Everyday Systems

does anyone else have an irrational fear of hunger?

one of the hard parts of No-s for me has been the looming fear 'but what if i get hungry!?'
A full plate of food is a lot for me in one meal, but i usually eat past when i'm full b/c of this fear.

I have no financial or geographical reasons why i should EVER worry about being hungry. Living in New york city is like living in a mall or food court - the options are everywhere!

If i could get over this, i might be able to stop eating past the point when i'm full, and this is something i'd like to achieve in the long run.

Yes, this is exactly how I feel. I fear and hate that animal-like hunger that nothing can satiate. Fortunately, I have only felt it a few times on No S.

Blamey wrote:one of the hard parts of No-s for me has been the looming fear 'but what if i get hungry!?'
A full plate of food is a lot for me in one meal, but i usually eat past when i'm full b/c of this fear.

What's the worst thing that can happen if you get hungry? Actually, being hungry is a less uncomfortable feeling that being stuffed!

you're right, you're right ... and thats what i try to remind myself.

Blamey, has it actually happened? Getting hungry, I mean. I assume you are talking about getting hungry before it's time to have your next meal? The terrible hunger may have happened to you often in the past because you ate a lot of sweet stuff that zoomed up your blood sugar and then dropped dramatically. If the meals you are eating contain protein and unrefined carbs your blood sugar levels shouldn't take alarming nosedives where you feel hungry enough to gnaw off your arm. I speak from wry experience I reckon that pretty soon you'll know how much on your plate will keep you going and you can adjust to it. Meanwhile, calm your fear by knowing that no-one is going to shoot you if you bring the next meal forward half an hour or so.

Shirls, I just realized something while reading your post. I used to get the "shakes" so bad about two hours before a meal and since going on the No S plan a month ago...........NO MORE SHAKES! It has to be the fact that I am NOT eating the sugary stuff anymore! Who'da thunk!
Yes, I have had a few times when I get hungry really early in the morning before lunch time but when I look back on my breakfast....it was either really early or not enough protein. And as long as I keep myself busy, the hunger does subside. But what a difference to be able to say...........I'm HUNGRY!!! And I also agree with wosnes that I prefer the hungry feeling over the stuffed feeling. Once your body and mind gets used to the fact that you are eating three square meals a day, it seems as tho the hunger subsides and it isn't the big problem it is when you first start this program. Most of us come into this after having grazed for weeks/months/whatever and we have a lot to get used to so we need to be gentle with ourselves. At least that is what I found.
But hang in there........it will get better!!!

I too seem to be eating a whole lot at my meals.....not sure why, I guess because I always ate snacks between meals to keep me from getting too hungry and I think I have some sort of fear I will get too hungry and it doesn't really make sense because I do get hungry every evening and I get through it just fine. I am starting my next 21 days on Monday and I am going to work on putting less food on my plate and making wiser choices and even going hungry between meals. I know this is what I will have to to do "shrink" my stomache back down to what it was at one time. I remember when I was young I would get full on 1/2 sandwich and bowl of soup and as I ate more it took more to fill me up. So that is what I will work on next week. I do love the freedom of being free thinking about food all day long. Rex

If you get really hungry before it's mealtime, you can always drink a glass of milk. It will help tide you over, and gives you an option so you don't have to fear hunger. And, for me anyway, once I bit the bullet and experienced it a few times, I realized it wasn't going to kill me (I was sure it was!), and that my fear was much worse than the reality.

Have a great day!

Well one good thing is that if you keep up Nos the hunger should diminish. It has for me. I am trying to concentrate on eating a smaller lunch as opposed to the takeout I was getting every day, and today I only had a yogurt with blueberry preserves in it. I would never have lasted 6 plus hours on that a few months ago but now it doesn't really bother me. So I do think it will come.

OMG! I used to get the shakes too! HORRIBLY! Not anymore though! I was certain I was pre-diabetic or something horrible.

A fear of hunger...I wonder where that comes from? Ya know, for me I seriously think it started when the diet industry started teaching about that horrible "starvation mode" and this fear that not eating quickly enough would somehow sabatoge all my weight loss efforts. I tried the "Weigh Down Diet" which only made it worse (teaches that when you're hungry, you must obey and eat ASAP).

