What do YOU do when you feel hungry (but know you're not)?
Replies
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Your diary is closed, so I can't see how many calories were in your meal, but if I ate a low calorie meal, I would expect to be hungry pretty soon afterward. I notice when I don't get enough sleep I have the urge to eat, even though my stomach isn't growling, so I'll have water or flavored tea. Sometimes it's just out of boredom, or procrastination because I don't feel like doing something.
I had the same experience when I was writing my papers for college. I'd rather went to the fridge then writing a paragraph. As someone mentioned before, depending on what your body is missing you may feel hungry or if you are still at a larger size. I noticed myself as I lost weight and my stomach not used to large amounts of food anymore, I needed less.
I have the experience as well, feeling hungry and I just ate something. Idrink water and keep myself occupied. If it continues I eat some fruit or a light snack with more water. I often have the feeling as well, when I am acutally bored.
As a shift worker, my body needs time to adjust and I feel hungry at times, I used to eat. So, if your are not used to eat breakfast, but did (which is good to change the bad habit) and around this time you used to eat your first meal, your body will ask for food-that was the routine. And at 1100 is already lunch time, if you had breakfast at 0800 or earlier. I eat my first meal at 0300, have a snack at 0800, lunch at 1000, some snack at 1400 and dinner at about 1600. If I work out after work (1830) then I have a quick snack, like apple sauce and a piece of fruit.
You may talk to your doctor, because you may be insulin resistant. If you had a blood sugar spike and your insulin doesn't know when to stop you may get a deficit and therefore feeling hungry again.
Hope this helps. Also, knowing others have similar or the same problems, helps me to stay on track. I gained all my weight back in the last 6 month by not logging and reading that others have the same issues.
Good luck!0 -
If you feel hungry, you are hungry. Dieting is all about resisting your hunger so you can lose weight. I know, I know, everyone on mfp likes to pretend they aren't dieting, which is just silly. You are dieting to lose weight, but you can call it a lifestyle change if you like. It's a lifestyle change called "not eating in spite of being hungry so that you will lose weight".
You have to accept the fact that while losing weight successfully you are going to be hungry if it is working. You will be hungry a fair amount of the time. You have to find ways to cope with that. Some suggestions have already been made here: chewing gum, drinking water. Many forms of coping with hunger include distracting yourself - playing a game, reading an absorbing book, watching tv or a movie, or even exercising more. For the hardcore motivational methods there are options like looking at your progress bar to see how far you've come and how far left you have to go, weighing yourself, looking at yourself in the mirror and asking yourself if you really want to sabotage your progress, and so on.
If none of this works, you can decide what form of healthy food you want to eat, then eat that and not binge, then record it carefully in your diary. It might help take the edge off. Try a 100 calorie snack with a lot of water, an apple, banana, or one of those salty 100 calorie snack packs if salt is one of your things and you aren't a salt avoider. Just keep the calories low and controlled. Then wait a little while for your body to get the message you ate some food. Do something with your hands. Try all of the methods above again. Ask yourself if you're really serious about losing weight.0 -
I don't understand how someone can feel hungry but not be hungry... totally baffles me. I'm either hungry or not.
me too.0 -
to Ravenstar25:
You nailed the advice to the head. That's how its going to be. I am even still in the process of accepting the hunger feeling. Some supplements help acutally, since they expand in your stomach with enough fluids of water. This sometimes helps me as well to stay on track.
I grew up hungry and I was tired of it, since I can now affort to feed myself without being hungry, but it may cost me my job (the military has weight limits/or inch limits of body measurements). So I got to suck it up, if I want to stay in "business".
Your comment really spilled it out, how its going to be and I personally appreciate it, for not being kind and political correct.
Thank you!0 -
I have been struggling with feelings of hunger. It seems constant. For example, this morning I was starving. Stomach was growling. That makes sense. So I had my morning coffee, I made scrambled eggs with spinach and a little parmesan. Then followed that up with two cups of water and here I am feeling 'hungry'. I just started my changes this week. It's a regular occurrence and I am just curious if anyone else feels like this and what do they do it.
This is just my opinion from my experiences: You said you just started this week. Personally I found I was hungry for most of my first week, but by the second I got used to it. I think it was just my body adjusting to less food. As long as you're physically ok (not feeling weak etc) then just try to ignore it/push through and if you're like me you're body will get used to it soon. You can also try snacking on something with barely any calories like carrot or cucumber sticks - if it's a case of boredom hunger then this way you'll take away the boredom without jeopardising your allowances. If you're still feeling hungry after a couple of weeks then maybe you should reassess your calorie allowance?0 -
I think it may be the fat cells telling a person "eat more! we're hungry!" when in fact a person may not be hungry. The "losing weight" phase is hard, but once you're there, the fat cells will shrink (hopefully) and just sit idle waiting for the fattening foods to feed on, so they can multiply once more. It's hard not to listen to those fat cells, but you gotta do it to lose weight.0
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Good topic!!!!0
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A couple of questions first, then some possibilities: When you're hungry, are you craving something in particular? A specific food or specific macro (carbs, fats, etc.)?
