How hungry are you, most days? Are you comfortable being hungry?

FlyingMolly wrote: »

I've been hungry every day since I started tracking again, but I'm not that bothered by it. Like you, I interpret it to mean that my body wants more calories in order to maintain its current weight, so I must be eating at a deficit to be hungry.

Filling foods help--I'm a big believer in a high-fat diet--but I tend to eat too much when I "snack," so I've never done well with frequent small meals. I prefer to eat three times per day and make friends with the hunger I feel in between. It's not severe or problematic, and if that changes it's not like I don't know how to find the kitchen.

I have the same problem when I snack - especially at work. I don't think it would be a bad idea for me to eat three times a day! How do you distribute your calories throughout the day?

To respond to the initial topic, hunger is only a problem for me if I'm about to do some resistance training. I work out at 5am and a couple weeks back I had a small salad for dinner around 6pm and nothing else. I was pretty hungry when I went to bed, which I felt fine with, but come 5am and my arms were nearly falling out from under me by the time I was doing my second or third set of push-ups.

I'm also guilty of eating when I'm bored/confusing hunger with boredom which is something I'm working on.

Dofflin wrote: »

Well I think there is a difference between hunger, appetite and low blood sugar/dehydration.

Hunger:
your body is burning too much muscle, eat more.

Appetite:
Craving something specific (sometimes you actually need it though), emotional eating, or stimulated by the taste or smell of another food. Just try to pay attention to how your body reacts to each meal so you know better next time

Low blood sugar/ dehydration:
You feel dizzy, grumpy and can't concentrate. Drink more water, eat more frequently, change your macros, etc

I like this! It makes sense to me.

I used to be hungry all the time. However I made a couple of changes that work for me.

- I began lifting in addition to cardio
- I use the TDEE method and eat 1700 calories everyday (before I was eating like 1400)
- I eat three substantial healthy meals and maybe one not so healthy snack

This pretty much feels like a "lifestyle" to me and I could live this way forever. Granted I only had about 20lbs to lose and have been losing very slowly over the past year.

I wake up hungry, my day is filled with thoughts of shoving food in my mouth. When I do have my meal I'm still hungry. It's a never ending battle with food and me.
Oh yeah, I go to bed hungry too, ha!

It usually takes me a few weeks of being consistent for the hunger to go away. If I have a "no counting" day (like a holiday or vacation), I know that I'll have to deal with some hunger when I get back to my deficit. But, for me, it does decrease after the first week or so.

But it never really goes away. However, that's not a bad thing.

Hunger is not an emergency. It's your body saying "hey, at some point you're going to have to fuel me again". It's not "OMG FEED ME NOW". Most of us who have regular access to the internet have never been on the brink of starvation. We don't know true hunger. (I know some people experience low blood sugar issues, but that's not the same thing as starvation)

I actually like getting a little hungry before meals. It makes the meals taste better. I've found that it increases my enjoyment of food to let my stomach empty in between meals.

Also keep in mind that your appetite is "trainable". Meaning that if you're used to eating at certain times, your appetite expects to eat at those times. This is why people who normally snack in the afternoon (or whatever) will get hungry in the afternoon even if they've eaten sufficient food. You can retrain your appetite. Really interesting book that talks about appetite and habit: https://experiencelife.com/article/the-power-of-habit/

Obviously, all of this comes with the disclaimer that I'm not telling you to starve yourself. You should be eating sufficient calories and try to find foods that make you feel satisfied. But its ok to get a little hungry once in a while.

I learned the difference between nothing to do hunger and genuine hunger by keeping water with me and reaching for that first. I have also stopped looking at food as a reward, I build and run my own business - take no salary and work like heck to pay down the bank note principle in some amount (above monthly payment) every week. Food became my only reward - that had to stop. Now buying very nice prepared food at Publix and eating 4 approx 200 - 230 cal meals a day. It is very nice. The shrimp and chicken are great! Honestly doubt if I could accomplish my goals without Publix.

I am not usually hungry while eating in a deficit. Not any hungrier than "oh, it's dinner time" type of hunger anyway. When I do hit the point where I am hungry all the time, I take a week or so off.

