How do you know if you're hungry?

I've been *very* hungry today, despite the fact that my calories have
been nearing 2000 all week (should be 300-400 or so above my calorie
needs? Maybe not...). Three hours after dinner, I ate a turkey burger
on one slice of sprouted-grain bread. An hour later, I ate a peanut
butter sandwich. Waited 20 minutes, still hungry. So I had 7-grain hot
cereal w/ protein and banana. Still hungry. Kashi Go-Lean with milk.
It's been a half hour and I'm still hungry! What the heck is going on?
I could eat cottage cheese or chocolate, both sound good, and I don't
even like cottage cheese that much-- is this how you guys gauge 'real'
hunger? Whether or not you would enjoy carrots sticks and cottage
cheese and other healthy, non-junk foods? When you have a day like
this, do you just go for it and eat as long as you're hungry?

Sara

On 22 Feb 2005 19:31:30 -0800, choked out these
words:

Three hours after dinner, I ate a turkey burger
on one slice of sprouted-grain bread. An hour later, I ate a peanut
butter sandwich. Waited 20 minutes, still hungry. So I had 7-grain hot
cereal w/ protein and banana. Still hungry. Kashi Go-Lean with milk.

are you on a high carb diet?

try eating something with some avocado in it, or some flaxseed
oil. both supply healthy fats, but as we all know, fat makes you
feel full. maybe you could eat a salad of baby spinach,
strawberries, a few cashews, half a chicken breast (sliced),
grated carrots, and 2 tablespoons of Briannas Lively Lemon
Tarragon dressing (which, BTW, has 35 calories per 2 tablespoons,
and no fat calories).
http://www.briannassaladdressing.com/Products.htm

i eat such a salad at least five times a week.

david

In article , Ignoramus15841
wrote:

On 22 Feb 2005 19:31:30 -0800, wrote:
I've been *very* hungry today, despite the fact that my calories have
been nearing 2000 all week

I know I'm hungry when my stomach thinks my throat has been cut!

--
Diva
*****
The Best Man For The Job Is A Woman

Ruzinthra the Ruki wrote:
On 22 Feb 2005 19:31:30 -0800, choked out these
words:

Three hours after dinner, I ate a turkey burger
on one slice of sprouted-grain bread. An hour later, I ate a peanut
butter sandwich. Waited 20 minutes, still hungry. So I had 7-grain
hot
cereal w/ protein and banana. Still hungry. Kashi Go-Lean with milk.

are you on a high carb diet?

I'm on a diet to gain a few lbs and so yeah, I'm on a high 'everything'
diet-- whole grains, protein, and moderate fat. Not that I would ever
cut carbs out of my diet; that's too extreme for me, I'm not going to
deny myself of my favorite whole-grain foods.



try eating something with some avocado in it, or some flaxseed
oil. both supply healthy fats, but as we all know, fat makes you
feel full.

I know, that's why I ate peanut butter! The cereal was a "whim" thing,
easy to prepare and good-tasting, but it does have 13g protein and 11g
fiber per serving, plus the protein in the milk. It usually satiates
me.


maybe you could eat a salad of baby spinach,
strawberries, a few cashews, half a chicken breast (sliced),
grated carrots, and 2 tablespoons of Briannas Lively Lemon
Tarragon dressing (which, BTW, has 35 calories per 2 tablespoons,
and no fat calories).
http://www.briannassaladdressing.com/Products.htm

i eat such a salad at least five times a week.

That sounds good...is there lots of sugar in the dressing? I make
salads sometimes with chicken, dried fruit, sliced almonds and feta,
with a little vinegar or olive oil. I also go to Smoothie-Hut sometimes
and get a bunch of other stuff on it for like 5 bucks, like sprouts,
mandarin oranges and apples and whatever I don't have in the house, and
then add my own chicken.

I had the same problem as you, eating at maintenance level, no
tlosing, and yet being hungry. I doubt that there is a good
explanation of that, besides lamely saying that "my body wanted to be
fatter".



It was just yesterday, a once in awhile thing, not everyday but still
annoying. I took my pill last night, though, and noticed that my TOM is
due to arrive in less than a week, so that might explain the hunger.

Ignoramus15841 wrote:
I had the same problem as you, eating at maintenance level, no
tlosing, and yet being hungry. I doubt that there is a good
explanation of that, besides lamely saying that "my body wanted to be
fatter".

