I am never Hungry. How long will it take for hunger to return?

[AnneCT]

I am a 55 year old woman who is on day 23 of my first whole30. I also gave up coffee as part of the challenge. I read in "It starts with Food" that if you are not hungry in the morning, your hormones are out of balance, but how long can that take?  for the last 23 days, i have followed the program to the letter and have yet to expereince hunger. Some people may think that is a good thing, but i end up forcing myself to eat the three meals and it takes away from the enjoyment of eating.

 

Is this just because my hormones are that out of balance? I have been about 40-50 lbs overweight for most of my life, I was a big coffee drinker, and I am menopausal. Will true hunger eventually return?

 

I miss being hungry

Anne

I

[orca_chick]

Anne,

 

One of the issues I have following a Whole 30 type diet is that I very rarely feel the hunger sensation in my stomach during the day like I do when I'm eating sugar and other high carbohydrate sources.  With that being said, I've had to learn to listen to my body and figure out what other signals my body gives me when I'm hungry.  Personally, I start getting a headache, have difficulty concentrating, and start feeling really tired when I'm hungry even if my stomach doesn't have hunger sensation.  I also know at this point most of my meals will last me 5-6 hours, so I should eat at the 6 hour mark regardless of whether I feel hungry or not.  It's funny, but once I start eating I start feeling hungry.  I think sometimes it just takes a little longer for my stomach to catch up to my brain.  

 

Also, it took me a good 25-30 days on my first W30 to feel hungry in the mornings.  Now it probably takes 7-10 days as this is my 4th, but my body seems to adjust faster.  I'd just be patient…sometimes it takes more than 30 days to really start feeling the magic and to get everything in sync.  

 

Good luck and stick with it!  Your body will catch up with you.  :-)

 

Jen