the "eating when you're not hungry" dilemma

robinsonzoo

What an awesome response to a burning question. For those of us that are new to the forum and still adjusting to the way it works this truly helps. I am still trying to work out the whole getting the calories in for the day thing. I must, must, must start eating all 3 meals. Time to go grocery shopping.

callipygianchronicle

Bump for the weekend readers.

notaryveronica

Excellent! Thanks for sharing! This is great information.

SMarie10

going to have to bump to read later

Kaldrmjolka

thanks so much!

rachmaree

Really useful information. I have never had a serious weight problem, but I ate a LOT and was always hungry. (Good thing I am pretty active). These days I have found that the cleaner I eat, the less hungry I am getting, which is really unusual for me. My calorie intake is still at a pretty good level, but now that I am lifting weights more I need to fuel my body. Thanks for the post!

ladyhawk00

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baisleac

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atomdraco

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baisleac

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baisleac

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rileysowner

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merrycat

Thanks for the information! I have a question - what about when I'm not just not hungry, but am actively feeling quite full? Here's a couple of examples -

Most mornings my breakfasts are small or non exixstant. Since I started here I've been averaging about 250 calories for breakfast. I've been advised that it's better to larger breakfasts to jump start your metabolism, but I just get really really full very quickly in the mornings. Should I force myself to eat anyway, or break off and have another healthy snack later in the morning?

Here's another example - yesterday I was out for the greater part of the day so I missed my afternoon snack, and didn't get home to dinner until very late. I had a pretty large supper, but was still under my daily goal by 300 calories. Should I have forced myself to eat more or can I make it up by eating more the next day?

I know that idealy I'd be close to my target calories every day. But I'm finding this really hard to do. I'm always either over or under by about 300 calories or so. Any advice would be greatly appreaciated!

crisanderson27

Thanks for the information! I have a question - what about when I'm not just not hungry, but am actively feeling quite full? Here's a couple of examples -

Most mornings my breakfasts are small or non exixstant. Since I started here I've been averaging about 250 calories for breakfast. I've been advised that it's better to larger breakfasts to jump start your metabolism, but I just get really really full very quickly in the mornings. Should I force myself to eat anyway, or break off and have another healthy snack later in the morning?

Here's another example - yesterday I was out for the greater part of the day so I missed my afternoon snack, and didn't get home to dinner until very late. I had a pretty large supper, but was still under my daily goal by 300 calories. Should I have forced myself to eat more or can I make it up by eating more the next day?

I know that idealy I'd be close to my target calories every day. But I'm finding this really hard to do. I'm always either over or under by about 300 calories or so. Any advice would be greatly appreaciated!

In the case of the first...yes, you can eat a bit more in my opinion. You don't have to eat ALL of it...but one of the triggers for those chemical signals to your brain is how 'full' your stomach feels. Most people that have actively 'dieted' (in the negative sense of the word...meaning 'starved themselves') to one level or another, are so used to eating so little that their stomachs have shrunk up. You know...overweight, but eats like a bird twice a day tops? This will make them feel full faster than someone who eats larger meals more regularly. Bring your meal sizes up quickly, but gradually, and you'll start to feel hungrier in the morning.

The second scenario, basically comes down to planning. I have to eat nearly 3000 calories today, because it's a high calorie maintenance day (2400 calories or so), and I have about 350-450 calories worth of workout planned on top of it. My breakfast was 700 calories worth of 3 egg omelette (turkey, cheese, spinach...yay!) with some cashews on the side. My lunch will be a high calorie protien shake (about 600cal). I'll work out not long after that...and the rest of my meals can be more in the normal calorie range for me, of between 300-400. If for some reason I didn't get close enough to my calorie goal to make me comfortable...I'd eat half a cup to a cup of cottage cheese right before bed to fill the gap. That gives my body something to work on that's VERY healthy, full of protien, and which won't go straight to fat while I sleep.

The last thing you want to do is fill that last gap before you sleep with sugary carbs!!

Hope that helps some!

Cris

~Edit - I actually decided on an apple with 4tbsp of Jif Natural peanut butter for lunch lol, but I'll toss some cashews in for a healthy calorie boost up over 600 or so =D.

SHBoss1673

generally I agree with Cris on this one, I'll elaborate a little to maybe give you a plan of attack.

for the first part, the slow ramp up is key. Don't try to switch from a 200 calorie breakfast to a 600 calorie breakfast all at once, gradually, over the course of a few weeks, start adding in extra calories to what ever meal is lacking. To go along with this, you should research the concept of calorie dense foods (google is a wonderful resource if you type that in), things like nuts, oils, eggs, avocados, beans, quinoa...etc. Things that don't really fill you up but give you a lot of calories to work with.

For the second part, cris hits the nail on the head, planning is everything. Eventually you become really good at planning your daily nutrition. So good that you don't need to think much about it (that's how I am now, after 4 years of this) but it's doable. For instance, I'm at maintenance now, which is about 2700 for me, but I usually burn about 350 to 500 extra calories a day with exercise. As you can imagine, that's a LOT of healthy food to consume in a day. If you don't become super efficient at figuring out your calories, you'll find yourself failing to meet your goals often. I don't, I almost always meet my goal, why? Because I've studied calorie dense but still healthy foods, and I'm not afraid to eat.

