Do you eat bc it is "time" to eat or bc you're hungry?

cynthiaj777

Typical day at work: Do you eat your snack or lunch once you feel hungry or do you eat because it is "time to eat because it is almost 1 pm or snack time?"

I'd like to entice some healthy debate. I often see people saying they only eat when hungry because they listen to their body.....or those who say they just eat to eat, which leads to weight gain.

What do you do? And why?

Someone on my page answered: I usually eat at my regular times... doesn't matter if I am hungry or not.

My response to that is: What makes it your regular time to eat if you aren't hungry? Social norms?

So, what do you do? And if you only eat once hungry, does that time change daily? Or is your hungry on a schedule?

hananah89

I have a set schedule for when I eat a meal/snack. It may fluctuate depending on how I'm feeling but I have like an hour window for each meal/snack that I fit in. I also eat about every 2 hours or so because I get hangry if I don't snack between meals.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

I eat when I'm hungry because I never have an issue reaching my caloric intake goal. If I was regularly coming in under goal or over goal I would schedule it out better.

lorenzovonmatterhorn7549

Lately, I've been eating every 2 to 3 hours. Seems better this way. I don't tend to over eat or get cravings

BinaryPulsar

I eat when I'm hungry, but I also sometimes eat based on time in order to avoid reaching the point of feeling "too hungry", and because scheduling works that way sometimes in life.

Francl27

It depends. If I have quite a bit of calories left for the day and I have a craving, as long as it's healthy-ish and won't destroy my day, I'll have it. Otherwise I wait until I'm hungry.

cynthiaj777

I eat when I'm hungry, but I also sometimes eat based on time in order to avoid reaching the point of feeling "too hungry", and because scheduling works that way sometimes in life.

Yeah....that's probably the best explanation. I normally eat lunch once I'm hungry....not at a specific time, but my mood dictates my hunger a lot, so if I'm upset, I'm never going to get hungry, so I will eat by 3 or so if I'm not feeling hungry yet because I have to digest it enough in order to work out after work. So, yeah, it depends due to life.

Nonetheless, I normally only eat once I'm hungry. I eat breakfast first thing when I wake up, but then my snack is once I'm hungry, my lunch is once I'm hungry, my pre-workout snack is once I'm hungry after lunch and then my dinner is once I'm home from the gym and I'm starving!

SmartAlec03211988

If I ate when I was hungry, I'd rarely eat. So I eat at certain times.

Eastern_Echo23

I eat when i am hungry to a point. I try not to eat past 8pm unless its fruit or veggies. If you sleep with a full stomach then your body is spending energy trying to digest the food you ate. So really your losing out on sleep. So when 8pm is coming and I haven't ate dinner yet and I don't feel hungry, i like to make a slice of bread, with cheese and maybe some meat (back before i was a vegetarian) or a bowl of cereal or something. Use good judgement, there are benefits to a food schedule like if your busy with family duties or have a job that travels a lot. But right now im a typical college kid and I am always home so I wing it when i am hungry

AnthonyKolka

I tend to do a bit of both but since I am hungry a lot I try to stick to the eat when I am scheduled to eat plan.

forgtmenot

I eat when it's time to eat but only if I'm hungry. If I'm not hungry I either don't eat or eat something small.

dlionsmane

I eat when I am hungry,... which happens to be almost all the time! lol... all joking aside I eat like every two hours!

RunningRichelle

I try to pay really good attention to my hunger and satiety cues and only eat when I'm hungry. I stop when I'm no longer hungry for the next bite. It's working really well!

danagolding

I'm constantly hungry so I eat at or around scheduled times. If I ate when I was hungry I'd be eating all day long. :ohwell:

Legs_McGee

I eat when I'm hungry. Sometimes I eat my breakfast when I first get to work, sometimes it's mid morning, sometimes not at all. And I stop eating when I'm not hungry anymore, which is why I rarely finish a meal.

Lleldiranne

As a stay at home mom, my own needs are often pushed back in dealing with the needs of my little one, and I can miss realizing I'm hungry until I'm at the HUNGRY-eat-everything-in-the-house stage. So I often eat because it's "time" … although that "time" is often determined by his hunger (1 year olds don't follow a clock, they're hungry when it's time to eat).

And then there are days on the opposite end of the spectrum, where I feel like I want to eat when I really don't need to … not really hungry, just have an appetite (you could call it boredom, even with chasing after a 1 year old). I moderate this by waiting until it's "time" so that I don't snack all day.

