Emotional or Physical hunger

For me, I found it was almost *always* emotional eating. I am seldom physically hungry. As you say, we get overweight primarily because of emotional eating. My worst habit was thinking I'm hungry when I was either a) bored, or b) thirsty. Usually, I can drink some water and I'm good. The biggest thing on my weight loss journey to overcome has been overcoming my emotional eating and/or replacing what I eat with healthier foods so that when I do eat from emotional eating/boredom/habits, I am eating healthier foods. So, generally, when you think you are hungry a few hours later, you may just need to drink some water or find something to do - go for a walk! be active. Of course, I've read about recent studies that say eating every 3 or 4 hours (smaller meals) is a healthier way to go. If I can't seem to curb my thought of hunger with getting busy or drinking some water, I usually have a banana or an apple. Good luck on your journey!

Are you eating a lot of carbs with you meals. I know there is a big carb debate and I don't want to get into a fight with anyone over it. But I love carbs! I had a problem with my Blood Sugar and saw a diabetic nutritionist. I now only use whole grain lower carb breads, watch portions on pasta and potatoes and only eat refined sugar foods on special occasions. Add more protein with your breakfast. I eat egg white and veggie omelets and a SERVING of fruit almost every day. Lots fresh veggies on a sandwich made with low carb, low cal bread with lunch and salad with dinner. It helps fill you up. Watch your serving and protion size they are not always the same and what you think. 1 Piece of fruit could be 2 servings.

Hey!
I really identify w/ you...and what you ask shows you KNOW what is really going on...just sounds like you need to process it. And I say this because I have "been there, done that" and still struggle w/ it at times.

For me emotional eating is to "stuff" down what I am really feeling. I have tried, and still do, to imagine what the "feeling" would DO or LOOK like if i didn't "eat it"...sometimes it comes out as tears...sometimes as a scream of frustration! Very seldom is there a physical hunger that is REAL. The other thing I remind myself of is that the feeling of hunger (when there is NO WAY I should be physically hungry) will pass...given time it may intensify...but it will pass. And, if I can ride it out...just observe what it is feeling like it WILL give me some information. Many times this makes me sad because of the emotional "garbage" attached to those feelings I am trying to stuff.

What I know for sure is that this weight loss journey is not just about losing weight physically. For me, it is about cleaning up my emotional life too. Letting go of the past and giving myself an opportunity to have a happy healthy fulfilling life...at long last.

I will be thinking of you, knowing your struggling too. One last thought ...if we have been strong and courageous enough to hold it together all this time and carry the weight we have (figuratively and physically) then we are strong and courageous enough to put it all down....get rid of it. ...are you with me?

That was me for a long time. Some days I was just ravenously hungry ALL DAY LONG, no matter what I ate. I changed a bunch of things, and I'm not sure which ones or which combination mattered most, so I'll just tell you all of them.

1. At first my ONLY rule was that I had to log everything I ate, WHEN I ATE IT--not waiting until I had eaten 3000 calories and logging it all when a) I had forgotten half of it, and b) it was too late to do anything about it. I didn't start with a calorie limit--at first it was JUST LOGGING. And when I did add a calorie limit it was pretty high--1900 calories. I struggled to stay within 1900 calories at first.

2. I set up my food diary by time of day instead of meals (before 11a, 11a-2p, 2p-5p, 5p-7:30p, after 7:30). Then I started trying to manage problem time slots.

For instance, I learned that if I ate a lot of calories before 11a, I would be ravenously hungry at lunchtime and always go over my goal. So I try very hard to limit before 11a to 200 calories. I can't always do that, but I have much more self-control in the morning, so if I'm hungry after breakfast I try to wait until after 11a to eat. If I can't make it to 11a, I try to wait at least until 10a.

For me, my worst time slot was 5p-7:30p b/c I would come home from work starving, have a snack, fix supper, and eat supper--sometimes 1000 calories in 2.5 hours. So I tried to be very conscientious about eating a high-protein snack in the 2p-5p slot so that I wouldn't need a snack when I got home.

Also, I tend to eat the day's stresses in the evening, so I tried to save 300 calories for the after 7:30 slot. I realize that a better approach would be to solve the emotional eating problem, but I'm 46 and have been trying to solve it for 20 years, so I figured that wasn't happening right away. :-)

3. I raised my protein goal and tried really hard to meet my goals for a) protein, b) fiber, and c) calcium. That required exploring all kinds of new food options (high fiber oatmeal bread with peanut butter instead of a bagel with cream cheese, for instance). I spent a long time at this stage, just trying to figure out how to meet my nutrient goals and stay within 1900 calories.

4. During # 3, I started thinking of food as for the purpose of nutrition and fuel and not for emotional comfort and recreation. That was very hard for me, and it happened gradually. I didn't prohibit any foods, but I did start thinking very carefully about why I was buying things. Is this recreational food or food for fuel and nutrition? I stopped buying doughnuts, coffeecake, ice cream--all the purely recreational and comfort foods. But I MUST HAVE CHOCOLATE, so I still buy Hershey's nuggets (50 cal each) and bottled coffee.

5. Also, I started trying to get 300-500 calories' worth of exercise per day. That way, I was losing weight at 1900 calories,and it helped SO much with the emotional eating. Partly it helped because I exercised during one of the time slots when I wanted to eat less, so I just had less time available for eating, and partly because once I had exercised, I didn't want to waste that effort by eating a bunch of calories I didn't need.

6. I had the same experience AJ mentions: when I increased my protein I was less ravenously hungry, and planning my snacks in advance--and knowing they're already there--helps me avoid the "eat one of everything" snack monster mode.

Jo~

ALLof the posts here are WONDERFUL ideas and I've got another one to add to the mix:

There is a FANTASTIC author named Geneen Roth (yep, she was the one on Oprah) and her books on emotional eating have been life changing for me.
I especially recommend "When Food is Love" and "Women, Food & God" by her.

Each of us has our own personal story of food addiction that led us to where we are today. Geneen Roth's books gently guide you through the "process" of untangling the web of emotions we have associated with our eating.

Prepare yourself for a LOT of emotional moments of clarity but the liberation from our compulsive behavior is well-worth it!!

Good Luck!!

Actually, it's "WHEN Food is Love"....just in case you decide to look it up! :-)