how to tell when you're hungry

Everyone’s hunger cues will vary but for me my head starts to hurt and I begin to feel slightly dizzy/tired. My stomach also grumbles a lot.
Whenever I’m not hungry and want to eat I’m more picky about what I eat because it’s more for the indulgence purposes versus trying to silence my hunger.

I drink A LOT of water thru-out the day and night ( I crave water now--when I was obese/overweight...I HATED drinking water) and now, during this getting down to size adventure (about a year) I have learned when I'm TRULY hungry vs. thirsty. When I'm hungry, I start "belching" of all things (weird, I know) Not a lot of belching, just one or two and start "thinking" about food--that's my "cue" it's time to chow down. My "burping" without having had anything to eat, let's me know my body wants to feed now and/or soon. There is absolutely no pain/discomfort or angst at all when I'm hungry (there was mega pain and angst when I "thought" I was hungry when I was obese/overweight). My "hunger" is no longer what it used to be when I was obese/overweight. Back then I used to feel ravenous (a lot) and ummmmm--let's say desperate almost, now when I'm hungry it's no longer a "I'm STARVING" and gotten eat A LOT of something NOW type of "feeling", but again a very gentle and super mild/cool/calm "hey...let's get down on some chow now or soon" type of feeling. It's wonderful actually!

I've mistaken indigestions for hunger, before.
It's not fun to deal with afterward. Now, I try to remember when I ate last and look at my log.

Here's a few additional hunger scales that may be helpful in deciding whether you're hungry or not:

http://intuitive-eating.blogspot.com/2007/02/different-hunger-scales.html

kshama2001 wrote: »

EloiseBean wrote: »

i know this sounds stupid but i have a hard time knowing when i'm really hungry. for the most part i eat out of boredom or stress. my first meal of the day is the only time i can tell when i need food, but after that it feels like boredom binging. should i only eat one meal a day.

If I don't get adequate sleep or exercise I want to boredom eat in the afternoons, so work on my sleep hygiene and exercise at lunchtime.

For me, wanting to boredom eat feels different from real hunger.

@lemurcat2 you had a good post about how you manage your hunger cues with regular meal times on another thread - care to repost here?

Heh, took me a minute to figure out which one you might be referring to. Maybe this?

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Some people do well eating when hungry, but my desire to eat (which might feel like hunger) is very much habitual and responsive to other things (food I like being available, others eating and socializing, wanting to take a break or put something off or reward or comfort myself). Therefore, thinking I should eat when hungry and not eat when not hungry doesn't work for me. I'm much, much better off with structure, which means three healthful meals and maybe a small extra after dinner. But that doesn't mean I'm suppressing appetite, it means I'm normally hungry when I eat and not thinking about food when I'm not (other than perhaps anticipating something I will eat later).

I don't have set times when I eat breakfast/lunch/dinner, although normally breakfast is after I run in the morning (so maybe 7) or else earlier if I don't run (6), lunch is broadly around noon (11:30-1:30), and dinner is pretty late since I get home late and cook (9-10). On Fridays I might skip breakfast or lunch and eat much earlier if I'm going out (dinner before theater or the like), or on Saturday/Sunday I might have a brunch/late breakfast and then dinner. I'm flexible, I just don't snack and like some sort of structure.

As far as what I eat, I've always had the sense that meals = protein + vegetables (or maybe fruit instead at breakfast) + whatever else fills it out, and always tended to eat pretty healthfully at meals (portions and snacking and treating a nice restaurant as a reason to ignore portions were my downfalls). So my preference AND my plan are basically aligned, except I'm even more focused on trying to eat a good amount of veg at all meals (including breakfast) and making sure I have a decent amount of protein at all, unless for some reason it's not possible. I don't snack because I don't find that satiating, and I tend to regret wasting the calories unless something is really, really special, and then I try to work it into day and will include it as part of a meal/dessert.

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To the OP: I'll add that I think it makes sense to figure out a reasonable calorie goal for you and what you want to eat within that goal -- for me it's important to meet my protein goal (currently 90-100 g) and get in many servings of vegetables. If you can meet your goals at a single meal and feel good doing that, go for it, but I would have a hard time eating enough calories (let alone protein and veg) at a single meal. I could no question put away 1500 cal in a meal, but it wouldn't meet my nutritional preferences.

You might want to try spreading calories into 2 or 3 (or whatever) meals at convenient times and see how you feel. After a while of watching calories and not eating from boredom, you may find yourself starting to be able to tell real hunger from "I want to snack" in the mind. I also found journaling really helpful, especially since I am prone to emotional eating as well as eating for procrastination. I'll note that I'm feeling a desire to eat and there's no reason I should need to eat now, so maybe put down a few thoughts about what I think it might be. (This doesn't work for everyone, but I enjoy it and find it helpful in becoming more mindful.)