Eating only when hungry vs Eating 6 times a day - your thoughts?

[Holistic Star]

What are your thoughts about the benefits of eating only when hungry vs eating 6 mini-meals every 2 hours if my goal is to lose body fat?

Eating only when hungry seems to me that I over eat. I know you are supposed to stop when full, but it's like I don't get that memo because my body is panicking about being hungry and cramming in as many calories as it can. No matter how hard I try to eat consciously, if I start a meal when I am hungry, I seem to go into a trance that I only come out of when I am overfull.

Today I tried eating 6 mini-meals (approx 230 cals) every 2 hours to see if it made a difference and it did. I didn't trance out when eating, and didn't feel the need to stuff in seconds and possibly thirds plus pudding because I could relax, knowing I would be eating again very soon.

It seems to me that mini-meals is the way forward for me. I felt less anxious about eating, I could stop even though I wasn't completely full, because I knew another meal was coming very soon. I feel like my digestion stepped up a notch, rather than going from starving to overwhelm, it kept ticking over nicely.

So my one day experiment was good. Has anyone sustained this way of eating for longer and what benefits did you get?

[Angela]

Hey, Holistic Star -- when I switched to small meals x 6 (or 7), I became a fat burning machine!

It was hard at first, because it actually felt like TOO MUCH food. But as I exercised and my metabolism turned into a furnace, after a few days I found I would hit a point where I would suddenly get ravenously hungry and my coach would advise MORE carbs (clean ones) and then it would feel like too much food, which would lead to another breakthrough, etc.

I think it takes a bit of time to get yourself into the groove that works perfectly for your body, and when you've got it down, you'll feel great. (But I still listen to my body's feedback and make constant adjustments.)

[Holistic Star]

Hi Angela,

It was your post on another thread that linked to your Extreme Makeover that made me try it!

Are you still eating 6 (or 7!) times a day? Or did you stop after the makeover?

I went for a run today for the first time in a year! I really wanted to do it. (I say run, I had to walk a lot of the way!). I think the EFT I had been doing on my resistance to exercise paid off, as well as the psyche-k stuff I did on some limiting beliefs about being attractive etc.

Still anyone can diet for a day! It seemed to me today that every time I looked at the clock it was time to eat again (I'm not complaining!) but how does that fit into your schedule, say if you are out with friends or working. Is it just a question of being organised and planning ahead?

I like the idea of being a fat burning machine! I told my H today I would like a yoga-body, and he said he'd like it too if I had one!

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Holistic Star

Are you still eating 6 (or 7!) times a day? Or did you stop after the makeover?

Yes -- it was a total lifestyle transformation. Somehow, though, mayonnaise has snuck back into my refrigerator when I wasn't looking.

I went for a run today for the first time in a year! I really wanted to do it. (I say run, I had to walk a lot of the way!). I think the EFT I had been doing on my resistance to exercise paid off, as well as the psyche-k stuff I did on some limiting beliefs about being attractive etc.

I transformed my workouts, too -- I had been running and going for hardcore breakthrough cardio workouts, and the new workouts were MUCH easier on my body -- no more pain! Yayy! I hate to run, except in the sand when I'm playing sports.

but how does that fit into your schedule, say if you are out with friends or working. Is it just a question of being organised and planning ahead?

Arghh.... it is kind of a pain the ass to plan, cook and eat on this plan. I bought a small lunch cooler that I carry eggs and chicken and apples and crucies. (and cliff bars for absolute emergencies). Once every week or two I cook up a mess of chicken and put 8 oz or so in bags to freeze and thaw as needed.

No salt!!!! Lots of water!!!!! Keep a log -- it helps a lot.


One more thing: Now, except for those *breakthrough* moments, I'm NEVER hungry beyond a slight peckishness. And when those breakthrough ravenous moments come, I am so happy! Because I know my metabolism is fwooooshhhhh -- a bonfire! And I'll munch out bigtime.

[Holistic Star]

Wow total lifestyle transformation! I can see why you are so enthusiastic about it.