(1) Lack of Specific Nutrient
If you're craving a specific food, it's possible that you're not getting enough of a specific nutrient -- so your body craves a food with that nutrient in it, even though you don't need more calories per se. I find that when I eat more nutrient dense foods and make sure to get my micros (through food and vitamins), I don't tend to have these types of cravings anymore.
(2) Carb/Glucose Issue
If it's cravings for sweets or carbs, it's possible that you have something off in your glucose metabolism. For example, if you have insulin resistance, this is a very common symptom because your body is spiking your insulin to get the glucose into the cells (because they're insulin resistant), but that also lowers blood sugar triggering a hunger reaction. Sadly, it's estimated that over 40% of US adults have this issue at either diabetic or pre-diabetic levels -- many of whom don't know it at all. You could be one of these people (I learned that I was).
If you find your hunger is more of this nature, you can do two things. One, go to the doctor and get your blood tests -- a simple A1C test will show this. Also, many find that if they restrict carbs this helps because it keeps their insulin from spiking so much. However, how much of a restriction varies by person. I personally keep mine below 100g per day and avoid grains, getting most of my carbs from veggies, an occasional fruit and dark chocolate. Some can go higher, some need to keep lower.
(3) Psychological Issues
Do you notice the hunger associated with any emotions -- whether frustration, sadness, anxiety, anger, etc.? Sometimes we have a psychological or emotional lacking in our life and we attempt to soothe that issue with food -- it's super common. I know I have definitely done this in the past -- I could feel my stomach being totally fine, but I was still craving food. Knowing you're full/satiated and still craving to eat something is a crazy combination.0 -
I have hot tea, coffee or soup. If I'm still hungry but want something sweet, I'll eat apples or oranges, or a grapefruit. I'm not overweight tho, and I feel like if I'm craving something it's b/c I need nutrition, so I try to think about what nutrient I haven't been getting and try to eat something that will help with that. Do stay away from refined flour, fats, sugars, etc when trying to satisfy cravings and go for the whole foods, with nutrient (rather than calorie) density.
Good luck!0 -
I eat 6 times a day and drink/sip water in between:
breakfast/snack/lunch/snack/dinner/snack
Each time I eat, I try to have a carb and a protein. It will get me through 2-3 hours until my next meal/snack
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Usually something hot to drink will help that for me. If I know I'm truly not hungry I usually go for a cup or two of coffee or tea. I tend to eat a lot of little meals through the day, so the only time I ever feel truly hungry are first thing in the morning and at the end of the day after I work out, just before dinner. Good luck in finding what works for you, everybody is different, just stick with it!!0
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2-3 drops of Young Living grapefruit essential oil in a large glass of water and drink it down in about 15 minutes or less. Really helps curb the hunger.0
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Have a large plate of fresh baby spinach with half a lemon squeezed on it.
Very filling and about 25 calories.
Very healthy and delicious.0 -
When you are used to eating a certian way and used to your stomach feeling "full" it's easy. If someone used to eat 3 waffles, 2 fried eggs, a hashbrown, and 5 pieces of sausage for breakfast, and then they are trying to get fit and healthy and change it to 1 waffle with 2 scrambed eggs and 2 slices of turkey bacon, it's less food and they don't feel that "fullness" they felt before which could lead them to believe they are hungry. I believe it's one of the reasons people are so overweight. We don't eat portions, we eat til we feel stuffed, instead of "full"I don't understand how someone can feel hungry but not be hungry... totally baffles me. I'm either hungry or not.0
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You might just be genuinely hungry I struggle to stick at my 1440 so if you can do a bit of walking or whatever you find fun exercise wise and eat the cals back, I find eating at 1500-1700 a bit easier to deal with.
I, like alot of others, get boredom cravings too that feel like genuine hunger, or cravings because I spend alot of time logging and thinking of food. So the advice of making sure you've always got a bottle of water or flavoured water is great.
I know people are a bit anti carb in general but for snacking I sometimes have a piece of wholegrain toast with, light cream cheese and apple and walnut chutney washed down with a cuppa tea (if you're American I mean English breakfast/ Irish breakfast black tea with skimmed milk and a sweetener) tis about 200 cals all in but usually works as a good 2-3 hour stop gap between meals if I'm genuinely hungry.
If I'm not hungry and I just want to snack, low cal hot chocolate, nice milky cuppa tea or iced lollies (popsicles?) like mini milks or fruit pastille lollies make good craving snacks as they take a while to consume (since they're too hot/cold to scoff down quickly) and since you're not genuinely hungry that seems to do the trick to satisfy a craving.
Take care hun x0 -
Oh My Goodness! I want to friend so many of you!
I took a deep evaluation of myself and I have a definition to offer. The feeling of "hunger" is genuinely a feeling of not being remotely full... a feeling of being 'empty'. Almost that tingly/funny feeling you might get just before your tummy let's out a rumble. I'm going to chock this up to starter week adjustments, body resistance, and habit breaking fight backs. It's concerning but not all encompassing.
