Creating hunger..

Confuzzled4ever

What is the best way to make yourself hungry?

I have a lot of trouble meeting caloric intake needs because I am simply not hungry. I never want breakfast, I have to force it. I forget all about lunch until a co worker asks me about it, then I go home and force myself to eat. I usually do want dinner.. but 1 meal is not enough.

I thought working out would help.. but it really did not help much. When I work out..i actually net less then the days I do not work out. I have days where my net calories are negative. The days I meet my goals easily are the days I usually made a bad food choice. I'm doing ok today because I wasn't feeling so good so I made sure I ate.

So if anyone has a suggestion i'd love to hear it. It's not as simple as eat more.. I feel like crap when I just eat more, even if it is healthy foods.

Oh.. before I started tracking here.. I was only eating like 700 calories a day..my doctor made me write everything down and it was pathetic. So I am doing better.. but not because I am actually hungry.. but because I am conscious of the consequences of eating that little. I still think I don't eat enough.. but if I don't think about it.. I eat even less..

fittocycle

I was having the same issue. Never really, truly hungry even when I should have been!

Here's what I discovered by accident. My hubby and I went out to dinner on New Year's Eve and indulged-way more than usual. I was so full that night that I actually felt terrible afterward. However, the next morning I was hungry-truly hungry. It stayed that way for several days too!:noway:

fittocycle

I should also add that I am at goal weight and it almost felt like I had reset my metabolism when I ate more than usual. Probably not something you want to try!

Drop_it_Like_Its_Hawt

Work out just a little more, especially aerobically, even if it's just fifteen minutes more than the usual. One extra notch up on the treadmill or bike. Just enough to feel a burn, and trigger your hunger response. At least that's what worked for me (even when I wasn't trying to get hungrier).

Confuzzled4ever

I work out almost everyday for 60-90 minutes. Today i can't cause I injured my knees and they need to heal. I walk to work, I take the stairs to the bathroom that is downstairs at work instead of the one next to my office. On weekends I workout and go for hikes or walks with friends.

tinytasha7

I used to be the same way. I never ate at all during the day. My first and only meal was dinner time, usually around 6 or 7 pm. I started work at 7 am at that time.

I started by slowy increasing my intake. So for breakfast, even though I wasn't hungry, I'd start with an egg. then 3-4 hours later a few crackers, then for lunch maybe tuna over a salad. throw in a little snack around 4 and then dinner same as usual.

Eventually your body gets used to having food at those times and you can increase what you're eating to healthy meals and snacks.

I still have issues with the amount I eat. It certainly isn't enough, but most of the time I DO feel hungry now.

Panda_1999

Check with your Dr. if you should start drinking some kind of nutritional beverage, like boost regular or ensure. I was put on the boost (360 cal) when I was ill and they were easy to get down and taste good. You could also add some dried fruit and nuts or peanut butter as a calorie rich snack.

TrailRunner61

Are you stressed or depressed? Unlike most people, I lose my appetite when I'm stressed instead of eating everything in sight. Essentially, I'm fat when I'm happy. Strange, but true. Anyway, I never ate breakfast and didnt eat much for lunch, then Id eat a lot more later in the day. Also, I'm actually much hungrier if I do eat breakfast and lunch and I read that it's because eating more often increases your metabolism. I believe that's true, with me anyway.
If nothing else works, go run for 90 minutes. You'll def. be hungry. If you're not hungry right away, you definately will be by morning.
Id see a Dr., perhaps a new one, if you can't figure this out. You should be able to enjoy food. How did you gain weight? You must have been eating then?
Good luck!

VorJoshigan

I work out almost everyday for 60-90 minutes. Today i can't cause I injured my knees and they need to heal. I walk to work, I take the stairs to the bathroom that is downstairs at work instead of the one next to my office. On weekends I workout and go for hikes or walks with friends.

That could be a contributing factor. The stress from over-training could be suppressing your appetite.

I rarely have a problem with too little hunger, so this might not be of much value, but try keeping a journal of those few times you ARE hungry. Try to figure out what is different about those times.

Other than that, I would say eat more fat if you're struggling to get your calories in. Using whole milk or even cream in your smoothies instead of skim will help. Alternately, toss an avocado in.

Confuzzled4ever

I was trying the breakfast protein shake for awhile. I made myself drink it.. then i'd be skipping lunch. Maybe I will try that again another way.

Actually i'm super happy.. not depressed. New job, new man, new car, new life. Like super happy. Life is good..except for this under eating thing..I was overeating for many years 9and not exercising at all). Healthy foods, just massive quantities of it. I don't know what happened and it just stopped. I went from eating like that to eating nothing.. landed in the ER. Doctors have no idea what happened and I can't seem to recover. Working on a second doctor now actually lol. Funny you suggest that. lol Little more to it then the eating thing.. but that's what i'm on here to fix.

Over training.. hmm.. never occurred to me. I do 30 mins of cardio about 20 with the weight and about 20-30 calisthenics. I do it cause I feel amazing afterwards.. but not hungry.. I go 5 - 6 times a week.

Ah and avocados are the BEST! I ate one today actually!