How much hunger do you consider acceptable?

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  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    Lately I've only been getting "hungry" when I'm cooking or smelling cooked foods. For the most part eating is more about a schedule. Lacking stimulus of cooked foods nearby, it takes probably 6-8 hours of not eating before I notice I'm "hungry." My average daily deficit for the past 6 weeks has been about 400 calories.

    If I drink a lot the night before or have something more carby than usual, then I might be hungry the next morning around 10 am.
  • 19feg96
    19feg96 Posts: 8 Member
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    This is such a helpful thread! I think I tend to bored-eat a lot lol
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    Minimal. Maybe a bit of hunger befre a meal but that's it.

    The first couple of points on that Emotional Hunger chart also describes reactive hypoglycemia - an "I gotta eat NOW" feeling along with shaking and light headedness. Often does NOT accompany physical hunger signs.
  • aikodiavlo
    aikodiavlo Posts: 1 Member
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    Snack within 4 hours between meals, so you don't overeat
  • sonyadilworth
    sonyadilworth Posts: 24 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    sonyadilworth wrote: »
    I'm not gonna lie I'm pretty hungry. I'm on quite a low calorie diet so that is to be expected. I'm just getting on with it. I have only 9 pounds left to go so don't want to change what's been working so far

    @sonyadilworth have you been changing your weekly weight loss goals as you lose weight? With only 9 pounds left to go your goal should be set to a half pound per week.

    Losing weight doesn't need to be painful. I don't have aggressive weight loss targets, focus on foods that satiate me, and am only hungry right before meals.

    I'm only 4 foot 11 and my calorie target has stayed at 1200 every time I'm update it . My maintnenance level is only 1430.
  • ValkyrieLula
    ValkyrieLula Posts: 28 Member
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    I try to split my primary meals with scheduled snack times. Because of these, I generally get mildly hungry between an hour to an hour and a half before meals, which is acceptable for me. However, if I'm starving in the morning before breakfast, I generally will have a glass of tea to tide me over for 20-30 minutes while I go through my morning routine.

    But I do have a habit of boredom grazing. This is one of the reasons I pack my own snacks for the day. I have a set amount of snacks and am less likely to get something from the cafeteria.
  • Shana67
    Shana67 Posts: 680 Member
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    To be honest, I feel slightly hungry most of the day. And when I REALLY notice it, I remind myself that my body is burning up fat/calories, and I feel that it is worth it :)
  • tlflag1620
    tlflag1620 Posts: 1,358 Member
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    Hunger is not acceptable to me. Perhaps that's why low carb works so well for me. I'll gladly give up most sugars and starches since the trade off (for me anyway) is never having to go hungry. When I feel hungry, I eat. I don't wait around to find out if it will "pass".
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
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    For me, it needs to not cause stomach pangs/ acid stomach/ blood sugar crash. I can tolerate it when it is not at that level, though I obviously don't enjoy it at all.
  • knelson095
    knelson095 Posts: 254 Member
    edited June 2016
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    My body tends to go from 'I could eat' to starving with no in-between. I think my hunger signals are broken.
    The other day I wasn't particularly hungry and decided to have a go at mowing my lawn. I have a man-power only push mower so it can be pretty hard work...but my lawn isn't huge and it wasn't hot. Anyway, I got about half way done and went inside to take a break and had a huge crash. It was later in the day than I realized and I was way beyond starving and anything I had to eat sounded awful. I had to go sit for a minute until the feeling passed enough that I could manage fixing anything. Usually it's not that bad, but I've learned to try and stick to a time schedule instead because I just can't trust my hunger signals to tell me if I'm just peckish, or about to die. (Figuratively.)

    ETA: It kinda felt like I might die that day, so maybe not so figuratively...lol.
  • kevinhparker550
    kevinhparker550 Posts: 17 Member
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    SezxyStef wrote: »
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    A little hunger before meals is totally fine and normal. Sometimes if I'm up later than I should I'll be a little hungry before bed.

    If I make terrible choices and am hungry all day my own damn fault.

    Ongoing, prolonged hunger? Nope. Never signing up for that. I'd rather go over goal a little than be permanently hungry.

