How does one "forget/not want to" eat?
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I can understand forgetting to eat. Sometimes you just get so busy that your brain doesn't have room to realize you need or want food. That's never happened to me, of course, but I'm sure other, normal people.
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I don't get it either. Sometimes I'll be hanging out with someone and like 6 hours have gone by and I'm wondering when the *kitten* they're going to say their hungry.
I think when I was fat, before I started logging, there would be stretches that I might not eat. Or I didn't think about food as MUCH. Now with calorie counting it's always on my mind. I always eat up to every calorie I possibly can. I kind of wish I could go back to being a little more careless, afterall...I was fat but I maintained that weight my whole adult life.7 -
So I'm another anomaly, the overweight girl who can forget to eat. I spent years in and out of the hospital because of GI issues. I spent weeks at a time on clear liquids, soft foods, no food and IV's or TPN, and periods where I was terrified to eat because it hurt (I could think about eating and my stomach would cramp up). I have a very weird relationship with food. I love food, I love cooking, I love eating. I also hate food, and hate eating sometimes. My hunger cues are non-existant. I know I am hungry when my head feels light, I get dizzy, and I feel headachy or cranky...so I have to try to eat before that point. I will tend to eat out of boredom or be an emotional eater at times. The other problem is that I will go all day without eating and then go for the quick and easy before bed (read high cal and awful for me). My stomach is a bit touchy in the mornings so i skip breakfast often, though if I am working out at all I need some sort of food so I am working on doing better with that. I am also not much of a snacker...I would rather have one or two big meals than nibble all day. But that is why I am here. Trying to figure out the best way to eat reasonably, stay healthy (its easy to set off a flare up if I eat the wrong things), and try to regulate my body in the absence of normal cues. I do find that the busier I am the less likely I am to eat. I spent today cooking dinner ahead of time and making brownies for my family, and had my first bite of food at 4:30. I just really don't think about eating until I stop moving. Then I can't stop thinking about eating, it seems3
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When I'm really into something, researching or a new hobby/project, I can forget to eat. That sense of flow/connectedness is awesome and better than food.2
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When I’m busy working I’ll often forget to stop and eat. That leads to being famished after work and a huge evening meal. When I first started losing weight I was naturally drawn to intermittent fasting for this reason. All I had to do was make my one main meal a little smaller to see results.
Once I got back into fitness my appetite changed and that pattern stopped working for me0 -
i seem to have done something to that part of my system by taking up lifting because i get far more 'normally' hungry these days, most of the time.
but back in my twenties and thirties i was able to go all day on a box of smarties just so long as there was coffee around. or i'm that person who can be starving to death, and still she'll go walk all around a grocery store and then leave lamenting about how there is nothing she 'wants'.
i don't think there are tips and tricks, in my case. all i can say is it's kind of a state where food just doesn't seem relevant. my head knows it is, but it's a very abstract idea and one i just can't count on my autonomous system to take seriously. the rest of me is just as likely to register hunger, pay it theoretical lip service and still not feel arsed enough to do anything about it.
fun fact: the word 'anorexia' is a word in its own right which just means lack of appetite or interest in food. it's not really a synonym for the longer form 'anorexia nervosa'. i'm a not-bad example of the distinction, i guess. i'm definitely capable of being anorexic if i quit paying attention, but i definitely don't have anorexia nervosa. i'm sort of 'anorexia apathetica' if i'm anything.4 -
It’s more not having the time to eat than forgetting. Not having time happens all the time for me.2
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I used to get so busy with work I wouldn’t eat. My husband does the same. I eat more regularly now, but still sometimes forget to eat. I really do. Sometimes I remember I forgot to eat breakfast.
Either way, I end up getting the same calories cause I eat them later in the day. So it evens out. But I do forget to eat at times.
What’s your question? Why I do it? I think when I’m stressed I lose my appetite. Same as when I’m upset. I had a bad break up once and couldn’t eat at all. I lost a lot of weight. Too much. But I literally felt like throwing up when I ate. I think some people eat when they are upset. I don’t. I do other weird stuff. Like clean my house.2 -
RecognitionT wrote: »Then I read stories of people that forget to eat or can't be bothered preparing a meal, so they just skip it, and for the most part it doesn't even disturb them.
