Is hunger bad for you?

fightorflight12
fightorflight12 Posts: 39 Member
edited November 17 in Food and Nutrition
Apologies for the really silly question (and I feel stupid for asking too!) but to feel hungry between meals.. is that good for you?

Since I've stoped snacking, i feel like I just wait for the hours to pass before I can eat food! Feel so hungry, but I don't know if it's actually healthy or not.

My calorie count is within what i should have, but still feel hungry between meals!

Please help!

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    If it doesn't bother you, then nothing is wrong with it.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    It's fine if you get hungry sometimes, but if you're regularly feeling like you want to gnaw your own arm off between meals you may want to adjust you macro ratios to something that is more satisfying to you or shift some calories from your meals so you can have a small snack. What is your calorie goal and how long have you been eating this way? Sometimes it's a matter of adjustment or even adding back a few more calories.
  • Myzzlone
    Myzzlone Posts: 34 Member
    If you're keeping within (and meeting) your calorie goals it's likely either phantom hunger, or your body trying to tell you that you need to include more healthy fats in your diet. Phantom hunger is usually due to a lack of junk food. I used to have it all the time, especially if i was just beginning my weight loss journey again. Its not bad for you, as long as you're getting enough calories for your day. Try drinking some water and doing something to get your mind busy. If it still doesn't go away, try a handful of almonds or some natural peanut butter. Just a small amount of healthy fat can make the difference between feeling hungry and satiated. :) hope this helped!
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    fightorflight12 wrote: »
    to feel hungry between meals.. is that good for you?

    Since I've stoped snacking, i feel like I just wait for the hours to pass before I can eat food! Feel so hungry, but I don't know if it's actually healthy or not.

    My calorie count is within what i should have, but still feel hungry between meals!

    It's neither healthy nor unhealthy to feel hungry. Sensations and emotions are neither good nor bad, they just are. They are also influenced by circumstances, habits, preferences, interpretations. Things are a lot what you tell yourself they are. If you are used to eating a lot and all the time, then that is probably something that makes you feel good. But you can get used to and even prefer smaller amounts of food if you want to.

    I would say feeling hungry before meals is normal. I may even go as far as to say that it can be a good thing - waiting for a good meal will make you appreciate it more. A good description I have heard for the feeling you should have most of the time, is "empty".

    As long as you are eating enough, quality and quantity, you're all right.

    But if your current meal schedule makes you overly full after eating, and then annoyingly hungry, it would be a good idea to eat smaller meals more frequently.
  • BoxerBrawler
    BoxerBrawler Posts: 2,032 Member
    Myzzlone wrote: »
    If you're keeping within (and meeting) your calorie goals it's likely either phantom hunger, or your body trying to tell you that you need to include more healthy fats in your diet. Phantom hunger is usually due to a lack of junk food. I used to have it all the time, especially if i was just beginning my weight loss journey again. Its not bad for you, as long as you're getting enough calories for your day. Try drinking some water and doing something to get your mind busy. If it still doesn't go away, try a handful of almonds or some natural peanut butter. Just a small amount of healthy fat can make the difference between feeling hungry and satiated. :) hope this helped!

    Yes.. phantom hunger. I just made a post yesterday about phantom (or ghost) hunger!

  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    cushman5279 wrote: »
    I think we've come to live in a world where we don't think we're supposed to feel hungry, ever! I feel like we've been programmed in a way to believe that we should always feel full, we should always expect huge portions and we should always get those things quickly and for cheap money. That is so *kitten*-backwards. If you can't realistically deal with it I say be hungry... Not starving, but hungry. Personally I like feeling slightly hungry between meals. It's a balancing act because you don't want to get to a point where you're starving and will eat anything... but just hungry enough that you can pick and choose your meal mindfully, eat slowly and all of that. I say, it's OK to feel hungry.

    I agree.... I think people want to be satisfied all the time (in many aspects of life, not just food related) and expectations on getting what they want are high.

