Very stupid question.

Hunger is such a complicated sensation! We evolved to be driven by hunger to overeat whenever possible. It's clear why that's a good strategy for much of human existence. (The prevalence of inexpensive food in developed countries is novel in human history.) So, as far as your phisiology is concerned, when you binge eat, you're doing the right thing. Our only problem is that we can now do it just about whenever we want.

So, your rational mind is fighting with your subconscious drive on this one. You are basically managing the animal within. I find that exercise, regular meals, and rules (strong habits) are the key to success. And, finding things to do that distract you from food really helps.

@psychod787
No such thing as a “very stupid question”!!! This is an important one!!

Amazing that your question came at this point in time, as I’m trying to figure this out, too.

I get very unclear hunger & satiety signals, too. The only time I had them was when I was pregnant. I knew when to eat & when to stop - by the half bite. A clear on and off switch. When I was obese, I ate two large meals (can relate to full/stomach hurting(stuffed) signaling.)

I did try once or twice to wait until I got hungry, but I wouldn’t get hungry- I would get very tired/slight headache...

So, as I was losing weight, I set up meals & general meal times & stuck to them during my weight loss. Hardly ever felt hungry. Finished all foods planned for each meal, again never hungry/never full.

But in the past 2-4 weeks, as my BMI has dropped into the 23’s from a high of 34, I’ve been getting more signals from my tummy. Not sure if they are hunger or not. But not comfortable. Like a gnawing. Also a verrry slight headache & fatigue. I still made the same meals, but found after eating 1/3-1/2, I’d have been happy to stop eating. So, I would save the remainder & eat it when I was hungry again 1-3 hours later.

Then I started feeling these signals before bed so I added some nuts.

I still lost weight (3 lbs in 3 weeks, September) Thinking I should slow this down further... I’ve been exercising 72-80 mins daily for 5 months.

This morning I had a new development: I woke up with the same sensation, woke me up & kept me awake. I got some hot tea and 10 g of raw almonds, attempting to wait to regular breakfast time.

So, I’m open to suggestions. Did anyone experience this as you got closer to goal weight? I’m shooting for 150 per doctor BMI 22.5, currently 157-158. 5’8.5” BMI 23.6-7

How do you manage things?

@cmriverside @kommodevaran
From your posts, it sounds like you do what I have been doing: Know what our body needs, and follow that, rather than signals that are elusive??

I’m also looking at my trends in macros/micros for clues!

Thanks- you are all very inspiring to me!

The hunger scale graphic is a good one. I dislike feeling overly full, so once I get to the point I can tell I'm eating only because it tastes good, I stop. This is usually several bites before I actually feel 'done.'

That's terribly vague, I know It's all very individual. I'm usually a little hungry an hour or two before my next meal (particularly dinner, which is my largest meal by far). I've discovered it's not the end of the world for me to have a rumbly tummy. Quite the opposite - I tend to enjoy my food more.

That chart is a good one.

Years ago I read a book called Thin for Life by Anne Fletcher whose premise is that you can learn to eat to hunger instead of eating just because it's time to eat or to satisfy emotional needs. It taught me a lot. I would note what number on the hunger scale I was feeling when I started eating and when I stopped. I got away from it, but the basic understanding remains, so I do ask myself if I'm really hungry when I want a snack or if I'm just bored or unhappy. I still do some mindless eating (i.e. it's dinner time so I'll eat dinner, even though I'm not hungry) but I don't do a lot of snacking except when I really am hungry. I also can usually trust my hunger signals. I've learned that if I'm really hungry when I go to bed, I won't sleep unless I have some cheese or milk. I've also learned to ask what I'm actually hungry for. Sometimes I need protein, sometimes I want to chew something hard like a carrot or apple, sometimes I really just want hot tea and honey. Mindfulness can work, if you practice it.

The hunger side is well covered here, but I’ll address satiety as it feels for me. Comfortably full. I’d like to stop eating at “no longer hungry” but that doesn’t leave me satisfied. To solve this, I volume eat vegetables at every meal to literally fill my belly. There’s no way I could have lost 80+ pounds trying to white knuckle being hungry all the time.