Good to see that this way of eating can be a long term thing, rather than a diet mentality thing that you stop doing when your 6 weeks is up. I really liked eating smaller meals today, I felt better without the post meal energy slumping. I did get peckish (love that word!) but never ravenous which is great. I stayed conscious!


I really like the sound of less pain with exercising! What kinds of things did you do?

I'm going to dust of my T-tapp DVDs which are great for toning, and do a lot more stretching too as I like it when I am more flexible.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Holistic Star

I really like the sound of less pain with exercising! What kinds of things did you do?

I had been doing 30 minute cardio, pushing through with aggressive intervals, and I would be drenched in sweat and exhausted at the end of it -- and since endorphins kicked in around 8 minutes into it or so, I felt really ..... Yow! Great! But my ankles and feet hurt all the time. I switched to hour long, much slower workouts (65% of my maximum heart rate, which was so slow it just felt ludicrous. I would hardly break a sweat.) Voila! No more pain. I later mixed the 30 minute interval fitness workouts back in at a rate that didn't cause me pain.

I got a coach for weight training and he taught me a whole, incredible, power-packing way of doing the same exercises. It pays to get a good trainer! Just once or twice for me was enough, just to show me a new approach.

[vmiller]

I think it's best to maintain a similar eating pattern to the one we evolved on and that is most likely to be eating when hungry.

I've tried it both ways and do much better with 3 main meals and some snacks here and there.

I've heard scientific arguments supporting both sides, but personally, I'm sticking with what works for me and what makes sense according to nature.

Of course, more important than any of this is eating natural whole foods in the correct proportions, and for that I recommend the Metabolic Typing diet.

[rocksupreme]

Honestly, I don't think it matters. Yes, I understand all about the thermic effect of eating and all that stuff, but it makes such a small difference compared to your real problem.

Originally Posted by Holistic Star

I know you are supposed to stop when full, but it's like I don't get that memo because my body is panicking about being hungry and cramming in as many calories as it can. No matter how hard I try to eat consciously, if I start a meal when I am hungry, I seem to go into a trance that I only come out of when I am overfull.

It's not your body that is panicking. You have an emotional attachment to food. Yeah, your body gets used to the chemical sensation produced by eating certain amounts of certain foods, but that's a learned adaptation that really only takes 5-10 days to break. The body is evolved to survive on a wide range of fuels, but our emotions send us pain signals when we start making changes.

If you really think your body is causing the problem, there's a simple way to check. 24 hour fast. If it's really a bodily hunger response, you will remain hungry for the entire time until you eat again. If it's mostly in your mind, you will experience waves of being hungry or not.

One of the things about eating many smaller meals is that it makes it easier to learn to eat a small amount at a sitting instead of gorging until you're full. You know that you'll be eating again soon. You also keep pumping insulin into the bloodstream at regular intervals, so you don't feel the effect of post-meal sugar-crashes. Still, you end up chaining yourself to a habit. If you are busy and have to miss a scheduled meal, you start getting panic signals again.

The key is to get over your emotional attachment to the feeling of fullness. If you really are overweight to the point where losing some weight is necessary, then your body probably has enough stored fat to last you at least a week without food.

Think about that. You could probably go a week or more without eating (it wouldn't be comfortable, but it wouldn't cause any long-term problems). If that's the case, going several hours is not putting you in jeopardy. The think that feels so uncomfortable to you is the feeling - not any actual unmet need in your body.

Taking control of your body and emotions is not easy. If you decide to try it, you will want to quit. But you can retrain your body's metabolic system in a relatively short time - much shorter than it took you to get out of whack in the first place. Once you do that, it's just maintenance of good habits that will eventually bring you to your ideal weight and body composition.

[James81]

Originally Posted by rocksupreme

Honestly, I don't think it matters. Yes, I understand all about the thermic effect of eating and all that stuff, but it makes such a small difference compared to your real problem.



It's not your body that is panicking. You have an emotional attachment to food. Yeah, your body gets used to the chemical sensation produced by eating certain amounts of certain foods, but that's a learned adaptation that really only takes 5-10 days to break. The body is evolved to survive on a wide range of fuels, but our emotions send us pain signals when we start making changes.

