinking and your body is using fat to sustain itself?

My theory for losing weight has always been that I have to not eat until I'm truly hungry, and going to bed hungry after eating dinner a few hours earlier is not a bad sign, but a sign that my body is noticing there is less food, trying to get me to put more food in there, but instead burns fat to keep my body fueled. Thoughts? It is the one major thing among many minor changes that has worked for me to lose the weight I already have lost, and I know it would work to lose the rest I want to lose...it's just always about the battle of will power isn't it? And being hungry is hard haha.

kgirlhart

I don't know. I felt a little hungry the first couple of weeks as I got used to eating at a deficit. But then I started learning which foods kept me full longer and usually only feel hungry when it is close to meal time. I don't think it is necessary to be hungry when you are losing weight.

rainbowyeager

My concern is that waiting until you feel truly hungry can lead to over eating and the body might also attack muscle before fat reserves? I never allow my hunger to go unchecked too long because then I eat faster and cant always tell when I am full until I am stuffed!

JoRocka

rainbowyeager wrote: »

My concern is that waiting until you feel truly hungry can lead to over eating and the body might also attack muscle before fat reserves? I never allow my hunger to go unchecked too long because then I eat faster and cant always tell when I am full until I am stuffed!

Truly hungry isn't just occasional stomach pains.

Most people at this point have no effing clue what truly hungry means.

When you deficit for extended periods of time you start day dreaming about food in a whole new way. The phsycological side effects are a WHOLE other conversation.

Most people here think missing meal is hungry. I mean I get loopy and drooly when my blood sugar tanks and I don't get my snack- but that isn't really actually hunger. that's just my blood sugar tanking.

It's a pretty safe bet most people never get to that stage unless we are talking people who are struggling with eating disorders.

If people are binge eating it is far more likely that it is mental- not from being hungry for an extra two- three hours.

JoRocka

again- why is this cross posted?

richln

Does not work for me personally. If I am losing weight on keto, I am rarely ever hungry. I also don't get very hungry if I eat small meals 6-7 times per day. If I do IF, I get a little hungry towards the end of the fasting period, but I often have to cram in a lot of food before the next fasting period when I don't even feel like eating. Contrarily, sometimes I get crazy hungry while I am intentionally gaining weight.

Big_YEET

I think you're right. I have the same thoughts as you. Your body doesn't want to lose weight. Before food became readily available, the only time you'd be losing weight is when you're going hungry against your will. So it makes sense that you'd be hungry at times while losing weight. I think people need to train themselves to stop viewing mild hunger as an emergency. If you're truly starving, then don't deprive yourself - eat. But if you ate breakfast in the morning and it's 1 hour past your lunch time, and you feel a tiny hunger pang, it's NOT an emergency. You're not going to start burning muscle off. The whole idea that your body is going to start targeting muscle before fat if you skip one meal, and you'll turn into a jiggly blob of skinny-fat with 0 muscle mass is ridiculous. Almost all of the naturally skinny people I've met in my life (meaning people who've never dieted and never been overweight) all wait until they're actually hungry to eat, resulting in unintentional fasts for up to a day, and sometimes don't eat even when they are hungry due to being busy - and all of them have perfectly healthy bodies with a low amount of fat and high muscle.