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Hunger is a weird thing...

EmilyDawn1111
EmilyDawn1111 Posts: 42 Member
edited November 2024 in Food and Nutrition
If I eat breakfast I am usually starving by lunch time.

If I don't eat breakfast I can go until dinner without being hungry.

Anyone have any info as to why this happens?

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Because appetite isn't the same as hunger, and what you are describing isn't hunger, but appetite.

    Lots of people skip breakfast* for this reason.

    *That isn't really possible, because "breakfast" is the first meal after you get up (you break your fast), but anyway, thay postpone eating until they are ready to eat.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    happens to me. no idea why, but i think it gives my stomach ideas :tongue:

    correction: used to happen to me. when i started strength training my appetite took on a life of its own.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    I push breakfast out until about 9:30 for the same reason. I start feeling hungry as soon as I eat breakfast. So, I'm up around 5:00, breakfast around 9:30, lunch around 1:00, snack around 3:00, dinner around 8:00.
  • EmilyDawn1111
    EmilyDawn1111 Posts: 42 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Because appetite isn't the same as hunger, and what you are describing isn't hunger, but appetite.

    Lots of people skip breakfast* for this reason.

    *That isn't really possible, because "breakfast" is the first meal after you get up (you break your fast), but anyway, thay postpone eating until they are ready to eat.

    I am describing hunger. If I eat breakfast in the morning, my tummy is rumbling and sore by lunch time. where as if I do not eat breakfast, I don't start feeling those pains until dinner time... even if I skip lunch. So what I'm saying is I can go pretty much all day without feeling hungry if I do not eat breakfast.
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    edited January 2017
    EmilyDawn1111 wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Because appetite isn't the same as hunger, and what you are describing isn't hunger, but appetite.

    Lots of people skip breakfast* for this reason.

    *That isn't really possible, because "breakfast" is the first meal after you get up (you break your fast), but anyway, thay postpone eating until they are ready to eat.

    I am describing hunger. If I eat breakfast in the morning, my tummy is rumbling and sore by lunch time. where as if I do not eat breakfast, I don't start feeling those pains until dinner time... even if I skip lunch. So what I'm saying is I can go pretty much all day without feeling hungry if I do not eat breakfast.

    Right.. eating in the morning gets your appetite going, it's what she said basically. I'm the same way.
  • EmilyDawn1111
    EmilyDawn1111 Posts: 42 Member
    extra_medium wrote: »
    EmilyDawn1111 wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Because appetite isn't the same as hunger, and what you are describing isn't hunger, but appetite.

    Lots of people skip breakfast* for this reason.

    *That isn't really possible, because "breakfast" is the first meal after you get up (you break your fast), but anyway, thay postpone eating until they are ready to eat.

    I am describing hunger. If I eat breakfast in the morning, my tummy is rumbling and sore by lunch time. where as if I do not eat breakfast, I don't start feeling those pains until dinner time... even if I skip lunch. So what I'm saying is I can go pretty much all day without feeling hungry if I do not eat breakfast.

    Right.. eating in the morning gets your appetite going, it's what she said basically. I'm the same way.

    Thank you. I just wasn't understanding what she meant.
  • lulalacroix
    lulalacroix Posts: 1,082 Member
    Same happens for me. That's why I delay eating until late afternoon. Just works better for me.
  • ConnieT1030
    ConnieT1030 Posts: 894 Member
    Yep I am right there, I can go till at least lunch if not longer if i dont eat anything (although I usually get my chai, a hot drink doesnt trigger the hungries/stomach growl nearly so much.) But once you start the eating, its all about waiting for the next one. For me, over 60% and sometimes alot more of my calories are post 5 pm.
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,492 Member
    SAME HERE! If I eat in the morning I am hungry all day. And I mean real stomach growling hunger, not just "I want to eat". Thats why I cant eat until at least lunchtime or even dinner or else work is unbearable!
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    Sounds like you are a perfect candidate to try IF.
  • rainbow198
    rainbow198 Posts: 2,245 Member
    That use to happen to me as well.