If you really think your body is causing the problem, there's a simple way to check. 24 hour fast. If it's really a bodily hunger response, you will remain hungry for the entire time until you eat again. If it's mostly in your mind, you will experience waves of being hungry or not.

One of the things about eating many smaller meals is that it makes it easier to learn to eat a small amount at a sitting instead of gorging until you're full. You know that you'll be eating again soon. You also keep pumping insulin into the bloodstream at regular intervals, so you don't feel the effect of post-meal sugar-crashes. Still, you end up chaining yourself to a habit. If you are busy and have to miss a scheduled meal, you start getting panic signals again.

The key is to get over your emotional attachment to the feeling of fullness. If you really are overweight to the point where losing some weight is necessary, then your body probably has enough stored fat to last you at least a week without food.

Think about that. You could probably go a week or more without eating (it wouldn't be comfortable, but it wouldn't cause any long-term problems). If that's the case, going several hours is not putting you in jeopardy. The think that feels so uncomfortable to you is the feeling - not any actual unmet need in your body.

Taking control of your body and emotions is not easy. If you decide to try it, you will want to quit. But you can retrain your body's metabolic system in a relatively short time - much shorter than it took you to get out of whack in the first place. Once you do that, it's just maintenance of good habits that will eventually bring you to your ideal weight and body composition.

Agreed.

I think it's way far more important to get on a good exercise routine, get active, etc. than it is to make some sort of diet plan for yourself. Metabolism is like 80% based on physical activity and not diet.

[ginkgo]

As far as eating when hungry, all the people who fast, know that hunger is all mental (except for stuffing your stomach so full that it hurts). Alan Cott, MD (psychiatrist) explains how that hunger is from different emotions like boredom, loneliness etc. He wrote 2 best selling books on fasting.

You can learn all about it yourself from fasting for a week. Caution-- before exercising consult a doctor (meaning use caution when doing things that you never do). It sounds like it will change your life to see that you can eat to live instead of living to eat. Since almost all people can fast safely for a month, you see how things really are. Note-- Joel Fuhrman, MD has fasted thousands of people but refuses to fast anyone more than 50 days like his mentor would do. So if you were hoping to fast more than 50 days on nothing but pure water, forget it! Fasting was mentioned on one post on curing B-12 deficiency but can cure many vitamin deficiencies.

Jesus fasted for a month and then he did his preaching and miracles. Moses fasted for 40 days and saw and talked to God. God gave him some stone tablets. He was bringing them down from the mountain and tripped and dropped them and they broke. So he pretended that he did it on purpose since he was angry. Just kidding! Most of the food people eat is for their emotions. People eat much more food than they need which is easily seen when someone can fast for a month.

Dick Gregory lost over 200 pounds from fasting which was really amazing since he only weighed 250 pounds before the fast. Just kidding! In 1981 Gregory - who formerly weighed 350 pounds, smoked four packs of cigarettes and drank a fifth of Scotch a day - put his dietary knowledge to the test. In the planning stages for more than six years, he conducted "the longest medically supervised scientific fast in the history of the planet."

At age 70 he did the lemonade diet for 40 days to support Michael Jackson when he was arrested. He then weighed 124 pounds. He wrote the book, Ni****, (biography) which sold 10 million copies. Only black people are allowed to say the name of his book. I did not know that anyone smoked 4 packs of cigarettes a day. This guy needed a lot more than just eating 6 meals a day. The New England Journal of Medicine-- "Fasting is a valid experience. It can benefit any otherwise healthy person whose calories now have the upper hand in his/her life."

[Holistic Star]

Yes I do have an emotional attachment to food. I quite agree. And the sensation I get when I'm hungry is panic - if that's not an emotional attachment, I'll eat my hat!

You make it sound like the problem is all down to willpower. If willpower could solve this issue, then it would be solved because I've applied tonnes over the years. I've tried the eating only when hungry for a few years now wanting to retrain my body to respond healthily to the signals that is is either hungry or full. Looking at the results I've got in truth and accuracy, it's not working. So I need to do something else.

