Eat before feeling hungry or waiting till your hungry...?

Just curious how others deal with this issue...

Replies

  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    Hope you get an answer cause I'm curious now too. FYI I eat when I'm starving which is probably the reason I got so fat.
  • Cathcandoo
    Cathcandoo Posts: 107 Member
    I am no expert but Dr. Oz had a really great way of demonstrating when we should eat and why. As well as why we should NEVER skip breakfast - no matter what. He used a pair of scales (balancing scales that weigh one object against another) and he showed how Ghrelin, which is a hormone that your body produces naturally - how it could be the reason why we over eat and gain weight.

    The secret to keeping this hunger gremlin at bay? Eat small meals throughout the day - at regular intervals NOT waiting until you are hungry because then it is too late. He then demonstrated this with the scales.....to see this go to doctoroz.com and type, "The Hormone Making You Overeat" into the search engine on the site and watch the video...sadly, on HIS site - some Canadians may be blocked from watching it - but give it a try.

    If you have trouble and are truly interested - I will see if I can find a written copy...or someone who can view it can post the general idea - I think that would be great if someone could.

    I hope this helps :)


    edited to reflect the true title of the segment - The Hormone Making You Overeat
  • LesliePierceRN
    LesliePierceRN Posts: 860 Member
    I eat regularly, hungry or not. Plus, on heavy exercise days (I'm a runner and a weight gal), I'll log my exercise for the day first thing in the morning, so I can plan out my meals to most fuel my workouts. I lay down my six (wish it was 7!) meals around my workouts so I can figure in the exercise calories I have to eat back and get the most out of both the fuel I put in my body and the effort I put out.
  • Cathcandoo
    Cathcandoo Posts: 107 Member
    Just in case the video doesn't work - I found this small blurb.....


    Ghrelin

    Ghrelin is a hormone released by your digestive tract that regulates your levels of satiety. When you miss meals Ghrelin levels increase and make you want to eat more. This is why eating small and frequent meals is a very effective adjunct to a weight loss and healthy eating plan because this helps keep your Ghrelin levels steady and therefore keep you feeling satisfied. Excess Ghrelin has the effect of slowing your metabolism so the saying that excess weight causes excess hunger is absolutely true in this case!
  • LadyHappyfish
    LadyHappyfish Posts: 23 Member
    Eat at the correct time not on demand. 3 meals and snacks in between

    I was and under eater that is what got me to this size, My body kept everything.

    I now eat at meal times, sometimes if the kids are at school I have to set alarm clocks to remind me to eat. I don't like eating, but I do often still crave chocolate at 3am, if it gets too bad after I have had my small amount of choc I eat porridge. 3am was often the time I ate and my body is still expecting it. I'll get there a decade of odd eating will need physical and mental training.
  • I feel more in control if I eat regular small meals. I can't depend on hunger signals. For example I never feel hungry first thing in the day but, based on the research, I always eat first thing.
    Also if I get really hungry, my control goes out the window.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    I am no expert but Dr. Oz had a really great way of demonstrating when we should eat and why. As well as why we should NEVER skip breakfast - no matter what. He used a pair of scales (balancing scales that weigh one object against another) and he showed how Ghrelin, which is a hormone that your body produces naturally - how it could be the reason why we over eat and gain weight.

    The secret to keeping this hunger gremlin at bay? Eat small meals throughout the day - at regular intervals NOT waiting until you are hungry because then it is too late. He then demonstrated this with the scales.....to see this go to doctoroz.com and type, "The Hormone Making You Fat" into the search engine on the site and watch the video...sadly, on HIS site - some Canadians may be blocked from watching it - but give it a try.

    If you have trouble and are truly interested - I will see if I can find a written copy...or someone who can view it can post the general idea - I think that would be great if someone could.

    I hope this helps :)
    UGH, ghrelin is NOT making you fat. Ghrelin, insulin, obestatin, and leptin work together to control how much you eat. Ghrelin levels are also lower in obese people than they are in normal weight people. That right there kinda shoots the whole "ghrelin makes you fat" argument right down. Ghrelin is also essential for learning, proper lung development and repair, growth hormone secretion (muscle growth and tissue repair,) and it's a natural anti-depressant.