CarvedTones wrote: »

I have my own potentially stupid question...

When I binged, I absolutely knew that was what I was doing and that it wasn't real hunger. My flaw wasn't not knowing, it was not caring during episodes. My question - Is that uncommon in binge eaters?

I always thought it was common and the hunger thing was just a lie we told the world and sometimes ourselves, but deep down most of us knew exactly what we were doing. Even now, when I have a day where I go over by several hundred (like yesterday), I knew it wasn't real hunger. So far I have had the discipline to put the brakes on before it gets too far and then make up for it with some deficit days, but it does worry me that I still knowingly eat high calorie foods when I am already at or over goal.

So I don't worry so much about what satiety feels like or what truly hungry feels like. I try to be vigilant and catch the thought process that makes me ignore how I feel with regard to hunger.

I am with you there. When I binge ate I knew exactly what I was doing and the consequences, which could include being that full that you physically feel ill. It was purely an emotional thing of using food to comfort with the stress, the depression, the anxiety and had nothing to do with hunger. Now I deal with all of those things through walking instead of eating, but at times still to extremes.

I have a feeling though that I will be logging (at least loosely) for life. My signals for hunger and satiety are ones I can't really trust. I only trust it if I see it balancing on paper. I also know that I can still be hungry once I have finished a meal but not 20-30 minutes so stopping before I am full is important.

jamesjeffsmith wrote: »

No massive amount of food feels as good as fit feels

For a lot (most?) of us, a binge rarely feels good. I was often disgusted with myself while eating, not just after.

pe4sandra2 wrote: »

CarvedTones wrote: »

I have my own potentially stupid question...

When I binged, I absolutely knew that was what I was doing and that it wasn't real hunger. My flaw wasn't not knowing, it was not caring during episodes. My question - Is that uncommon in binge eaters?

I always thought it was common and the hunger thing was just a lie we told the world and sometimes ourselves, but deep down most of us knew exactly what we were doing. Even now, when I have a day where I go over by several hundred (like yesterday), I knew it wasn't real hunger. So far I have had the discipline to put the brakes on before it gets too far and then make up for it with some deficit days, but it does worry me that I still knowingly eat high calorie foods when I am already at or over goal.

So I don't worry so much about what satiety feels like or what truly hungry feels like. I try to be vigilant and catch the thought process that makes me ignore how I feel with regard to hunger.

I still binge from time to time...and when I do, I am fully aware that I am not hungry. My goal in that moment is to taste EVERYTHING edible within reach. Salty, sweet, savory, crunchy, soft, decadent, spicy...I can't stop until it's over. "It" being the driving force behind the binge. That's what my question is - What drives the binge? And, obviously it's a question only I can answer. But, I want to know what it is that fuels that itch to eat until my body can't take it anymore.
I'm glad it isn't happening as much anymore.

For sure I've been there. May be there again, who knows? I do know that it has become a rare event but it took a very long time and it took talking and posting and thinking and journaling and making exercise a priority. If any of those things are lacking I can go right back to emotional eating.

If something upsets me that is still in my emotional wheelhouse I'll eat. I used to drink, so I'd rather eat but still it can become a problem very easily if I start using food to cope again. These days my first line of defense is my journal.

Name the problem, name the emotion, name a different solution.

Sometimes something happens that I can't even string together all the tumbling emotions. I have to find a way to let it go and regain a level head and that is best accomplished for me by getting physical in some way. Couch + Blankie + bag o' whatever is never a good solution so I have to interrupt that thought before it grabs on.

I can usually stop myself beforehand because I just don't buy the stuff that I tend to binge on anymore (except peanut butter, it's a thing.) If I can clean out a drawer, fold some clothes, take a walk, do anything physical for even five minutes I can stop the urge. Then once the physical urge is gone, I journal about it. It helps me identify patterns of thinking that are destructive.

"Slow down."

One of the best pieces of life advice there is. Not just slow down the eating, but slow down everything. Thinking, reacting. Everything.