I have juice fasted before several times, the longest for 14 days. While it was great when I was fasting, it didn't make the slightest difference to my eating habits once the fast was ended. I've also water fasted, the first 12 hours was fine but by 24 hours I felt terrible, weak and foggy. I was glad when it was over and even though I knew intellectually I should break a fast gently, that didn't happen. I needed to eat and I needed to eat then.
During one day of my juice feast I wasn't able to make juice so used the recipe from the lemonade diet for the day. That was the day I had the most intense food cravings and sugar rushes / crashes, so I don't think that would be a good idea for me for 40 days.

I also think I have a candida issue as I have a lot of the other symptoms of it (such as skin rashes, feeling stuffed up a lot etc). Which might explain the intense cravings, the foggy head, the crashes of energy etc. So the other thing I am doing with my mini-meals is avoiding candida-friendly foods, (refined sugar, vinegar, yeast, fermented foods). And yes I have tried this on an eat only when hungry basis, but found it hard to stick to because when I get hungry, rationality about food choices goes out the window and I am 'compelled' to eat whatever is available and most food that is available when you are out is candida's idea of heaven, which starts the cycle all over again!

This is why I think the 6 smaller meals will help, because I'm less likely to get to that really hungry stage and it will teach me to eat smaller amounts. It will mean I have to be organised and take prepared food with me, so I'm more likely to make better food choices overall.

I've decided to 30 trial it and see how it goes. I've already had a green juice this morning, wheras normally I'd skip breakfast due to lack of hunger in the mornings.

The 6 meals a day might be something that means I then move to eating only when hungry afterwards. It might be something that I decide doesn't work for me, or it might be something that becomes a way of life for me. The only way to find out is to experiment. It will definitely increase my conscious awareness around eating which is a good thing. I will definitely be increasing the exercise too.

I currently weigh 163.5lb which is too much for my height. The ideal midrange for my height is 133 lb and when I've weighed that much I've looked good. So thats a 30lb loss to aim for. (The range suggested for my height is 119 - 147 lb).

Watch this space.

[rocksupreme]

Originally Posted by Holistic Star

This is why I think the 6 smaller meals will help, because I'm less likely to get to that really hungry stage and it will teach me to eat smaller amounts. It will mean I have to be organised and take prepared food with me, so I'm more likely to make better food choices overall.

I've decided to 30 trial it and see how it goes. I've already had a green juice this morning, wheras normally I'd skip breakfast due to lack of hunger in the mornings.

OK. That sounds like a good idea. Try more frequent feedings as a way to manage hunger and portion control. I'd suggest keeping a fair idea in mind of your caloric intake (no need to be exact) just to make sure you are keeping it around 2600 or less (you'll want to drop to about 2200 to get to your goal, but stair-stepping is down will make things easier).

You may also try to limit your grains and candida to one or two of those meals (preferably AM meals). It sounds like you probably do have an alergy, or at least sensitivity.

Get enough healthy fats at night.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Holistic Star]

Thanks Rock Supreme

The only grains I eat are oats so will be avoiding all others anyway and yes am having healthy raw fats too as that is important for my skin.

The calories you mention sound like loads! I thought the top range for women was only 1950 per day and around 1500 if they want to lose weight.

The other think I should mention is the reason I gained weight was due to medication (I was put on a heavy dose of oral steroids). I balloooned (gained 24lb in 8 weeks ) and my metabolism and hormonal system was screwed up and is only now starting to come back into balance.

My eating and exercise habits were ok maintenance habits (not great, but served a purpose). When I was slim I maintained it, and now I am overweight they maintain the status quo. So I am not gaining, but I'm not losing.

That's why I have to change things to get back to my slim weight as my current habits don't support change.

[Angela]

HS, the "extreme" part of my plan -- the first 6 weeks -- was extremely clean -- I don't know if you're interested in going all out on this, but I did a major purge on my refrigerator before I started:

No mayo, oil, sugar, wheat products (NO bread! ack!), avocados (tragedy), milk, yogurt, salt, or processed packaged products. (halfway through I added back in a tablespoon of olive oil, and a very small amount of salt when low blood pressure became an issue.) NO Processed products because of the unbelievable amount of sodium they contain, and I'm glad I broke my habitual use of them because of all the other gunk in them, too.