Either way, as long as my calories are in the right range, that's what's important, right?

SailorKnightWing

Depends on my situation. I normally eat lunch at 11:15am and dinner right at 6pm. If I have to go somewhere that'll have me occupied from, say, 3pm-7pm, I'll have a snack before I go because I'd be in pain from hunger before I had the opportunity to eat again.

Know your schedule, the approximate times you get hungry, and adjust your eating schedule accordingly.

TR0berts

Yes.

AndiGirl70

Because I have a love affair with food I find it best for me if I schedule my eating across 6 small meals a day which I pre-plan. Otherwise I would snack all day long and not necessarily on healthy choices. Its my attempt at behavior modification and control.

whierd

I generally eat at certain times, whether I am hungry or not. But I am usually hungry, so it is kind of a moot point.

cynthiaj777

Yes.

Social norm? lol

MissKitty9

by the time it's "time" to eat, I'm always hungry. So... both?

larodriguez02

Usually when I"m hungry. However when at work, I always eat at lunchtime, cause well its my time to go and I can't just go when I want. Typically I am very hungry by that point though... If for some reason I had a large snack in the morning and I"m not hungry AT ALL I will not eat and wait til I am.

CollieFit

I used to eat whether I was hungry or not, at the traditional times.

Now I listen to my body and eat when I'm hungry. I eat less as a consequence and it has also allowed me to rediscover my "I'm full" feeling which now arrives much sooner than it used to.

Because food is plenty available for most people, a lot of people have no idea what hungry actually feels like. There was even a thread about it recently "what does hungry feel like" -- just proves how out of touch we are with our bodies.

MyChocolateDiet

I eat when it's time because I used to be a forgetful eater who would get headaches from not eating. The only exception to this is if I get hungry before it's time I go ahead and eat my food then and don't have it later because I will still usually be full from whenever I had to eat it prior to schedule. I keep snacks in my purse for these occasions. I do this for the same reason as well. Not only am I prone to headaches if I forget to eat on schedule, I can also get headache if I actually feel hunger and try to ignore it.

This works for me overall. It's not like the eating when I'm hungry causes me to need to eat twice. I just end up not being hungry at the regular scheduled time and have a drink or light snack if it's a time or place where everyone's going to eat around me and it's "expected". Then I just shave those cals off the next meal.

Pangea250

Both. Usually, though, I eat when I'm hungry rather than by schedule. Lunch tends to happen at lunchtime at work, regardless of hunger. If I'm not hungry, I will wait a bit sometimes, or perhaps eat less.

I do wait to eat, however, until a certain time even though I am hungry if it is not yet time to have something.

TR0berts

Yes.

Social norm? lol

:happy:

I just find it easier to eat at "normal" times, and fill in if I'm hungry. As it turns out, I'm usually at least a little hungry at the "normal" times. Ergo, "yes."

rybo

A little of both, although I am changing that & running an IF trial for about a month or so. Generally I try to eat only when hungry, but I would always make myself eat what I brought for breakfast & my morning snack even if I wasnt hungy. Now my plan is to not eat anything until lunch. And by then so far I am most certainly hungry. But only 2 days in and its really not that bad at all. Long ways to go yet.

MaeRenee94

I eat at certain times. I was diagnosed with an ED awhile ago and by having planned times I stay on track!

I also like to plan out my calories and macros as close to perfect as I can get, and I find having different times helps.

michael1976_ca

I tend to do a bit of both but since I am hungry a lot I try to stick to the eat when I am scheduled to eat plan.

this goes for me to. i have breakfast at 8, lunch around 12 and suppor around 5 or 6 but i snack in between time when hungry. i think i do pretty good

AlabasterVerve

A little bit of both. I usually eat two large meals a day and I only eat when I'm hungry so sometimes that means it's four hours between those two meals and other times it might be eight hours or more if I'm hungry and eat earlier than normal.

But I also eat to a schedule, sort of. For example, I used to eat at night regardless of how many calories I'd eaten during the day because I'd always be hungry. But since I think it's healthful not to always be eating I stopped eating after 8pm to increase my fast. It only took about three days of not eating after 8pm before I was no longer hungry at night and break a lifetime night time eating habit.

So I think you can easily train your body when to be hungry by eating or not eating at certain times regardless of calories -- I'm pretty sure there's some research that will confirm that but regardless, that's been my experience.