I have a problem with feeling hungry. I went hungry as a child on many occasions (my mother was an alcoholic) and I feel quite panicky when my stomach is empty. At the age of 51 it really pisses me off that I still have a problem with this. And in a perverse way I like the feeling of being overfull. Even though it’s uncomfortable it’s reassuring in a weird way. I’m working on not overeating and I’ve been successful in both losing weight and more importantly getting my health metrics to where they need to be, but I’d really like to move forward with this issue.
I’ve dabbled with IF but there are times still that I eat before I need to, making it harder to move forward with this issue.
Has anyone else dealt with something like this and managed to work through it?
So sorry you had to contend with this as a child - sounds to me like the emotional response you have to the feelings of hunger are perfectly understandable and I imagine there are many who have a similar response. It’s quite incredible how we can carry things from our childhood like this. @Donna, wondering if you have any words of wisdom or techniques to share? .
This is a big problem for me. After a year on keto, I still have trouble listening to my body, and only eating when hungry/stopping when full. For me, I used to binge eat from 3-5 everyday. I know this comes from being a kid, and those were the hours I was alone after school, and before my parents were home, I could eat in secret all I wanted. Even at 43, I still struggle with eating between 3-5. I feel just programmed to overeat. I’m working on not being in my kitchen/family room area during those hours–when it’s nice, I take my kids out for a walk or to the park, and as dumb as it is, I found temporary tatoos that say “what are you really hungry for” and I’ve been wearing one inside my wrist. They remind me that I’m more hungry for health that I am for food. I’m finding it a “one day at a time” thing. I’ve tried to find a therapist who deals in food issues, but I haven’t been successful. Keto has changed SO much for me–but this challenge remains! I wish you success–the mental side is way harder than the physical side, for me, anyway!
When bad things happen to us, it is stored in our memory, both in the brain and in the body, so that when something similar happens in the here and now, the brain will send out anxiety signals. Sort of like the robot in Lost in Space exclaiming “Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!” And, like on Lost in Space, the danger is not really there. While you know you are not going to go hungry, your brain remembers how awful it felt (on a number of different levels), and it sends danger signals that are difficult to ignore, so you do something to turn off the discomfort, and you eat. And what you eat may be as important as the feeling of fullness you get from a full stomach (this is part of the somatic, or body, memory). Certain foods are associated with safety and satisfaction, hence the moniker of comfort foods. There are a number of therapeutic approaches to get past your past, including EMDR, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Prolonged Exposure Therapy, and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). You can learn to do EFT on YouTube. The others require working with a qualified therapist. You can find qualified EMDR therapists on www.EMDR.com site. CPT and PE trained therapists may be a little harder to find, you will need to ask what the therapist’s training and experience is. Traditional Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is helpful as well and most therapists are experience with this. Good luck. Having made the connection between childhood experience and current impact is half the battle won.
I estimate that from an early age I’ve gained and lost about 500 lbs, yes that’s five-hundred, and I did most of it on a CICO mentality and that meant ALWAYS feeling hungry and didn’t get away from the constant changes in weight until I went keto.
This means that I resent even the slightest hints of hunger and will sometimes eat before I know that I’m really needing food and satiety is something that was very rare.
Since going strict keto and including IF with some extended fasts, I’ve been more able to identify true hunger as opposed to emotional/comfort hunger and use that to get over/through some short-term issues with insufficient satiety.
In other words, real fasting seems to give me the objectivity that I personally need to identify true hunger and real keto gives me the ability to experience real satiety and make it through the difficult times.
That doesn’t mean that I don’t keto binge on occasions, as a matter of fact I had a 1 hour meal window this morning where I kept eating until I wasn’t hungry and ended up eating 2,000+ calories and struggled with “fake” hunger most of the day, but I consider it a muscle that I’m exercising.
Maybe that’s not helpful concerning how to work through it other than acknowledging that you’re not alone.