What's left, you may ask.

2 oz lean protein + 4 oz clean carb at every meal, plus as much veggie as you like. Looks like:

oatmeal cooked with blueberries poured over a banana + 2 eggwhites
chicken breast cooked with Mrs. Dash (no salt) + a yam
brown rice + turkey breast + steamed veggies
(beans were counted as a carb rather than a protein, but I would have rice and beans anyway -- cheater that I am.)
eggwhites scrambled with black beans, tomatoes, onions

There's a book called the "Eat Clean Diet" that has all kinds of recipes that fit the bill. When you eat like this, it's easy to introduce one item at a time back in, like wheat, so you can tell if you're sensitive to it. (For me it became very obvious that salt and wheat are not my best pals.)

[rocksupreme]

Sorry. I totally mis-multiplied. Your numbers are probably fine.

Still, I'd err on the side of higher cals to make sure you gen adequate fats and protein (because muscle burns the most calories). At least starting out. Then adjust down.

Angela's diet looks hardcore, indeed. Maybe good for short-term, but I'm more into sustainable habits. Plus, I've lived on oatmeal and chicken before - hated life (but I was buff!). Now I eat ice cream and drink beer, but everything else is pretty clean.

It sounds like you're on the right track. Seriously, good luck.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by rocksupreme

Angela's diet looks hardcore, indeed. Maybe good for short-term, but I'm more into sustainable habits.

Yes, it was hardcore, but it was only for six weeks. After that, it was only soft core.

Now it's the same structure, but there's nothing forbidden. Much more sustainable! The six weeks was great for interrupting my old pattern, and generating new habits that work better, so now I don't WANT the old junk. It feels really GOOD to eat clean.

During the six weeks the motivation was "away-from" and now it's "towards." The "away-from" motivation was good rocket fuel to blast off from the old patterns, and "towards" is really effective for building new patterns for a new life.

[macky82]

Me? I love to eat. Not just 6 times a day or when I'm hungry. But I eat when I see food.

[Holistic Star]

Well it's day 2 and it seems to be working for me.

Angela your diet looks v. hardcore! I'm not sure I'd like all that protein

Today, I've had

8.30am 1/2 pint Green juice (celery, cucumber, pear, chicory from the garden)
10.30am 2 bananas and 11 almonds
1.30pm (bit late but was busy) 2 apples and 4 oatcakes
3.45pm (bit late again!) brown rice, tuna, wild rocket, cucumber, 1tsp sweetcorn, 1tsp olive oil (this meal was a bit bigger than the rest). Cup of black tea.
6.00pm yellow pea soup (no wheat or dairy in this), peppermint tea.

haven't decided what I'll have yet for my 6th meal but will be something light, e.g. salad, fruit or maybe a handful of seeds.

It's definitely working on keeping my cravings at bay. I'm coping with the small portions well. I've not counted calories but I think I'm averaging about 230 per meal so within my limit.

I'm really focusing on eating consciously, with full awareness. It's a bit like meditating. When thoughts come I bat them away. I realised something strange today. I don't really like eating! I would do my best to distract myself from what was going on so I could get that 'full tummy feeling'.

[Kasha]

When I first started working in fitness I went on the 6 meals a day plan and gained weight, suffering sugar highs and lows, along with fatigue. I think this was also due to my increased quantities of proteins + carbs along with those meals.

I do best to eat when I am hungry, stop when I am full. I like the feeling of an empty stomach, it makes me feel more alert and focused.

I think people with emotional attachments to food do well on a frequent meal plan as food tends to be their crutch, and they don't freak out about eating little when their next meal is hours away.

I'm not saying I eat nothing all day...small snacks of fruits/veggies and nuts. I have my fats/proteins at the end of the day (usually lentils/chickpeas). So much of this is psychological. I usually prescribe frequent eating for my clients...I just can't convince them to stop thinking about food all the time! Cmon people you eat to live, not the other way around!!!

[joelr]

Originally Posted by Holistic Star

Thanks Rock Supreme

The only grains I eat are oats so will be avoiding all others anyway and yes am having healthy raw fats too as that is important for my skin.