I know that last statement sounds weird, but a lot of people on here become "afraid" of calories, they think that if they try something new, for instance, adding 100 calories to their diet to tweak their goals, they'll suddenly have an utter fail and gain 10 lbs. Obviously this is hogwash, and it's impossible to gain 10 lbs of fat without noticing, especially if you're aware enough to be on MFP and be active. But there's still the irrational fear, and it permeates our culture, that's something you need to get over, the best way to figure out the calorie goals for you is to figure out about what your goal should be, then tweak and observe, re-tweak, re-observe. Rinse repeat until your meeting your goals.

merrycat

Thanks so much for the feedback guys, I really appreciate it. Since I joined here I'm finding that there's so much I need to learn!

For breakfasts I will work my way up to more calories. I'll try adding eggs, nuts, etc instead of just yogurt and cereal every morning.

Planning now - I think that is my achilles heel. I rarely plan ahead. I have been stocking up on relatively healthy foods - leaner meats, more fruits and veggies. But instead of planning out my meals I tend to just grab something from the fridge as and when I get hungry. This is probably why I'm always either over or under my goals.

*edited because, apparently, I can't spell LOL.

SHBoss1673

Thanks so much for the feedback guys, I really appreciate it. Since I joined here I'm finding that there's so much I need to learn!

For breakfasts I will work my way up to more calories. I'll try adding eggs, nuts, etc instead of just yogurt and cereal every morning.

Planning now - I think that is my achilles heel. I rarely plan ahead. I have been stocking up on relatively healthy foods - leaner meats, more fruits and veggies. But instead of planning out my meals I tend to just grab something from the fridge as and when I get hungry. This is probably why I'm always either over or under my goals.

*edited because, apparently, I can't spell LOL.

I feel ya there merry, planning was my weakness too, and it was tough to start. I'll tell ya what though, I had the idea (or maybe I poached it from someone, I forget, that was over 4 years ago now) to sit down on Sunday (right before we went food shopping) and write out some dinners and lunches for the week, that way, not only did I know what I needed from the grocery store, but I also had a couple of choices for dinner every night. It doesn't actually take that long, and after a few weeks of doing it, you have all the choices you'll really ever need (until you change your macronutrient percentages, that's a whole different topic though). It makes life really easy.

Also, buy bulk snacks, like carrots, peas, cheese, whole wheat pretzels (these are my staples) and pre-bag them if you have trouble with grabbing to much or to little. My fridge looks like a box of ziplock bags exploded in it on monday. LOL! Oh and make a huge thing of chili and freeze serving sizes, that makes life easy as well.

crisanderson27

generally I agree with Cris on this one, I'll elaborate a little to maybe give you a plan of attack.

for the first part, the slow ramp up is key. Don't try to switch from a 200 calorie breakfast to a 600 calorie breakfast all at once, gradually, over the course of a few weeks, start adding in extra calories to what ever meal is lacking. To go along with this, you should research the concept of calorie dense foods (google is a wonderful resource if you type that in), things like nuts, oils, eggs, avocados, beans, quinoa...etc. Things that don't really fill you up but give you a lot of calories to work with.

For the second part, cris hits the nail on the head, planning is everything. Eventually you become really good at planning your daily nutrition. So good that you don't need to think much about it (that's how I am now, after 4 years of this) but it's doable. For instance, I'm at maintenance now, which is about 2700 for me, but I usually burn about 350 to 500 extra calories a day with exercise. As you can imagine, that's a LOT of healthy food to consume in a day. If you don't become super efficient at figuring out your calories, you'll find yourself failing to meet your goals often. I don't, I almost always meet my goal, why? Because I've studied calorie dense but still healthy foods, and I'm not afraid to eat.

I know that last statement sounds weird, but a lot of people on here become "afraid" of calories, they think that if they try something new, for instance, adding 100 calories to their diet to tweak their goals, they'll suddenly have an utter fail and gain 10 lbs. Obviously this is hogwash, and it's impossible to gain 10 lbs of fat without noticing, especially if you're aware enough to be on MFP and be active. But there's still the irrational fear, and it permeates our culture, that's something you need to get over, the best way to figure out the calorie goals for you is to figure out about what your goal should be, then tweak and observe, re-tweak, re-observe. Rinse repeat until your meeting your goals.

This is extremely well said, and goes into a depth my post didn't cover. Thanks for that.

I'm not afraid to eat.

That statement alone is worth the entire price of admission =D. Every time I've ever lost weight, it's from eating MORE food (more GOOD healthy food is far, far better...but more food in general...with a PLAN...can help!). I even managed to eat Taco Bell/Long John Silver's every day for lunch for a full month (bean/cheese burrito and 2 chicken strips, with a 20oz pepsi lol), along with 6 whole eggs cooked in butter for breakfast...and STILL lose 20lbs over that period of time. I had a bagel/turkey sandwich mid morning, another mid afternoon, and usually chicken breast, gravy, and fresh vegetables for dinner. The majority of this paragraph could contribute to its own debates thread lol, but the point is the food doesn't hurt you...in and of itself. It's how you go about eating it, and how you make your choices that hurts. I no longer eat fast food (while I'm cutting weight at least...I want more solid results this time), and no longer drink soft drinks or anything with sugar in it (again, while cutting weight in particular...maybe forever).

But I eat like a horse =D. And...I've found...I eat HEALTHIER when I do so before I feel hungry.

Something to think about there.

Cris

baisleac

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