Must READ! from experienced fitness pal...Hunger PANGS

tracypk

From my experience this is exactly what people with eating disorders where they restrict heavily. It starts out as innocent to lose some weight and I tell myself, "it's okay to feel a little hungry, how else are you going to lose the weight?" Then it becomes out of control and all you want to feel anymore is hunger pangs.

sjohnny

I like the part where most people have a different experience from you so you draw the conclusion that there must be something wrong with THEM. That's awesome.

How much do you cling and press?

ahviendha

I totally get this. Especially at the beginning of losing weight, I was hungry a lot. My body expected more food, and sometimes I felt like my brain was throwing a pity party having such a huge deficit. But I was 50lbs overweight. I could handle it.

Now that I have less to lose, I eat more often, but smaller meals. But I still feel hunger sometimes, and it really does require pure discipline to wait until a scheduled meal time. If I eat every time I wanted to (and how much I wanted to!), I would still be fat.

Cultivate discipline and commitment!

florymonde

Yes, I agree that hunger pangs, within reason, are a normal part of a healthy life.

But, I think it's more complicated than that. I find my sugar cravings are stronger and harder to deal with than the hunger pangs. By eating healthy, I reduce the sugar cravings, even more when I actually manage to reduce the fat I'm carrying. When I'm indulging myself, and satisfying every sugar craving I get, I never get a chance to be actually hungry. So, when I'm eating better, I even look forward a bit to being hungry; that tells me I'm doing better!

When my kids whine to me that they're hungry, and it's an hour before dinner, I tell them they're supposed to be hungry! They'll be eating a meal in an hour; it's expected, normal and healthy to be hungry for a bit before you eat!

TinGirl314

My body also wants to stay at 229 pounds.
Sometimes it complains but I think people mistake 'I could eat' for 'Hunger Pains.'
Hunger pains start several hours after your stomach has been empty.
(http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-hunger-pains.htm)

Meaning if you eat breakfast at nine it's going to take the time your body needs to break down your food, empty your stomach, and have you sitting there with an empty stomach for several (Lets say three?) hours. I don't even feel hungry till 2pm, which is when I eat my lunch, then dinner at 7, and a small snack at 9 (I work 2pm-11pm.)
When your stomach doesn't have anything in it, it will give the signal that there's room in your stomach for more. This is not a hunger pain in my opinion.

Now some people choose to eat more often and they've had a lot of success at it, but if anyone tells me they honestly feel hunger pains 2-3 hours after eating I find it hard to believe. Now of course there's individual factors...if you have low blood sugar you have to be mindful to make sure it doesn't go too low. If you eat a plate of pasta and find you're hungry, that's because your body doesn't have to work as hard to break it down. Your body gets ambushed with glucose and then sends in an army of insulin, and you feel hungry all over again.

"Make your body work for it, it's supposed to work to survive.
If you make it stop working it stops surviving."

My lunch consist of a large apple, a jif to go cup and some other form of random protein everyday and that keeps me full for five hours. I'm a big girl too 5'10" 229 pounds... You just have to be mindful of when you eat and what you eat, and you should not have to suffer any real hunger pains.

Just my humble opinion of course.

dia77

I don't agree.
I used to be hungry all the time and obsessed with my calories intake.Well, no more.
I am following the dukan diet and works wonders for me. I started on november 1 st and since then I lost nine pounds.I am not hungry anymore .I don.t supposed to log my calories but I still do and I am at 1500 .I eat five times per day( 3 main meals and 2 snacks) I think I feel like a normal person ,now. I know that are people out there who don't agree with DUkan DIet because of the protein intake. Well , I used to be vegetarian and in the last few years I started eating fish and sea food.THat beeing said ,I believe that I can stabilize my weight, and keep it , while I am enjoying food,but I am not obessed about it.

currierand

I disagree. I'm currently in a state of weight loss and I only ever have to endure hunger on work days, about an hour before I leave, because I can't take a break to eat something in between lunch and leaving. Otherwise, I eat often enough that I rarely experience feelings of hunger. Usually, it's fruit or almonds in between meals, but I eat chocolate and baked goods, too. I feel like denying yourself everything you like is a recipe for failure, so I don't, and I've done pretty well that way.

Also, eating at the same time every day is important. I've read a couple articles that basically said, even if you're eating enough, if you're used to eating at a certain time and you don't, your brain is going to tell you that you should be eating, even if you're not hungry. My own experience has shown this to be true, at least in my case.

If you rarely feel hunger even during this peroid of deficit i must assume you almost never felt hunger when you were gaining all the weight your currently trying to lose, so if this is all true, if not hunger, then what caused you to over eat in the first place and gain weight?

What caused me to gain weight in the first place? Ummmmm, Gluttony?

