I haven't tried this, but on some of the weight loss blogs of successful folks, they recommend going one day without eating. Just one. This will let you feel what REAL HUNGER is and help you differentiate from WANTING to eat versus really being hungry.
There were times when I began (less now) where I WANT to eat something...but I'm not hungry.I really used to think it was hunger and eat and thus eat too much.
I haven't tried this, but on some of the weight loss blogs of successful folks, they recommend going one day without eating. Just one. This will let you feel what REAL HUNGER is and help you differentiate from WANTING to eat versus really being hungry.
There were times when I began (less now) where I WANT to eat something...but I'm not hungry.I really used to think it was hunger and eat and thus eat too much.
This is a good idea. Years ago, I tried intuitive eating, and I remember that I was worried when starting because I really had no idea what it felt like to be really hungry. It had been so long since I had allowed myself to get hungry. On that first day, I started thinking more about food around 10 a.m., and started hearing and feeling my stomach growl around 11 a.m.
I wasn't able to stick with intuitive eating, but it did help me to tune into what hunger feels like. Now, I'm much more in tune to the difference between wanting to eat something and being really hungry. (One big difference is that when I'm really hungry, I can immediately identify what I want to eat).
While I think we do have to become more comfortable with hunger, constant hunger and preoccupation with food can be a sign that you either aren't eating enough or aren't eating enough of the macro-nutrients that satisfy you. A good example of that is a low-fat diet; people who've gone on them (including me) can recall feeling constantly hungry despite eating heaps of rice cakes and salad with fat-free dressing.
When I started, I looked at hunger as something to avoid at all costs. Now I see it as what nature intended it to be: a sign that I should start thinking about and preparing my next meal. Sometimes I put that meal off for a little while because I'm out doing stuff or am otherwise occupied; other times I eat and assuage hunger sooner.
The important thing is that I've learned who is the master here: it's me. Hunger doesn't have me, I have it. I don't have to satisfy it immediately. I won't die if I choose to wait longer to eat. The food won't disappear. I used to dread feeling hunger; now I see it as the natural cue to eat that it is.
When that natural cue becomes unnatural--when I think I'm hungry within an hour after eating, for example--I know I've eaten too much "more-ish" food, which for me are certain carbohydrate-rich things. Those trigger a false hunger in me, a desire to eat even when I'm not physically hungry. For other people, chocolate or sweets or fatty deep-fried foods are the ones that provoke that mind-hunger. Simple solution: avoid trigger foods or eat them only in special circumstances.
Listen to your hunger. Use it as a tool to help you plan when you eat. Think of occasional genuine hunger as a sign that you're doing something right--you've gotten so busy with other stuff that you aren't thinking about food until your body tells you it wants some. That's an awesome thing! And if you feel hunger--real hunger--all the time, use that as a reason to call your plan under close scrutiny, because you might not have found a right one for you yet.
Think of it this way: if you drink a lot of water and feel the need to pee shortly thereafter, that's normal. If you were to feel the need to pee constantly regardless of what you drank, something would be out of whack and you'd want to find out what it is. Hunger's the same way. Feeling hungry before meals is normal, but constant hunger on a plan is a sign that the plan needs changing.
If I don't constantly and actively watch myself I will eat at every and any sign or hunger (probably thirst too) real or not. I think I developed this disordered behaviour through many years of over eating.
I started IF coming up to a year ago and at first it was really hard to ignore the hunger. It wasn't even hunger pains it was just a very rumbly stomach and it was hard to ignore the habit of reacting to even the slightest sign of hunger, I could even make myself hungry on cue looking or smelling certain foods, like a food obsession.
I recently had an unintentional break from IF and even though I eat around 1800-2000 calories (coming from 1200 so it really is a lot of food) I found myself actually going over!
So to answer the question, yes I have gotten used to being hungry sometimes. I am never hungry for long and if it's ever intense I will eat something but this usually coincides with my meal times. I don't think it would have been possible for me to lose the weight I have lost without some level of hunger being involved.
Last edited by supergir111; 07-24-2011 at 03:58 AM.
I get agitated and distracted when I'm hungry, but I read somewhere that 'naturally thin' people know that a little hunger won't kill, so i try to adopt that thought. It helps to drink water and distract yourself with another activity.
I get agitated and distracted when I'm hungry, but I read somewhere that 'naturally thin' people know that a little hunger won't kill, so i try to adopt that thought. It helps to drink water and distract yourself with another activity.
My husband, who has never been overweight, has always had that reaction to hunger. He always says, "Hunger is just a feeling" and shrugs it off. He can eat a roll and butter for breakfast and actually forget to eat lunch. He does not snack AT ALL. However, he is a smoker who drinks coffee all day, so that probably helps with the urge to eat.
If I feel hungry, I tend to drink some water because sometimes it might be because I'm dehydrated. Most of the time it actually works.
But if I'm so super hungry that I'm actually starting to feel sick I'll eat something. I have that reaction to needing food - sickness, tiredness and dizziness. It's awful! I'm quite regimented with the times I eat and my body is used to it, so I don't have to fight hunger that often, just the cravings!
Last edited by Riestrella; 07-24-2011 at 09:49 AM.
I've definitely gotten more used to feeling hungry. The only time I am really bothered by hunger now is when I'm so hungry that I start to feel pain or nausea, or start to feel sleepy for no good reason. Obviously at that point I've waited too long, lol. Bad habit sometimes when I get busy, I just forget - which, IMO, is a good sign. Being able to forget about food because it's just not as important as the other things I'm doing is a huge step in the right direction.
I've also learned how much food my body actually wants depending on the hunger I feel. For example, yesterday, before bed, I was feeling peckish. I had only eaten about two and a half hours earlier, but I tried water and realized I wasn't just thirsty. So I grabbed 6 grape tomatoes and 1/16 of a cup of sunflower seeds. I was perfectly full again. A couple months ago I would have done something silly like get fast food or make a big old sandwich.
So yes, definitely get used to it and figuring out what your body needs.
First, be sure to drink lots of water. A lot of times, people mistake thirst for hunger.
If you were eating under 1500 calories, I might say you need to up your intake. But if you're eating 2000, that's probably more than enough. My guess is, you're not hungry, so much as used to eating. I was the same way. I would freak out if I didn't eat a lot at night, because I thought I was hungry. I wasn't, just in the habit.
Stick with your diet for a month, and if you're still hungry after that, something else is going on.
