How does one "forget/not want to" eat?
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When I'm not taking my meds (Wellbutrin in particular), I graze pretty much nonstop. However, when I am on meds, I really do forget to eat sometimes. Part of it is that that particular medicine is known to decrease appetites. Also, when I'm on my meds (I'm bipolar), I feel better and have lots of energy. I finally get around to all the errands that pile up and I spend hours cleaning, so then I often forget to eat. I never used to think I would become one of those people, but I did!2
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I think it’s more your lifestyle than anything. I know mine drastically changes the way I eat (for better or worse) if it’s altered.0
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I only ever "forgot to eat" once; I was chest-deep in a 5000-word essay worth 70% that was due the next day. I was on a writing roll where the words were actually flowing and I did not want to stop and from the time I woke up (about 7am) had nothing to eat until 3-4pm in the afternoon. The only reason I remembered to eat was because I stood up to go to the bathroom and nearly ended up in a crumpled heap on the floor from low blood sugar. Oh, and then I snarfed the food down too quickly and made myself properly sick. That was a fun day. But I finished the essay with time to spare.4
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I only "forget" to eat when I'm totally engrossed in something, like playing video games or reading a good book. Something that really catches my attention and leaves no room for anything else. In any other moment, I'm thinking about food more or less constantly. So on a regular day, I would never forget to eat but have to stop myself from eating too often/much.3
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LadyMustard wrote: »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."
I know EXACTLY what you're talking about.
But it's still not 'forgetting' to eat. It's deciding not to eat because you have no appetite. Usually when it happens to me I can get VERY hungry, and there's no 'forgetting' that feeling.. I'm very aware of it.
I guess that, for me, forgetting to eat implies either not being hungry, or being able to completely ignore (like, not being aware of) the feeling of hunger, which is a completely foreign concept to me.2 -
I don't have an answer for you, but I have always wondered the same thing. What also baffles me, is that the same people who say that they forget to eat or simply aren't hungry or say that they struggle to eat 1000 kcal per day, have somehow found their way here, because they need to or want to lose weight. People don't get to a point where they want to lose weight by barely eating 1000 calories per day. Still it's a story that repeats itself over and over again.
I used to eat over 3000 calories a day and be constantly hungry. Then I completely changed my attitude to food and found myself struggling to get to 1000 calories some days. It seems that a drastic change in eating habits messes with your hunger and satiety signals. This shouldn’t be as difficult for people to comprehend as apparently it is.
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I don't have an answer for you, but I have always wondered the same thing. What also baffles me, is that the same people who say that they forget to eat or simply aren't hungry or say that they struggle to eat 1000 kcal per day, have somehow found their way here, because they need to or want to lose weight. People don't get to a point where they want to lose weight by barely eating 1000 calories per day. Still it's a story that repeats itself over and over again.
This!0 -
I don't forget to eat, but my parents don't seem to care when or if they eat. Even when we go on family vacation, they don't know if we will be in the middle of nowhere at mealtime, with nowhere to eat, because they can just skip that meal and not care. I don't know how!0
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corinasue1143 wrote: »I am one of those people who just forgets to eat. Be careful who you are jealous of. Like you said, I'm here, trying to lose.
I just have no hunger signal. I have appetite. Food looks good and smells good. But if I don't make the effort, I may go all
Day without eating, realize I am way too tired, then eat 2 candy bars and a pint of ice cream while deciding what to eat.
Sometimes I cook something healthy. More often, I am too tired and run to Sonic.
And that's why I'm here, setting a mental alarm to eat regular, reasonable amounts of healthy good foods.
...sounds just like me!0 -
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I have never once forgotten that food is somewhere in my near future. Sometimes, while eating a meal I just prepared, I'm thinking about what I will make for the next one. Laying in bed going to sleep, I might be looking forward to breakfast.0
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Yesterday I was sick and I was so nauseous in the morning that even the smell of my bf’s food was making me want to vomit. Later in the day I forced myself to eat. My tummy got really squirrelly for about 45 minutes and then after that I felt much better. I rarely get this sick. It’s been 2-3 years since the last time. Under extreme stress (family member in surgery, just before a serious meeting with the boss, etc) I’ve had the same thing happen with nausea and not wanting to eat. It’s rare though, not something that would impact my normal day-to-day weight.
One time I almost forgot to eat— we had just moved into a new rental house and the owners had left their piano. I sat down in front of it and started tinkering around trying to figure out some songs and the next thing I knew 4 hours had passed. If my bf hadn’t called me over to help make dinner I would have forgotten. That’s literally the only time that has ever happened.0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »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.
@amusedmonkey ,
This is a huge issue for me too and very irritating when it happens! I'm still working on figuring out what causes it for me and how to keep it from happening & have made some progress but I still have a lot of work to do on that. It takes about an hour for satiety to register for me but if that doesn't happen, I typically just keep eating until it does and wonder why it took 2x as much food & time to get "full" and sometimes, even then, I still don't feel "full", which gets really irritating.
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This is my opinion and hearsay. I do not know the facts.
A normal, natural human wants to eat as often as possible for survival reasons. Unless they are in starvation mode. In which case they are dieting (have been for a while now I expect) or have an eating disorder (again, this is my opinion). Once you are at optimal weight, there is no need to stay in starvation mode. At this point it becomes a neurosis.9 -
This jar was full when I started. The rest is gone now.
