Weight Loss Theory

Chunkahlunkah

I find appetite--the feeling of being hungry--really interesting. I'd like to learn more about it.

I don't think appetite is necessarily coordinated with weight maintenance. If it were, you'd expect us to always feel more hungry when losing weight (or in danger of losing weight) and less hungry while gaining. I personally haven't experienced that. I've experienced feeling far more satiated while losing weight (so at a calorie deficit) than at other times while maintaining or gaining weight (so at a calorie equilibrium or surplus).

For me, what I eat determines my appetite more than how many calories I'm eating. Now, this is of course only to a certain point. If I eat calories below a certain point, I feel very hungry, regardless of what comprises those calories. What I know about myself though, is that if I were to primarily eat the ratio of macros that suppresses my appetite or primarily eat the ratio that increases it, I would end up being either underweight or overweight when eating according to "hunger."

Besides what we eat contributing to appetite, I think it's possible that people are born with their own appetite level. A range that satisfies them. Some people are lucky and that range results in intuitively eating the calories needed for a healthy weight. Some people are naturally wired to want to eat more than that, making intuitive eating and maintaining a healthy weight more challenging. I think we feel hungry when we eat below that innate preference. I think that innate preferene is a range though, and we can do things that make our appetite drop to the lower end of our range or push it to its higher end, like eating the foods our body personally finds satiating. And becoming obese in itself may increase appetite since it appears to numb the perception of fullness signals.

crooked_left_hook

Waiting until I am truly hungry isn't an option for me because once that happens it is highly likely that I will get a migraine, and guaranteed that will overeat at my next meal. I just divvy up my calories into 3 meals and 3 snacks and eat them at the same time each day. This way I don't overeat and I don't kill the rest of my day with a migraine. It's also very hard to feel deprived when you eat 6x a day.

GottaBurnEmAll

laurimaki wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

If I need 3,000 calories to maintain my weight, I'm going to lose about 1 Lb per week eating 2500 calories despite having food in my stomach at any particular time, etc...I'm not providing enough energy (calories) for my body to maintain and thus I burn body fat (stored energy) to make up the deficiency of energy.

This is what I'm focused on though...this deficit...do you think that is the origin of hunger? Your body telling you hey, we aren't used to being at a deficit, put more in here? It's worked for me so far. I mean if you use your example...you need 3000 to maintain but are only eating 2500, even with food in your stomach throughout that day, could your body not be hungry? You don't have to have an empty stomach to be hungry. I just feel like that's how my body works personally...less food than what my body is used to=hunger.

I'm not sure that this is entirely normal. Have you tried playing around with your macros and food choices to increase satiety?

Before that, though, what kind of hunger are we talking about here -- is it hedonic hunger? Wanting to eat for the pleasure of eating, or is it true hunger? Is it constant, or just before you're due to eat?

Lastly, how close are you to goal?

I worry about the sustainability of your approach here.

GottaBurnEmAll

KT6377 wrote: »

Waiting until I am truly hungry isn't an option for me because once that happens it is highly likely that I will get a migraine, and guaranteed that will overeat at my next meal. I just divvy up my calories into 3 meals and 3 snacks and eat them at the same time each day. This way I don't overeat and I don't kill the rest of my day with a migraine. It's also very hard to feel deprived when you eat 6x a day.

Same here. Migraineurs dance with the devil playing that game.

I have found I can delay breakfast and just drink some milky tea without consequence (this is my natural appetite pattern), but when I'm close to the end of my botox cycle, I need to eat breakfast earlier than I normally do to keep the migraines at bay.

laurimaki

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

Before that, though, what kind of hunger are we talking about here -- is it hedonic hunger? Wanting to eat for the pleasure of eating, or is it true hunger? Is it constant, or just before you're due to eat?

Lastly, how close are you to goal?

I worry about the sustainability of your approach here.

I see you mentioned about migraines as did others. I don't really have any issues being hungry, if I let it go too long I get hangry, but for the most part, hunger doesn't bother me. I don't go to the point of starving where I'm going to eat everything in sight. I do try to wait until I'm truly hungry before eating though (truly hungry to me is not just ooh I smell bread and get hit with a grumbling, more like grumbling for 30 mins straight). Granted I have fallen off the wagon numerous times over the years. I have maintained my weight loss using this and similar tactics as I've lost 160lbs over the last 8 years. I still would like to lose another 75-90 lbs.

kimny72

KT6377 wrote: »

Waiting until I am truly hungry isn't an option for me because once that happens it is highly likely that I will get a migraine, and guaranteed that will overeat at my next meal. I just divvy up my calories into 3 meals and 3 snacks and eat them at the same time each day. This way I don't overeat and I don't kill the rest of my day with a migraine. It's also very hard to feel deprived when you eat 6x a day.

Agreed, once I'm noticeably hungry I get a headache and irritable and then I end up needing to eat more to feel even remotely satisfied. I know how many calories my body needs, and I like a regular schedule, so I don't have to wait until I feel hungry.

I have never been technically overweight. Once I got to the high end of the healthy weight range I went on a 250 cal deficit and lost 15 lbs over the course of a year. I tend to eat 3 meals and 2 snacks om a regular schedule and may only get a little hungry before I eat. I can't sleep if I'm at all hungry. I like to feel a little full after a meal.

Perhaps it's different for people who have more weight to lose or go with a higher deficit. But you don't need to have an empty stomach to burn fat, that's not how it works. Thank goodness, or I never would have lost anything. I suspect my stomach is only truly empty when I first wake up in the morning!

lulalacroix

I really enjoy the feeling of hunger and don't eat my first meal of the day until I'm hungry (I practice 16:8 IF).

When I was gaining weight, I ate when I wasn't full as opposed to when I was hungry. I needed to relearn hunger. So for me, the feeling of hunger is a reminder that I'm still on the right track.

That being said, I have also learned to eat less while still feeling sated and usually go to sleep with a bit of food in my belly because it helps me sleep better.

emmarrgh

You know, I feel like this has SOME merit. An in-law of mine has type II diabetes, and his sugars have been in the 260's for weeks at a time. Every day. Then, when my husband started making his meals low-carb for him, his sugars were in the 130's (so took less insulin), but he complained of fatigue, dizziness, etc.

And my friend told me that such a large 'drop' in blood sugar (even from high to normal-high) can cause the same symptoms as if you dropped from normal to low. Your body is constantly in stasis, and by default wants to keep that stasis... the same.

So it makes sense when you apply the same thing to weight loss. Our bodies are fine the way they are (or they THINK they are lol) so they want us to keep the habits that keep us this way.

I am TRYING to get my true hunger signals sorted out as part of this process, and stop when I am done. Which is hard to do when there's still a full plate of delicious food in front of you - but sitting back mid-meal, pausing for a while, talking to my family, finishing my drink, etc. helps me to then assess how I feel, and whether I should eat more.

That has the strange affect of making my meals a really weird amount of portions/calories lol.