Should you eat even if you're not hungry?

I'm fairly sure that dessert is the most important meal of the day actually.

Now, I can live with this one!

Nope. Unless you are consuming appetite suppressants or are on a low carb diet (ketosis suppresses appetite), in my non-medical, non-expert opinion, you should wait until you are hungry to eat. And if your boss doesn't like your midmorning meal break, go all low blood sugar rage until you are allowed to do what it is natural for humans to do.

Eat when hungry. Part of why we get fat is because our society dictates three meals a day, snacks are relatively important and prevalent and mom's make their kids finish their plates. Part of this journey is to learn how to listen to your body signals and understand them.
I also find that many obese people claim hypoglycemia, which I can never duplicate. Many are simply afraid of hunger pains and start to almost panic the minute their stomach feels empty if they don't have something to put in their mouth right away. They also eat their whole plate, with huge portion sizes.
Try this-before eating anything try recording in a huger journal- the level of hunger, your feeling ( look up a list of "feelings" and use the list). Eat slowly, chew thoughtfully, sit at the table and no TV , IPAD or computer. Behavioral change is the most important thing to ensure long term success.
Breakfast is an important meal as you've been fasting for possibly 12 hours. You can divide breakfast into two small snacks through the morning if that works better. No need to eat real breakfast food, either. Many studies show improved school performance in students that eat breakfast.

Wow, I guess the lifetime of hypoglycemia that led to insulin resistance that eventually became Type II diabetes was all in my head then. Guess I should have kept a better "hunger journal."

Please, support all of your claims with peer-reviewed research, or, even better, your medical degree. Lots of what you've posted there is simply out-dated and largely denounced psuedo-science.

Eat when hungry. Part of why we get fat is because our society dictates three meals a day, snacks are relatively important and prevalent and mom's make their kids finish their plates. Part of this journey is to learn how to listen to your body signals and understand them.
I also find that many obese people claim hypoglycemia, which I can never duplicate. Many are simply afraid of hunger pains and start to almost panic the minute their stomach feels empty if they don't have something to put in their mouth right away. They also eat their whole plate, with huge portion sizes.
Try this-before eating anything try recording in a huger journal- the level of hunger, your feeling ( look up a list of "feelings" and use the list). Eat slowly, chew thoughtfully, sit at the table and no TV , IPAD or computer. Behavioral change is the most important thing to ensure long term success.
Breakfast is an important meal as you've been fasting for possibly 12 hours. You can divide breakfast into two small snacks through the morning if that works better. No need to eat real breakfast food, either. Many studies show improved school performance in students that eat breakfast.

When I was scary-thin, I'd shovel it down while reading a book. Not saying encouraging mindfulness isn't helpful when you are trying to lose, but it's not necessarily what makes people thin in the first place.

I just eat when I'm hungry. My eating schedule is somewhat delayed after years of waking up super late in college so it's not unusual for my first meal of the day to be at 12-1pm even though I'm up by 9-10am nowadays. I tend to eat dinner around 8-9pm.

I only eat if i am not really hungry if my calsories are low for that day for some reason

Who says breakfast is the most important meal of the day?

Companies who make breakfast cereals!

OP - do what works for you. If you aren't hungry until 11am then start your day with lunch. I agree with so many of the comments written above, we eat because of habit, social situations, boredom, so many reasons. Perhaps getting in touch with your body and eating when you are only hungry will help your overall health and achieve your goals without the pressure of "most important meal of the day" mentality.

I think the most important meal of the day is the one that sustains you for healthy living.

Eat when hungry. Part of why we get fat is because our society dictates three meals a day, snacks are relatively important and prevalent and mom's make their kids finish their plates. Part of this journey is to learn how to listen to your body signals and understand them.
I also find that many obese people claim hypoglycemia, which I can never duplicate. Many are simply afraid of hunger pains and start to almost panic the minute their stomach feels empty if they don't have something to put in their mouth right away. They also eat their whole plate, with huge portion sizes.
Try this-before eating anything try recording in a huger journal- the level of hunger, your feeling ( look up a list of "feelings" and use the list). Eat slowly, chew thoughtfully, sit at the table and no TV , IPAD or computer. Behavioral change is the most important thing to ensure long term success.
Breakfast is an important meal as you've been fasting for possibly 12 hours. You can divide breakfast into two small snacks through the morning if that works better. No need to eat real breakfast food, either. Many studies show improved school performance in students that eat breakfast.

Wow, I guess the lifetime of hypoglycemia that led to insulin resistance that eventually became Type II diabetes was all in my head then. Guess I should have kept a better "hunger journal."

Please, support all of your claims with peer-reviewed research, or, even better, your medical degree. Lots of what you've posted there is simply out-dated and largely denounced psuedo-science.