The consequences of emotionally irritated eating are absolutely insane.
+2 plates of pasta, a plate of beans, lots of bread with peanut butter, I think I've undone this week's deficit in one sitting.
I want to say I'm disappointed, but more than anything I find it hilarious.2 -
BarneyRubbleMD wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »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.
@amusedmonkey ,
This is a huge issue for me too and very irritating when it happens! I'm still working on figuring out what causes it for me and how to keep it from happening & have made some progress but I still have a lot of work to do on that. It takes about an hour for satiety to register for me but if that doesn't happen, I typically just keep eating until it does and wonder why it took 2x as much food & time to get "full" and sometimes, even then, I still don't feel "full", which gets really irritating.
It does, and I don't have an answer. It still happens to me sometimes despite making an effort to eat satisfying meals. I can even have full stomach but still hungry, it's weird. I think it's caused by satiety hormones not always functioning correctly, but I could be wrong.0 -
It is a mystery to me. The only time I would forget to eat was if I was severely depressed other than that I would overeat. I have a brother like this who forgets to eat all the time. He is as thin as a rail. When he eats though especially stuff he likes he can really put away the food.0
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It doesn't happen often for me, but it does. My M.O. is that when I am stressed and not busy, I want to eat all the time. When I am stressed and busy, the day gets away from me and I look up at the clock and realize I have missed lunch - or the stress quashes my hunger. Sadly, I am in that mode right now because it is my annual crunch time with work and I am working 12-14 hour days. BUT, on a normal day, no. No. I have regular meal times and my stomach lets me know if I am overdue.0
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I was just saying this to my sister the other day.
I really don't know how some people "forget to eat"!
If a few hours go past and i haven't eaten anything, i either get hangry or start to become shaky.
I've always had a big appetite and eaten regularly - i've been like that since i was a Kid (and i was a slim Kid
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How would one define "obsessed with food"? I mean given how much I love cooking and baking, enjoy going to farmers markets, and can be fascinated with grocery stores in other countries (only momentarily - that gets old fast after the second or third shopping trip) you could perhaps say that I'm obsessed with food. That said what's actually going on is that we're all different people. The way you experience depression is not the way I experience depression, is not the way your neighbor experiences depression.
I can easily forget to eat when I'm especially depressed despite how interested I am in food in general. I can also be more or less unwilling to eat when I'm especially depressed (because eating requires that I get out of bed). I say "especially" because I have depression 24/7, it waxes and wanes in it's severity though.2 -
My husband is one of those "forget to eat" types . He gets very engrossed in his work . To him his relationship with food is different, he sees it strictly as fuel and nothing more. He has told me multiple times he wishes humans could recharge without eating because it's such a hassle lol (he's one of those computer engineering types can't ya tell? ) . I get joy out of eating and cooking, I love it. I have found that what helps me not needlessly eat is to cook for others . I bake a lot and try new recipes each week and give them to others . The mere process of prepping food is extremely soothing to me . The only time I forget to eat is when I am extremely stressed or busy with something as well . I've switched my habit to "drink a glass of flavored water" whenever I feel the urge and though it's not as satisfying it is helping me0
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RecognitionT wrote: »Only once in my life have I not felt the constant urge to eat at least once every 2-3 hours, and that's when I was in the hospital practically dying and crying my eyes out, and my stomach couldn't fit any food in it even if I wanted to.
For the most part, I eat like clockwork. And ever since I counted every calorie that entered my mouth, it's been significantly more difficult staying under my limit than just "watching out for bad foods."
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.
Since I started using MFP, not a day has passed since my eating was dictated by the clock, every couple of hours without fail.
Seriously, if I could just "forget to eat" between breakfast and suppertime and then stuff my face with all my day's calories at once, I'd totally do that, but I get too hungry too often to ever pull it off
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.
That's like asking why some people are disciplined with their diets and some aren't. We are all wired differently, but we all have something in common, if were doing something wrong, we can always correct it.0 -
I had this problem in my teens. I worked full time, went to school full time, had a boyfriend, smoked cigarettes and drank red bull. When I did eat, it would be a bag of Doritos from the vending machine. Other than that, I had no time to eat. When break time or lunch time came around, I was far to concerned about smoking as many cigarettes as I could fit in before the bell rang, or I had to clock in. I was thin and super unhealthy.
I legit wanted to invent the quick burning cigarette like in the movie "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion"...not even kidding.
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witcherkar wrote: »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!
Hmm, I got to 330 but I just had big meals a few times a week and I would make cake and eat a lot of that during the week. I ate pretty frequently though, like 4 times a day. It has a lot to do with a medication I was on. For some reason it nade me out our a lot and not want to move. I still like to eat every few hours though. It is easier to do that if I exercise.0 -
It's rare, but sometimes I get so involved with a project that I will forget to eat. A few weeks ago I was working on a big landscaping project at home...started after breakfast and the next thing I knew I looked up at the sky and it was getting dusk...went inside and yup...it was 5:30 PM.
Day to day, not at all...I usually eat like clock work...8:30 AM breakfast...12:30 lunch...afternoon snack or two...8:30 PM dinner.0
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