Hunger is when you "refuel" to keep your body metabolism balanced, to keep your body fit, to keep your sleep pattern consistent, and to keep you brain in good health.
I know I’m truly hungry when I get hangry. The timing of trying to eat properly doesn’t alway match with the availability of food I need to eat. I’m learning to pack food when I leave my home to ensure I don’t get hangry.
Now that I’m part of the challenge, I’m putting a bigger emphasis on intermittent fasting and eating when I truly feel hungry. In the past I ate when it was “time” to eat, and I may or may not have been hungry. I also ate when I was bored or stressed. Now I’m making a concerted effort to notice if I’m hungry and seeing if I can push it a little longer, and I’m eating much slower and enjoying the meal.
I'll add something a little off the wall...I struggled for years with yeast overgrowth, working with a nutritionist I got off all sugar (I'm allergic anyway); she explained how those microorganisms feed off sugar, can stay dormant in your system for years, and that they can cause those sugar cravings. With that picture in my head (organisms controlling me) I was able to stop all sugar. I have felt the difference between thinking I am hungry and really needing fuel. And thank you, thinking about these questions is helping me to get back on track.
# 10 for me. I go all day doing intermittent fasting. Typically I am not hungry for dinner but become very hungry after I start eating. Seems then to be once I start eating I’m on a binge of sorts. ‘Reflecting’ on why I have this dynamic.
Broadly speaking, I eat because I have goals. I eat to ensure good sleep, I eat to maintain and maybe even gain some muscle, I eat to fuel my activity level, and I eat because I am hungry. But those first three aren’t always reliant on hunger.
Sometimes I’m not hungry, but it’s eating a meal is in line with my goal of getting good sleep: an early eating window (breakfast and late lunch) helps me sleep better than if I eat late. So whether I’m hungry or not, I’m eating breakfast. I’m also a menopausal woman, and I can’t afford the potential muscle loss that comes with fasting all morning. I want to hit my leucine threshold early, stimulate MPS. So, hungry or not, breakfast. Protein heavy.
Stress eating is can be a pretty big hurdle for me, though I am often successful at talking myself out of it. Funny enough, stress eating happens on days I didn’t sleep well…which usually come after I have dinner too late. The snowball is very obvious in my life. I know that if I eat after 7pm I sleep poorly. So if I ate at 7am and it’s now 3pm, I’ll almost certainly eat a meal, even if I’m not all that hungry. I often find that the food is refreshingly enjoyable in these cases, which tells me that even if I wasn’t aware of needing fuel, my body appreciates it.
I rarely eat because others around me are eating, or because it’s there, because I am honestly not often in situations where there's temptation sufficient to beat out my other personal reasons for refraining. If I have cravings, I can usually identify what aspect of that it is that I really need (like if I want chips, chances are good that an electrolyte drink will do the trick because it's the salt I really need). BUT, this wasn’t always the case and it’s taken a lot of time and work to get here.
I eat because I’m hungry or not, sometimes out of habit. I’ve eaten when stressed or emotional. I’ve also eaten when food is in front of me or when others around me are. I know that is why I weigh about 10 pounds more than I should. It can be a struggle.
I eat in order to refuel, since we need it sustain life. I also happen to enjoy it quite a bit, and find it tasty. There is a broad spectrum of what is defined as hungry/hunger.
that's one of the hardest things, isn't it. Hunger as defined by ________ what, exactly? I probably define hunger now vastly differently than I would if you'd asked me ten years ago. No one asked me ten years ago so I don't know that I even thought about it.
Hunger is when you "refuel" to keep your body metabolism balanced, to keep your body fit, to keep your sleep pattern consistent, and to keep you brain in good health.
I know I’m truly hungry when I get hangry. The timing of trying to eat properly doesn’t alway match with the availability of food I need to eat. I’m learning to pack food when I leave my home to ensure I don’t get hangry.
Now that I’m part of the challenge, I’m putting a bigger emphasis on intermittent fasting and eating when I truly feel hungry. In the past I ate when it was “time” to eat, and I may or may not have been hungry. I also ate when I was bored or stressed. Now I’m making a concerted effort to notice if I’m hungry and seeing if I can push it a little longer, and I’m eating much slower and enjoying the meal.
I'll add something a little off the wall...I struggled for years with yeast overgrowth, working with a nutritionist I got off all sugar (I'm allergic anyway); she explained how those microorganisms feed off sugar, can stay dormant in your system for years, and that they can cause those sugar cravings. With that picture in my head (organisms controlling me) I was able to stop all sugar. I have felt the difference between thinking I am hungry and really needing fuel. And thank you, thinking about these questions is helping me to get back on track.
# 10 for me. I go all day doing intermittent fasting. Typically I am not hungry for dinner but become very hungry after I start eating. Seems then to be once I start eating I’m on a binge of sorts. ‘Reflecting’ on why I have this dynamic.
Broadly speaking, I eat because I have goals. I eat to ensure good sleep, I eat to maintain and maybe even gain some muscle, I eat to fuel my activity level, and I eat because I am hungry. But those first three aren’t always reliant on hunger.
Sometimes I’m not hungry, but it’s eating a meal is in line with my goal of getting good sleep: an early eating window (breakfast and late lunch) helps me sleep better than if I eat late. So whether I’m hungry or not, I’m eating breakfast. I’m also a menopausal woman, and I can’t afford the potential muscle loss that comes with fasting all morning. I want to hit my leucine threshold early, stimulate MPS. So, hungry or not, breakfast. Protein heavy.
Stress eating is can be a pretty big hurdle for me, though I am often successful at talking myself out of it. Funny enough, stress eating happens on days I didn’t sleep well…which usually come after I have dinner too late. The snowball is very obvious in my life. I know that if I eat after 7pm I sleep poorly. So if I ate at 7am and it’s now 3pm, I’ll almost certainly eat a meal, even if I’m not all that hungry. I often find that the food is refreshingly enjoyable in these cases, which tells me that even if I wasn’t aware of needing fuel, my body appreciates it.
I rarely eat because others around me are eating, or because it’s there, because I am honestly not often in situations where there's temptation sufficient to beat out my other personal reasons for refraining. If I have cravings, I can usually identify what aspect of that it is that I really need (like if I want chips, chances are good that an electrolyte drink will do the trick because it's the salt I really need). BUT, this wasn’t always the case and it’s taken a lot of time and work to get here.
I eat because I’m hungry or not, sometimes out of habit. I’ve eaten when stressed or emotional. I’ve also eaten when food is in front of me or when others around me are. I know that is why I weigh about 10 pounds more than I should. It can be a struggle.
I eat in order to refuel, since we need it sustain life. I also happen to enjoy it quite a bit, and find it tasty. There is a broad spectrum of what is defined as hungry/hunger.
that's one of the hardest things, isn't it. Hunger as defined by ________ what, exactly? I probably define hunger now vastly differently than I would if you'd asked me ten years ago. No one asked me ten years ago so I don't know that I even thought about it.
Most words have multiple meanings that can all be correct. This is true for “hunger”. Its definition is based on its usage.