I have been a compulsive over eater all my adult life. Because of this I don't ever really face hunger. I eat and eat and eat to keep myself full because the physical feeling of hunger is terrifying to me. I don't know why I'm so scared of being hungry, or why the sound of my stomach rumbling makes me go crazy.
I'm toying with the idea of facing this hunger. I'm not going to starve myself but it may be beneficial to me to live with hunger for a bit. Just sit and take it and feel it. I see naturally thin people who sit with hunger as if it's nothing and after many hours may think "oh right, I haven't eaten anything yet!"
I'm starting to believe that dealing with hunger may get to the root of my eating disorder/food addiction. Maybe it's the same as going through withdrawl if you're a drug addict? So far I've lost weight and haven't been hungry due to a balanced eating style. But I'm very drawn to this idea of facing the hunger.
I think you are brave to want to face your fear. I would recommend fasting for a day, or perhaps from sunup to sundown. Eat well the day before and drink plenty of liquids, and then enjoy the experience. You know you will be able to eat once your fast is done, so that should help.
I like the idea of planning out meals and times. This has worked for me - my eating day is planned in the morning, and I stick with it throughout the day.
On the other hand, getting to feel extremes of hunger hasn't worked for me, because when I get too hungry, it is very hard for me to make good food choices at my next opportunity. You may be different in this regard, but for me, getting very hungry is counterproductive...I get hungry, fixate on food, and then have a tendency to overeat. This was particularly true at the start of my journey...now I am so used to making good choices that I have experienced hunger fairly frequently, when no good choices are available, but it's still hard for me to control my eating once I have good food available to me again.
You might be able to mitigate this by planning a time to experience hunger, and what you'll eat afterward.
Hey Wannabe, out of curiosity, do you have, or have ever had anxiety/panic problems? You described exactly what I went through for a long time until I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder. *FOR ME* I wasn't feeding true hunger but was self medicating the anxiety, (with food, booze and smokes). Once I realized the difference, everything came together for me. I don't know though, it's one of those chicken and egg scenarios...Not really sure what came first, the anxiety or the food addictions.
I can't handle hunger either. It doesn't bother me, per se, but I can't focus when I'm hungry. I had to leave for lunch 30 minutes early today, because I knew I wouldn't be able to focus until I got some food in me!
Facing hunger is one of the things I forced myself to deal with early on in my journey.
I am no longer afraid of it. I can be hungry and not panic or overeat when I do get food. Though, there were times where I have done both. lol!
Early on, I remember chanting, "I am not going to die. I can wait to eat. This hunger isn't going to kill me."
Now I no longer fear it. I know I am not suffering nor killing myself by waiting a few hours to eat - or however long until it's more beneficial to me.
Good luck to you. I think you'll be successful in this new venture.
I had a huge fear of being hungry too. I would eat more than I should have, stuff myself, before I went anywhere "in case" I would get hungry later on.
So what I do now is I always have a quick healthy snack or frozen soup/canned soup at my desk or in the freezer at work. That way, I know if I get hungry for some odd reason after eating all the food I brought/planned into work, I ALWAYS have a backup. For some reason this comforts me, and just knowing it's there helps me feel in control. I rarely, rarely eat any of it actually.
Same with going out. I will bring a granola bar or something with me.
I also let my stomach growl sometimes. It is my greatest fear to have my stomach growl in public, and I still don't let that happen at work meetings, etc. But I have let it happen in other situations to make myself more comfortable with it. Facing the fear!
wow... you just described me!!!
I also realized, after my entire life, that people wasn’t afraid of hunger as I was. I always thought that everyone felt the same way than me about being hungry.... but started realize that some would complain about hunger and would still be able to manage wait until food arrived like it wasn’t a big deal...
Not me!!! Every time I thought I was hungry I felt like I was going to die if I didn’t get ANY food in. I was terrified about being hungry... Until one day I realized that and asked myself: Why am I different?
Today I follow the Eat Stop Eat (ESE) program that works with intermittent fasting. It made me learn to deal better with my hunger (even though I still super uncomfortable when I feel it, but now I know how to deal with it).
That was the best way I found to lose weight and manage my hunger. The funny thing is that I still don’t know when I am hungry or when I just want to eat, because all my life I eat at any time, anywhere, just because I felt like eating and I feel like eating ALL the time...
The only time I am sure I am hungry is when I start to feel the physical discomfort from not eating, like stomach growling and pain. Because if it was up to me I would eat all day long, regardless of “feeling” hungry or not.
Maybe ESE wont be right for you, but I think it would be interesting if you could at least try. You can do it only few times to help you learn how to deal with your hunger...
here is a thread that explain better about the program: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/does...t-fasting.html
Whatever you choose, I hope works for you. And if you find some other ways to cope with hunger, please let me know.
Good luck to you
Bele
I'm not going to die, this hunger will not kill me... this is the attitude I want to adapt. I witness others able to sit calmly with their hunger and I want that.
