Is being hungry part of it?

celiah909
celiah909 Posts: 141 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Do you think learning to be a little hungry is part of weight loss in the beginning?
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Replies

  • chixwithglasses
    chixwithglasses Posts: 20 Member
    Agree with all comments. My understanding is it's helpful to tune into what degree of hunger you're feeling. Low-level hunger does not have to be answered by extra food. When I have strong hunger, I do eat something, trying to choose well, before my hunger drives me to make a poor choice. I'm learning about mindfulness and eating (essentially awareness and focus of everything related to eating) and this thread makes me think bringing "mindfulness" (awareness) to the experience of hunger will be helpful.
  • celiah909
    celiah909 Posts: 141 Member
    Ironandwine69 wrote: »
    jvcinv wrote: »
    Yes but not only in the beginning. Learn to live with some hunger in your life, you'll be better off for it.

    This. Hunger is not a bad thing. Most of the time is mental hunger.

    Yes, I agree. I think a lot of mine is mental. I’ve gotten used to eating past being satisfied

  • jasummers76
    jasummers76 Posts: 225 Member
    Perhaps eating different foods say like veggies or lower calorie higher volume foods will help. This is how I approached it.
  • Aerona85
    Aerona85 Posts: 159 Member
    I'm down 27 pounds and counting and am only hungry because I usually wait to eat breakfast until I do feel a little hungry. Usually this means I am naturally doing intermittent fasting as I am generally not hungry until 10-11 am. I just go with what my body says. Depending on what I ate for lunch (and if I am saving cals for a big dinner) I may get a little hungry before dinner but that is rare. So I don't think hunger is a necessity to lose weight. But, I do think every body is different.
  • Lynzdee18
    Lynzdee18 Posts: 500 Member
    It may sound weird, but I actually feel better now when I go to bed somewhat hungry. Back in my overeating days, I had to be full to feel good.

    After maintaining now for going on to two years, I sleep better and feel better in general when I’m not stuffed with food. I’ve also a love-hate relationship with baked goods.... I love to eat them, but when I do, they make my belly feel bloated and heavy. I don’t think I’m gluten tolerant. It’s more a head thing. But I feel more energetic and my mood is better when I focus my diet on veg, protein and whole grains like steel cut oats.....
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Trying to avoid hunger within your means is natural. You shouldn't feel guilty for not wanting to be hungry. It is, afterall, an unpleasant feeling and it's natural to not want to have unpleasant feelings. However, feeling hungry sometimes is also natural and learning to deal with it from time to time is a useful skill. If you know you're getting in enough calories (not undereating) you know you're fine even if you feel a little hungry sometimes. If you're hungry all the time, however, it would be smart to troubleshoot and try different things to see what helps you feel less hungry while keeping to your calories.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Hunger is supposed to be unpleasant, and eating is supposed to be pleasant, because we have to eat, we need the urge to find food, and to eat, to keep us alive. But hunger is not supposed to be debilitating. We can move, think and talk, even hunt (or at least cook; it will even feel more rewarding). Feeling hungry when generally safe and well-nourished is an enjoyable sensation - you are looking forward to a good meal which you are certain will come. Being hungry, and uncertain if you will be fed, maybe even malnourished - and the bizarre scenario many of us have been facing daily, for years: surrounded with free goodies and too scared to eat... that sucks. We misuse the word hunger, and we abuse food. We have access to computers and/or smartphones, right? We can afford enough good quality food, right?
  • fromaquasar1
    fromaquasar1 Posts: 51 Member
    Yes! It took me a while to learn "hunger is not an emergancy". I used I almost panic at the first signs of hunger, and always expect to feel full. Feeling hungry before you eat & btwn meals is fine, normal, and makes food even better (the French have a saying "the banquet is in the first bite" basically meaning you experience food best when you come to a meal hungry). It's all about finding where a tolerable band of hunger is, versus when you need to eat. I can actually tell the difference now between my habitual-it's-meal-time hunger and I need fuel. Partly from the foods I want, I crave veggies and protein when it's the latter and feel satisfied and happy after eating them!
  • kristen8000
    kristen8000 Posts: 747 Member
    I think you have to ask yourself if you are HUNGRY, or you just want to eat. There's a huge difference.

    I try and eat every 2-3hrs. Something. So I don't get hungry, but if I get in a situation where I "skip" a snack, I'm not a nice person. LOL

    But there's always those times where you've eaten and 1hr later you want something else. That is the time where I have to say NO.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,573 Member
    One thing I've learned to do is pace myself with my meals and snacks. I tend to be more hungry / want to eat more in the late afternoon and evening. So if I get up early (today it was 5:30) I didn't eat breakfast until almost 9 - I wasn't really that hungry - had some coffee, drank 4 cups of water...took the dog for a walk...all before eating my breakfast. I try to space my meals out longer stretches so that I have enough calories left for the time of day that I'm most suffering from the munchies. :)
  • hydechildcare
    hydechildcare Posts: 145 Member
    I find most of time I am not really hungry but bored. I usually eat the same thing for breakfast and then not again until lunch. I notice I am hungry when I have move around a lot more than normal or if I am simple bored. Now lunch to dinner can be different because I change my meals, but if I make sure that I have a decent amount of protein and a big amount of veg (sometimes a whole steamer bag) That I am good until 4ish then I need a snack to hold me over till dinner.
  • bronaghCPM
    bronaghCPM Posts: 26 Member
    edited October 2017
    Yep, unfortunately I think that losing weight means learning to live with a little hunger. It's just not something your body will be used to at first, but it doesn't have to be too unpleasant.

    As people have already pointed out there's a difference between mental hunger and "real" hunger. Someone gave me a good tip for distinguishing between them; basically have a nourishing but not particularly appealing snack in the fridge at all times (in this case it was the weight watchers point free soup), if you think you're hungry, ask yourself if you want the snack. If the answer is yes, then great! you're hungry, eat something. If the answer is no, then you're probably not actually hungry you're just bored, peckish, having a craving etc.

    As long as you're not starving yourself, you'll learn to live with it.

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