I've been fighting with what I like to think of as "mental hunger" for the last few days. Logically, I know I'm not hungry. I just finished dinner. Physically, I am satisfied... but I want to keep eating.

Thankfully I seem to have enough of a grip on it that even though it's there, I'm ignoring it by telling myself that I'm not actually hungry. A month ago this would have led to me polishing off an entire container of hummus. The fact that I haven't let this turn into a binge is progress, right?

Anyway, I just felt the need to put that out there. I'm sure this is something many people can relate to. Writing it out helps me convince my brain that I'm not actually hungry!

I do it too. I see something and even tho I have just eaten my mind says "im hungry" and wanders to that item. Even tho I know I am full. It is sooo hard. LOL

Yep - Do you know what you're really hungry for? My hunger has been stressed related recently. Or boredom. Sunday evenings are really hard for me. Having too much time on my hands is hard for me

The fact that it hasn't turned into a binge is DEFINITELY progress.

I'm having a hungry day today. I made a salad for lunch, finished it, was still hungry so I got a small portion of fried chicken (not the healthiest choice but a better option than the available alternative - rice balls or french fries or sugary bread) and finished that, and I still feel hungry. I have drunk a lot of water and tea all day so there's no rational reason why I should still be hungry when I'm 1100 calories into my day at 1:30 pm. Just gonna stick it out until I leave work and hope after my run I'm not hungry at all.

Not binging is a big stepping stone on the road to success! I think we can all relate to the problem of "mental" hunger.

Mental hunger really gets to me, too. Usually it's because I'm stressed or bored or tired. Whenever I feel like scavenging for food because I think I am still hungry (even after eating a full meal), I drink water and literally tell myself, "You are not going to die." I mean, I've just eaten a meal and my body now has the fuel it needs to keep running. If I don't eat that bar of chocolate I am not going to die from starvation because I actually just ate. Works every time, even though sometimes I get mad that it works because I do really just want to eat the chocolate.

Thank you! Thank you so much for posting this! I haven't had a mental hunger in a while, it really gets better with time. But today, omg, I was hungry at 1 and could not have lunch until 2, its 3 o'clock now and i am still hungry. I know it is mental hunger because i did not eat when i my body wanted me to. But no, I am not going to eat now because then i will be stuffed and feel really bad about myself so i am doing the right thing! Well done for your progress! Keep it up, it really does get better as time goes on!

I have this mental hunger thing a lot, in fact I have it most of the time. I just came off of a 3 month binge and during that time I did try sometimes to eat healthy balanced meals but soon after I would eat I would derail because I still felt hungry. And I mean I had stomach growls & hunger pains just as if I had not had anything to eat at all. I guess my body got so used to me stuffing myself every time I ate, it expected me to continue to stuff.

I've been trying to not binge since Monday. I've done well at not binging but not at making the healthiest choices. I know I'm very mentally, physically and emotionally sick from my food addiction & binge disorder but I don't know what to do about it.

Right now, I am sick with the flu, and the usual stimulus that I have from working out, taking my evening class and doing the rest of my daily activities keeps me so busy that I can forget about food for hours on end. However, now that I am sick,but not so sick that I am only in bed, I feel that mental hunger. It is hunger for stimulation of any kind and since food is usually readily available that becomes the temptation. I know that I am not physically hungry just stimulus-deprived.

Thank you for bringing this topic up. It is a very real challenge to all of us who want and need to lose the extra weight. It is also an obstacle that can make it more difficult for us as well.