Eating when not hungry

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annaclaireblack
annaclaireblack Posts: 63 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm eating 1,590 calories a day, but sometimes I'm eating even when I'm not hungry just to hit my macros. What do you guys do when you haven't hit your protein/carbs/fat goals when you're not hungry but have your meals planned out?

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  • Kendralh
    Kendralh Posts: 40 Member
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    I have the same question! Glad you posted this :) And sorry I don't have an answer, haha.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    Time for ice cream!
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    I just eat the meal I have planned near the time I planned to have it. As long as everything is on the plan, I'm pleased to be able to get to it without experiencing hunger. I've read that as I get closer to my healthy weight goal I will discover intense hunger. If I can delay that discovery, good.
  • NEOHgirl
    NEOHgirl Posts: 237 Member
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    If it's every once in a while, I wouldn't worry about missing your macros. If you start to find it becoming a regular thing though, you should review your menu composition, & make changes so that you hit your macros within your desired calorie and food volume intake on a more consistent basis.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    I hardly ever get "hungry" when I eat on schedule. For a lot of people, hunger isn't a reliable indicator.

    Having said that, there is nothing wrong with not hitting your macros right on the nose. If I planned to have a high protein snack after dinner but don't feel like eating, I'll just have a beer with the extra calories and not worry about it! Or save the extra and tack it onto tomorrow.

    Sometimes people are so excited about changing their diet and losing weight that they convince themselves they are never hungry and use it as an excuse to undereat. Just don't do that! But otherwise all the numbers are a guideline, and it's fine to average them out over several days as well.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I never eat if I'm not hungry.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    I hardly ever get "hungry" when I eat on schedule. For a lot of people, hunger isn't a reliable indicator.

    Yeah, I'm the same way. I feel willing to eat and enjoy my food, but am not really hungry. If I change my schedule and stop eating at a time I used to, then I'm more likely to feel hungry (or what I sometimes perceive as hunger--wanting to eat when I wasn't planning to).

    I am generally happier eating at a pretty consistent schedule than waiting until I think I'm hungry. I also am less likely to be tempted to overeat eating according to a schedule. (And if I think I'm hungry when I wasn't planning to eat I similarly just tell myself to wait until mealtime.)
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
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    I blend up a ton of high calorie foods with whole fat milk and then chug it. I hit 1600 calories before it's even lunch..
  • kirkor
    kirkor Posts: 2,530 Member
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    How big a deficit is 1600 for you? If your weekly rate is on a good track, I wouldn't sweat being under on any given day. You'll have days where you're over too. The weekly rate will tell you if you should adjust your daily allotment.
  • thelovelyLIZ
    thelovelyLIZ Posts: 1,227 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    I hardly ever get "hungry" when I eat on schedule. For a lot of people, hunger isn't a reliable indicator.

    Having said that, there is nothing wrong with not hitting your macros right on the nose. If I planned to have a high protein snack after dinner but don't feel like eating, I'll just have a beer with the extra calories and not worry about it! Or save the extra and tack it onto tomorrow.

    Sometimes people are so excited about changing their diet and losing weight that they convince themselves they are never hungry and use it as an excuse to undereat. Just don't do that! But otherwise all the numbers are a guideline, and it's fine to average them out over several days as well.

    Basically what I was going to say!
  • Traveler120
    Traveler120 Posts: 712 Member
    edited December 2016
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    Think of people 50 years ago or present day folks who've never heard of mfp or calorie counting and yet were never overweight. They eat/ate usually when they were hungry, which is the natural thing for most animals. They aren't slaves to a number on mfp. No need to eat if you're not hungry. Esp if you're currently overweight.
  • Cbestinme
    Cbestinme Posts: 397 Member
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    I've been paying attention to this not being hungry for the last two months. What I've learned about myself is that I have a few days where I'm just not that hungry. I've learned to just accept these days, and so long as I eat something, I've learned not to "sweat" these not hungry days. There are also days where I'm hungrier, so in my case the math works to balance it out for me. Do you have enough days of logging to see whether something similar may work in your case?

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