Tips, tricks? Most of my day is spent at home studying, nothing physically strenuous beyond walking around the house cooking, cleaning, and ~20 minutes of jumping rope.
I feel like most of the eating I do isn't so much because I'm hungry... but bored.
You've answered your own question right there.
I'm one who can forget to eat or who can't be bothered with whatever preparation might be required to eat.
Why? I'm anything but bored. When I forget to eat or can't be bothered eating it is because I am so incredibly, insanely busy that I can't see fitting in 10 minutes to fix something to eat ... so I just don't.
I work full time. I attend university part time (working toward my Masters). I train for and do long distance cycling events. I am an active participant in my cycling club doing much of the promotional work and also organising events. My husband and I are organising, and quite possibly also doing, 8 events in the next few months. Because I wasn't quite busy enough, I threw training for and doing a 10K running event in there for something extra to do in December and January. We also travel quite a bit. In my spare time I dabble in photography. And I've got a list as long as my arm of things I'd really like to get around to doing.
One of the things I really liked about joining MFP is that I started eating certain foods at certain times, and by doing that I ate the number of calories I needed to eat to lose the weight that was holding me back from cycling to the top of our local mountain (I've done that twice now since losing the weight). Thus food and eating could take a backseat to everything else I do. I don't have to be bothered with it ... I can focus on things that matter more to me.
So I guess, in fewer words, do more. Occupy yourself with things other than food. Go for walks outside. Find sports/exercises you enjoy. Take up a hobby or two. Volunteer. Get a part time job.2 -
My food choices seem to dictate my hunger. If my blood sugar is varying widely - due to higher carb foods, mainly low in fibre - then I am hungry every couple of hours. The fewer carbs I eat, the less frequently I need to eat.
Boredom may make me feel like eating, but it isn't actually hunger and is pretty easy to ignore when I am eating low carb. When higher carb, it's a low harder to ignore.
YMMV1 -
I've noticed when I switched to night shift for a week I have no appetite, so weird. Go back to days and hungry always haha.0
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I think when I’m stressed I lose my appetite. Same as when I’m upset. I had a bad break up once and couldn’t eat at all. I lost a lot of weight. Too much. But I literally felt like throwing up when I ate. I think some people eat when they are upset. I don’t. I do other weird stuff. Like clean my house.
You've just described me too.
I'm exactly the same way. The more I've got to do and the more stressed I am, the less I want to eat. And it gets to the point where I feel sick even thinking about food.
And, like you, when I get upset, I need to be active. My house will shine and I'll fit in time to go for a long hard bicycle ride. But eating is just not appealing at all.
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I'm definitely a person who forgets to eat or doesn't have an appetite a lot of the time. I struggle with drinking water too. You know how some people are social drinkers? I'm a social eater. I love to eat and enjoy a big meal when I'm with someone but otherwise...I don't take a lot of pleasure out of it.
Once I got on a solid meal/workout plan, I realized that I was going to have to eat way more to gain muscle, and it's honestly been a struggle. Sometimes I have to resort to smoothies because food is just grossing me out that day. My husband thinks I'm insane, but hey, we're all different!1 -
Yeah, I don't get it either, but I can imagine how people would do that without having actual experience with it. I have days where I'm not very hungry, and days where I have one meal a day or even nothing, but I don't forget about food or stop wanting to eat it, I just got better at not responding to every single cue and learned to dismiss them sometimes. I also got better at not freaking out when I'm hungry if I need to be hungry for a large evening meal with friends, and my lower hunger days I still have to be conscious about my food because my eating isn't always motivated by hunger, so when I say "I'm not hungry" it rarely translates to "I don't want food". It simply means "consciously making the decision not eat is easier". When I'm playing a very exciting game, I don't exactly forget to eat, I'm just too involved in it and don't want to leave it to get food, it feels like less of a priority at the time, which is weird but I'll take it. I do eventually get up and eat.
Yesterday I ate eggs too many days in a row, and that usually causes me nausea and stomach pain for a few hours. I still managed to want and eat a piece of chocolate cake.
