FWIW I too agree that learning to tolerate hunger without giving in to instant gratification is good, and have in effect said that in the past. But that does not mean that those of us who say *while eating healthfully* that we are not hungry, are lying or deceiving ourselves. I eat three meals a day with sometimes a healthful snack in between, and it is VERY rare that I actually get hungry. And I am not going to lie and say I AM in order for others to think I am somehow more socially acceptable LOL

I also think one of the reasons that many people feel so hungry all of the time, is that over the centuries we've drastically changed the volume of food we eat.... eating more and more calories in smaller, and smaller portions, and we're moving less and less.

Wild foods (what we would have eaten before agriculture was developed) are not calorie-dense. You have to eat a lot of food to meet your calorie needs for the day (and you have to burn a lot of calories in the process of acquiring those calories, whether by hunting or gathering).

When humans started growing our own food, we started breeding in more sugar and starch, and breeding out fiber. Which changed the calorie density of the food.

Since fiber is a carbohydrate that humans can't digest, we had to eat a large volume of wild foods to get enough calories to survive. Our bodies are still built for wild foods, but we're feeding ourselves with foods that aren't remotely like wild foods (even on a purely whole or paleo diet, we can't easily duplicate a truly paleo diet, because our modern fruits and veggies, and even meats are unlike those we would have eaten duirng early human history).

Part of the reason folks are so hungry on SAD (the standard American diet) is because we're not eating ENOUGH (in volume) and are eating TOO MUCH (in calories).

This may be urban legend, but it's said that the FDA decided on recommending 5 servings of fruits and veggies not because research indicated that was best (the research it said, found that eating 10 or more servings was ideal) but because most people weren't even eating 5, so they felt recommending 10 would be considered ridiculous.

If we ate more wholesome food, we would be eating a much higher volume of food. You can eat a truckload of greens for the calories of a few M&M's (or even a small handful of grapes), and yet we act like the person eating M&Ms shouldn't experience any more hunger than the person eating freggies (fresh fruits and veggies).

We wouldn't have to be so darned hungry, if we ate the foods we were designed to eat (and even that's an overgeneralization, because not everyone experiences more hunger on low-volume diets. Some people seem to have calorie-driven hunger and others volume-drive hunger, and still others carb-driven hunger. And then there's nutrient-driven hunger).

Researchers have even identified some of the genes associated with the different types of hunger.

Other research suggests that we're getting hungrier, because we're breeding the nutrients out of our food (in part, because of depleted soil because of the way we grow food and because we're not eating the most nutritious food available).

I don't think hunger is the most salient issue for most people. I don't even think that grazing (eating all day, whether or not strong hunger is present) is the problem.


On one hand our portions are getting bigger (because our appetites are getting bigger), but I think it's largely because there isn't as much food in our food as there used to be (even the "whole" foods aren't as nutritious as they were only 100 years ago), and because of the insulin response. For many people (some argue for most) the more calorie-dense foods one eats, the hungrier one gets (that's been my experience).

I think it's important to acknowledge that weight loss isn't the same for everyone. Some people will have to learn to endure hunger to lose weight. Others will have to learn to manipulate the hunger to lose weight, and for some people hunger isn't hte issue at all, it's what they're eating (or not eating) and the exercise/activity they're doing (or not doing).

Until we truly realize that obesity, overweight, and hunger aren't the same for everyone, researchers will continue to look for the "best" weight loss method instead of trying to identify the best weight loss method for the individual. We have to stop assuming that all weight loss is the same.

Not everyone is fat because of inappropriate response to hunger. Nor is the appropriate response to hunger universal. For some people tolerating the hunger may be necessary (especially if they're not willing to eat a less calorie-dense diet by eating MORE freggies), and for others the solution EATING MORE, but eating more wholesome calorie-dilute foods.

For most of our history we've bred foods to prevent starvation, creating more and more calorie-dense foods (without the pesky fiber that fills us up). We've done an excellent job of preventing starvation in our country (and the industrialized world), but we're not changing gears now that we're experiencing the reverse problem. We're not reverse-engineering our foods to prevent obesity.

We can reverse-engineer our diets though, and eat a grater volume of less calorie-dense foods.

There's no virtue in being hungry if the hunger could be prevented by eating more nutritious, less calorie-dense food.

That's a great point, kaplods. Putting butter, cheese and oil on everything tacks on tons of calories but you don't necessarily feel any fuller than you would without it.

This is true for me as well. I haven't really had the experience kaplods has with overwhelming maybe-hormone related hunger, except on rare occasions that I can really quantify. I get hungry when its time to eat right now. I tolerate it for a while before I eat, because I like to eat my primary meals later in the day than most people. It is routine for me to eat dinner at 7 or 8 p.m., and this is ideal for me because late evening is a tough snack time for me. By eating later, I'm never hungry before I go to bed.

Am also doing the "eating a truckload of veggies" thing. I definitely feel more satisfied now, and am better able to tolerate hunger for a longer period. Obviously, everyone has a different NORMAL, but for me satiation is important when I am eating healthfully. I do not feel happy or satisfied if I am not satiated after a meal, and am much more likely to go off course if I don't get that feeling, so I manage that by adding veggies to both lunch and dinner, and eating dinner in courses - with plenty of veggies as the first 'course'.

So, no. I'm not wandering around hungry all the time, and I don't go to bed hungry. But I do get hungry and am okay with that, as long as I have a solid plan before I get ravenous.