The calories you mention sound like loads! I thought the top range for women was only 1950 per day and around 1500 if they want to lose weight.

The other think I should mention is the reason I gained weight was due to medication (I was put on a heavy dose of oral steroids). I balloooned (gained 24lb in 8 weeks ) and my metabolism and hormonal system was screwed up and is only now starting to come back into balance.

Have you tried losing water weight yet?
I assume your meds were anti-immflamatory steroids like pregnazone or one of those and not the androgenic type.

Those meds cause huge water weight, up to 20 lbs sometimes. If you go a day or 2 with zero carbs ( just protein/veges/good fat), low sodium, drink 1 gallon water/daily and do 1hr cardio each day most extra water will go away. Then you can see where you're really at.

[joelr]

Originally Posted by Angela

HS, the "extreme" part of my plan -- the first 6 weeks -- was extremely clean -- I don't know if you're interested in going all out on this, but I did a major purge on my refrigerator before I started:

No mayo, oil, sugar, wheat products (NO bread! ack!), avocados (tragedy), milk, yogurt, salt, or processed packaged products. (halfway through I added back in a tablespoon of olive oil, and a very small amount of salt when low blood pressure became an issue.) NO Processed products because of the unbelievable amount of sodium they contain, and I'm glad I broke my habitual use of them because of all the other gunk in them, too.

What's left, you may ask.

2 oz lean protein + 4 oz clean carb at every meal, plus as much veggie as you like. Looks like:

oatmeal cooked with blueberries poured over a banana + 2 eggwhites
chicken breast cooked with Mrs. Dash (no salt) + a yam
brown rice + turkey breast + steamed veggies
(beans were counted as a carb rather than a protein, but I would have rice and beans anyway -- cheater that I am.)
eggwhites scrambled with black beans, tomatoes, onions

There's a book called the "Eat Clean Diet" that has all kinds of recipes that fit the bill. When you eat like this, it's easy to introduce one item at a time back in, like wheat, so you can tell if you're sensitive to it. (For me it became very obvious that salt and wheat are not my best pals.)

That's a good diet, it just needs some essential fats. Even just a flaxseed oil and primrose oil capsule would give you the needed omega6/9. Taking in an essential fat actually allows your body to lose more fat. Since fat is an essential nutrient if you don't get any your body tries to hold what it has even harder.
When I go hardcore I would replace the fruit with a green vege. Fructose isn't too bad but it's still a sugar that will slow fat burning during the hardcore phase. I usually lose 3lbs a week in that phase.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by joelr

That's a good diet, it just needs some essential fats. Even just a flaxseed oil and primrose oil capsule would give you the needed omega6/9. Taking in an essential fat actually allows your body to lose more fat. Since fat is an essential nutrient if you don't get any your body tries to hold what it has even harder.

You are right -- at first during my hardcore phase I experienced a couple of smackdowns about 20 minutes into my workouts, and when I added in a big spoonful of olive oil, the smackdowns stopped happening. Now I do take flaxseed oil, and I seem to do well with it. (Tried fish oil, but got the dreaded fish burps. yuck.) Good advice!

[vilbara]

This article by Kathy Sierra may give you some insights:
Creating Passionate Users: The strangest, easiest way to lose weight

Kathy Sierra wrote many wonderful articles on how human brain works. She is a co-author of the famous head-first books series.

I haven't tried this diet myself and will not comment if it is healthy or not. Nevertheless the article itself is great.

[rocksupreme]

Originally Posted by vilbara

This article by Kathy Sierra may give you some insights:
Creating Passionate Users: The strangest, easiest way to lose weight

Kathy Sierra wrote many wonderful articles on how human brain works. She is a co-author of the famous head-first books series.

I haven't tried this diet myself and will not comment if it is healthy or not. Nevertheless the article itself is great.

It's one way to trick yourself out of getting hungry. If caloric restriction is your goal, it's work playing with. I had better results with a raw egg (fat and protein) than I did with an extra few grams of pure sugar.

[liamona]

Originally Posted by vilbara

This article by Kathy Sierra may give you some insights:
Creating Passionate Users: The strangest, easiest way to lose weight

What a great article about the Shangri-La Diet. Her experience is very similar to mine.