    Dr. OZ is a competent heart surgeon, but otherwise, he's an idiot with a TV show.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    I can't speak for all but often I find myself eating way more than I should when I feel hungry. So I am trying to eat on schedule, hungry or not
  • LesliePierceRN
    LesliePierceRN Posts: 860 Member


    Dr. OZ is a competent heart surgeon, but otherwise, he's an idiot with a TV show.

    High five.
  • otrlynn
    otrlynn Posts: 273 Member
    I eat 3 regular meals a day, and I have a morning and late afternoon snack almost every day. I'm often not hungry for breakfast right after I get up, but I eat it anyway, because I have to head out to work and don't want to skip a meal. On the weekend, I eat breakfast a bit later, and don't necessarily feel the need for a mid morning snack. If I wait until I'm really hungry to eat--it is really hard to stay within my calorie goals. I also avoid "empy calorie" foods like chips because they don't fill me up for more than 20 minutes--which sends me looking for more food.
  • Cathcandoo
    Cathcandoo Posts: 107 Member
    I am no expert but Dr. Oz had a really great way of demonstrating when we should eat and why. As well as why we should NEVER skip breakfast - no matter what. He used a pair of scales (balancing scales that weigh one object against another) and he showed how Ghrelin, which is a hormone that your body produces naturally - how it could be the reason why we over eat and gain weight.

    The secret to keeping this hunger gremlin at bay? Eat small meals throughout the day - at regular intervals NOT waiting until you are hungry because then it is too late. He then demonstrated this with the scales.....to see this go to doctoroz.com and type, "The Hormone Making You Fat" into the search engine on the site and watch the video...sadly, on HIS site - some Canadians may be blocked from watching it - but give it a try.

    If you have trouble and are truly interested - I will see if I can find a written copy...or someone who can view it can post the general idea - I think that would be great if someone could.

    I hope this helps :)
    UGH, ghrelin is NOT making you fat. Ghrelin, insulin, obestatin, and leptin work together to control how much you eat. Ghrelin levels are also lower in obese people than they are in normal weight people. That right there kinda shoots the whole "ghrelin makes you fat" argument right down. Ghrelin is also essential for learning, proper lung development and repair, growth hormone secretion (muscle growth and tissue repair,) and it's a natural anti-depressant.

    Dr. OZ is a competent heart surgeon, but otherwise, he's an idiot with a TV show.

    I normally am not baited by such ignorance - but merely hating a heart surgeon with a t.v. show does not make you intelligent.

    If you did some research before making blank statements such as that on the hormone itself....you would see that he was bringing forth research that had been abundantly substantiated in the medical field...not something he came up with on a whim.
  • nixism
    nixism Posts: 258 Member
    I eat when my body tells me to. And I always have regular meals.
  • Sailorwind
    Sailorwind Posts: 158 Member
    There's a whole period of time that falls between not feeling hungry and feeling starving. I try to eat when I just start to feel hungry but am not very hungry yet. I find when I do that I am far less likely to start eating everything in site, no matter how unhealthy it is. If I'm starving, restraint tends to flit away from me. However, eating when I'm not hungry at ALL is what led to my stress eating habit, so I tend to avoid that as well.
  • schustc
    schustc Posts: 428 Member
    if you wait until you are hungry, you're much more likely to overeat. you don't feel 'full' right away when you eat, so by the time you realize you aren't starving anymore, you could have piled away a ton of calories.

    if you eat at regular intervals, it helps keep your insulin at regular levels, without the spikes/dips, and therefore without the feeling like you're 'starving' :)

    ok - and let's say that scientifically there is a 'hole' in this as I don't have any facts to back it up and am too tired to google it. Let's just say that I *personally* find that eating smaller meals throughout the day at regular intervals = success via lack of hunger and presence of satiety. :)

    I also am hypoglycemic, so, I REALLY feel the effects of long intervals between meals - like pass out type of effects.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    I am no expert but Dr. Oz had a really great way of demonstrating when we should eat and why. As well as why we should NEVER skip breakfast - no matter what. He used a pair of scales (balancing scales that weigh one object against another) and he showed how Ghrelin, which is a hormone that your body produces naturally - how it could be the reason why we over eat and gain weight.

    The secret to keeping this hunger gremlin at bay? Eat small meals throughout the day - at regular intervals NOT waiting until you are hungry because then it is too late. He then demonstrated this with the scales.....to see this go to doctoroz.com and type, "The Hormone Making You Fat" into the search engine on the site and watch the video...sadly, on HIS site - some Canadians may be blocked from watching it - but give it a try.

