"I Am Starving"..... "I Am Always Hungry"

One of the most commonly asked questions that we get asked from Tip Of The Day subscribers is about hunger.

It doesn't matter whether you've been restricting yourself on a diet, or not even watching what you eat at all, there are times that you suddenly feel so hungry you don't even know how it hit you. 

Often you find yourself in a situation where you didn't eat a proper breakfast, or you went too late until lunch came around and the hunger hits you like a ton of bricks.  You feel like you could eat a house and if someone put a large pizza in front of you at that exact moment, you could probably scarf down 3/4 of it, maybe almost the whole thing. 

What's interesting is that Dr. Fuhrman, in his book Eat for Health, says that actual hunger is felt in your throat.  Symptoms include salivating and light interest. Actual "hunger" is when your body is ready for more nutrients.

Often that "starving" feeling are withdrawal symptoms from the caffeine, sugar or other "nutrient-poor" foods you consume. These feeling that we confuse for "real hunger" are usually felt in the stomach as growling, light headedness, little dizzy, the general sensations we feel when we say we are hungry. 

But at the time when you're "starving", the logic behind what's really going on doesn't matter. You just want food and you want it now.

When you get to this point, how do you satiate yourself without destroying all of your efforts towards your weight loss for the week?

Here are a few tips:

1.  Keep one of your favorite snacks in your purse or in your desk at all
times. 

That doesn't mean healthy if you don't like the taste.  If you throw an apple in your purse but you don't particularly love apples, when that overwhelm comes on, you will not eat that apple.  You will think you are
starving and way too "hungry" for that apple to even begin to have an effect.  You'll head to your nearest "favorite food" place that will satisfy the hunger.

Pick a snack that you really love the taste of:  maybe it's a fruit/nut power bar - maybe a banana or maybe something else.  Pick a snack that works for you, that you really like, and next time the starving feeling
comes on you'll have something right there, and once you've eaten it, the binge feeling has come and gone.

2.  Check if that hunger feeling really means you're thirsty

Most of the time when you feel hungry, you are dehydrated.  Get a large glass of water full of ice with Fresh squeezed lemon and see how you feel afterwards.

3.  If you didn't put your favorite snack in your purse?

Instead of using the starving excuse as a chance to stop at Starbucks for a large muffin, croissant and moccachino, go find your favorite snack immediately!!  Think of what you would have put in your desk or purse and simply go purchase that to eat now.

4. What if you give in anyway?

Lastly, if you are starving and you do head to the nearest pizza place and scarf down 4 times as much as you usually do, don't make it the end of the world.  Don't use that incident as the reason for saying, well, I messed up, might as well have pasta and that hot fudge sundae I've been craving as well. 

Don't stack it with all the other things you were disappointed with in yourself that day.  You were "starving", you ate a lot, and that's all it is. Commit to making just the next meal, just one meal one that follows your regimen and makes you have energy and feel great and don't look back.

Comments

[Gayle]

I have stopped beating myself up, but still eat inappropriately sometimes. The water helps, and distractions. Haven't found the lower calorie snack to help much, yet will continue to find it! The small Larabars with a glass of water works better than most. I just can't carry more than one bar at a time.

[Jessica]

I was told by a doctor and two nutritionists that when your stomach is empty it releases a hormone that makes the growling noise, thus alerting you to the need to have something to eat if you've already missed the early warning signs of salivation, etc. This sounds much different from what you're writing here, that the growling sound is a withdrawal symptom from eating foods that are not good for you? Am I reading that correctly? If I am reading it correctly, could you provide any other studies or information on this topic besides what is in Dr. Fuhrman's book? I have been taking the dizziness, growling, and lightheadedness as a sign that I have missed the earlier signals(or ignored them) and need to eat, as per the advice I have received from professionals. I generally only get these signs when it has been quite some time since I have eaten last, doesn't seem to matter what the last food eaten was. That was my only question, the article has useful and fantastic tips as usual. Keep up the great work!

[Renee]

It's difficult getting into this habit of eating snacks (however healthy) between meals, especially when you feel a stigma around food when you need to lose weight.

[Angie]

This really hits home. I just started eating the large quantities of fruits and vegetables before my meals as Fuhrman suggests. And I feel so much fuller and hungry less often. But sometimes I've noticed that I feel hungry and full at the same time. After reading this article I'm realizing that at these times I'm physically full, but mentally I'm feeling hungry for something that will meet my emotional needs. The first step is knowing the difference!

[Mary B]

Good real advice finaly.Snacking and I like to call it cupboard diving are my down fall. I now try and do talk my self out of it. We know what we are doing and we will be upset after words. So I tell my self Idont need it or make the right choice . For life.good luck , total weight loss so far 48lbs,26 in the last year.
Mary B

[Miss M]

Nobody said to eat a light snack after going hours without food!! Eat 3 or 4 pieces of fruit. Eat a HUGE green salad. Feed your hunger, but with nutrient dense food, not junk!

[Laura Reinhard]

I don't get it. Is "food withdrawl" supposed to be lighter than real hunger? When I don't eat for 24 hours or more, I actually stop being hungry. Now, I eat almost exclusively healthy, nutrient-dense foods and I don't think that when I feel starving, often after an intense multi-hour workout or after too many hours without food, that I just need a light snack. Can you please clarify your article?

[Elaine]

This is the greatest advice I've ever recieved as someone who struggles with food addiction. Thank you.

[Laurie McClain]

These are great suggestions! I'm reading my first Dr. Fuhrman book right now and just love it and him. He makes more sense than just about anyone else I've read, but then he advocates the most natural, unprocessed diet of anyone else I've read, which is also rather stringent and difficult to manage in this world. Still, I'm going to try to incorporate a lot of this stuff into my own regimine, over time. I've already lost 65 lbs. so I know I've been on the right track. But I also want good health, not just weight loss, and that means eating more complex, natural carbs and less processed food and animal protein.