Should I eat when I'm not hungry?

Art63
Art63 Posts: 87
edited October 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Like the subject asks, what do you think? Right now it's 5 o'clock at night and I'm not hungry but am about 900 calories short of my daily goal as set by MFP. Breakfast today was a glass of orange juice, a bowl of cereal, and a banana. Lunch was lighter than usual - a Chick-Fil-A salad. Normally at this time of day I'm only a couple hundred calories from my goal but today because of the light lunch and some good walking exercise I'm short by a lot.

So, should I just go in the kitchen and start eating even though I don't feel the need? I've read that we should eat our daily goal including eating the exercise calories. I understand that logic...however I've also read that you shouldn't eat unless you're hungry. Not sure what to do here. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks.

Replies

  • haiderh
    haiderh Posts: 16 Member
    I would wait an hour, and then eat something small. Don't push yourself. Your body has burned fat from walking and is currently running off that energy, which is why you're not hungry.
  • Mom0fTwo
    Mom0fTwo Posts: 326 Member
    I do...my body never knows when it is hungry or when it isn't...that is my problem, so I started giving myself "meal times" to make sure I get it all in, also if you don't eat enough your body can go into starvation mode and you might gain on your next binge, plus keeping yourself from getting hungry is the easiest way to avoid craving something bad for you :)
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    You can wait until later - nothing wrong with getting your cals in closer to bedtime, it will not automatically turn to fat at night :)
  • emergencytennis
    emergencytennis Posts: 864 Member
    I dont know if one "should". What I find is that on days where I have a lot of exercise I am not so hungry and so I eat under, often as much as a third under net, say. The next day, though, I am hungrier than normal and so I go with it and eat over. Instead of trying to hit a magic number every day, I look at what I need over two or three days, or my weekly goal, and hit that.
  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,317 Member
    I do. Food is important to me.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    If taking any appetite suppressant, I vote yes, you should.

    If lightheaded, nauseated, suffering from headache, blurry vision, or rumble tummy, I vote yes.

    Otherwise, meh, you'll get hungry eventually!
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Once in a while, it's fine to leave a bunch of calories untouched. If it really is once in a while.

    But overall, the "listen to your body" way of thinking would screw me up big-time. My body lies. It told me I was eating enough when my weight dropped to a frightening 103# when I was 26 years old, and told me I should keep eating when I was 160# last year. For me, it's best to follow my knowledge and logic more than my instincts. Logically, I know I need between 1700-2200 calories a day to maintain my weight, and between 1500-2000 to lose weight, depending on how active I've been.
  • Art63
    Art63 Posts: 87
    Update: I went ahead and ate 700 of the 900 needed to reach my goal for the day. Maybe I'll pop something in later to reach the full 900. Thanks for your comments.
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