    If you have trouble and are truly interested - I will see if I can find a written copy...or someone who can view it can post the general idea - I think that would be great if someone could.

    I hope this helps :)
    UGH, ghrelin is NOT making you fat. Ghrelin, insulin, obestatin, and leptin work together to control how much you eat. Ghrelin levels are also lower in obese people than they are in normal weight people. That right there kinda shoots the whole "ghrelin makes you fat" argument right down. Ghrelin is also essential for learning, proper lung development and repair, growth hormone secretion (muscle growth and tissue repair,) and it's a natural anti-depressant.

    Dr. OZ is a competent heart surgeon, but otherwise, he's an idiot with a TV show.

    I normally am not baited by such ignorance - but merely hating a heart surgeon with a t.v. show does not make you intelligent.

    If you did some research before making blank statements such as that on the hormone itself....you would see that he was bringing forth research that had been abundantly substantiated in the medical field...not something he came up with on a whim.
    Pubmed disagrees with you and Dr. Oz. Dr. Oz also claims that raspberry ketones are fantastic for weight loss, even though there's NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE at all. Same thing with the hundreds of other "weight loss miracles" he's pushed over the years.

    I've done plenty of research on ghrelin. Normal weight people have higher levels of ghrelin in the blood stream than obese people. If higher ghrelin levels cause obesity, then that would be reversed, as ghrelin levels should increase as body weight increases, but it doesn't, it actually DECREASES. Ghrelin has hundreds of functions in the human body, "making you fat" isn't one of them.
  • SouffleBoy
    SouffleBoy Posts: 65 Member
    Normally when I'm hungry.
  • cmcorn26
    cmcorn26 Posts: 253 Member


    Dr. OZ is a competent heart surgeon, but otherwise, he's an idiot with a TV show.

    High five.



    Second both....
  • AHealthyMe15
    AHealthyMe15 Posts: 20 Member
    I found that if I wait too long to eat I get really sick feeling and my stomach hurts so bad I cant even eat! I have found that now I know when I get hungry and eat 6/5 small meals during the day, same time to keep myself satisfied. Planning my meals ahead of time works really well for me too.I am on the go almost 16 hours a day working and on my feet so it gets hard to make sure I am eating enough because by the time I have that hunger feeling I get sick.
  • People have told me not to eat unless you hear your belly growling to insure that you're eating because you're actually hungry, not because you're bored or thirsty. But I'd say to eat a little snack every couple hours -- hungry or not -- to avoid over eating later. (: Not sure if that helps or not.
  • historygirldd
    historygirldd Posts: 209 Member
    I eat 3 meals and 2-3 snacks a day to keep from getting hungry. I make better choices when I am not starving.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    six meals a day is the way to go..

    breakfast
    snack
    lunch
    snack
    dinner
    snack

    don't forget your post work out protein shake...!
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    if you wait until you are hungry it is too late and your body has already gone into starvation mode and is slowing down your metabolism....
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    if you wait until you are hungry it is too late and your body has already gone into starvation mode and is slowing down your metabolism....
    tigerpalm.jpg

    No. It takes at least 4 days of complete fasting, or several months of eating very low calorie, in order to enter the "famine response." Waiting until you feel hungry has no effect. In fact, a 24 hour fast will actually increase your metabolism. Seriously, if we had to eat 6 meals a day, every few hours, the human race would've died out several million years ago.
  • mamagooskie
    mamagooskie Posts: 2,964 Member
    I like to eat regularily............usually 3 main meals and snacks in between. That said sometimes I'm really hungry when I eat and sometimes not so much, every day is different.
  • schustc
    schustc Posts: 428 Member
    six meals a day is the way to go..

    breakfast
    snack
    lunch
    snack
    dinner
    snack

    don't forget your post work out protein shake...!

    This is me 90% of the time... :)

  • No. It takes at least 4 days of complete fasting, or several months of eating very low calorie, in order to enter the "famine response." Waiting until you feel hungry has no effect. In fact, a 24 hour fast will actually increase your metabolism. Seriously, if we had to eat 6 meals a day, every few hours, the human race would've died out several million years ago.

    Agreed.