How to handle NOT being hungry?

[MsChristi]

Today marks my half way mark on my first Whole30 challenge. Almost can’t believe it. 

My first and largest struggle was the sugar withdrawals the first few days.  I almost thought I wasn’t going to make it.  However, as you can see I did.  After that....it’s been pretty smooth sailing. Pleanty of energy, sleeping well, no brain fog, etc.   I do struggle with light cravings for a Macchiato or a slice of pizza...but getting better at just letting it go.

However, my biggest concern, which I did spend some time researching with very few results, is I am not really having much of an appetite or have a feeling of “being hungry.”  Prior to Whole 30 when I started to get hungry I needed to eat ASAP or here comes the headache and nausea. 

Although I’m not counting calories, but due to other programs I am aware of caloric content in most foods.  I am fairly confident I am not over eating when I do eat.  

What is going on here?  Is this normal? Should I force myself to eat when I’m not really feeling hungry? Should I be worried about something else being wrong? 

[ladyshanny]

It would be helpful if you would give us a rundown on what a typical day of eating looks like for you. Some lack of hunger is normal around where you are and we encourage people to just keep going. Additionally, if your eating background is very disordered or very different from Whole30, you might not be recognizing hunger the way it's meant to be experienced. Hunger when you have fat adaptation and hormonal/blood sugar balance is a different feeling....more like being "empty" or like you're misisng something. No hanger, nausea, headache etc because your body will just use its on-board fat for fuel until it gets fed.

If you are literally having no hunger signals, our recommendation is never to eat less than the template, 3 times per day. So ya, to some degree you would be eating when not hungry....but if it's the common reasons as above, those regulate out and you'll adjust.

[MsChristi]

Sure ... here goes...

Meal 1:   2/3 eggs scrambled or over easy with 1/2 tsp of ghee, 1 small red potato baked in my NuWave. Sometimes I add a tbsp of uncured approve bacon for a different flavor.

Meal 2:   4/5 oz of protein (steak,chicken, etc.), 1-2 cups of some type of veggies( sometimes steamed or baked or as salad), complient dump ranch or made Italian, or drizzle of ghee. Sometimes I’ll add a 1/2 avocado if it’ll works with it. 

Meal 3:  about the same as meal 2.  

Even if I get the slightest feeling of needing to eat it goes away within promptly ...like within 10 minutes.  I don’t want to sound like I’m stretching for a an explanation, but I recall when I did the Nutimost Program we ate very little food (500 cals & I lost 62 lbs in 45 days) and relied on our body to use what we already had for fuel not what we were ingesting.  It kind of reminds me of that, where I’m content, not famished or hungry.

 Also, I have felt this way through most of the program shortly after my sugar withdrawal stopped on the third day.  

Hope that helps.  And thanks for your repsonse.

[racheleats]

On 3/10/2018 at 10:36 AM, MsChristi said:

Sure ... here goes...

Meal 1:   2/3 eggs scrambled or over easy with 1/2 tsp of ghee, 1 small red potato baked in my NuWave. Sometimes I add a tbsp of uncured approve bacon for a different flavor.

Meal 2:   4/5 oz of protein (steak,chicken, etc.), 1-2 cups of some type of veggies( sometimes steamed or baked or as salad), complient dump ranch or made Italian, or drizzle of ghee. Sometimes I’ll add a 1/2 avocado if it’ll works with it. 

Meal 3:  about the same as meal 2.  

Even if I get the slightest feeling of needing to eat it goes away within promptly ...like within 10 minutes.  I don’t want to sound like I’m stretching for a an explanation, but I recall when I did the Nutimost Program we ate very little food (500 cals & I lost 62 lbs in 45 days) and relied on our body to use what we already had for fuel not what we were ingesting.  It kind of reminds me of that, where I’m content, not famished or hungry.

 Also, I have felt this way through most of the program shortly after my sugar withdrawal stopped on the third day.  

Hope that helps.  And thanks for your repsonse.

I'm not a moderator, but I don't think you are eating enough! Which is not a surprise if you were once on a diet where you were only allowed to eat 500 calories a day...I think my breakfast was 500 calories today!

It takes some time getting used to eating larger meals throughout the day, but not being hungry is a big indicator that your hormones are out of whack, You definitely need to add veggies (and probably more fat) to your breakfast. If you can't handle a big meal in the morning, eat half, then the rest at a later time. Each day, eat a little bit more that first time until you can eat the whole meal. You should be waking up hungry, and your meals should sustain you for 4-5 hours, and then you get hungry again.