I haven't seen very many posters use "peer-reviewed" research to back up their posts. I'm not going to do a literature review everytime I post something. I don't think anybody needs to be held to that standard on a social forum.

Eat when hungry. Part of why we get fat is because our society dictates three meals a day, snacks are relatively important and prevalent and mom's make their kids finish their plates. Part of this journey is to learn how to listen to your body signals and understand them.
I also find that many obese people claim hypoglycemia, which I can never duplicate. Many are simply afraid of hunger pains and start to almost panic the minute their stomach feels empty if they don't have something to put in their mouth right away. They also eat their whole plate, with huge portion sizes.
Try this-before eating anything try recording in a huger journal- the level of hunger, your feeling ( look up a list of "feelings" and use the list). Eat slowly, chew thoughtfully, sit at the table and no TV , IPAD or computer. Behavioral change is the most important thing to ensure long term success.
Breakfast is an important meal as you've been fasting for possibly 12 hours. You can divide breakfast into two small snacks through the morning if that works better. No need to eat real breakfast food, either. Many studies show improved school performance in students that eat breakfast.

Wow, I guess the lifetime of hypoglycemia that led to insulin resistance that eventually became Type II diabetes was all in my head then. Guess I should have kept a better "hunger journal."

Please, support all of your claims with peer-reviewed research, or, even better, your medical degree. Lots of what you've posted there is simply out-dated and largely denounced psuedo-science.

Here you go. This is from the Journal of Diabetes. It looks like they studied 367,052 patients, 8,655 people had diabetes so I believe the rest did not have diabetes. The only incidents of hypoglycemia that they mention in the abstract occurred in diabetics.
Now, I was unable to read this article because I don't have a membership. But, abstracts usually include all significant findings. I'm not going to waste my time looking for any other studies, since this is not a scientific social forum and there is no need to back up everything said on here with peer reviewed studies.


OBJECTIVE—To determine the incidence, predisposing factors, and costs of emergency treatment of severe hypoglycemia in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Over a 12-month period, routinely collected datasets were analyzed in a population of 367,051 people, including 8,655 people with diabetes, to measure the incidence of severe hypoglycemia that required emergency assistance from Ninewells Hospital and Medical School (NHS) personnel including those in primary care, ambulance services, hospital accident and emergency departments, and inpatient care. Associated costs with these episodes were calculated.

RESULTS—A total of 244 episodes of severe hypoglycemia were recorded in 160 patients, comprising 69 (7.1%) people with type 1 diabetes, 66 (7.3%) with type 2 diabetes treated with insulin, and 23 (0.8%) with type 2 diabetes treated with sulfonylurea tablets. Incidence rates were 11.5 and 11.8 events per 100 patient-years for type 1 and type 2 patients treated with insulin, respectively. Age, duration, and socioeconomic status were identified as risk factors for severe hypoglycemia. One in three cases were treated solely by the ambulance service with no other contact from health care professionals. The total estimated cost of emergency treatment of severe hypoglycemia was ≤£92,078 in one year.

CONCLUSIONS—Hypoglycemia requiring emergency assistance from health service personnel is as common in people with type 2 diabetes treated with insulin as in people with type 1 diabetes. It is associated with considerable NHS resource use that has a significant economic and personal cost.

Duplicate post

I asked my dietitian this question this morning. She said as long as I'm over the minimum 1200 calories for the day, no need to eat more.

OK folks, I'm taking a consensus from people with successful weight loss and maintenance. Do you eat only when you're hungry or do you eat on a schedule?

I know breakfast is the most important meal of the day but some days I'm just not hungry until 11 -11:30 AM. Some days I want to eat my largest meal at 3:30-4PM and then have a light snack at 7PM. Is it so wrong to just listen to my body's hunger clock? Just wondering....

Just to reiterate what's already been said, for emphasis, breakfast is not the most important meal of the day.

To answer your question, I eat on a rough schedule, every 3-4 hours depending on what's going on during the day. It's habitual. I never really get hungry hungry, even if it's been an entire day but I can always eat.

Hey I cannot quote the medical journal or source but I've read and firmly believe that eating protein in the morning is very important to overall health and mental alertness. From my perspective, keeping my mind sharp from 8 to noon at work was critical in my career. Drinking coffee all morning with no food usually led to my frequent run-on sentences at important meetings, crazy multi-tasking at my desk and running my staff ragged. If you are coffee junkie and wait to eat in the afternoon or later, ask your staff and your family how your morning nutrition plan is working for them

My approach is eating about 200-250 calories, after exercise, in the morning with 30 % protein and fat, along with 40% healthy carbs. Extra bonus, if you are pre-diabetic it will keep your glucose more level until lunch. May not work for all but just wanted to share my personal experience.