Not hungry-do I eat?

Hi!  I'm fairly new to this site, and have been reading the posts faithfully but haven't run across this question.

Many times I'm not hungry at meal-time.  Do I eat anyway or wait until hunger strikes?  For example, today's breakfast was a 2 egg omelet with green/orange peppers, mushrooms, ham and cheese.  I had 1 slice of stone ground whole wheat toast, lightly buttered.  I couldn't finish the entire thing.

Now, hours later, it's about lunch break time, and I'm not a bit hungry.  Do I eat anyway or wait until my body says it's time to eat?

Eat anyways. You should try to eat 6 times a day but small portions high in protein. The protein will help keep you full longer.

Thank You!  I come from a family who eats not because they're hungry, but to keep from getting hungry, and I fear that is a big part of my weight isses.  I don't want to get to eating just because it's the clock says it's dinner time.

My family is that same way which is why I eat just to eat sometimes. LOL! It's funny cause I know I'm not hungry it's just something to do. Eating every 2-3 hours will help jump start your metabolism. Like what you have for breakfast cut that in half and eat that then 2 hours later eat the rest of it or something else that's small. Trust me eating light but often is better then eating heavy and not so often. Also drink lots of water.

I have the same problem, I know I need to eat but I'm often not hungry or get busy and forget to eat.  My problem is I go without to long and often over eat.  i'm still trying to figure out how I went from 125 to 182 in less than 3 years.  I know stress has a lot to do with it and I don't eat like I should and that takes a toll on my metabolism.  I found this site about a week ago and have dropped 2 lbs.  I hope to continue to lose and do it in a healthy way.

It didnt work for me.  My eating spread out so far I wasnt getting my calories.  Granted if I was eating unhealthy food I wouldve but just going off appetite, the time gap seemed to expand.  I ended up then purposely spreading it further and stalled what was a steady weight loss. 

Ive know eat by the clock.

Another bad habit is postponing breakfast cuz im busy and then would just go to my first snack but later in the day it screwed with my hunger making me more ravenous.  I believe like sleep, the body does best on a regular meal schedule and am sure I read something along this logic.

to me, I'm usually always hungry, so I have my meals now spread. After I work out and feed my dog, I have a low calorie breakfast. either a fat free and sugar free yogurt or a fruit. Than around 10am I have another fruit. Oh yeah, I have tea after walking my dog. The tea helps and I'm a tea addict (no cafine). Than I have lunch at 12 or close to 12, which is light and be over 300 calories. Than at 2 I have another fruit. After I walk my dog in the afternoon at 3:30, I have my decaf green tea again. Around 5 (6 if I have to take my baby brother to his after school programs) I have dinner, which is my heaviest meal and I play around with dessert or add extra fruits. Than I have tea again after walking my dog at night (I don't add anything to my tea. green tea decaf is best served black).  I'm trying to bring my calorie count up so the meals are not steady enough yet. But yeah, it's pretty spread out.

I suggest to have a havier breakfast than I do. My lunch looks like a breakfast that most people will have. oatmeal, egg, fruit, and milk, or ceral with milk and a fruit is usually my lunch. Sometimes even a whole wheat bread with 3 cheese strings, milk, and a fruit (if I'm not home, it's the easiest thing to take with me. The milk I drink before I leave home instead of having it for lunch).

I'm a milk addict to. Got to have my 2 glasses of milk per day. mmm...mmm goodness. 

So try scheduled meals like these with the right amount of porportions to get the calories you need. Of course, different times, depending when you have a chance to sneak in a snack and when you wake up

Just don't copy what I do, I eat to low in calories. I'm tying to move myself slowly to 1400. I reached 1250 yesterday. yay! going to start making my breakfasts a bit more heavier soon. except sharing the kitchen with my parents and brothers is not a easy task in the morning.

eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full

spreading out my calories works best for me. I preplan all my meals so I'll know exactly what I'm getting, calorie-wise, so that I do not go too far over or too far under. I find this is the best thing for me because then I'm not preoccupied with thoughts of: "Am I eating enough today?" "Did I eat too much today?"

Eases the mental weight.

I guess my personal thought is that we should never feel hungry. If we are keeping up with fueling our bodies through the day, then there is no reason to feel hungry (or overfull, for that matter). It's all about making the smart choices about what you are using as fuel :) Scheduling works well too if your body does better under a schedule eating plan.

Test it out and see if it works for you. Everyone's different.

lol, I actually have a funny effect with spreading the food out. I can tell the time from my hunger. I'm hungry when ever I near my snack or meal times and how hungry I am will let me know the time by the minute. Well, I'll be off by 4 minutes at the most, but still good enough. I swear, my body is trained.