[Beverlyjoy]

I rarely have true hunger. Maybe in the morning or after a four or five hour break after a meal.

But - I always feel like eating. I am working on not eating for 'everything' happening around me.

When I eat I will now try and ask myself: Is it hunger or...

stress
emotions
craving
fatigue
I am sick
desire to eat more and more of the same thing
celebration


This is a hard thing to figure out, sometimes. I think that's why I need to plan my meals and snacks because if it was up to me alone.... I would be eating all day long. (or I'd have the 'what will I eat next' thoughts spinning around in my head all day long.) Sometimes I think that the feeling hunger and/or fullness part of my brain is broken.

You?

[seagirl]

Yup, I've had this too.
Some of the reasons I used to eat were:
- going to exercise soon and need to eat.
- going to be out doing errands to eat preemptively so I'm not stuck without food.
- going out with friends later so eat preemptively to avoid having to eat bar food later.
- it was "meal time."
- Just getting home and for some reason that meant "eat now!" without checking hunger level.
- lonely.
- having good food in the house makes me feel like I have "enough" and eating it makes me feel like I have enough money.

Knowing why I used to eat way more than I needed has really helped me. Especially with the payday habit of "I'm going to go spend a lot at Whole Foods so I can feel rich" and then come home and eat a lot. I can remind myself that money staying in the bank is a good thing, and that we can visit it there instead of spending it all on food that I'll eat right away.

And pausing with some tea when I get home from work has helped stop the nonstop snacking that used to occur.

[Beverlyjoy]

Seagirl - you said: Just getting home and for some reason that meant "eat now!" without checking hunger level. That's a big one for me too. I always now wash my hands when I come in the door.... sometimes drink a glass of water. But... I still think I 'need' to eat. Am working on it, however. Tea sounds good at that time.

[time2lose]

Yes, this is something that I am working on also. There are so many reasons for wanting to eat ......... and, for me, it is rarely hunger.

[synger]

One little trick I've learned is to think of something fairly bland... like a hard-cooked egg. Something you eat, but doesn't have a lot of fat/sugar/flavor rewards built into it.

Am I hungry enough to eat a hard-cooked egg? If so, then I'm probably truly hungry. If the idea is not appetizing then I'm just "snacky" or bored, and need to go do something else.

The point is that I'm ALWAYS able to eat buttered toast, or chocolate ice cream, or chips and cheese, or crackers and salami... but those have high fat or sugar/starch rewards. If something bland like a hard-cooked egg doesn't sound appealing, then I'm not really hungry.

[Mrshonopolist]

I totally feel the same, I rarely eat because I'm hungry. It's always either "meal time" or boredom. I'm never hungry in the morning, yet I always cook breakfast. I'm hardly ever hungry for dinner either, I just know I should make it so I don't snack the whole night out of boredom. It's frustrating!

[Riesz]

I've experienced the same problem ever since beginning to gain weight about 10 years ago. Over the past year I've managed to improve the impulses to eat when not truly hungry but I'm still very susceptible to emotional/stress eating at times. I'm determined to gain control though!

The biggest help for me has been using online calorie counting sites to plan my meals and track my food. I'm very good with not deviating from the plan, sometimes just so I don't have to go back and change my log! Hey, whatever works, right!

I also set a goal to make sure I eat at somewhat set times so my blood sugar is always steady. At first I thought it was silly but now I see that it really does help control cravings and urges to binge (especially on carbs). I usually try to eat something every 3-4 hours and try to make the snacks with both protein, carbs, and fibre. I always make sure to have plenty of protein and fibre in main meals. I don't feel nearly so hungry when I get enough protein and fibre.