[HadEnough]

I have been at this for a month now. What do you do if you are rarely hungry? I know it is hard to believe, but it is true. Do you force yourself to eat? That just seems counter-productive.

[stacylambert]

You've been dieting for about a month or you haven't had an appetite for a month? How much have you been exercising? I've that that overtraining can lead to loss of appetite. While some decrease is good, not having an appitite at all can't be.

[HarpoChicoGroucho]

See, now I'm relieved I'm not the only one with this problem! I thought I was a freak. I wouldn't look at it like I force myself to eat, more like coax myself to eat. I think my brain chemicals are confused most of the time, so they do a bad job of telling my stomach it's empty. I just try to keep on a regular schedule of eating, regardless of hunger. I think I've become pretty intuitive when it comes to knowing when my body needs nourishment, since my stomach never lets me know. I'll pass by my bran flakes or an apple, and although I have no physical hunger, I'll have an inkling that I need it, so I have it.

[JayEll]

My experience with that has been that sometimes I'm not feeling hungry when it's "time" to eat. But if I skip eating at that point, I might find myself out somewhere running an errand and suddenly, the bottom falls out of my energy and I'm REALLY hungry!! And that's not good because you just know how easy it is to grab the wrong thing.

One article I read about trying to eat regularly said if you're not hungry at the time you're supposed to eat, just start anyway. If you only want part of what's on the plan, that's OK--you don't have to eat all of it. But don't skip.

Jay

[alinnell]

I rarely get hungry at the normal meal times, but since I have a family that needs to have meals prepared for, I usually eat with them. My hungry time is usually mid afternoon (around 3:00 PM--right when I'm heading out the door to go get the kids from school). I usually grab a quick snack like an apple and then take a water bottle in the car for my hour long trip. By the time I get home, I'm no longer hungry. But then, at dinner time (around 7:00 PM) I'm still not hungry. Just trying to get something on the table for the family can be a challenge because of this. But I do usually eat (we always eat as a family for dinner). I'll just take smaller portions--so that is the bonus!
I think my hardest time is breakfast. I want to set a good example for the kids, but I usually have coffee while they have their fruit and grains for breakfast. I take them to school and perhaps have a yogurt before I head out for my daily exercise.
People have looked at my fitday and said I don't eat enough, but I have a hard time eating when I'm not hungry. When I am hungry, I do usually make good choices for food.

[SherryA]

I really think that for some of us, our hunger signals are confusing. We don't always recognize hunger. Sometimes we mistake thirst for hunger, sometimes a groaning in the belly or an empty feeling makes us think we are hungry.

True hunger is a pleasant taste in the mouth which lets us know we need to eat. And when we are in a fat burning mode, it is possible that we truly aren't hungry because our body is being fueled by our reserve tanks (our fat). So why force yourself to eat? If your body is burning fat, let it!

Eat when your body needs to eat, but don't ignore true hunger until it is uncontrollable and ravenous hunger.