Eating Even When You're Not Really Hungry?

supershala
supershala Posts: 30
edited September 29 in Food and Nutrition
Hi All,
First I would like to say that I hope everyone had a good fourth :) My question is this: Should I eat even when I'm not really hungry? I hear ALL THE TIME that I should be eating small meals about 4-5 times a day. Now, I usually do this even when I'm not really hungry because I've heard that it is supposed to keep your metabolism revved. On the other hand, I've been reading lately that this isn't necessarily true, and you should eat when you're body tells you to...when you start feeling hungry ( not just craving a food). Any tips, advice, suggested links or reading?

Replies

  • yessy10161988
    yessy10161988 Posts: 5 Member
    Hi,

    well i am one to follow this law of diet to the point. i eat 3 basic meals and snacks in the middle of each meal like for ex,

    bf
    snack
    lunch
    snack
    dinner
    snack.

    if i get hungry after dinner water or a apple is good no carbs or sugar,

    hope i can help
  • KeyMasterOfGozer
    KeyMasterOfGozer Posts: 229 Member
    I for one have seen no real evidence that supports the "eating lots of small meals boost metabolism" theory, only a lot of hearsay. I am not saying it is not true, just that I have not seen any real evidence presented anywhere.

    Edit:
    I'm not recommending that you stop doing this, I think as long as you are staying in your calories limit for the day, it can't hurt anything, and if this theory is really true, then it may indeed help. Or if it is not true, then it won't do anything good or bad, probably.
  • EmBlazes
    EmBlazes Posts: 374 Member
    It's a difficult question to answer. It's personal choice really. I know that my hunger signals are pretty stuffed up from me yo yo dieting and not really eating healthily for years so I don't always trust my hunger signals. I also find I get hungry quite suddenly as in I'm fine all afternoon and then in a matter of 5 mins I go from being mildly hungry to being ravenous. I would try to eat a bit more if you can because it's better for you in the long run. There will also be days where you just feel hungry more for no particular reason. I try to add some low volume but high cal snacks when I'm not really hungry like nuts or avocado or something to make sure I'm getting closer to my cal goal.

    Hope it helps? It's really very different for everyone.
  • LuluGirl140
    LuluGirl140 Posts: 364 Member
    I struggle with this too! I do eat my snacks in between my main meals, however at night if I'm not hungry I don't eat. At work, if I'm not hungry for my 10am snack then I just push everything back. So here's my schedule:

    8am breakfast
    10am snack
    12ish lunch
    3ish snack
    5ish another snack
    8ish post workout shake

    If I get hungry after my shake then I eat, if not then I don't. Also, I may skip the 3pm or 5pm snack, depending on what my body is telling me. I don't think there's a straight answer, but you should listen to your body but still try to eat your snacks between meals. Also, I found that if I wasn't hungry for my snacks then I overdid it during my meal. Once I became more aware of what I was eating for my meals, the hunger just kind of came.

    I know I probably wasn't much help, but bottom line is yes, eat your snacks and if you're doing everything right you should be hungry. If you're not hungry and you're doing everything right then don't stress about it!
  • LaurenH2010
    LaurenH2010 Posts: 71
    Personally I eat when I am hungry. I usually have very small portions when I do eat so I am "hungry" every 2-4hrs. For example I can be satisfied from an instant breakfast and 16oz cup of coffee for breakfast and then about 3hrs later I snack on fruit or have some oatmeal. A couple hours later I eat a small lunch, several hours later I cook a well rounded dinner and that is my largest meal of the day, if I get hungry after dinner I eat a light yogurt. I hope this helps.
  • TenLaws
    TenLaws Posts: 273
    I think people just make up crap to counter common issues. For someone who eats and grazes all day without being conscious of how much they're eating and whether or not they're truly hungry, then yea, that person needs to eat when they're body needs it, not wants it. For someone who sticks to three meals a day, possibly overeating during those meals and depriving themselves between meals even though they're truly hungry, then yea, that person should eat snacks between meals to keep their metabolism up.

    If you're not hungry and you don't feel energy-deprived, then don't eat, especially if you're getting enough calories and all the proper nutrients already.
  • Atlantique
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
    Hi All,
    First I would like to say that I hope everyone had a good fourth :) My question is this: Should I eat even when I'm not really hungry? I hear ALL THE TIME that I should be eating small meals about 4-5 times a day. Now, I usually do this even when I'm not really hungry because I've heard that it is supposed to keep your metabolism revved. On the other hand, I've been reading lately that this isn't necessarily true, and you should eat when you're body tells you to...when you start feeling hungry ( not just craving a food). Any tips, advice, suggested links or reading?

    There's no proof that eating frequently revs your metabolism, so don't worry about eating 5 or 6 meals a day if you don't want to do that.

    However, I do think it's important for most people with significant amounts of weight to lose to eat on a schedule for at least a few months. In theory, yes, your body has a mechanism for telling you when to eat and when to stop eating. In practice, people who have significant amounts of weight to lose have so abused that feedback loop that they can no longer rely on it. Not at first.

    After several months of reasonable eating habits, and especially as you approach goal weight, you can go back to eating when you're actually physically hungry and stopping qhen you're full. But I would not recommend it at the outset.
  • RNewton4269
    RNewton4269 Posts: 663 Member
    I eat when I am hungry..which is usually breakfast, then a snack, lunch and maybe an afternoon snack and then dinner. If you exercise more..you body needs more fuel there fore you should eat more. I know it doesn't make sense but it does work.

    good luck!
  • supershala
    supershala Posts: 30
    Hi All,
    First I would like to say that I hope everyone had a good fourth :) My question is this: Should I eat even when I'm not really hungry? I hear ALL THE TIME that I should be eating small meals about 4-5 times a day. Now, I usually do this even when I'm not really hungry because I've heard that it is supposed to keep your metabolism revved. On the other hand, I've been reading lately that this isn't necessarily true, and you should eat when you're body tells you to...when you start feeling hungry ( not just craving a food). Any tips, advice, suggested links or reading?

    There's no proof that eating frequently revs your metabolism, so don't worry about eating 5 or 6 meals a day if you don't want to do that.

    However, I do think it's important for most people with significant amounts of weight to lose to eat on a schedule for at least a few months. In theory, yes, your body has a mechanism for telling you when to eat and when to stop eating. In practice, people who have significant amounts of weight to lose have so abused that feedback loop that they can no longer rely on it. Not at first.

    After several months of reasonable eating habits, and especially as you approach goal weight, you can go back to eating when you're actually physically hungry and stopping qhen you're full. But I would not recommend it at the outset.


    Thank you! This makes a lot of sense to me.
  • _Sally_
    _Sally_ Posts: 514 Member
    If you want to eat 4 - 5 small meals regularly scheduled throughout the day and are finding yourself not hungry when it's time to eat the next meal, then I would suggest reducing the portion sizes of your meals (and maybe adding a 6th meal in, if needed).

    I wouldn't regularly eat when not hungry.
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