Should I force myself to eat when I have no hunger pains?

crisanderson27

Humans have not bashed most instincts out of their heads. That's absurb! Ever see a wild animal learn from it's parents? Parents teaching is a form of instinct. Do you just let your hand rest on that red hot stove? Do you startled at unexpected noise? Do you raise a guard if something comes flying at your head?

Humans know it instinctively too. that's what thirst and hunger is for gosh sake. You can put any human in a room with some food and water, they will figure out when to eat and drink.

Obese people, barring a medical condition like low thyroid function choose their food and eat it in quantities that make them obese. Do you see doughnuts, cookies, fast food, gravy, pop, tubs of sugar, flour, and all this crap out in the wild? Nope, so let me make it easy. Don't eat it or drink it.

And I see a lot over weight people fooling themselves. "I'm an emotional eater", "I'm suffering from depression, anxiety, etc". "i don't want to give up XYZ" " I eat when I'm bored" "I Lost my instincts as a human " and then put too much blame on food when they really need to work on their personal problems that contribute to getting relief through food as much as watching how much they eat and working out.

Do you know what "Compulsive use that causes harm" is the definition of? Addiction!

Excuses, excuses, excuses, YAWN!

Ahh, but we have!! And it's our ability to reason with ourselves in order to give in to what we want that gives us the club to bash it with...as you so capably stated in your fourth paragraph above.

For the record though...I mostly agree with you. I'm eating 90% (or more) whole foods. It's amazing how many issues there were, that I didn't even realize were issues that have cleared up because of it. Once I'm at my goal body fat %, I'll see about integrating (slightly) a bit more modern style food intake (still at least 75% whole foods), but if the body fat % shoots up or any other notably negative results occur, it'll be right back to how I'm eating now. Convenience and such just aren't worth it.

^I really agree with pryo. People do this to themselves. A hear a lot of people complain that genetics made them fat. Genetics don't make you fat, bad food does. Genetics controls bone structure and even muscle structure. Anyone can be in a healthy body weight and have good body composition.

I agree completely here too. Although...I believe people can be genetically predisposed to gain fat more quickly with even a moderately poor diet lol. My ex wife had cousins that were...umm, large. Red haired, pale skinned...and all of them at least 100lbs overweight. They all looked like cloned copies of each other, and they ALL looked like their mother (who was also obese). They were not attractive people. They didn't really eat any more or worse than anyone else (we had dinner over there a lot)...and that's where I think the genetics came into play.

Awhile back though, I saw the youngest of the bunch. She had lost all her weight...and was quite beautiful. I complimented her and asked her what happened. She responded with 'college'. She got tired of being fat and unattractive, took a nutrition course, began exercising and eating properly...and it all melted away. She ate 5 or 6 small meals a day, of REAL food, rather than starving herself as she'd tried at first. She realized that just by changing a few things...she could seriously take control of her appearance. I asked her how her family felt about it...and her reply was kind of sad. She told me she honestly didn't know...because they barely talked to her anymore.

She's the only one out of the bunch I ever saw with a genuine smile on her face though.

Anyhow, just a few observations. The eating multiple small portions, whether you're hungry or not...is just a way to train yoruself to get out of your old eating habits. Some of those eating habits might have been starving yourself then binging, or perhaps just starving yourself all the time. People's stomachs shrink to fit the normal amount of food intake they consume. Someone who has been eating like a bird for years trying to lose weight (unsuccessfully), isn't EVER going to be hungry on their own! They need to EAT, despite their feelings of being 'full' after four freaking bites of real food...and they need to do ti a hell of a lot more often than they were before.

Cris