Originally Posted by rocksupreme

I had better results with a raw egg (fat and protein) than I did with an extra few grams of pure sugar.

How interesting! I used refined coconut oil.

[sk8joyful]

Originally Posted by Holistic Star

What are your thoughts about the benefits of eating only when hungry
vs eating 6 mini-meals every 2 hours if my goal is to lose body fat?

Generally, I co-operate with my mind/subconscious as to what weight I want to be for an activity, and leave it up to my mind to tell me what nourishment, & how much, & when, to eat. And often, the outcome's not dependent on drinking or eating. - Hopefully, this makes good sense to you too.

[Atrox]

Originally Posted by rocksupreme

Honestly, I don't think it matters. Yes, I understand all about the thermic effect of eating and all that stuff, but it makes such a small difference compared to your real problem.

It's not your body that is panicking. You have an emotional attachment to food. Yeah, your body gets used to the chemical sensation produced by eating certain amounts of certain foods, but that's a learned adaptation that really only takes 5-10 days to break. The body is evolved to survive on a wide range of fuels, but our emotions send us pain signals when we start making changes.

To me, you nailed it really well.

I don't think eating when you're hungry or eating 6 meals per day are very different problems. In one way or another you are setting a restriction on your body. Again, only from personal experience, for me that is not the solution.

But it's good that you are trying on different things and see which gives better results. Good luck!

[rocksupreme]

Originally Posted by liamona

How interesting! I used refined coconut oil.

That's a good idea too (though I can't get it in Japan). Basically, anything that has almost not flavor, but gives you a calorie hit will do it (from what I understand). I've heard of olive oil shots, too, but they give me a weird aftertaste.

[Aware]

Personally, I think that different approaches will work for different people. For me, emotions are often tied in with eating so it can be sometimes difficult to differentiate between emotional hunger and physical hunger. Lately, however, I have been working on this, because I want to be emotionally free.

So, for me, eating only when hungry is the best way because if I set meal times I tend to get too preoccupied with thoughts of food.

I hope you find what works for you, and then I guess just stick to it, good luck to you you're in my thoughts.

[Aware]

Originally Posted by rocksupreme

Honestly, I don't think it matters. Yes, I understand all about the thermic effect of eating and all that stuff, but it makes such a small difference compared to your real problem.



It's not your body that is panicking. You have an emotional attachment to food. Yeah, your body gets used to the chemical sensation produced by eating certain amounts of certain foods, but that's a learned adaptation that really only takes 5-10 days to break. The body is evolved to survive on a wide range of fuels, but our emotions send us pain signals when we start making changes.

If you really think your body is causing the problem, there's a simple way to check. 24 hour fast. If it's really a bodily hunger response, you will remain hungry for the entire time until you eat again. If it's mostly in your mind, you will experience waves of being hungry or not.

One of the things about eating many smaller meals is that it makes it easier to learn to eat a small amount at a sitting instead of gorging until you're full. You know that you'll be eating again soon. You also keep pumping insulin into the bloodstream at regular intervals, so you don't feel the effect of post-meal sugar-crashes. Still, you end up chaining yourself to a habit. If you are busy and have to miss a scheduled meal, you start getting panic signals again.

The key is to get over your emotional attachment to the feeling of fullness. If you really are overweight to the point where losing some weight is necessary, then your body probably has enough stored fat to last you at least a week without food.

Think about that. You could probably go a week or more without eating (it wouldn't be comfortable, but it wouldn't cause any long-term problems). If that's the case, going several hours is not putting you in jeopardy. The think that feels so uncomfortable to you is the feeling - not any actual unmet need in your body.

Taking control of your body and emotions is not easy. If you decide to try it, you will want to quit. But you can retrain your body's metabolic system in a relatively short time - much shorter than it took you to get out of whack in the first place. Once you do that, it's just maintenance of good habits that will eventually bring you to your ideal weight and body composition.

I agree with you, you give good advice. Who knows if it is emotional attatchment for Holistic Star but, it could be and it is for me, so I think you explain it very well