Never satisfied/full?

I'm definitely underweight and need to gain weight. And do suffer from some form of eating disorder..... one of the reasons being that:

I'm never full. I'm never satisfied and I can always eat more. I can eat thousands of calories and still want to (& will) eat more.

Everyone around me who has probably eaten 1/4 what I have can be completely stuffed and couldn't fit another bite.... but I could still eat more and want to. Whether its controlled or a binge (both happens)

And simply put, it scares me. I would gain weight wayyyyy too much (and have in the past) because of this.

Does anyone else have a similar problem? Any suggestions? How can I re-fix that mentality of mine.... or stomach.... not sure what it is.

youre hungry despite how much you think youre eating bc youre underweight+malnourished.  how many calories are you really eating on a consistant basis?  i see many of your posts alluding to low calorie foods.  to gain+become healthy+not always feeling hungry, you need a high cal intake ona regular basis, high cal dense foods.  your body is screaming for food, thats why youre always hungry-feed it-more.  you need to eat thousands of calories to maintain so i hope youre having more if you want to gain.  other ppl get full faster bc theyre prob eating more than you think, have more fat stored than you, are not underweight, and their bodies are not starving.

youre underweight you say, eat more, gain, and the constant feeling of hunger does go away.

i'm in the exact same situation as you. i weigh too little but i don't feel like i look that small and am afraid to gain weight. i'm not afraid to gain a few lbs cuz i know i need to but i'm scared i will go back to my old eating habits and gain all of it back

As agruskin says, if you're underweight you are clearly not eating 'thousands of calories'.   If you're choosing foods that are bulky but don't contain much energy, or if your food choices are lacking in nutrition then you'll feel like you need to eat and eat and eat ... because you're not getting the right nourishment and you'll feel unsatisfied.

It's a question of eating enough in total, choosing the right foods (some are more satisfying than others) and then exercising a little self-control.   When you're up to a healthy weight you'll probably find the last part a little easier.

If you exercise a lot and/or are very active, then it would make sense for you to be ravenous, eat a lot and still be thin. If you're young, growing, etc., you also might burn lots of calories.

But if you are sedentary, eating thousands of calories and not gaining any weight, that sounds like something you should see a doctor about. Seriously. I can see why it would be upsetting/frightening to eat and eat and feel like you're wasting away.

In addition to the above:

Do you ever purposely under-eat after days when you eat "thousands of calories"?  If so, this might be why you have gained weight rather rapidly.  This is because doing that makes your metabolism work under its full capacity, meaning that it's slowed down and not trained to burn so much.

However, if you consistently give your body the food it craves and needs, you'll see that gains are not out of hand.  Often times people with eating disorders have a hard time gaining real weight once they start refeeding.  A good start would be 2000 calories, but I've read articles about people being put on 3500 calorie diets for refeeding and after the first week or so, find that they need to eat even more to gain.  A lot of recoverers find that eating under that amount actually makes them lose and end up maintaining on a much higher maintenence level than the average person of their height, weight, and gender. Really, the key is to get your body functioning correctly again.

Also, don't weigh yourself every day; those gains are not real.  Try to limit it to once a week to see if you're making progress.

Original Post by gi-jane:

As agruskin says, if you're underweight you are clearly not eating 'thousands of calories'.   If you're choosing foods that are bulky but don't contain much energy, or if your food choices are lacking in nutrition then you'll feel like you need to eat and eat and eat ... because you're not getting the right nourishment and you'll feel unsatisfied.

It's a question of eating enough in total, choosing the right foods (some are more satisfying than others) and then exercising a little self-control.   When you're up to a healthy weight you'll probably find the last part a little easier.

Exactly right. Pick foods with more nutrients - stay away from huge portions of veggies, because they fill you up, but don't actually leave you satisfied because of how malnourished your body is. Trust me, been there done that. I really focus on protein and complex carbs to help me feel fuller - huge help and I really can't gain weight even with this, but I feel a lot more in control and not like I can't stop eating.

i am very much the same, but because i know this will happen i try to eat very little during the day, maybe 800cals before 8pm...then i just have a smallish dinner around 400 and then i snack untill i sleep....if i am not satisfied i can not sleep.i am always afraid of not being able to stop myself from eating so i just eat very controled meals so i can be more relaxed at home at night...when i know i need to eat because i am being watched becuasse i am recovering from anarevia......been really struggling with that this week

this is completely normal for underweight gainers... its an increase in a hormal called leptin that makes you hungry, its a good thing gainging weight, our body is just telling you it needs more fat stores. its usually self limiting, but keep an eye on it closer to maintainence yeah? until then dont worry, i was the same, about a week ago i still felt uncontrolled, but i dont feel as much craving and hapily maintaining. to feel full eat slowly, moving the food around in your mouth, indulging in its full potential, texture and taste, dont concentrate on anything else. dont overeat to when you feel sick. this is a hard thing to help you with, self control is the key, but once you get back to maintainance. to help guilt feelings a binge is 2000cals at a sitting, just dont let it get to that and it should be easy fading off. dont stock so much food in the house.

good luck with gaining:)

xx Holly