hunger

ive noticed alot of people saying say have lost there appitite this has never really happened to me , i wonder why ?. its werid because people just keep telling me to eat when im hungry but if i did im sure id be constantly eating , its really hard to know if these are true signals im trying to go with it but the times i have ive gained more weight than i would of like to confused h x 

with me it fluctuates. if i've done a lot of running then i don't have much appetite and sometimes when i start up my cycle with the nuvaring (after I first insert it) I lose my appetite for a couple of days. other days, i could eat 3,000+ calories before barely feeling like I've made a dent. that frightens me immensely, so i understand what you mean. perhaps your body is just really eager to get to a good place, and that's why you're hungry! you cannot tell yourself that you would be that hungry if you were a healthy weight - odds are everything would even out!

Hi Helen,

I wouldn't worry about it for now.  Right now you're underweight and need to eat..so i would eat when hungry and forget about it because it will just help you to get to a healthy weight.  You say you would be eating all the time if you followed your hunger...but i would say probably not..it might just SEEM like that. Why dont you post a day like that on WHAT DID YOU EAT TODAY and then you'll see that it probably isn't as much as you think.  I know its all very difficult right now...hang in there. 

I used to feel ravenous all the time, even after eating my former 1200 calorie breakfast, I would be hungry again only a few hours later. I mean, not initially but after a few days of adjusting to eating that much - yeah. I'd get hungry no matter how much I ate LOL. 

When you are underweight, and you begin feeding your body again - it gets very excited and wants to encourage you to keep eating. Also, after a period of starvation, it would be the body's instinct to eat and eat now that food has apparently become available.

As I have gotten closer to my healthy weight, I've noticed the "insatiable" quality has diminished. Especially now that its summer, and I spend a lot of time outside. Apparently the sun does that to you :\

thanks you guys , youve helped me read sense into it all. your support always gets me through :)

Initially, after beginning "refeeding" I felt very full and uncomfortable since I had been eating an extremely low amount of calories before. After a while I began getting "hungrier" though, and after adapting to taking in a normal (ahem, high) amount of calories I was almost a bottomless pit. That was when I was still underweight of course, and I'm pretty sure that once you re-introduce yourself to an adequate calorie intake after being malnourished and under-fed your body takes advantage of it and tells you to EAT.

After I reached my goal weight, and even when I was getting closer to it and was in the "healthy weight" range, I began feeling less "hungry all the time" and started having more regular hunger and fullness ques. I couldn't just eat 3,500 calories comfortably without having a reason to need to since by then my body was feeling a lot more comfortable with my condition, I guess.

If you are always hungry and are severely underweight then DON'T ignore it. It's your body's way of tellling you "I'm hungry - please feed me!" and it's important to pay attention to that. You have nothing to lose, literally, so don't be afraid to eat when you need to.

Yep. I was always ravenous while I was in recovery (and often before recovery too). It's true that your body takes away your satiety signals to encourage you to keep eating. When it finally begins to trust you that a regular food supply is always going to come its way, those fullness signals will return.

HI Everyone,

Finding this particular thread very interesting as i have the opposite problem.  Im hardly ever hungry and im not even eating the 2500 cals...just can't manage to get up there most days as i am NOT hungry enough.  I wasn't a severe restricter before though.  I USED to be...got down to 74 pounds (im 5 feet 5.5 inches tall) ..then regained to 109...but slid down several years ago to 93...and have hovered here for 4 years.  I maintained the 93 pounds by eating around 1650-1750 cals per day.  It always seemed like enough food to me.  Now ive bumped up to around 1900...but this makes me feel REALLY full.  I want to gain but am finding it almost impossible to force the food down as i am never hungry.  I wish I COULD get really hungry.  Any suggestions?

vicgirl - the sticky about high calorie foods should be helpful. You're probably eating too many low calorie foods that aren't very dense.

sautee all your veggies in extra olive oil, add avocado to salads and sandwiches, use granola instead of cereal, eat dried fruit instead of fresh, add extra peanut butter to your sandwiches, make a high cal smoothie.

Yes exactly don't be afraid to listen to your body telling you to eat, i'm sure your brain is really happy to finally be getting so many great nutrients and is crying out for more! Don't feel guilty you're getting so healthy and making such great progress :)

I get pretty hungry a lot of the time, it can be a bit frustrating because sometimes I`ll eat dinner and after I`m still hungry and I think how is that possible!

Its actually reassuring to read lots of others have gone through this, I guess for now we will just have to go with it!

