Using hunger as a gauge

tnebell
tnebell Posts: 17 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So question. Over the past two weeks I have actively been working out, tracking my food and so on. I've thought of something though. When I am non stop hungry, is this a sign that I'm in calorie deficit? I would think yes, but I'm sure this is not an accurate way to tell.
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Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Huger cues may or may not be accurate.

    However, how many of your exercise calories are you eating?

    Unlike other sites which use TDEE calculators, MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated for them and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back. Others, however, are able to lose weight while eating 100% of their exercise calories.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
  • saintor1
    saintor1 Posts: 376 Member
    I tolerate hunger up to 1.5h before a meal. Otherwise I take something like a 65cal square of dark chocolate or a large glass of water with liquid enhancer.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,941 Member
    My hunger cues seem to have gone on a very long vacation (hopefully somewhere sandy and sunny!) since I started seriously losing weight. I haven’t had a single feeling of hunger for about 3 months. Slightly disconcerting because if I’m busy I don’t realise I need to eat until I’m nauseous and feeling generally really shaky and lightheaded.

    I don’t think you can rely on hunger pains to tell you very much at all.
  • elitesportsdude
    elitesportsdude Posts: 17 Member
    Sounds like your metabolism is speeding up or very fast if you are non stop hungry which is a good sign.
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,213 Member
    Hunger cues translate well for some of us still. I’ve been tracking on and off for over 5 years and have found my hunger cues to be very reliable, so long as I’m sticking to a healthy diet. I’ve gone long periods without tracking and still lost weight. Generally, if I’m hungry, I’m in a deficit, and scale movement is mostly predictable. Vaguely hungry at bedtime translates to a small deficit, very hungry (which I try to avoid) means a large deficit.
  • jenncornelsen
    jenncornelsen Posts: 969 Member
    Since joining I am occasionally hungry at bed time. Usually I can ignore it and sleep though. If i cant I have genenerally a cracker and peanut butter, seems to do the trick. But weither ive felt hungry or not, does not seem to affect my weight loss
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,460 Member
    Most often, I am hungriest when eating more sugar than anything else. In other words, skip supper, have cake and ice cream instead, and I wake up ravenous for cake and ice cream. If I eat more meat, vegetables, starch, and limited sugar, I sometimes don’t ever feel hunger at all. I guess everyone is a little different.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    My hunger cues are completely unreliable and useless. So useless that I do my best to completely ignore them. I eat when and how much my MFP food diary says to eat, no less, no more, because otherwise I immediately start gaining weight.
  • ponycyndi
    ponycyndi Posts: 858 Member
    lgfrie wrote: »
    My hunger cues are completely unreliable and useless. So useless that I do my best to completely ignore them. I eat when and how much my MFP food diary says to eat, no less, no more, because otherwise I immediately start gaining weight.

    Same.
  • cbihatt
    cbihatt Posts: 319 Member
    I think it depends on what you mean by being non stop hungry. I often feel like I could eat or like I would like to eat. It feels like there is an empty space in my stomach, I guess, but that doesn’t necessarily equate to hunger. When I am actually hungry, it feels different. My stomach often growls, I think about food a lot more than I usually do, and sometimes I feel a drop in my energy levels.

    I can assume a deficit from the empty stomach feeling, but actual hunger can happen in a surplus, too. If it’s been awhile since I ate, or if I am experiencing PMS, or if I have had a hard workout, or if my food choices have been high calorie but not filling. Those are all reasons to feel hunger that don’t necessarily require a deficit.
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    My hunger triggers suck, or perhaps I suck at heeding or abiding by my hunger triggers.

    Either way intuitive eating just doesn't seem to be in my repertoire of natural gifts or abilities hence the need to take a more conscious deliberate approach to consuming food.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    elitesportsdude wrote: »
    Sounds like your metabolism is speeding up or very fast if you are non stop hungry which is a good sign.

    Since metabolic abnormalities are so rare it is more likely the OP is undereating or eating foods that don't satisfy them.

    For example, it's common for people to inadvertently undereat because they don't realize they are supposed to eat back exercise calories.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    My hunger cues are beyond useless. They don't tell me when I should eat and then when I have gone too long without food they don't tell me when to stop.

    Same here.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    To the question - no. Your body/mind is not capable of recognizing deficit, maintenance, or surplus. These are abstract calculations with little markers in reality.

    Are you first distinguishing between hunger and appetite?

    Hunger is physiological need for food and slow growing over time - several hours.

    Appetite is a mental/habit based desire for food - tending to be sudden, immediate, and specific - salty/sweet.
  • SarahAnne3958
    SarahAnne3958 Posts: 78 Member
    edited September 2019
    For me personally feeling 'hungry' is completely disconnected from my calorie intake. Instead it's tied to habits/boredom/time of day/time of month and where I am in my hormonal cycle, and then what my macros splits are.
  • RealWorldStrengthLLC
    RealWorldStrengthLLC Posts: 552 Member
    There's a certain "in tune with your body" sort of intuition that can be gained from long term athletics and eating for a goal over time...you shouldn't ignore it.
  • thanos5
    thanos5 Posts: 513 Member
    i smoke weed so using hunger as a gauge is a horrible idea for me =/
  • scarlett_k
    scarlett_k Posts: 812 Member
    If you're genuinely feeling hungry all the time you're probably eating too little, or you're not eating a fairly balanced diet. But like people have said it could also be your hunger cues out of whack, or even thirst can feel like hunger.
  • tnebell
    tnebell Posts: 17 Member
    oops! Never realized people were commenting! So, for instance right now. I sit here working and my stomach has been growling non stop for the past hour. I've been daydreaming of a small avocado I have in the fridge. LOL
    Lunch was a tuna fish sandwich and some homemade kohlrabi pickles. Breakfast was an english muffin, peanut butter and a hard boiled egg.
    Its not an constant usually but there are days that I've eaten the recommended 1200 calories but I get past lunch and realize I'm really hungry. (aka big noisy growls from stomach). Today I know I'll be over because I would have to pretty much skip dinner in order to be within my 1200 calories.
  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
    >1200 calories

    Are you on the lose-two-pounds-a-week setting? Why so low? Are you in a hurry? If not, maybe slow it down.
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
    edited September 2019
    I trust my hunger cues about as much as I trust my satiety cues, which is to say not at all.

    If I waited until I 'felt full' it would be long past the time I actually was full. By 'full' I really mean satisfied.

    My discipline crutch is coffee. Since I use an IF protocol to limit my caloric intake (because I like more food in a given sitting), I don't generally eat until about 2pm and stop about 8pm. I wake up early feeling hungry. I ignore it for awhile, then I feel a bit more hungry about 10am. That's coffee time. 1 cup and I'm good until 2pm, without much effort.

    I acknowledge that being in a deficit gives me more 'hunger' cues than maintenance, but those pass. Probably doesn't work for everyone, but does for me.
  • zippie2223
    zippie2223 Posts: 37 Member
    Hunger is truly in the mind. Ran by hormones. It lies.

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