Fear of Being Hungry
raggyanndoll
Posts: 176
I have recently acknowledged that I acutally fear being hungry. I eat snacks in between meals as a preventative so I won't get hungry. I keep thinking to myself, what's wrong with being hungry? When I sit down for a meal, I acutally should be hungry, right? There is something about that stomach growling feeling that just makes me want to run to the pantry.
Anyone else out there relate?
Anyone else out there relate?
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Replies
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I totally have the fear of being hungry and also the fear of starving to death ( I was anorexic at 16). So I overeat to shut these voices out, I totally relate. I tell myself that it's okay to be hungry and that I will be able to get to food soon and that there is no need to freak out. I hope this helps. Good luck!0
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although i can relate, i'd say you shouldnt ever get to the point of the stomach growling because it is either too full or too empty. they say to eat lots of snacks throughout the day is healthier anyways. keeps your blood sugar and metabolism steady...not to mention mood
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I can totally relate to this! I also have a fear of being hungry and try to think ahead to when I am going to eat again, what I am going to eat, etc. It's difficult because I think I confuse feelings with hunger and I can't always tell which is which. I am reading a good book/phamplet I got from Hazelden years ago called "Listen to the Hunger". I don't like the feeling of being hungry - it makes me anxious for some reason.0
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I struggle sometimes because I don't know whether I'm actually hungry or simply seeking comfort in food.0
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I can definitely relate! I always try to plan what I am going to eat next - ie. just had breakfast now what should I have for a snack. I am not sure where the fear of being hungry came from for me but it is interesting to acknowledge it!0
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I have helped this fear by planning meals and meal times as best as I can. It certainly doesn't always work out the way I planned, but the plan really helps. But then I worry that I am eating too much--what if I eat even if I don't need the food just because I planned it? Silly, huh? It's fear no matter what. Bottom line is that I am obsessed with food. It is nice to have a place here on MFP to talk about these things.0
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I can totally relate to you. i start to panic if i don't know what i'm going to eat next and when. when i start to get hungry in between meals it feels like torture. i don't understand why this is so horrible for me. other normal people get hungry all the time, wait long times between meals and do just fine. i get mad at myself about this.0
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OMG I thought I was the only one that had the anxiety about being hungry! YES! I totally relate! What I learned is that I use food to sedate myself. I'm an anxious person by nature and food, particularly high fat ones, calm me down. So when I get hungry, I also feel jumpy, or unable to sit still. Now that I've been abstinent and not using food to self medicate, I'm learning to sit with that feeling and training myself to calm down in other healthy ways.0
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OMG I thought I was the only one that had the anxiety about being hungry! YES! I totally relate! What I learned is that I use food to sedate myself. I'm an anxious person by nature and food, particularly high fat ones, calm me down. So when I get hungry, I also feel jumpy, or unable to sit still. Now that I've been abstinent and not using food to self medicate, I'm learning to sit with that feeling and training myself to calm down in other healthy ways.
what other ways are you finding helpful because i struggle with this too... i get so much anxiety when i feel hungry and it's very hard to focus on anything else.0 -
For me, it's mind over matter. I'm recognizing that yup, I'm starting to feel jumpy so the "high" of my last meal must be wearing off. Instead, I try to keep my mind busy. I read blogs, I do the homework my sponsor assigned, I knit (knitting keep my fingers busy which is helpful), go for a run, etc. You have to train yourself to recognize what's happening and then to deal with it in other healthy ways. Medicating it with food only perpetuates the problem. You can do it!0
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that is totally true, as soon as i give in, it's a lot harder to not give in the next day. if i can get a streak going where i don't give in to food then it is a lot easier to not give in the next day. a lot of peopel will say to give into a craving to make it go away but usually that doesn't work for me. it just makes me think i got away with something and then i'm more likely to do it the next day. i think when you binge/overeat your mind just thinks differently than that of "normal" dieters. when food is a big thing to us, giving in can be like an out of control behavior when it continues. and usually one giving in leads to more... normal dieters seem to be able to have a little snack or treat here and tehre and it doesn't mess them up.