FlyingMolly wrote: »

liftlovelunge wrote: »

I have the same problem when I snack - especially at work. I don't think it would be a bad idea for me to eat three times a day! How do you distribute your calories throughout the day?

Usually about 300 for breakfast, 500 for lunch, and then 600 for dinner is my baseline. But I'm pretty active (I didn't think I was that active, but my FitBit begs to differ), so I usually have extra calories to add to a bigger dinner, or to use as an afternoon snack.

I know a lot of people do really well on 6-8 meals a day, but the thing I like about only eating 3-4 is that I'm less prone to lie to myself. Like, if I'm hungry at 11am and eat a handful of nuts, I tell myself I'll deduct those calories from my "real" lunch but that part never seems to actually happen. This way, when I'm hungry at 11, I can just shrug and remind myself that it isn't lunchtime yet, but it will be soon, and I can wait.

Plus, I like big meals. I just do. Eating a bunch of 250-calorie "meals" throughout the day depresses me to no end.

Yep, this.

A few weeks of doing this actually retrained my appetite. I no longer get hungry until right before (like 30 minutes) meal times. If its not time to eat, its not time to eat. On very rare occasions, I will have a snack if a meal is far away or I didn't eat enough earlier in the day, but my appetite only appears at meal times for the most part.

I eat 4 times a day. Breakfast, lunch (half of my calories between those two), dinner and a snack at 9pm. Consistently, every day. Half of my calories before noon, half of my calories after 6pm. After a year of eating on that schedule, I no longer have a desire to eat outside of those times and I get a little hungry right before its time to eat. It works for me.

I have two types of hunger - mental hunger (I just want to munch something but I'm not actually needing food, physical hunger - empty tummy)! I have 1500 calories daily and I have a small breakfast and small lunch, saving up for a good sized evening meal with a pudding. That way I don't need to munch because I never really feel hungry. When I burn calories through exercise, I do not eat additional food. I have set a goal of 1 lb a week. Could it be you could adjust your goal so u don't suffer so much? Hate the idea of being hungry all the time. I lost 4 lb week 1, 1 lb week 2, so I an already ahead by 3 lbs

Sorting ritual "hunger" (sitting down to watch a movie: where's the popcorn?) and actual hunger = a learning process for me that I'm guessing will go on for-ev-er.

After my first week or so, I'm rarely hungry. I learn to space out my snacks so that I don't get too terribly hungry. I want to be ready to eat by the time my next meal rolls around, but I don't want to be so hungry I over-eat.

One thing I learned with my Fitbit was that I was eating too little. I am more active than I think I am.

I've had to do some medical testing for my insulin pump over the last few weeks to make sure my rates are set correctly. The testing involves eating a low fat meal and then not eating anything for 11 hours. No caffeine even. Water and diet sprite and sf jello only. I've had to do this multiple days and I've learned a lot about hunger. The "hunger" I experience on a daily, 3 hours post meal basis is real, but very very mild. The real hunger starts at about 7 hours after eating and it is so consuming by hour 9 that I can't function (dizzy, weak, shouldn't be driving kind of bad). Hats off to those who do regular fasting. I'm trying to learn to be ok with the mild hunger after experiencing the crazy hunger several times now.

I've been at this for 18 months and I'm not hungry, but I'm never full/satiated either. It's hard to tell the difference. The funny thing is that I *kitten* and moan that I want to eat until I feel full, but when I do it I feel disgusting and bloated. I think this might be one of those things that never really goes away. Like I quit smoking cigarettes 8 years ago but I still think about them several times a day. I just don't have one.

Kalikel wrote: »

I kind of think of it as a sign that my body wants more energy and am like, "Well, if you need energy, please use up some of the fat. Thanks and have a nice day."

^^ this.

that and a glass of water with a squeeze of lemon or lime usually is enough for me

I am also hungry every day, but usually just before meal time. I've never thought of this as a bad thing because I think eating when not hungry is a bad thing. I don't regularly snack, but if I get overly hungry before meal time I have a small snack.