Do you eat when you feel genuine hunger

cat_monster

****TOPIC SHOULD SAY "DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU FEEL GENUINE HUNGER" BUT I CAN'T CHANGE IT*****

I was given a muffin today (cake), it looked pretty big - I don't know how many calories it was, so I logged it as two muffins.

Maybe I have gone over the score, as now I am really hungry. Like not just greedy, properly feeling really hungry.

Do you trust your hunger pangs? Or can you still feel genuine hunger and be over your calorie limit? What do you do when you don't know how many calories are in something? I try to over estimate, but maybe it can backfire.

scorpiophoenix

Hilarious timing! I was sitting here not really hungry, but with two pre-logged cookies sitting in my purse. I figured "I'll eat one now and then have one later". After the first cookie suddenly I'm ravenous. :laugh: Now the second cookie is gone and I'm okay again even though one cookie wouldn't *really* do it if I were *really* starving.

As to the "can you still feel genuine hunger and be over your calorie limit?" I'd say yes. Some foods will fill you up better with fewer calories and some will jump up the cal-count without doing much to satisfy hunger.

When I don't know the true cal count I'll google it and average it out then find the entry that's closest. I log everything, but I'm not neurotic about it. Being over or under by 20cals (or even 100) isn't going to kill me.

cheripugh1

I find something like it. A larger muffin... is it the same size at one from 7-eleven or the grocery store bakery? those are around 300, how do you find out? You search for Albertson's or whatever store... so you say Albertson's blueberry muffin and then you use that. If you can't then I over estimate a little. If I'm wrong then I ate under my calories for the day but it's much worse to eat under than over and wonder why the pounds aren't coming off... and why you are hungry, you eat sugar you feel hunger. If it's been a few hours since you ate and you feel hungry EAT if you just ate, wait a 1/2 hr. drink water (needing water will make you think you are hungry) and see how it goes.

zamphatta

I recently watched a TED talk where the speaker explained that the body tries to maintain your current weight. Since then, I've figured that's why I feel hungry whenever I don't eat enough to maintain my weight but I eat up to my calorie goal (which is set to limit me so I lose 1 or 2 lbs a week). So, I think it's geniune hunger anytime one is under their calorie needs to maintain their weight. That doesn't mean I need to eat though, it just means my body is saying "we need more calories to keep the weight", and I just work on ignoring it, have something to take the edge off, or have some water.

itsbasschick

i do trust my hunger pangs, and when i feel them early i either have some non-fat greek yogurt and then my regularly scheduled meal at its regular time or i have the meal early, depending on whether it was an intense workout day. btw, actual hunger pangs have never led me to eat more than my daily calories. it might make a difference that i eat very little sugar - sugar might have been a trigger for me back in the day, but with type2 diabetes, i rarely do sugar.

the food cravings i used to get weren't actually hunger, and didn't feel the same. i still get them once in a while, but usually play the bass, go for a walk or dive into one of my favorite obsessions, and 95% of the time that takes care of it.

Deipneus

Hunger is a complex mechanism. It's not just being full. I wish it was. I'd just eat low-calorie food until I am full. And it's not just eating the right foods. I've tried every conceivable combination of foods. I'm hungry often. I count calories so I know when I should eat and when to stop. If I eat whenever I'm hungry, I will put on a lot of weight.