i think what it is for me and i've heard this from others too, is that we jsut want to have the taste of the food forever. that's why we can't seem to get enough. other people who diet normally don't seem to have this problem. i know people mean well when they tell me just to give in, have one snack, etc. but they dont' realize the damage that can do.0 -
I definitely relate to the fear of being hungry. When I'm hungry, I have a range of emotions (mad, whiny, tired, anxious). I have had a range of food plans since being in OA. The one that worked for the most, was 3 meals and 2 snacks a day. This really seemed to balance me out. However, I kept thinking that it wasn't good enough. Especially when I would hear others share that they ate 3 meals a day with nothing in between. I kept making that my goal - only to realize that it just really never worked for me. I wanted to make it work and use my will and felt like such a failure when I couldn't achieve that on a regular basis. I am back on a food plan that has smaller meals and snacks. I am also getting to more meetings and praying, writing, committing my food to my sponsor, etc. With all of the tools in place, I don't seem to be as hungry and satisfied. I thank God that I am working the OA program again. My 2 year relapse has been VERY HUMBLING and I know that I can't do without a spiritual program. I am only given a daily reprieve from the obsession with food. I am so glad we have this group on Ftness Pal. It gives me another way to connect. Thanks everyone!0
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I TOTALLY relate to this, and have realized it today since this new willingness and surrender to weigh and measure my food and use MFP.
i am experiencing hunger before a meal or snack (ie: it's been a couple hours since i ate, i am heading home to have dinner, and i feel hunger, and then eat 10 mins. later).
OMG--you'd think the sky was falling the way my disease talks to me: "hunger pains?! you must be starving! this can never work! weighing measuring is too restrictive! eat something NOW!"
hunger makes me scared, cranky, excited (fantasies of thin-ness), quesy...and this is during a 10 minute bout of hunger!!!
this disease sure is cunning and baffling.
i prayed before:
"higher power, help me to understand hunger as a signal that u built into our bodies, nothing to be feared, an elegant design that tells me when to eat my next sober meal--thy will be done"
that helped!0 -
This is a great question for this site. When I first read your question I was going to say no, I'm not afraid of being hungry. But, after reading what everyone else said I guess I do have the fear. The reason I have the fear is that I'm afraid if I get too hungry I may fall off the wagon, and the wagon is so hard to get back on for me once I fall off. I've been abstinent for one month now, a little more. And the only way I've been able to do this is to plan ahead and give myself time limits. I can't eat between time limits. I try to plan but have to say I'm flexible. For example, if I plan a certain meal and my husband all of a sudden decides he is in the mood for something else I just make sure what I'm eating is equivalent. I don't like the hungry feelings i get at times. It is not one that I am use to because i use to feed myself way before I got this feeling. In the month I've been on program I lost 15 pounds, but constantly worry it is going to slow down because of my age or some other reason.0
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i can relate to this one!!! i eat when i'm not hungry because i don't want to be hungry later.. i feel so stupid!!! sigh... sometimes when i am actually hungry, i feel happy0
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sometimes when i am actually hungry, i feel happy
this is something i have to watch out for as well, b/c even tho i fear hunger and used to overeat to prevent it, my disease can also activate my ego and fantasy when i sit with hungry feelings. i get an almost-high for imagining how much weight i will lose, and an ego boost feeling cocky that i am being abstinent.
that's why, for me, the true goal of recovery is to live in the gray, to take the middle road:
neither obsessed with food, NOR with weight loss. just living one day at a time.0 -
I have this too. and then when I actually am hungry I over-react as though it is the worst feeling.