I love the idea of drinking a broth. Water doesn't do squat. A hot beverage might but the desire to drink hot beverages when it's 90+ out is minimal. I haven't had any cravings yet. I'm going to try some of these suggestions tomorrow and see if I can't have a better day. I think having breakfast later will work well too. I'm glad so many of you also have the metabolism hyper drive when eating first thing in the morning.
Thank you all so much for your feedback and tips and tricks! Feeling the love here! 0 -
I understand what you're talking about!!! its such an illogical hunger. I would eat and eat and eat and still feel like i am not done and still hungry.... this has caused me to go on binges a few times now because i just want the hunger gone and i crave that satifisied feeling that doesnt come. ironically enough, i started MFP not being able to feel hunger normally (and going too long between meals and not even realizing it) and now 'hungry' is all i feel. i dont think it is actually physical. i think its a psychological switch that manifests into a pseudo-physical reaction.... a withdrawal from food addiction of sorts???
I have no advice, i am lurking to see if a lightbulb would go off.... if you find out a solution, please share it with me?0 -
sleep0
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Answer to topic title: Don't eat.
You have to recognize hunger is not an emergency. You don't have to DO anything about it.
Think of it this way. If you feel sleepy during a meeting, do you get up and say, "sorry guys, I gotta go take a nap." Of course not. Because it's not an emergency. Neither is hunger. It's just a feeling. It goes away.0 -
Eat slower. It's one of the best tips I can give you.0
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Healthy snacks! If I am really feeling hungry, I will grab some fruit, vegetables or a handful of nuts and eat them slowly.
If I don't want any of those then I'm not 'hungry', I just want to eat. There's a big difference!0 -
A few weeks ago I started this trick with myself, I've dubbed it the cucumber trick. I decided on cucumbers because although I don't necessarily dislike them, they are usually one of the last things I'll pick up to eat if I have it laying around.
It goes like this:
If I think I'm hungry, I'll think of a cucumber, tossed with some balsamic & pepper or something (one of the few ways I like it.) If I think "no, wouldn't eat it", then I'm really not actually hungry. If I think to myself "yeah that does sound kinda good" then I know I am lol
Maybe weird, but it totally works.0 -
I would stock up on healthy snacks, fruits & veggies - For them hunger moments.
Also try and eat as much protein as you can with every meal.
Also eat good fats too... Fat doesn't make you fat, Too many calories do!
I love my eggs at the moment, and cottage cheese0 -
A few weeks ago I started this trick with myself, I've dubbed it the cucumber trick. I decided on cucumbers because although I don't necessarily dislike them, they are usually one of the last things I'll pick up to eat if I have it laying around.
It goes like this:
If I think I'm hungry, I'll think of a cucumber, tossed with some balsamic & pepper or something (one of the few ways I like it.) If I think "no, wouldn't eat it", then I'm really not actually hungry. If I think to myself "yeah that does sound kinda good" then I know I am lol
Maybe weird, but it totally works.
Hahaha when I was a kid and I'd whinge to my mother that I was hungry she'd say "do you want a carrot?"...."no"...."well then you're not really hungry are you".... Haha you just reminded me of that all these years later!! :flowerforyou:0 -
I often hear the "drink more water" tip here but I find that it doesn't work for me. I already drink a lot of water normally anyway. Water does not make my cravings and false hunger go away. Sometimes a couple nuts might help but then it's really easy to overeat since they are so calorie dense in tiny portions.0
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I don't understand how someone can feel hungry but not be hungry... totally baffles me. I'm either hungry or not.
You're lucky. I find that often when I'm not physically hungry, I'll be obsessively thinking about food constantly. It's distracting and often leads to binge eating even when I've physically had enough good food. I have been told it's possible that I have ADD that is manifesting itself in a binge eating disorder, though.
That's not hunger. That's cravings. Totally different thing. You're asking the wrong question (to which unfortunately I have no answer, I still deal with cravings all the time).0 -
I'm happy to report that those feeling have been absent for several days. For me, it's 2 hefty meals a day with a couple light snacks in between. This may change as the psychology does but this is what works for me right now.
I've also discovered water does NOT help me but a cup of tea sweetened with stevia gives both a full feeling and a sweet craving combo making it much better.
Chia seeds are a new full trick. It's a 60 calorie compromise but one tablespoon of dry chia seeds expands 9 times their size so I've been adding them to yogurt, smoothies, etc. I can now go most of the day on just a yogurt and chia seeds.
Spinach is my new buddy too. I add spinach to EVERYTHING. I whopping handful of it! Scrambled eggs with spinach, sandwiches, I even threw out the taco shells and replaced them with spinach!
Pretzel sticks, goldfish crackers, and popcorn too. They are a nice substitute to chips and other salty snacks and you feel like you get a decent amount for the calorie allotment making it feel like there more quantity than what there really is.
And here's a trick I learned the other day... if you're the type not to go without salad dressing and you can't bring yourself to use vinegar and oil... try adding juicy fruits to your salad like pineapple and oranges. There's so much flavor in them that you don't miss the dressing. AND try making your own flavored oils or vinegars!
Cucumbers are gross but celery isn't too bad. Watermelon and I have a new friendship. Strawberries are also a new BFF.
These are all my new tricks! Hope they help some of you too!0
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