I have always been able to eat even ip on over 4000 I was ready for the next meal or snack. It was not so much hunger yet a sense of not being satisfied due to the ed.  I think many and not saying all who have dealt with eds and say they are not hungry is because there mind is telling them that. If they had no fears in it making them gain weight they would be eating and eating. I also feel that you are not eating enough tessa and that is why you are hungry.You have had an ed for so many years which has depleted your body even more then someone who has had this but a few. You have so much repair in addition to your gain. If you increase your calories you will feel less starved. Your body is screaming to be nurished. I hope you begin to listen to it

Original Post by abbi333:

I have always been able to eat even ip on over 4000 I was ready for the next meal or snack. It was not so much hunger yet a sense of not being satisfied due to the ed.  I think many and not saying all who have dealt with eds and say they are not hungry is because there mind is telling them that. If they had no fears in it making them gain weight they would be eating and eating. I also feel that you are not eating enough tessa and that is why you are hungry.You have had an ed for so many years which has depleted your body even more then someone who has had this but a few. You have so much repair in addition to your gain. If you increase your calories you will feel less starved. Your body is screaming to be nurished. I hope you begin to listen to it

 thanks abbie i know you are right ,but its helpful to hear it sometimes from someone who understands h x

Helen how are you doing? Are you holding up ok? It's okay to be hungry! I'm hungry today too and I wanted to make sure I told you that I got oranges and lean meat (for the healthy part) and these delicious cherry crumb pastries with icing (for the fun part) to satisfy it.

It's okay!!!!!! Eat! And let me know how the other stuff is...

I can relate to the hunger confusion. Some days Im really hungry, adn then I get confused becasue I am used to eating a certain amount in the day and Im afraid to go above in case doing that affects my next meal. Or lese Im not hungry and I get confused because I dont want the usual amount that I have. So I am going to try and listen to my body, and eat when Im hungry until Im full and not eat when Im not hungry and eat more on the days when i am hungry, dealing with one meal or snack at a time on those days (and try not to feel bad!). xx

HI...welli wish it was just my mind telling me im not hungry...but unfortunately it isn't.  Its my stomach.....it's absolutely chock a block full and also crampy.  I had a parasite infection a month ago and had to take antibiotics for it...wonder if all the little buggers were really killed off.   I just had another test.  I do eat high cal foods too like pb and avacados....i just wish i could feel ravenous...really hungry..i'd love that.  Occasionally i will feel mild hunger and then of course do eat more...it's just so fleeting though.  I may go see a TCM about it..maybe acupuncture or herbs or something will help to stimulate my appetite.  Here's what i had for breakfast and now feel so full...

1 bowl amaranth porridge, 1 banana with 2tbsp pb, 1 cup 1% milk. 

Yep helen - MONTHS into recovery my appetite was still ravenous. It can get that way now, but not as much as it was - it does appear to be tapering off, gradually. I really think it also has a lot to do with the extent to which you are malnourished and the duration. YOU have A LOT of catching up to do. You don't need our permission to eat. You are not being "greedy". Food is your medicine and you need it. I would go with the cravings. Your body knows what you need. Your mind has been twisting things for too long and cannot be trusted in this regard. The satiety signals DO return. Seriously, I was convinced (months into recovery) that I'd developed a serious bingeing problem(and I had), but now that a lot of these urges seem to be decreasing I realise that the "problem" was primarily physiological, even though the act of eating also brought me much emotional comfort. Now that the high intensity strength of the physiological aspect is wearing off, I am able to address the emotional angle. I know it's scary, but you NEED the nourishment. I know you feel out of control, but your body needs the food. Like zebulancherry state, you literally have nothing to lose.

do you know when you are recovered nina , you would be so good in care work helping others . your responses are so full of knowledge . thanks again for helping me out with that irrational part of my brain h x

I know that when YOU are recovered helen, you yourself would be an absolutely wonderful mentor to those struggling with ED. Heck, even now as you are experiencing the journey, you still infuse so many of us with inspiration and the nerve to keep going. You are no stranger to this illness - you have really gone the "whole hog" on this one. When you emerge as a beautiful butterfly at the end of the process I have no doubt you will be instrumental in helping others still struggling to attain their wings :) x

that brought tears to my eyes :) love you nina h x

I love you too babe. You can and will do this. I believe in you, we believe in you, and I know that deep down, you believe in you too. The real Helen is living beneath this delusion, but she's pulling her way out of it, bit by bit. Keep going girl - you're precious, and you're strong.