Are You Suppose To Feel Hungry?

G

Guest

Guest
Hello,

I am just getting serious about weight loss. I am a little confused and I need your help. I want to know if you are suppose to feel hungry when you are trying to lose weight. I am not trying to starve myself, I want to do it the right way, but obviously I am overweight and my stomach needs to shrink. When you are cutting back your calorie in-take and are just getting started, are you suppose to feel a little hungry in between meals?

I appreciate any advice :)
 
Last edited:
We've had some lively discussions about this so I will just tell you that I personally feel hungry most of the time. I'm only satisfied right after a medium sized meal and then I'm hungry again in about 30 minutes.

My challenge is to cope with the hunger so I don't break my diet and so far that's what I've been doing.
 
It's normal to feel a little hunger when you start cutting back - sure. But it's not generally normal to be hungry all the time or to be starving. If you're hungry all the time or you're just starving and craving food like mad, then there's something else going on - either an actual physical health issue that needs to be treated or a food craving (emotional/mental eating) that is not true hunger.

Making sure that you're eating healthy foods in healthy amounts will go a long way towards making sure that you're not hungry. Also making sure to eat protein and healthy fats can help with hunger, as those thing tend to be more satiating over the long term.
 
I'd say hunger is completely normal, but should subside after not too long.

Look out for cravings for certain foods, anything like cravings for sugar (eg sweets, chocolate, junk food like fries or sugary cereal) I'd ignore- its just your body telling you its had a drop in calories and would like these back thankyou very much...replace them and your no longer on a diet.
But odd and random cravings like meat or eggs could be a lack of protein, for things like milk or even wall plaster (pregnant ladies get this alot) could be a lack of calcium or certain vegetables could be a lack of iron or other minerals. These you should address and deal with, best idea is to eat more of the food you crave (though you'd have to take something else out to compensate) rather then OD on multivitamins as there is a finate amount of vitamins your body can absorb from pills, and its not the same quality or as easy for your body to utilise.

But be aware there is a difference between your body craving something it needs and your mind craving something it wants. It can take a long time to workout the difference.
 
Yes, you should feel a moderate amount of hunger if you are making major changes in your dietary lifestyle. I cut out night eating recently and I was starving, but now I don't feel it anymore. As long as you are eating a fair amount, maybe no less than 1200M 1000F, then you don't have much to worry about.

Watch out for feeling really low on energy, though. That might mean you should step your calories up a little so you can keep up with your daily activities and work your way down as you go.
 
Hunger is a subjective thing. I don't think anybody can tell anybody else how hungry they are or should be. But if you are overweight, then you will have to eat less than you probably want to. That means, you'll be hungry to some extent.

Of course that's perfectly normal. Hunger is a good thing. Hunger is what told our ancestors to get off their butts and go kill a mastodon before they starved to death. Unfortunately, now it's telling us to get off the couch and get another dish of ice cream.
 
Maybe I'm misreading but it almost seems like you're asking 'If I feel hungry between meals, will I lose weight'. The answer is: It depends. Some people can feel hungry all the time and still eat enough to gain weight. Some people can drastically reduce their food and not feel all that hungry.

While it's not bad to feel hungry in between meals, the best way to know if your diet is right is to watch whether or not your clothes are fitting better, and to track what you eat for a few weeks and see how many calories you're actually eating.
 
I want to know if you are suppose to feel hungry when you are trying to lose weight. I am not trying to starve myself, I want to do it the right way, but obviously I am overweight and my stomach needs to shrink. When you are cutting back your calorie in-take and are just getting started, are you suppose to feel a little hungry in between meals?

No, never. If you're hungry, then something is seriously wrong with you.

...

...

...

...dude, of course you're supposed to feel hungry. It's human nature. There's absolutely nothing you can do to prevent yourself from feeling hungry. It's totally natural to feel hungry inbetween meals, so don't worry about it.
 
Back
Top