Now, how you go all day without food for a big meal at the end of the day? You just do. First couple of times are hard, but then it gets easier as you familiarize yourself with the feeling of hunger and it doesn't freak your out anymore. In fact if you watch closely, you'll see your hunger goes in up and down waves and you aren't hungry all the time despite what your brain is telling you. In fact after you get used to it most of the time you aren't truly hungry, except for that low level easy to handle feeling of an empty stomach and you're more aware of your brain's tricks making the memory for hungry moments more vivid and stretched out than they really are so you remember being hungry all day. It's not ideal, and I would rather not be hungry, but if the meal is worth some discomfort then it's worth it and I'm not intimidated by the process anymore!
The hunger I have a real issue with is when I have eaten but I'm still very hungry. If the meal isn't doing what it's supposed to be doing (making me less hungry) then I tend to overeat trying to get it to do what it's supposed to do. I can expect a certain delay for satiety to register, but if after that it doesn't happen I tend to overeat. That's why I make sure my meals are satisfying both mentally and physically. In some odd way it's much easier for me to not eat than to eat and not be satisfied.5 -
For me it's depression as well as busyness make it happen. It's really not that exciting and I can assure you that you don't want my depression. When my depression is especially bad it will make me not want to eat (because I don't want to get out of bed and eating requires leaving my bed to get food) and/or forget to do so. Being more busy than usual will result in either forgetting or not having time.2
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The only time I don't want to eat is when I don't feel well with IBS flare up.
I plan my next meal while Im still eating one. First thing I do when I book a trip abroad is research local cuisine and if weekend away close by good pubs/restaurants.
I eat when I'm stressed,when I'm happy,when I'm bored,when I'm excited ...I don't get how people forget to eat as it seems everything revolves around eating for me.
That's why I'd be crap at intuitive eating lol and will have to count my calories forever.
Example :going away with my partner this weekend as he booked us a night away and a spa as my birthday present .
Guess who has already found a restaurant to get dinner at and another one for breakfast
Sorry no tips just wanted to let you know you are definitely not alone in this.2 -
I often have my lunch at work because it is "lunch-time", not because I'm hungry.
Having said that, some days I am clock watching because I'm hungry and it's not "lunch-time" yet.
I put it down to how busy I am and what I had for breakfast.3 -
If I do something interesting I sometimes forget to eat ...for me that can be:
-Gaming (but since I have kids I only rarely get to play more than an hour these days)...
-If I get an interesting task at work
-Being on a trip to an interesting place (had a trip last month with some friends where I had breakfast at 6 and lunch at 14)
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I don't snack and mainly eat big, balanced meals. They keep me satisfied for a long time.
If I get busy or time flies by it can be easy for me to forget to eat. Doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Other times I'm legitimately not hungry.
After doing a bit of research early on, what probably helps me is that I'm "fat-adapted". I'm not sure.
As someone who ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted most of my life, it is a strange thing to experience. Especially working from home with my home office right next to the kitchen! Food just doesn't have that power over me anymore.
It's weird for me now being with others that need to eat every 2 hours and they think I'm weird seeing how I can go for a long time without eating. But when I eat, I eat.3 -
I never forget to eat. If I'm busy, I'm still going to get hungry, and I might postpone my meal but I won't FORGET about it. Even when I'm stressed or depressed and don't want to eat, I'm still hungry.
I have no idea what people mean when they say 'some days I'm not hungry'. I might be less hungry some days, but you bet I'm going to get hungry if I don't eat.
Baffles me a bit.4 -
Have you ever tried fasting? If it's medically safe for you, I'd recommend trying it. It's interesting how it changes your relationship with food.5
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If you are very busy and stressed out you might forget to eat. Well I could. If I'm relaxed and I can never forget to eat.2
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My food choices seem to dictate my hunger. If my blood sugar is varying widely - due to higher carb foods, mainly low in fibre - then I am hungry every couple of hours. The fewer carbs I eat, the less frequently I need to eat.
Boredom may make me feel like eating, but it isn't actually hunger and is pretty easy to ignore when I am eating low carb. When higher carb, it's a low harder to ignore.
YMMV
Ya, I'm not low carb, but reducing carbs also reduced the munchies for me.1 -
I have had jobs that were so busy/crazy that I wasn't able to eat (hospital jobs) but I never forgot to eat, I was aware of how hungry I was the whole time and ate as soon as I got home no matter how tired I was or that it was 3AM.
