I'm curious about how folks approach this questions and how it affects their calorie target. Please feel free to comment if you like after you've answered the poll question.
For myself, I would rather lose more slowly because if I get too hungry, I go off the rails.
Being hungry is just not an option for me. I know lots of folks think there's nothing wrong with being a little hungry, but for me, it just doesn't work. It sets me up for making wrong choices. I feel panicked, nervous and uptight. Which is why I do my best to avoid it. I eat frequently, eating very satiating items at all times. No 100 calorie pack for me. Nope, I need FILLING power from my precious calories. I can honestly say, that it is a rare, rare occasion when I am ever hungry.
And if I were hungry and over my calorie budget - I'd eat. I'd rather overspend my budget by a couple of hundred calories, then wait it out and BINGE later and consume waaaay too many calories.
I tend to make very poor food choices when I'm hungry. As a result, I'd rather lose a little more slowly if it means I'm not hungry.
The changes I've made in the last year (drastically reducing my sugar/refined carb intake) seem to keep me from being hungry, so I'm happy with my progress.
I don't mind at all feeling physically hungry, I am fortunate in that hunger itself doesn't give me any physical or emotional or mental wobbles.
My disordered eating has never had anything to do with feeling hungry, and all to do with lack of self-control, emotional eating etc.
Don't get me wrong, I prefer not to feel hungry, I'm not a masochist, and if I do feel hungry it usually means I've planned poor meal choices.
At least it means I'm never tempted to try weightloss drugs that work by making you feel full! Feeling full had never involved a stop signal for me - although I'm trying to learn it!
I tend to feel hungry no matter how much I eat, so for me it's planning the day and sticking to it. It doesn't matter how much protein, fat, and fiber I take in, there's always a little voice saying 'I could eat' present. I keep to a higher protein diet and space meals out, which keeps the voice only to a dull roar.
I said this "I rarely if ever feel hungry, so it's more a matter of sticking to numbers." However I can go from not hungry at all to out of control hungry in a minute, but it takes me a really long time to get there. So sometimes I have to force myself to eat. I can have a class of V8 in the morning at 7 am and not get hungry until 7pm but I will be starving all of a sudden. Its actually really annoying because I used to not eat until I was absolutely starving and then I would binge on awful choices. If I make myself eat based on my caloric schedule then I never get to that binge state.
There's what I think of as an appropriate level of hunger -- I'm eating clean, exercising regularly, and my body recognizes that it's time to refuel. That's OK with me.
But then there's what I consider to be NOT good hunger. Like if I've cut calories too low for too long relative to my calorie expenditure and I'm feeling weak and lightheaded and now I have to grab something/anything or fall over. That's no good. Or a freaking-out, binge-waiting-to-happen, I just HAVE to have this bagel now or DIE kind of feeling. Which is usually triggered by eating simple carbs. I hate that. Both of those types feel out of control because something is out of whack, physically.
Then there's the "Gee, that piece of cake really looks good, I'd sure like to have some" kind of hunger, which really isn't hunger, it's my brain sugar center trying to take control. I try to ignore that altogether. It will NOT be the boss of me.
So, I'm OK with getting hungry before my next meal because I think that's appropriate. But the nutrition-deprived, starving kind of hunger - no. I'd rather eat enough of the good stuff (and not eat the bad stuff) to avoid that, even if it slows down weight loss to do it.
I think if you are genuinely hungry than that's counter-intuitive to your health. When I was eating 1200-1500 calories a day I was HUNGRY. When I started eating 1500-1800 a day I stopped feeling hungry AND the weight still came off.
I mean they say eat more to lose more- so if you are starving yourself and seeing no results maybe you should listen to your body when it's saying "Hey I'm STARVING HERE!"
My disordered eating doesn't really have to do with hunger. There is a desire to eat but that is not something I'd describe as hunger. This desire to eat comes and goes but its mostly around. I try to control it and it can get worse if I do get hungry.
As for hunger itself, I try to make sure I'm never hungry and that includes planning my meals out with lots of filling foods. If I go over my calorie limit, so be it.
I think if you are genuinely hungry than that's counter-intuitive to your health. When I was eating 1200-1500 calories a day I was HUNGRY. When I started eating 1500-1800 a day I stopped feeling hungry AND the weight still came off.
That does work for most of the population. For interest, I eat ~2000 cals a day (2250-2300 on strength training days) and still lose around 2 pounds a week. Yet, I'm still pretty much hungry all the time. It's not from under-eating, but it could be why I naturally over-ate. There was a time that I ate junk food (which certainly didn't help), but I can (and have) gained weight eating a pretty decent diet - just too much of it. I suspect even at maintenance I'll have the urge to eat. However, knowing this is some of the battle.
I have come to get used to feeling hungry & it doesn't bother me anymore. Occassionaly, I will get to me & I will eat like I shouldn't, but for the most part, I kinda enjoy that "hungry" feeling.... I have leanred to HATE that full feeling, if I can feel food in my stomach, I feel ill....
I would love to be able to vote #1. I'm in a hurry to lose this weight because I had NO clothes that fit and I don't want to buy too many that won't fit once I'm at goal.
However, in reality, I'm #4. Also, I need to keep healthy snacks around because I don't cope well with hunger - by the time I get hungry, my blood sugar has dropped pretty low, and I'm usually STARVING in about 5 minutes. Sometimes by the time I get a break at work, it's hard to make good choices.
Weight Loss and Hunger
