learning how to eat again?

i've come to the conclusion that i need to learn how to eat when i'm hungry. i've gotten into this schedule of times when i should be eating my meals and now i can't really determine if i'm actually hungry or just eating because its a certain time of day. i especially have a hard time with mid morning. i absolutely can't tell if im hungry or not. how can i learn to listen to my body's signals and eat only when i'm hungry? HELP!!

I think many people have this problem actually. I feel like I often eat out of boredom, habit, and not necessarily hunger. I think that just being in touch with your feelings is probably going to help you stop mindlessly eating or just eating out of habit.

I know exactly how you feel.  I was the same way about 6 weeks ago when I started my diet.  This is what I did.  Determine how many calories your going to eat each day.  Plan on eating something about every 3 hours, so divide your calories into how ever many times you are going to eat.  I usually have 3 meals and 3 snacks.  Each of these will not be very large because you are eating so often.  However you will find that it won't take long before you will start to feel hungry about the time your ready for your next meal / snack. 

I always told myself that something was wrong because I could never tell if I was hungry or eating out of habit.  That was because I was overeating everytime I did eat.  I never gave my body a chance to get hungry.

Try it, it will probably work for you.  At least you can remember what it feels like to be hungry when you sit down to eat.  Oh, and those small meals and snacks will start to be very satisfying.

i usually eat breakfast before class at 8:30 then come home and have a second breakfast around 10 then go to class and eat lunch after around 12ish. but today i didn't have my second breakfast because i don't think i was truely  hungry so when lunch time came i could actually feel my stomach grumbling and i knew for sure that i was hungry! im so excited to try eathing this way and see what it does for me. eventually i want to not have to count my calories.

i dont hink it is a bad thing to eat on a time schedule. as long as youre not eating on an emotion schedule. its when you let your stomach grumle that ppl tend to make bad food decisions. staying on top of the hunger is good, means your body wont think its starving between meals.

your schedule is good as long as you arent constantly "full", like really full and bloated, in which case you shave down the servings.

it's not a bad thing.. it's actually very beneficial for your body to eat 5-6 times a day, each meal spaced 2-3 hours apart

this keeps hunger under control, prevents overeating/binging, keeps your energy up, and blood sugar steady

as long as your meals are healthy, balanced and full of whole natural CLEAN foods.. and you're not overeating or undereating then it a GOOD thing

waiting till your actually hungry will cause you to overeat and reach for high GI foods or empty carbs

when your hungry that means your blood sugar levels have dropped, and the first thing your body will do when this happens in crave carbs

carbs= quick energy.. they are readily digested and quickly converted into sugar so that your body can use them fast

if you keep your blood sugar steady and avoid the rollercoaster effect, you'll have a much easier time managing your appetite and weight

if i don't wait till my stomach grumbles how do i know when i'm hungry?

There are other signs from your body that may indicate physical hunger:

• Lethargy
• Starting to think a lot about food
• Loss of concentration
• Lack of energy
  

Some people do feel physical hunger in their stomach (such as when it grumbles or thats to hurt or feel hollow)  if they skip one or two meals - therefore, they know to eat.

But not every person feels physical hunger as fast as others.

In fact, many people, such as myself, do not feel hungry until it is too late

For example, if I eat 400 - 500 calories at 7am, my stomach will not feel hungry until about 5 pm that evening.

I cannot wait until my physical hunger kicks in - I have to use common sense. 

So if you do not feel hungry for a long time after a normal sized meal, and you logically KNOW that the calories from your last meal would have been used up by now, than EAT - do not wait until you feel physical hunger.

yeah yesterday about 3 in the afternoon i found myself thinking about food a lot and i was waiting for my stomach to grumble so i could eat somethign (im used to eating around 3) so i finally did. so i guess that was ok since thinking about food is a sign. man i wish i could just change overnight ha.

Hey -  well done, it was great that you were able to let yourself eat at 3. Seriously, if you start to think about food more than usual, and you know it is not boredom, and you normally eat at that time, than it is likely that you do need the food.

Physical hunger in your stomach is NOT the only sign of true hunger.  And hey - it is hard trying to do what is right, and to eat normally and when you think you are hungry…. But realistically, you can will never get an ‘official’  sign that guarantees that your body is hungry and needs to eat…. You need to learn how to use your own common sense. It will take time, if revering from your tendency was easy, no one would have eating disorders if they were so easy to over come. You are doing really well.  Try not to have to justify your hunger all the time to yourself. It does not have to be that complicated or difficult.

Have you thought about trying intuitive eating?

I have the book (and would highly recommend it!) but the author's website also has some good information to start you off: http://www.intuitiveeating.com/