Someone told me this once and it has really stuck with me.... Being hungry is NOT the worst feeling you could have, so suck it up.
felt heartless and cold at the time but its the truth.0 -
This is a great thread. I do have a fear of being hungry because I know that my stop-start mechanism is broken or faulty because of my disease of compulsive overeating. I am honestly not very familiar with the feeling and have never in my life until OA eaten in a way that might allow me to feel hunger at all other than by starving/dieting which just isnt the same. I was very frightened that if I didnt have snacks I would lose my abstinence by 'having' to eat between meals but Ive learnt /am learning that it works for me to eat enough at each meal ( not too little!) and then I know I can't be actually hungry and can manage fine until the next meal. I do keep to regular meal times and if for some unexpected reason it was going to be late then I do have a snack because I take on board totally the slogan of HALT - dont get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely ot Tired. All of those could trigger my overeating. I am finding slowly that I can recognise as I am coming up to a meal that I feel hungry and I can notice that and think "wow! that is an appropriate feeling, goody its nearly time for my next meal!" and then I enjoy my food. I dont think I ever really enjoyed my food when I was stuck in it becuase it was surrounded by guilt and shame and usually I was so stuffed with my binge food that meals were just something I had to do to Look Normal! Thank God for this programme.
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I was very frightened that if I didnt have snacks I would lose my abstinence by 'having' to eat between meals but Ive learnt /am learning that it works for me to eat enough at each meal ( not too little!) and then I know I can't be actually hungry and can manage fine until the next meal. I do keep to regular meal times and if for some unexpected reason it was going to be late then I do have a snack because I take on board totally the slogan of HALT - dont get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely ot Tired. All of those could trigger my overeating.
I LOVE that you are making it work with the 3 meals by allowing for a snack if your meal will be late, etc.
Reminds me that just as overeating is not serene, neither is undereating, and not even my food plan should be above my higher power--better to eat a small abstinent snack, than try to white knuckle through legitimate hunger, or become rigid about meal times. easy does it.0 -
Hi I also share a fear of being hungry. For me I think its because when I'm hungry I make poor food choices and it can turn into a potential overeating episode. I have and am continuing to accept that when i'm on a weight loss programme The feelings in me surrounding food and hunger are different. I accept a certain amount of hunger. I thank my higher power every day for helping me through my vunerable times with food.
Hope this helps. Sha Xx0 -
i prayed before:
"higher power, help me to understand hunger as a signal that u built into our bodies, nothing to be feared, an elegant design that tells me when to eat my next sober meal--thy will be done"
that helped!
Love this xx0 -
i recently realize this too-
I m a newbie to oe. i started taking it one day at a time and it was some what helpful.
Someone suggested one meal at a time, when i said i was still hungry all the time.- and bingo- and thank god it seems like once i w i knew i had a meal coming up soon it alleviated my anxiety & NEED to eat, knock on wood.
I feel like i am glimpsing and experiencing soem of the "free"dom spoken about in oe literature.
it feels great.0 -
I feel like i am glimpsing and experiencing soem of the "free"dom spoken about in oe literature.
it feels great.
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Sorry my last reply was menat to quote themuseinme!
It's a miracle for sure this programme!0 -
I too was once fearful of hunger. I have just posted something about this is another OA topic saying that its only recently I've discovered that feeling is not so intense anymore. In fact, when I wake up hungry for my breakfast I actually embrace that feeling as a sign I was abstinent the day before.
My fears did stem from anorexia and being reminded of that dreadful time in my life. Then it turned into the fear of getting over hungry and knowing that that leads to binge eating...... grab what you can and shovel it in to get rid of that hunger. Of course, that just triggered off an insatiable appetite.
My job has actually taught me how to cope with the problem of not being able to eat at regular mealtimes. I run a sports massage practice from home and have clients who come to me during their lunch time break or straight from work in the evenings. So quite often I'm working during my meal-times. What I've learnt is to have say two snacks for lunch i.e. apple and piece of cheese before the client arrives, then have a sandwich when they've gone. Evenings, I'll bring my usual evening (watching tv) snack forward and have that before client, then have my main meal when they've gone. My abstinence is eat small and regular meals/snacks.
When I'm unsure of hunger I ask my HP to increase the desire if its true hunger, or to decrease the desire if its my disease calling. I find this a very useful tool. Of course, all the above can sometimes go wrong, but its progress and not perfection, and I'm done with beating myself up any more 0 -
I struggle sometimes because I don't know whether I'm actually hungry or simply seeking comfort in food.
So true!0