    Now I push breakfast off until mid-late morning most days and it works great for me.
  • dancing_daisy
    dancing_daisy Posts: 162 Member
    Sometimes having a carby/sugary (even natural sugar) breakfast can cause a dip in your blood glucose before lunch which will make you hungry. You could try have a breakfast with more protein in, lady at my office has nuts in her cereal. This doesn't entirely work for me so I just split out my calories and coffee. I have a coffee first, small shake, light healthy snack, coffee and another light healthy snack if I need it. Coffee is an appetite suppressant (and I enjoy coffee) so having one inbetween snacks rather than at the same time helps me get through to lunch.
  • EmilyDawn1111
    EmilyDawn1111 Posts: 42 Member
    Thank you everyone! I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one this happens to!
  • EmilyDawn1111
    EmilyDawn1111 Posts: 42 Member
    trigden1991 wrote: »
    Sounds like you are a perfect candidate to try IF.

    What is IF?
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    EmilyDawn1111 wrote: »
    trigden1991 wrote: »
    Sounds like you are a perfect candidate to try IF.

    What is IF?

    Intermittent Fasting
  • Emily3907
    Emily3907 Posts: 1,445 Member
    edited January 2017
    I am very much the same way. In my experience, after years and years of struggling with the whole 6 small meals a day, eating breakfast, etc., I get the best results when I keep my "eating window" from about 12:00 pm to 7:30 PM. If I eat in the morning, then I am looking for food all day long and usually end up over my calories.

    Do what works for YOU and ignore the rest. There is so much crap out there that I thought I had to do and most of it made me feel worse. It took a long time to find what works for me.
  • mummy_3
    mummy_3 Posts: 6 Member
    same for me. I now eat between 12-8pm and am fine with that. If I eat breakfast I am stomach rumbling hungry by 11am and will want to eat all day, postponing my first meal really helped me stay on track calorie wise x
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    Yeah, I skip breakfast for this reason. It's the easiest way for me to cut calories.
  • leejoyce31
    leejoyce31 Posts: 794 Member
    I generally don't eat until 2p.m. After that, I can tell that my hunger surges. Before that, I'm fine.
  • OhMsDiva
    OhMsDiva Posts: 1,073 Member
    I kinda get it, but I eat after exercising and before work. Then I just try have a couple of snacks before lunch. On the weekends I think I notice it more than during workdays. Maybe because I am at home and I am not really doing anything. If I eat breakfast and I am still hungry then I eat more, but I make sure i stay within my calories for the day.
  • maybe1pe
    maybe1pe Posts: 529 Member
    I am the same way. I can go all day without eating but once I eat I will continue to get hungry.

    That's why I do IF. I only eat dinner (making sure I reach my calorie and macro goals) and then I'm done. For whatever reason that eating pattern works for me
  • annaskiski
    annaskiski Posts: 1,212 Member
    Intermittent Fasting 16:8 is essentially fasting for 16 hours(sleeping counts) and eating for 8 hours.
    For most people this means skipping breakfast and breaking your fast at lunch (which is now....break-fast)

    Many people here do it for exactly the reason you mention, its easier to control your appetite the rest of the day...

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/49-intermittent-fasting

    There seems to be a lot of other benefits. (ie. the hunger suppression is because of IF's affect on your hunger hormones, but it also affects all your other hormones, HGH etc). More info here:
    https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/fasting-a-history-part-i/

    Ignore the part about calories. You DO need to count calories on IF, its just easier to meet your goals...
    (i.e. eating out, big meals become easy to handle)
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,545 Member
    I think of hunger as a troll in the belly. The troll is like any other beast: it screams louder if you acquiesce to its demands too often. Sometimes, it needs a "beat-down" in the form of a low or no-calorie day. :pB):D
  • alyssa0061
    alyssa0061 Posts: 652 Member
    lm87pcacjiky.png
    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    I think of hunger as a troll in the belly. The troll is like any other beast: it screams louder if you acquiesce to its demands too often. Sometimes, it needs a "beat-down" in the form of a low or no-calorie day. :pB):D

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