MB_Positif

Um...well...I went from eating like a little woman pig (3,000 to 4,000 calories a day) to MFP's goal for me to lose 1 pound per week (1360 calories). In that time I definitely experienced some hunger pangs. I adjusted though. As I got closer to my goal I upped my calories to 1600. I have not been feeling well most of this year, so I decided to take a break from being at a deficit for a while. So I have been maintaining my weight since June. Due to the fact that I actually did make lifestyle changes, the 1800 calories a day I am now alloted is more than enough most days and I very rarely have hunger pangs unless I've just gone too long without eating. I in NO WAY feel deprived at 1800 calories. I am not sure what you are trying to do here but it sounds like you are trying to scare people into thinking they will have to go the rest of their lives feeling like crap and starving with hunger pangs. Are you trying to make people give up?

DCpaleochick

I accepted the fact that I will always struggle with food and my weight for the rest of my life, and at times it will be a DAMN struggle, and at times it will be easier. That's just how it is.

Yup what she said..I feel this way too.

DiabolicBooger

I spent so many years eating all the foods all the days that I rarely, if ever, felt hungry. Now that I stopped that, I actually enjoy the feeling of being hungry. It feel so natural, so right that I should be hungry before a meal. It makes me enjoy my food a lot more, too. It's like almost everything I eat is the BEST thing EVER. (hunger is the best appetizer)

i completely agree....foods tastes like heaven when your really hungry...

DiabolicBooger

The idea that you always have to be hungry to lose or maintain weight is 100% absolutely unequivocally absurd.

I didnt say "always" i said "Half of the time"

geebusuk

I didnt say "always" i said "Half of the time"

And I thought it was pretty clear that you were talking about the 'half of your time' where you were losing weight - as you also said you can only be gaining or losing weight.

Why don't you have a read through your initial post again?

I want to be brutally honest and go on the record stating that these hunger pangs will be a part of your life for the rest of your life if this little experiment is to become a lifestyle change....let me explain....at any given moment (a snapshot in time if you will) you are either in a state of weight gain or weight loss, there is no in between! in order to maintain your weight over any length of time you will endure the above bad feelings of hunger pangs for approximately the same amount of time that you don’t experience hunger pangs/bad feelings....now you need to ask yourself if your tough enough and disciplined enough to endure the anguish, the pain, the constant denial, the wrenching of your stomach, the aching, the emotional distress, for approximately HALF of the rest of your life??? you will be denying yourself what you really want to eat for the rest of your life, I know this is true because the "normal old you" the “you” in your natural state got you fat and rarely if ever denied yourself food (does not apply to people on mfp that are trying to gain weight)....only the continued denial of the foods you want in the quantities you want them will allow to reach your weight/fitness goals and then only a very similar denial of foods will allow you to maintain your weight/fitness goals once they are attained....if you’re not willing to accept this reality then you need to go eat a pizza or a chocolate cake or whatever you love right now and just enjoy life being fat…

mfpcopine

When you run a calorie deficit you are actually denying your body what its asking for...during this period of denial it would be completely normal to feel hunger....with this in mind I looked up the word Pang and Hunger Pang....it’s these hunger pangs or feelings that you must overcome, through discipline, in order to lose those unwanted pounds.....so these are the words that define/describe "pang" or "hunger pang" - twinge, ache, throb, prick, stab, a sudden feeling of mental or emotional distress or longing: a pang of remorse; a pang of desire, a sudden, brief, sharp pain or physical sensation; spasm: hunger pangs, torture - anguish - throes, A sudden sharp feeling of emotional distress, distress acutely, pain, stab, sting, stitch, ache, wrench, prick, spasm, twinge, throe, gnawing, pains in the abdominal region which occur in the early stages of hunger or fasting and are correlated with contractions of the empty stomach or intestines

All of the above words are negative or bad...food stops the pangs and thus eliminating the negative/bad feelings....these negative/bad feelings must be voluntarily subjected/inflicted towards yourself in order to attain your weight loss goals....to endure these bad feelings and push through them and attain your goals, you all need to toughen up and stop being sissys.....if you’re not feeling these negative feelings/bad feeling you are likely not losing weight and likely not working towards your goals and you are likely a sissy (does not apply to mfpallers that are trying to gain weight)....toughen up and reach your goals sooner

I want to be brutally honest and go on the record stating that these hunger pangs will be a part of your life for the rest of your life if this little experiment is to become a lifestyle change....let me explain....at any given moment (a snapshot in time if you will) you are either in a state of weight gain or weight loss, there is no in between! in order to maintain your weight over any length of time you will endure the above bad feelings of hunger pangs for approximately the same amount of time that you don’t experience hunger pangs/bad feelings....now you need to ask yourself if your tough enough and disciplined enough to endure the anguish, the pain, the constant denial, the wrenching of your stomach, the aching, the emotional distress, for approximately HALF of the rest of your life??? you will be denying yourself what you really want to eat for the rest of your life, I know this is true because the "normal old you" the “you” in your natural state got you fat and rarely if ever denied yourself food (does not apply to people on mfp that are trying to gain weight)....only the continued denial of the foods you want in the quantities you want them will allow to reach your weight/fitness goals and then only a very similar denial of foods will allow you to maintain your weight/fitness goals once they are attained....if you’re not willing to accept this reality then you need to go eat a pizza or a chocolate cake or whatever you love right now and just enjoy life being fat…
Otherwise prepare for a lifetime of tremendous and continued discipline…
Agree? Disagree? Why?

