Do you eat even when you are not hungry?

Cre8veLifeR

I am curious about this. I am hungry in the morning, and then don't get hungry again until around 1:30 (I will eat a handful of nuts around 10:30 or so) and then after I eat lunch I am usually not hungry for the rest of the day. This will sometimes leave me around 500 calories under my needed intake. Because of this I will also usually have a mid-afternoon snack of an apple and peanut butter or some such thing, even though I don't feel hungry at all.

So I am curious about it. Do you listen to your body and eat when you feel hungry, or do you eat anyway to maintain a calorie intake?

lmnconn

Good question, I often wonder that myself

Phrick

I eat anyway in order to maintain a healthy calorie deficit and not slow/stall my weight loss.

majope

I found out through trial and error that if I leave too many calories at the end of the day, the next day I'll be low in energy and so hungry that it feels like I'll never catch up, even if I eat over my limit to try to balance the two days out. So I try to end my day within 200 calories of my goal, even if that means an extra snack when I'm not particularly hungry.

Most of the time I try to log my exercise before I do it so I can schedule more calories throughout the day, adding a little extra to my meals and snacks to make it easy to get to my goal. But sometimes I'm not sure how far I'll run, or I get busy and miss a snack...and there I am again, right before bed, buttering another Pop-Tart.

Cre8veLifeR

LOL - I skip the buttered poptarts. In fact - Poptarts are a total weakness addictive food for me. I won't even allow them in the house lol.

Thanks for the input.

Mischieviousme777

I usually eat 5-6 times a day (3 meals, 2-3 snacks) as I've been conditioned to do from before my diabetes went into remission. It helps keep your metabolism up, I've found. Also, when I just let time go by without eating (because I'm not particularly hungry), like others have said I feel so drained and blahh the next day.

That's not to say that you will be the same, mind, because everyone is different. Just speaking from experience.

HRLaurie614

I am curious about this. I am hungry in the morning, and then don't get hungry again until around 1:30 (I will eat a handful of nuts around 10:30 or so) and then after I eat lunch I am usually not hungry for the rest of the day. This will sometimes leave me around 500 calories under my needed intake. Because of this I will also usually have a mid-afternoon snack of an apple and peanut butter or some such thing, even though I don't feel hungry at all.

So I am curious about it. Do you listen to your body and eat when you feel hungry, or do you eat anyway to maintain a calorie intake?

Ditto. And an apple and nut butter I my o to snack.

Amy106Days

I have abused my poor body for so many years it doesn't really understand hungry anymore. If I refrain from eating to the point of hunger pangs or stomach rumblings a panic happens in my body like "oh no she is going to start drinking lemon water for dinner again ,find something now and eat it don't stop until we can hibernate! Now I preplan my day with meals and snacks and at the first craving or food thought I eat something. I find I can make better decisions about food if I have a plan and don't wait for hungry or worse hangry to strike.

CristinaL1983

I usually don't worry about it because for me it's natural to have appetite fluctuations. I do look at my weekly average and make sure that is good. Today, I have made myself eat even though I'm not hungry because I had eaten less than half of my daily calories (TOM and no appetite). I don't worry about a few hundred over or under.

hdlb

I don't eat if I'm not hungry. I find that if I'm not hungry one day, I'll usually make up for it the next day and eat more and it all balances in the end. I really don't worry too much about it.

AmbyrJayde

If its a set eat time (I do Breakfast w/in 45 minutes of waking up) Lunch at 12-130 and dinner between 5-630) then I eat, even if I'm not really all that hungry.

If I get hungry between those times I snack

HaleyxErin

If you're too far under every day try eating a little more every day, your body will get used to it your stomach will stretch and you will eventually be hungry enough to eat all your calories.

becplumpton

i make sure i eat at least 1000 calories a day, usually i eat more but i try and make it at least 1000, i used to under-eat a lot all the time, and found that when i did eat something unhealthy, or have a night out drinking or something, i'd wake up the next day and feel as though i'd gained a bunch of the weight back that i'd spent days under-eating to lose.. i find that eating a sufficient amount of calories and lots of protien has caused me not not only lose weight faster than i ever had, but feel much better too if i'm not really hungry and i've only had a few hundred calories i'll just have a protien shake or something

Cre8veLifeR

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! I think I will listen to my body, since I am trying to instill healthy habits for life, not a diet, and if I wasn't writing down everything I eat I would be fine lol.

Thank you :-)

SugarBoomBoom

When you are hungry, eat. Make sure what you eat is healthy and nutritious food. If you are not hungry don't eat. Listen to your body - we don't always want to eat the same amount every single day.

I am not a nutritionist - this is just my opinion. I don't log my food any more and strive to eat healthy food when I am hungry, rather than eating to a random number. I trust my body to let me know if/when I need more.

glovepuppet

nope, i don't. well... if my not hungry lasts until mid afternoon then i'll eat if i can.

delonda1

Sometimes I still eat (on heavy workout days) because I know I need the energy and feel like Im conditioning my body to many snacks throughout the day

sometimes i just dont eat... im not hungry

Lupercalia

If I'm more than around one hundred calories under my goal and/or sorely lacking in protein, I make sure to eat something. Hunger signals are not necessarily functioning correctly for a lot of us here, so I eat according to the numbers for the most part.

rosettafaery

I'm quite similar. I can come to meal times and think 'I know I have to eat, but I really dont feel hungry'.
On certain days I am below my daily calorie intake and I'm currently creating a calorie defecit to lose weight... Once I reach my target weight and my calories go up to maintain my target weight I have no idea how I will increase my calorie intake!

MissPeppers

I used to eat whenever it came to mind, really - I've totally screwed up my hunger/fullness cues and I still struggle with it. I ate when it was time to eat regardless of what I actually needed.

After I started intermittent fasting I've learned that I don't really get very hungry - but then again, I don't really feel full either. My dr. tells me it's actually a sort of eating disorder. My life got so much easier after I started IFing; I have one main meal which is dinner and then maybe a smaller one later. That's it. Easy calorie control, not daily uncontrollable snacking/eating.

Cr01502

No not really.

But hunger isn't an entirely accurate method of one should and shouldn't eat.

Too many factors influence it.