Hunger/fullness feelings messed up

rjdubock0609

Hi everyone! I've lost weight before, so I know I can do it again, but I'd forgotten this trick that my body does when I'm on a regular calorie deficit... I become unable to tell whether I'm full or hungry because they feel the same - eg half an hour after a massive meal I'll feel the same as as if it's 11:30am and I haven't had breakfast.

Generally I just ignore this and eat whatever I was planning to eat anyway (so I don't let it make me overeat), but has anyone else experienced this? Any explanations?

jjpptt2

I'm not sure if it's the same thing or not, so take it for what it's worth...

I don't feel full (satisfied) unless I have an excessive volume of food. If I don't eat to that point, I'm almost always "hungry" again 30 minutes later. I have a terrible relationship with food and my eating signals are certainly screwed up.

So I try to eat on plan. I try to ignore my hunger and accept that I'll never be (feel) "full". Diet soda and hard candy are crutches sometimes, and I use plain, low cal popcorn as a filler when I need to. It works reasonably well for me.

kommodevaran

I have the same experience. When I eat like a normal person, regularly, three meals per day, the difference between hungry and full, is small. I can stave off "hunger" for as long as I have to, but when I've started to eat, I just want to continue. The sensations I get, are basically just digestion and appetite - the physical sensation of food moving through the system, and the psychological aspect - the anticipation, and sensation of the sight, smell and taste of food. I have to (try to) ignore this quite backward feedback, and stick to my planned meals. My weight and energy levels tell me I'm fine.

toxikon

I think a lot of people have weird hunger cues.

My hunger switch doesn't usually turn off until an hour after I've finished my meal - which is why calorie counting is so important - I can just keep going and going until that switch turns off.

Having a plan to stick to certainly helps.

Seffell

rjdubock0609 wrote: »

Hi everyone! I've lost weight before, so I know I can do it again, but I'd forgotten this trick that my body does when I'm on a regular calorie deficit... I become unable to tell whether I'm full or hungry because they feel the same - eg half an hour after a massive meal I'll feel the same as as if it's 11:30am and I haven't had breakfast.

Generally I just ignore this and eat whatever I was planning to eat anyway (so I don't let it make me overeat), but has anyone else experienced this? Any explanations?

Do you refer to a feeling in your stomach or a psychological feeling?
If you're talking about a physical sensation I have this when my gastritis has flared up - same gnawing "hunger" type feeling both when my stomach is empty or after I've eaten. If this sounds like it might check with your GP.

charlenekapf

I get this and it started when I began intermittent fasting. I used to not have such issues with knowing hunger/fullness but when I started waiting until 4 pm to eat daily, everything got out of sync. When I started breaking fasts earlier/trying to eat breakfast/eat any earlier, my calories became much higher and while it wasn't the gnawing stomach growling hunger, I felt like I needed to eat. If you get a gnawing feeling after, it could be an ulcer. if it's anything else like a mind hunger which can feel very strong, you may have a similar issue to me. I always try to push eating back now until at least noon as I feel fuller than eating smaller meals spread throughout the day.

SpanishFusion

This happened to me when I first started. About an hour after I'd eat breakfast or lunch, I'd hear my stomach growling, but I would feel full. I eat light for breakfast and moderate for lunch and save most of my calories for dinner. Only after I had dinner did I not feel this way. This hungry/full sensation went away after about 2 weeks.

batorkin

Eat more protein. Try a protein shake in the morning too. If I don't get enough protein, I am constantly hungry.

If that doesn't work, then it's just bad habits that "should" go away if you eat properly long enough.

urloved33

funny there is a massive difference between feeling nourished and feeling "full" - nourished is such a better place to be in this process.