How to eat only when hungry?

I'm hypoglycemic and my hunger mechanism is screwed up. If I relied on physical indications I wouldn't know to eat until I couldn't focus, was nauseous or dizzy. I try to eat 5 times a day and spread my calories out as even as I can. That way I know my energy is constant. I've only had one episode of my blood sugar dropping so far. So it's working pretty good.

So being hungry isn't a factor with me.

As a practitioner of the 5:2 way of life, I find that the "fast" (500 cals 2x a week) days have gotten me very well acquainted with actual physical hunger. As a result, I have naturally become much less likely to eat for other reasons. Since I eat (pretty much; I slip up once in awhile) only when hungry (including the 5 "non-fast" days), I don't eat very often; usually 2 meals maybe one snack, and I anticipate by thinking about what I'll eat when I do get hungry--helps avoid the "cramming whatever is closest" into my mouth syndrome. BTW, that doesn't mean only broccoli and water, since the beauty of 5:2 is you can eat what you want...For example, yesterday was a fast day; I had a little less than 500 cals. Today is a non-fast day, it's almost 1pm and I haven't eaten yet; thinking about it. I plan on having strawberry shortcake when I do eat...got local strawberries and a scone from the co-op, will have full fat yogurt instead of cream 'cause that's what I have around. In 7 weeks, I've lost 12 lbs; but the main thing is, this WOL is sustainable. Try it, you'll like it! (see the forum and info at www.fastday.com)

As a practitioner of the 5:2 way of life, I find that the "fast" (500 cals 2x a week) days have gotten me very well acquainted with actual physical hunger. As a result, I have naturally become much less likely to eat for other reasons.

I tried out intermittent fasting for about a month. I only ate between 2 pm and 10 pm. That's not nearly as dedicated as your version but there were days when I had worked out in the morning, hadn't eaten since 8 the night before and you really start feeling a physical sensation of needing food that goes beyond the typical emotional state of feeling hungry. I don't know that this works for everyone but it was an interesting thing to try out. Some days I wasn't even hungry at all but 2 pm.

The problem is that you are treating the signal as "time to eat" instead of "time to think about eating sometime in the not too distant future", which is what it is actually saying.

That's a pretty good point. We don't run to the bathroom every time we feel the slight urge to go. We just make a note of it and think "I'll finish what I'm doing here, walk the dog, and then I'll go visit the restroom." There's a suggestion phase and a "You freaking better find a restroom NOW" phase. Same thing goes for hunger.

I like this topic. A lot of us say we're hungry when we really aren't. We're just used to eating too much.

I try to eat at mealtimes and then a snack in the evening if I haven't hit my calories yet. I've realized how much better food tastes when you are actually hungry for your meal.

In between meal times, I drink a lot of water and keep myself busy. And willpower.