I have never been diagnosed with anxiety disorder and I have been seeing a therapist for over a year, so I don't think it's a prevalent issue currently. I have been know to have anxiety attacks though so there might be something to that.
I guess my point is that I want to be hungry and be comfortable. It seems like a lot of diets have the selling point of "you won't be hungry on this diet!" and all I can think is that maybe that's the root of the issue. Why are we so afraid to be hungry?
I don't think it would be good to take it to an extreme or ignore your body's signals. For example, if you're feeling dizzy or can't concentrate because of lack of protein or nutrients then you've gone too far. But let's say I have a sandwich at noon and then at 3 I'm almost always hungry..... I think that's the right time to just sit and be hungry. Dinner is around 6, can I survive another 3 hours without food? The problem is that I always get edgy and angry and fidgety and that's not really hunger now is it? This is what I'm trying to get to the bottom of, finding out why I can't be calm and hungry.
I too have a fear of being hungry. I'm not sure where it stems from. But even the thought of it makes me quite uncomfortable.
Back in the day it was never an issue, I ate all day long. Never knew what real hunger was.
And now, it's not an issue either. Because I do my very best to avoid it at all costs. That is one of the main reasons I choose such *high* quality foods and that I eat so frequently. I don't think I've been real hungry since I started this venture more than 5 times. And those 5 times were just the very beginnings of hunger. Not true down right ready to pass out hunger. Like Mandalinn, being hungry sets me up to make poor food choices. BUT, I am also *afraid* of feeling that true uncomfortable hunger. So I do here you on maybe it would be nice to get past that fear.
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But let's say I have a sandwich at noon and then at 3 I'm almost always hungry..... I think that's the right time to just sit and be hungry. Dinner is around 6, can I survive another 3 hours without food?
I would/do have a snack in between. Why would I have to/want to just sit and be hungry if I could do something to avoid it? And why should you?
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This is what I'm trying to get to the bottom of, finding out why I can't be calm and hungry.
It's a good question. But for me, I wonder - is it OUT of the question? And if I (you) can AVOID being hungry - why not?
... And if I (you) can AVOID being hungry - why not?
I avoid getting hungry so that I won't make poor food choices. I eat so that I can avoid getting hungry. I avoid certain foods that may trigger a binge. I avoid my emotions by eating. There's a lot of avoiding going on, I wonder if my path to recovery can include not avoiding anything anymore?
I avoid getting hungry so that I won't make poor food choices. I eat so that I can avoid getting hungry. I avoid certain foods that may trigger a binge. I avoid my emotions by eating. There's a lot of avoiding going on, I wonder if my path to recovery can include not avoiding anything anymore?
I understand what you're saying. But for me, it's very important to set myself up for success as far as my weight/health is concerned. THAT is the most important thing to me. And if avoiding hunger is one way to do that, then I'm all for it.
For me, getting to and now remaining a healthy weight has been very crucial to my MENTAL health as well, which helped greatly with the line I underscored, which really HAD to change BEFORE I got the weight off. And it has. To a large degree, but not 100% so.
But for me, really it is about setting myself up for success. I didn't/don't have to have EVERYTHING all figured out before I make a change. I guess we are all works in progress.
It would be nice though to lose this (irrational??) fear of hunger....
I don't think you ever really need to be hungry to lose weight, as others here have pointed out. As a personal anecdote I will add, though, that learning to get over my hunger aversion was a huge step in helping me to overcome my disordered eating (and disordered thinking about eating). I've also stopped making poor food choices out of hunger, since being hungry no longer sends me into a food-seeking panic. It's also helped me to acquire more self control over all.
I'm not sure if you've ever picked up the Beck diet book (which is more of a cognitive behavioral therapy workbook than an actual diet), but I believe there's a chapter in there about learning to overcome maladaptive thoughts and fears about hunger. I've read a few blogs talking about it... might be helpful!
I had a huge fear of being hungry too. I would eat more than I should have, stuff myself, before I went anywhere "in case" I would get hungry later on.
~CGH~
OMG I used to do this, too! Reading it sounds so ridiculous but it felt so normal to me back then. Not stuffed used to equal hungry to me.
I would need to be stuffed. I'd stuff myself so it would last until the next feeding time. So sad. I can't believe I thought that was healthy.
As I was reading these very interesting posts, I kept thinking, "Interesting, I don't have that fear. I wonder why?" Then, I realized that I do have a fear of being hungry, but only in a certain context--I've always been afraid of being hungry around other people.
So before I would go to something social or something where I'd be with other people, I would frequently overeat beforehand--I didn't want to be hungry around others and be uncomfortable, and then have to admit to my hunger--because it would make me look fat! That was my logic, that people would think that I'm only hungry because I'm fat!
Facing the hunger
So sad. I can't believe I thought that was healthy.