    This...so much this. I might be a bit peckish about 11:30 am..right before lunch so I will have a greek yogurt but it was logged anyway...and if I am hungry right around 4pm I will eat another yogurt...again already logged.
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    whether it be when I was losing or now in maintenance, I rarely go beyond slightly hungry...if I'm slightly hungry, it is time to eat to the level of being satiated or satisfied....accordingly, I rarely eat until I'm "full"...

    tumblr_m6szyecTOt1rateeto1_500.jpg

    of course, you also have to be able to tell the difference between actual hunger and emotional...

    thehungerscale-Gdr7Svag24wmjcf33AZBen.jpg

    and this is great...

    Just quoting the whole thing because it's right on. Also I stick to the "no eating for 2 hours before bed" rule.
  • Larissa_NY
    Larissa_NY Posts: 495 Member
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    I don't really care about feeling hungry. It's a minor annoyance that goes away as soon as I eat anything and I'm never more than ten or twelve hours away from a meal (if that) so I honestly don't get what the big deal is.

    Pretty much the only time I consider it unacceptable is when I get dizzy and shaky, and that doesn't feel like hunger, it just feels like dizziness and shakiness. Other than that, it's extremely rare that I make it past "slightly hungry" on that scale.
  • SoulOfRusalka
    SoulOfRusalka Posts: 1,201 Member
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    I don't mind a bit. It's a problem when it makes me too shaky/weak to walk or is really distracting from whatever else I'm trying to do because I can't stop thinking about food.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    Some hunger near my normal eating times ( every 3-5 hours between 8 AM and 10 PM) is fine. It is how I have lost weight. I eat around the same times every day. I plan my food for the day. I eat enough calories and protein. I drink water.
    Feeling intense hunger, lethargy, headaches, dizziness, irritability all day is not normal or fine while losing weight IMO.
  • MaxT370
    MaxT370 Posts: 274 Member
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    I think a little bit of hunger is okay, but if it's excessive and starts causing physical symptoms, that shouldn't be acceptable. When I was heavier, I'd stuff myself. Now, I eat until I'm satisfied or can push my food away. Typically I have a protein shake for breakfast which keeps me good for about 4 hours, lunch between 1 and 2, dinner depends when I get off work - sometime between 7 and 8. I might have 1 snack during the day and drink about 4 bottles of water.

    Food is no longer a tool to "feel good", it's fuel.
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,750 Member
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    I don't put up with weak feelings or shakiness, if it goes that far, I eat something. If I don't, I'll feel terrible for the rest of the day - headaches, nausea, generally good for nothing - and if I let it go for too long I'll hit that point where I don't want to eat anything and have to force something down. That's how I know it's not emotional hunger in my case, it's a blood sugar crash. To me, it means I've misjudged my eating the rest of the day if I end up like that. And it feels quite different from emotional hunger.
  • malioumba
    malioumba Posts: 132 Member
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    I'm one of those people who gets excited to be hungry, or "starving" if it just so happens that I can't control the situation at the time (say, I was too busy studying and then working, and then exams) - the thought of "yeaahhhh, I'll get to eat soon" just makes me excited as opposed to angry - even if I don't get something until the end of the night. =D
  • Jeyradan
    Jeyradan Posts: 164 Member
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    I don't often feel "hunger" in the usual sense, although for the past few days I've been really noticing it. However, I often find that - despite not feeling hungry - I get weak, shaky, or can't keep up my normal walking pace and have to slow down. Unfortunately, I'm usually on my way somewhere at that point and not in a position to eat because I got no other "hunger" signals as a warning from my body!

    I wish I could figure out when this is real hunger and when it might be something else, because it does happen when I haven't eaten (or when my meal was small), but I occasionally get it after what I'd judge to be a perfectly adequate meal, too.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited June 2016
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    I find if I eat enough protein I'm never hungry between meals. On the odd day when I lack protein, then I'm mostly hungry for an hour before each meal time - on such days, I usually just guzzle water but if I feel head-achy from the lack of food then I'll just eat earlier or snack (usually have apples handy).

    The problem I'm finding 3 years into maintenance is that I fill up too quickly when I still have around half the food left on my plate. I wont push myself to eat the remainder like I once did (what I will do is eat all the protein part of my meal and the veg, then I leave the rice/pasta/potatoes). I think to a certain extent my hunger signals have switched off. I eat now to live rather than living to eat which is how it should be imo and I'm happy about that.
  • aloranger7708
    aloranger7708 Posts: 422 Member
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    I find it pretty normal to have a growling stomach if I had dinner early and go to bed late. There's only been a handful of times during this process that I felt starving - light headed, nauseous, weak - because I waited too long to eat.

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