    It's definitely not a bad thing to feel hunger, nor is it unhealthy. Getting to a point of feeling lightheaded due to lack of food/water is not good though - if youre getting to that stage reconsider your macro split or meal timing.
  • Chairless
    Chairless Posts: 583 Member
    There's nothing wrong with being hungry. I doubt the norm of never feeling hunger is our default setting and isn't a very recent thing.

    In fact, when my weight wasn't an issue, back in the day, probably the last time i felt hunger regularly.
  • 3rdof7sisters
    3rdof7sisters Posts: 486 Member

    ^ditto Chairless

    I think it is probably a good thing, at least for me.
    Until I started here, I probably have not felt real hunger in all of my adult life, and that is a very long time.
  • Andrea4456
    Andrea4456 Posts: 39 Member
    Perhaps it's the blood sugar level flux that creates your hunger in between meals.... My suggestion; stop counting calories, and go low-carb. Much healthier and you'll actually end up eating less calories, because you won't be hungry. LCHF all the way. Good luck!
  • sheermomentum
    sheermomentum Posts: 827 Member
    Its not bad for you, or good for you. UNLESS you are diabetic or have other issues that require to keep an eye on your blood sugar level. Otherwise its just a temporary, unpleasant sensation.

    But if you wanted to, you could have snacks between meals and just eat less at mealtimes. Many people find that a more enjoyable way to go.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I'm another who thinks there's nothing wrong with being a little hungry if you are eating reasonable calories. It's probably normal. It's also probably mental, a result of being used to eating between meals a lot, and IME will likely go away once you get out of the habit, if you are eating a reasonably filling diet. I do think this is something where our culture has changed a lot, in that it used to not be seen as a problem -- hungry?, dinner is in an hour or two, you can deal, maybe have a carrot.

    That said, if it doesn't go away and is making it hard not to overeat, then you may eventually want to play with food timing and food choice.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    I would agree with the others that hunger is fine provided you are getting enough nutrition and not undereating, you aren't feeling dizzy or very weak, or it isn't causing negative effects like binging or very poor food choices.

    Sometimes we have to get comfortable feeling uncomfortable, within reason of course.
  • __TMac__
    __TMac__ Posts: 1,669 Member
    Andrea4456 wrote: »
    Perhaps it's the blood sugar level flux that creates your hunger in between meals.... My suggestion; stop counting calories, and go low-carb. Much healthier and you'll actually end up eating less calories, because you won't be hungry. LCHF all the way. Good luck!

    Alternatively, count calories AND carbs. They aren't mutually exclusive. I'm hungrier when I eat more carbs, yes, but if I stop counting calories, I still eat too much for non-actual-hunger reasons (boredom, emotions, socializing, etc.). So I count both. I'm only hungry just before meals and I'm sure that I'm only eating appropriate amounts.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    Hunger is normal. Being hungry every minute of the day is not.
  • fightorflight12
    fightorflight12 Posts: 39 Member
    Thank you all for the comments! Ah what a community, you're all so amazing! ❤️
  • melvinsj
    melvinsj Posts: 1 Member
    Yeah, I think it's pretty normal as everyone else has said. We are so used to having things right at our fingertips these days. We get hungry and we can immediately satisfy that feeling. However, I don't think we evolved that way. IMO, the body sends those hunger signals as a way to say "you might want to start thinking about finding some food soon". It's the same with thirst. Some people say that if you're thirsty then you're already dehydrated. I really don't feel like any species would survive if they didn't get signals about thirst or hunger until it was already a danger. You get those signals early so that you have time to actually do something about it, haha.
  • daneejela
    daneejela Posts: 461 Member
    edited April 2017
    I think most of us overweight people has a bit wracked hunger sensors. Most of us mix boredom, excitement, fear or stress sensations with hunger.

    That being said, feeling hungry all the time I think is not healthy.
    Feeling hungry a bit before eating I think it's very healthy.

    Georgia Fear says (paraphrasing): "If you want to maintain your weight - eat when you are hungry. If you want to loose weight- when you feel hungry, wait half an hour and then eat". I pretty much agree with it.
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