But it's not lame. Your body does want you to be fatter. It will do what
it takes to get your weight back to where it was.

Ignoramus21810 wrote:

Well, what I am wondering about is, jyst what exactly is happening
that makes us hungry. How does "the body" know what weight it should
be, and how does it signal that, how come it decides to produce the
hunger hormones etc.

Mary responds: Gee, isn't that what we all wonder? If I knew, I'd be
making zillions helping people reset their "set points" after weight
loss, so they could listen to their appetites and stay stable at their
new lower weights. I'd not only be thin permanently, I'd be rich, rich,
rich. My appetite wants me to weigh 200 lb plus, so I know it tells me
filthy lies about what I should eat.

There has been lots of research done, and it gets ever more complex the
more they study it between various hormones, genes, the hypothalamus,
metabolism etc. etc.
Here is a really interesting interview with a researcher covering a lot
of ground
http://home.comcast.net/~bkrentzman/obesity/liebel.html
plus here is a blurb on some new research that mentions yet another
hormone made by the stomach that makes you hungry
http://www.psu.edu/ur/2004/ghrelin.html

And in the mean time, all I can do is try and learn from what the
people in the weight registry had in common....eating breakfast daily,
frequent weigh ins, lots of exercise, low fat diet, and interestingly,
they report lower than average intakes of 1500 calories a day. The
researchers didn't believe them on that point - they think its
underreporting. However, I know if I eat more than 1500 a day, I gain
weight, so I'm inclined to believe some of us have thriftier
metabolisms than others.

Mary G
195/135-145/135...and desperately trying to HOLD!!

The researchers didn't believe them on that point - they think its
underreporting. However, I know if I eat more than 1500 a day, I
gain weight, so I'm inclined to believe some of us have thriftier
metabolisms than others.

I am not sure what is the validity of the average calorie intake.

The average is like any other average, if you average 2500 & 1500 you get
2000, which is often quoted as the 'average' caloric requirement. I have a
page here that shows quite well how to calculate individual requirements:
http://www.polar-light.com/diet/requirements.gif

It is like average body temperature in a hospital. If I ate 1500 calories
per day, I would look like those anorexics on the photo page that I
posted recently.

I once read that, if you were to stick to 1000 cals/day forever, you'd end
up weighing 91 lbs. It would appear that it takes 1000 to maintain that
weight. Those girls were all under 90 lbs, I suppose they spend days without
eating or average around 400-500 cals/day.

2400-2500 is my maintenance level.

Another significant point is that some people seem to have 'stronger'
digestive systems. I can eat a lot, however, I don't think I could ever be
300lbs even if I deliberately wanted to (say, if there was a million dollar
reward :-)). The reason being that, after several days of eating too much,
especially very rich, fatty foods, I can get really ill, like not being able
to eat anything for 2 or 3 days, vomiting, etc., all as a result of
overcharging the system. I can't see how those super-sized people who claim
to eat a gallon of ice cream & 3 large pizzas in one night can mange it
without being sick :-(

"Ignoramus21810" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 06:27:04 -0800, Ed Bono wrote:
Ignoramus15841 wrote:
I had the same problem as you, eating at maintenance level, not
losing, and yet being hungry. I doubt that there is a good
explanation of that, besides lamely saying that "my body wanted to
be fatter".

But it's not lame. Your body does want you to be fatter. It will do what
it takes to get your weight back to where it was.

Well, what I am wondering about is, jyst what exactly is happening
that makes us hungry. How does "the body" know what weight it should
be, and how does it signal that, how come it decides to produce the
hunger hormones etc.

--
223/173.0/180

Try a google (or better pubmed) search for leptin. One of several culprits.

--
Dr. Dickie
Skepticult member in good standing #394-00596-438
Poking kooks with a pointy stick
Proud member of the, "Vast right-wing conspiracy."

Ignoramus21810 wrote:

I am not sure what is the validity of the average calorie intake. It
is
like average body temperature in a hospital. If I ate 1500 calories
per day, I would look like those anorexics on the photo page that I
posted recently. 2400-2500 is my maintenance level.

Do you have any idea what the male/female ratio is of the people in
this registry? If it's largely female, an average of 1500 may not be
far off, particularly if lots of them are middle-aged or older. I
agree that would be an unusually low maintenance level for most men.

Chris