I know some people really do forget to eat, but I believe a lot of people are just lying when they say they aren't hungry bc they don't want to admit that losing weight is a struggle for them just as it is for everyone else. After all, like other have said, they didn't get here by never eating...0 -
Yeah I don’t understand it either. My son is that way. Sometimes he just can’t be bothered to eat dinner and he’s just like meh whatever. Nbd. Huh??? You just didn’t eat dinner and you don’t feel like dying? So confused.2
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As everyone else is saying, people are just different when it comes to this. I never forget to eat! The idea is laughable. However, I will say when I sleep late, let's say I sleep til 10 am - I could easily skip breakfast, go straight to lunch at 11 or 12 and then eat a normal dinner around 6. My husband is not that way. If we wake up at 10 on the weekend he eats breakfast and then is ready for lunch at noon like usual. He also needs a snack if we stay up later than usual and I don't. I used to be married to someone else and he ate about 3000 calories every day at 7 pm and no other eating or snacking...that was weird to me, I don't think I could do that!0
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Sometimes I'm hungry but just can't be bothered to eat, especially when I know I haven't got any good food in the house0
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For me, the reason i got to the highest weight i was, 350 pounds, was because i had untreated binge eating disorder. I would binge all the time. In junior high and highschool, i thought i was fat and people would judge me if i ate so i didnt eat in front of people. By the time i got home, i was starving and would eat basically a huge meal of snacks, then two plate fulls of dinner, lots of dessert, and when everyone went to bed i would sneak food and hide it in my room and eat it. I also drank almost 3/4 a gallon of milk a day, sodas and energy drinks out the wazoo.
But i also knew i was fat and would try dieting, but they would always be crash diets and i eventually ended up in a cycle of i either restrict to the max of under 1000 calories a day or i binge over 10000 calories a day. Im now in therapy and see a psychiatrist. I take a medicine that controls my binges. I can say no to food now and i dont think about it 24/7 like i used to. Apperently with binge eating disorder, you either lack a certain chemical in the brain or have super low levels of it. Which the medicine replaces and balances. Also if im doing something, im the type of person that i cannot stop in the middle and finish it later. I have to finish it now. So i forget to eat meals because im so focused on what im doing. I read all 4 twilight books in 4 days. I didnt sleep. I didnt eat. I didnt shower. I took the book to the bathroom with me. Lol. So basically i ended up fat because of an eating disorder and i forget meals because my medication tells me i dont have to think about food plus everytime i diet i go in a cycle of restriction and bingeing (which im getting help for) plus if im focused on a task food is the last thing on my mind. Keeping busy always helps. I hope this post helps you!9 -
I've been on both sides of the spectrum on this.
This happens to me on occasion. Some days I'll be fine, but other days I'll get up, look in the fridge, and nothing looks appetizing. Basic biology: women's hormones spike and plummet monthly. For me, it affects my appetite big time. Usually it amps it up, but sometimes my appetite does a complete about-face.
As for how it feels, it's like feeling really bored or super depressed. Nothing looks appetizing. Like, someone filled the fridge with all the foods you hate when your back was turned.
Another way of putting it. Like when you're bored and you want to do something but nothing really appeals to you as something you want to do.
It's one of the reasons I track. That way it doesn't matter if I feel like constantly stuffing my face and all I can think about is food or if I'm looking in the fridge, my stomach is growling and my brain is saying, "Food. Meh."
OP, as for tips, I talk to my husband. I've gotten into the habit of telling him, "I want to eat, but I'm not hungry." He does the same to me. He'll open up the fridge and say to me, "I want to eat more food, but I just ate. I'm not actually hungry." Then he shuts the fridge without me having to say a word, picks up his latest book and chills on the couch with me as I get horribly lost in Xenoblade Chronicles X.
As stupid as it sounds, it's really helpful just getting it out and saying it. Having someone to say it to gives accountability. We don't find it annoying hearing it everyday because we both know what it's like to want to eat when we're bored and the urge to snack is always there.
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I have Invisalign and find it very difficult to eat while I work (Flight Attendant) because it’s necessary to brush, floss, and clean the aligners. Doing that in an airplane bathroom is disgusting. So many times I go 12-15 hours without eating. It’s absolutely awful and I get cranky, especially when my breakfast isn’t a big as I hoped it would be- eating on the road is very hard sometimes. I could never imagine simply “forgetting” to eat; not having time to eat is understandable.3
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