The thing I've learned while No S-ing is that if you get hungry...so what? It actually goes away after a while and then happily returns as soon as I smell dinner cooking.

I started off eating big meals too, but the amazing thing is that now I'm finding that I feel just fine eating smaller meals. It just keeps getting easier and easier.

Amyliz:

I think you've gotten some great responses here. My two cents would be to just try it a couple times. Choose a couple days next week when you are pretty sure your stress level will be low and then at meals just eat what feels right for then. Tell yourself you are going to stop when you've had enough and not worry about the hunger. Then pay attention to your hunger between the meals. Do this an an experiment. Even if you do get ravenously hungry (which I really doubt you will), the most it will probably be is a couple hours before your next meal. You should be able to stand it for a couple hours. Usually our fear over an event is far worse than the actual event.

If you have been on many restrictive diets in the past, your fear of hunger might stem from them. I know that during my restricting phase I would get so hungry and count the hours until I was "allowed" to eat again. I would eat every crumb of my aportioned meals and then lick the plate to get the rest.

I read about about people placed on a starvation diet and realized that I was behaving exactly like they were. Your mind and body don't soon forget the experience of hunger whether it is from real lack of food or self imposed starvation.

My suggestion would be to gradually cut down the portions you eat at meals (If you believe they are too large) and see how your body responds. If you are giving yourself the nutritious food your body needs then you may find that those old experiences of hunger will slowly fade away.

-Jane

I think my fear of hunger came about because of a couple of factors....the first being the fact that as a baby my formula wasn't "right" and I constantly cried until the doctor changed the formula. I would drink 8 full ounces and still be hungry and when he changed the formula my mom said the whole apt. building was waiting with baited breath to see what would happen. She said I drank 3 oz. and went to sleep! I had a nutritionist (one of my many attempts to lose weight) tell me that it definitely could have had an effect on my overeating. Also, as TraderJane said, all of the restrictive diet plans I have been on probably triggered the not wanting to be hungry mindset...which turned into a fear of being hungry. I can remember when on weight watchers in the 80's, some of the recipes were huge portions and those were the ones I always made. So therefore, I knew I wouldn't have to face the "hunger"! And when I wasn't on a diet (which wasn't often! ), I always made sure I had a stash someplace!!!
What a relief it is to be on this sensible way of eating for the rest of my life. And I am learning, as I said before in one of my posts, that it IS OKAY to experience hunger pangs. I will NOT keel over because my stomach is growling!!! Just so it doesn't do it in a room full of people!

The thing I've learned while No S-ing is that if you get hungry...so what? It actually goes away after a while and then happily returns as soon as I smell dinner cooking.

Angelka71, I have learned this as well. In fact, I think I am actually taking No S one meal at a time. I simply don't look much further down the road than my next meal. I think that helps because eating three meals a day one is never THAT far away! for me that helps keep hunger manageable.

Blueskighs.

Thanks for all the great responses
Shirls - I hadn't thought about it until you pointed it out, but no, i have not been crazy hungry in many weeks. Looking back, i know i consumed A LOT of sugar, and it makes sense that is where some of the hunger came from.

my 'fear' of hunger is definitely getting better since No-s. I think my relationship with hunger is tricky b/c of the eating disorder I had years ago. When you're borderline anorexic, being hungry is the goal. I haven't felt that way in years, and i guess i worry that I'll go back the other way . . . meanwhile, the beauty of No-s is that eating 3 meals a day makes it hard to over eat and under eat!

Blamey wrote:does anyone else have an irrational fear of hunger?

It's taken me awhile to reply to this because I was trying to sort some things out in my mind.

The simple answer is "yes", I do. I'm trying to retrain my mind about it. I do perspective exercises.

I was reared Southern Baptist and our missionary groups had this thing we did to try to teach what it was like when there genuinely wasn't enough food. We'd fast for most of the day and at the end of the day have a bowl of brown rice so we wouldn't have to go to bed hungry.

It's a profound lesson, though it did not sink in nearly as strongly as it should have with me!

Eating lots of carbs, especially the highly processed ones, can send me into a feeding frenzy. I know that when I eat a "balanced plate" with not more than 1/4 of my plate containing carbs, that I'll be ok until my next meal.

My two cents worth.