I think what you say applies to many people, although it's not quite as bad as all that. If you want to stay trim, you refine your goals and outlook and accept that satisfying every food craving can't be your priority. For people who succeed, feeling strong, good, and healthy is worth it. They try to be around people with similar values.

Unfortunately, you may be criticized as being insufficiently "supportive." Some people don't want the truth, despite what they say.

UpEarly

You will be denying yourself what you really want to eat for the rest of your life, I know this is true because the "normal old you" the “you” in your natural state got you fat and rarely if ever denied yourself food (does not apply to people on mfp that are trying to gain weight)....only the continued denial of the foods you want in the quantities you want them will allow to reach your weight/fitness goals and then only a very similar denial of foods will allow you to maintain your weight/fitness goals once they are attained....if you’re not willing to accept this reality then you need to go eat a pizza or a chocolate cake or whatever you love right now and just enjoy life being fat…
Otherwise prepare for a lifetime of tremendous and continued discipline…
Agree? Disagree? Why?

100% Disagree

I only cut 250 calories a day from my TDEE to meet my goal. That small cut simply never resulted in any hunger pangs. I still ate regular pizza, cake, ice cream, french fries, wine, etc. I just made sure they fit within my calorie goal.

I lost weight eating more than 2000 calories a day. I still eat more than 2000 calories a day, most days. I think my average is 2350. I never feel hungry when I'm not supposed to feel hungry (i.e. - I think I should feel hunger before a meal). I certainly never feel deprived.

Oh... and I met my initial goal of 152 lbs back in February. I ended up continuing to lose for a while after that and ended up at 136 pounds, which I've been maintaining since early June.

Edited to add - when I was overweight, I was not eating in response to hunger. I was eating out of boredom or simply not paying attention to portion sizes and total calories. People gain weight for reasons other than they're simply hungry all the time!

delilah47

I divide my meals into 5-6 small ones. I never have hunger pangs unless I don't eat for 5-6 hours. IMO hunger pangs aren't good to have when you are trying to lose weight. I think your body suspects it's starving and when you do eat, it probably hoards everything it can.

DiabolicBooger

I totally get this. Especially at the beginning of losing weight, I was hungry a lot. My body expected more food, and sometimes I felt like my brain was throwing a pity party having such a huge deficit. But I was 50lbs overweight. I could handle it.

Now that I have less to lose, I eat more often, but smaller meals. But I still feel hunger sometimes, and it really does require pure discipline to wait until a scheduled meal time. If I eat every time I wanted to (and how much I wanted to!), I would still be fat.

Cultivate discipline and commitment!

^ That....this pal has the courage and honesty to admit that with out the discipline and commitment, "I would still be fat", this person must also realize that the fat person will return when the commitment and discipline subsides....

DanaDark

The idea that you always have to be hungry to lose or maintain weight is 100% absolutely unequivocally absurd.

I didnt say "always" i said "Half of the time"

Even half the time is utter rubbish. If you are hungry often, it is a GREAT indicator that you are not eating an appropriate diet.

Talk like this serves only to discourage others because they think you're right. They have this idea that to be skinny, you must be starving for food and that satiety means obesity. Again, complete nonsense.

Eating too many calories gets you fat, not eating when hungry. Really, the best way to ensure weight loss and even maintenance is to eat before you are hungry and to stop before you are full.

wrevhn

Wow the air in this room is thick.


I don't know what to think.

joeysox

i dont get hunger pangs to be honest. only in the first week cause i cut down quite a lot! i plan my meals to be low cal but filling i put thought into it so i dont go over, maybe a handful of times ever and i dont go hungry. i still eat a piece of chocolate at night too. its self control and planning your meals better x

DiabolicBooger

Yes, I agree that hunger pangs, within reason, are a normal part of a healthy life.

But, I think it's more complicated than that. I find my sugar cravings are stronger and harder to deal with than the hunger pangs. By eating healthy, I reduce the sugar cravings, even more when I actually manage to reduce the fat I'm carrying. When I'm indulging myself, and satisfying every sugar craving I get, I never get a chance to be actually hungry. So, when I'm eating better, I even look forward a bit to being hungry; that tells me I'm doing better!

When my kids whine to me that they're hungry, and it's an hour before dinner, I tell them they're supposed to be hungry! They'll be eating a meal in an hour; it's expected, normal and healthy to be hungry for a bit before you eat!

^That, Yes not all hunger has to be completly dreadfull, sometimes hunger is mild and manageable but still requires discipline and commitmment and denial of food for a small time peroid...