I know this sounds like it should be really, really easy but . . .
Due to quite a long history of yo-yo dieting and binge eating, I’ve sort of screwed up my internal “legitimately time to eat due to hunger” clock. So I’ve been trying to rate my hunger throughout the day on like a 1-6 scale, 1 being starving and 6 being Thanksgiving stuffed.
What I’ve found is that I feel like get hungry really, really quickly. For example, this morning at 9 I had .5 cup oatmeal and 2 scoops of protein powder (400 cals altogether). Around 11:30 I started to feel peckish, and I was like, “this is ridiculous. I’m going to wait till I hear audible stomach rumbles. That is a legitimate sign of hunger.” That happened around 12:30, when I ate. I had a small handful of walnuts, a banana, and some leftover soup, and at 12:45 I still feel kind of hungry, but no rumbles.
Shouldn’t that amount of food last me longer? Just because I’m getting rumbles, could that be food digestion or something?
Does anyone have an objective meter for knowing you’re hungry?
Thanks for helping me rediscover skills an infant has.
For me, it’s when I start thinking about food. If I’m unsure if I’m really hungry, I do something that distracts me - get into work, read a book, whatever - for 20 minutes or so. If I’m still thinking about food in 20 minutes, I’m hungry.
If I think it’s just one food calling to me (like that one leftover donut…) I picture myself eating something healthy. If that immediately sounds good as well, then I’m hungry. If nothing but the donut sounds good, then it’s just my sweet tooth talking.
Usually I can just tell. During the times when I count, I assess my last meal. If it’s been 4+ hours and my last meal wasn’t a complete pig-out feast, I’ll eat a small meal and see how I feel. I’m right about 90% of the time.
If you are waiting until your system empties out completely of course some soup and a banana is not going to be enough! I’m discovering the importance of having tasty, healthy snacks available at all times because if I let myself get really hungry I will eat a full day’s worth of calories in a single meal. And the snacks have to be tasty. If I bring something that I’m lukewarm about eating the drugstore next door sells cookies and I will buy some instead of eating my non-tasty snack. I need to look at it and say, “Ooh, orange!” instead of “Eew, salt-free pretzels” or I will snack on Oreos.
I had a similar history of binging, fasting, and yo-yo dieting. I finally told myself that for a year I was going to eat exactly what I wanted when I wanted.
It took me about seven months to get to the point when I only thought about food and eating when I was hungry. I got in the habit of drinking a glass of water everytime I used the bathroom to make sure I was well hydrated. But today I will not even drink a cup of tea without asking myself “Do I really want this?”
There’s your answer: put yourself on a schedule. If you think you’re hungry but you just ate an hour ago, you’re not really hungry and you don’t need food. Get a big drink of water instead. Eat a small healthy snack in the middle of the afternoon, and then don’t eat again until dinner. Track your calories and you’ll know if you’re eating the proper amount. There are lots of resources to help you do this. Good luck!
Waiting until you’re nauseous with hunger or feel physical pain from hunger, like a headache, is not exactly a healthy approach, IMHO. Would you wait to drink water until you felt dizzy from dehydration?
One approach to eat is to “graze” by eating small amounts 6-8 times throughout the day. Eat every time you feel any hunger, just don’t eat much. Eat as soon as you feel hungry. And your snacks should be filling, low-glycemic options like high fiber veggies, small quantities of protein, or an ounce of cheese (approx 1 string cheese).
My daughter will eat until she throws up if it is something she likes and it is available. So, now, when she asks for seconds (after a reasonable portion size) I offer her an apple. If she rejects the apple, then she wasn’t really hungry, just wanted to eat more of the tasty food. If she takes the apple, great, she has an additional serving of healthy fruit for the day.
So, I thought to myself, let’s do the same thing to myself. Now if I feel hungry, I ‘offer myself’ a yogurt (apples hurt my stomach). If I am hungry enough for that, chances are I am actually hungry.
However, on the flip side, if I am busy at work, the way I know I am hungry is by feeling a little dizzy and nauseated. Don’t do that.
My sister has a system that works for her. She sets a timer after she eats to three hours. When it goes off, she has a snack or small meal and resets the timer. She is rarely hungry but doesn’t overeat.
Seconding this. I’m on a diet (the No S Diet) that bypasses this issue altogether. Most days, you eat only at meal times. I’m like the OP- I see, smell, or think about food, and it makes me feel hungry.
I’m glad you started this thread, and I’m interested to see everyone’s replies. Last December, I went through a period for a couple weeks where I would eat not allow myself to eat until my stomach rumbled. What this did was introduce me to the different phases of hunger. First you’re feeling fine, then you start daydreaming about food, then you start to feel a little restless, then your energy starts to dip and you feel a little light-headed, then your head starts to hurt, but a weird, mild sort of pain, and by the time your stomach rumbles you’re desperate to hear that sound so you have your body’s permission to eat. This sounds horrible, but hear me out. If you do this, even just for two or three days, and really pay attention to how your body feels, you will acquaint yourself with your own body’s way of teaching you that you’re hungry, and you will recognize what physical point is a good point for you to stop and re-fuel.
I also get the impression that some people simply handle hunger better than other people. My boyfriend’s stomach will rumble as he’s doing his homework, and rather than stop to eat, he will let it continue to rumble for another 45 minutes until he reaches a good stopping point. By the time my stomach rumbles, I can’t concentrate on anything but eating.
I only listen to my stomach these days. It gives me a pang or starts to make noise long before I start to feel poorly from lack of food (light-headedness, lack of energy, grumpiness, etc).
If I was eating what you describe, I would also be getting getting hungry every couple hours. 400 calories is a tiny meal and won’t hold most people for very long, even if it contains protein, fat, and complex carbs.
I feel my best with lighter intake earlier in the day and a late large lunch, and large dinner. YMMV. I used to be a grazer (although that was when I had a very different diet).
Yes my main concern would be number of calories per day, 400 for a meal sounds low.
As in of course you’re going to be hungry if you’re eating less than your body requires to maintain its current weight. If you’re eating too much less, you’re going to end up being counter productive.
Schedules and reasonable eating levels to lose weight are my vote too.
Am I the only one who’s stomach doesn’t rumble or make noises?
I also use water – if something sounds really delicious but I’m not sure if I’m actually hungry, I drink some water. If it doesn’t feel good when it hits my stomach, I’m not hungry. (If my stomach is totally empty, it also hurts, but in a different way.)