should you still eat when your not hungry?

maaandyxoxo

im the same way.... i usually make myself eat something... cause if i didnt i probably would never eat....

firstsip

Okay, quick education:

Leptin is the hormone in your body that regulates hunger. Leptin production follows caloric intake: if you restrict calories, your Leptin production will decrease and you will feel less hungry. This is how anorexics can eat 800 calories a day and not feel hungry. If you eat more, your Leptin production will increase, and you will feel more hungry.

Because you are restricting calories, your Leptin production is out of whack; meaning, DO NOT listen to your body about how much/when to eat. Get your calories in and your Leptin production will follow, soon it will be no problem. Of course, every now and then, a day off this won't hurt you, but don't make it a habit to only eat when hungry, especially when dieting.

QFT.

geebusuk

You also need to consider the calories you've had already and what your body is using, etc.

Say you were a large man who's TDEE is around 2700 calories, but you've only set a 250 calorie deficit for slow weight loss.
Missing out even 1000 extra calories is probably going to be absolutely fine - infact I lost the first bit of weight from 225lb by basically doing this - was doing a lot of physical work and eating 1300 calories every day. I know doubt lost a little lean mass - but high protein intake and lots of lifting heavy items (carrying car gear boxes and complete doors up flights of stairs) helped minimise that for me.

But take the opposite, you're an already fairly small woman on a large deficit - if you repeatedly miss 500 calories+ of food, it's probably not going to be good for you.

The human body is good at coping with random changes generally - we wouldn't have got to where we are now if we collapsed every time we missed one of three meals a day.
But also; evolution has far from provided us with perfect bodies that can handle everything, so if you want the best chance of hitting your targets at the right time, it's going to be a case of not straying too far from what works.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Okay, quick education:

Leptin is the hormone in your body that regulates hunger. Leptin production follows caloric intake: if you restrict calories, your Leptin production will decrease and you will feel less hungry. This is how anorexics can eat 800 calories a day and not feel hungry. If you eat more, your Leptin production will increase, and you will feel more hungry.

Because you are restricting calories, your Leptin production is out of whack; meaning, DO NOT listen to your body about how much/when to eat. Get your calories in and your Leptin production will follow, soon it will be no problem. Of course, every now and then, a day off this won't hurt you, but don't make it a habit to only eat when hungry, especially when dieting.

This. Listening to your body is a nice idea but it's not necessarily the best way to go.

HotrodsGirl0107

I for one can't listen to my body. I fell into bad eating habits in the past and ended up restricting calories to a dangerously low level because I didn't "feel hungry". I would eat 800 to 900 cals a day with no hunger until my body finally said enough is enough. That is when I learned about leptin and what under eating causes as far as long term. It took over a year and a large weight gain to reset my metabolism but I still don't get hungry. I have to plan and adhere to my planned meal times so that I can net at least my bmr (which I had done professionally). If I start under eating the effect are not instant but if I consistanly eat too little for a few weeks my body becomes weak, I get horrible migraines, I feel tired all the time ect...so I know listening to your body sounds like a good idea but you have to actually understand how your body works.