Hunger Pains And Weight Loss

[Waterbabe_Helena]

My dear, caring 120-pound friend is most insistent that it is necessary to feel hunger pains and to ignore them for a while at least, because that is a sign that your body is eating its own fat stores.

She claims that I eat too much and that if I don't let myself tolerate the feelings of hunger I will never be able to lose weight.

I personally rarely let myself get so hungry as to have pangs or pains - I cannot bear that feeling, and quickly become hypoglycaemic if I leave off eating too long.

What does everyone else think?

Opinions invited please.

Helena

[Laurenfra]

Re: Hunger Pains And Weight Loss

Weight lost: 9 pounds

from your siggy and I am down 50. Who is right here us or your 120lb friend-lol. Give her a hug and thank her for her advice and go on as you are!

[Waterbabe_Helena]

Re: Hunger Pains And Weight Loss

50lbs and never felt hunger pains? Let me know and I will tell her. I know she only means well.

[julirama723]

Re: Hunger Pains And Weight Loss

Hunger pangs mean your body needs fuel! If you feel hunger pangs and DON'T eat, your metabolism is going to slow down to conserve energy. We want our metabolisms to stay active ALL DAY!

If I am hungry, I EAT. And I eat good foods with fat in them. And I've lost around 55lb. eating when hunger strikes.

[ValidRouge]

Re: Hunger Pains And Weight Loss

Oh **** no! If I had to feel hunger pains I'd have never lost 75 lbs!!! I'd have gone off on a binge. Let me tell you, when I'm hungry, I EAT! And I eat as much as I need to eat to make the hunger go away. Now, I don't GORGE myself (well, I've done it on occasion) but I don't GORGE myself every day or even every week or month. But if I'm hungry, girl, I eat! Believe me.

[MaggieBE]

Re: Hunger Pains And Weight Loss

It is important to not confuss hunger with thirst. Sometimes I feel physically "hungry" but realize it has been some time since I had a drink. I will drink water and feel better. When water doesn't help I get something to eat.

[not2late]

Re: Hunger Pains And Weight Loss

Hunger pains???? Not on Atkins!

That's the beauty of Dr. Atkins' plan. It uses ketogenesis. One of the side effects of ketosis is appetite suppression! So, you won't feel that gnawing, tummy-rumbling hunger.

It's too bad that Dr. Atkins didn't include his personal weight loss story in his later books. Dr. Atkins was overweight. But he didn't want to go on the low cal diets because he was afraid of feeling hungry all the time. The first person to go on his diet was himself. That's one of the reasons why his diet uses ketosis---so he (and we) wouldn't feel hungry all the time.

Everyone is correct, that you should NEVER eat the amount you think you need in order to avoid being hungry while on Atkins. You eat to satisfy your hunger. If you do get hungry between meals, have a small snack. Otherwise, you will over-eat and not lose, in spite of only eating the acceptable foods and being in ketosis.

[HeidiE]

Re: Hunger Pains And Weight Loss

sometimes when people feel "hunger pangs" they are actuallly feeling reflux symptoms ..not real hunger ..but acid in your stomach refluxing ....and then they feed it and feed it and feed it ....

I have lost 50lbs and not felt much hunger at all

[Hudson]

Re: Hunger Pains And Weight Loss

Your friend is correct for low fat, low calorie, weightwatchers kind of plans. If you eat a large percentage of your intake from carbs, to lose weight you will be hungry. I don't get hungry very often. In fact when eating very low carb (high fat) it sometimes amazes me how long I can go without food and still feel no hunger pains.

One of the main reasons Atkins works is this not being hungry. Ask your friend to eat a 1000 calorie day of 50%+ fat vs a 1000 calorie day 90%+ carbs and check and see how hungry she is. If she does it she will see the difference.

[Adena]

Re: Hunger Pains And Weight Loss

I find that when I am occasionally having a hungry day -- and eating a lot more than normal to quickly satisfy that hunger -- I usually LOSE weight in the next day or two!

[ttdriver]

Re: Hunger Pains And Weight Loss

The beauty of Atkins is, we are encouraged to eat when hungry! You can't beat it! THIS IS NOT A STARVATION WOE. Which is why its so easy to make it your way of eating FOR LIFE!

Betty

[biogeek]

Re: Hunger Pains And Weight Loss

I can't imagine suffering everyday with hunger pangs!! Low fat/low calorie woes are for those that want to suffer. Give me an Atkins menu anyday/everyday. If for whatever reason I get hungry between meals, I eat a little snack with NO GUILT! Hunger pangs....pffft!

[not2late]

Re: Hunger Pains And Weight Loss

I'm having lunch right and I'm thinking about this....

Before I started Atkins, the one diet I tried was low fat vegetarian. Okay, here was my usual vegetarian menu:

Breakfast:
1 bagel
2 teaspoons strawberry jam

Morning snack:
apple or orange

Lunch:
veggie sandwich (whole grain bread, tofu or some other meat-free protein, and assorted veggies like tomatoes, lettuce, onion, etc.)
100% fruit juice

Mid-afternoon snack
air-popped popcorn
100% fruit juice

Pre-dinner snack
a few carrot sticks
maybe some fruit

Dinner
Some kind of pasta/rice dish with beans
Cooked veggie
Some kind of stewed or raw fruit.

After dinner snack
more popcorn or crackers or fruit

I had to eat all these meals because I would be hungry 1 hour after eating...no matter how much I ate during the main meals, my stomach would be growling and howling to be fed. And guess what? I gained weight on my low fat vegetarian diet because as long as I stayed away from evil fat, I wouldn't be fat. So I ate foods that contained added sugars, ate whole grains and legumes like mad because they were good for me and fat-free.

On Atkins, I eat 3 meals a day. Once in a while I have a mid-afternoon snack. And I'm not hungry AND I've lost over 100 pounds!

[higgies]

Re: Hunger Pains And Weight Loss

Sorry, but I'm going to say your friend is sorely mistaken. Hunger pangs are merely a physical and pyschological reaction to your stomach actually being empty or near empty. Why would you want that? Here's a little explanation:

Your stomach actually rumbles all the time, not just when you’re hungry. The official term for it is borborygmi. The Greeks originally dreamt up this term in an attempt to represent the sound of the noise itself.

What causes borborygmi?
Liquids in the stomach absorb gas that we swallow in the air, when we eat. As the stomach contracts, to move food around the digestive system it pushes this gas through the liquids. The loud distinctive rumble, which normally crops up when we’re hungry, happens because there is no food in the gut to dampen down the sound.

Why does my stomach contract even when there’s no food to move around?
Because your body has a reflexive response to the desire for food, and starts preparing the stomach for the hoped for food by pushing anything in the intestines towards the rectum.

Some people actually experience borborygmus after meals, since digestion has the same reflex.

[angelstar]

Re: Hunger Pains And Weight Loss

When I wasnt on Atkins, when I was hungry I would shake as I needed the sugar. I never get that on Atkins and I never get hunger pains/pangs. If ur stomach is giving you hunger pains/pangs then it will be storing ur body fat as reserved energy, not burning it off!

Eat and drink as and when you want to or feel hungry but never let urself get that hungry to get pains/pangs. U will find urself wanting to gorge and might make the wrong choice in what food to have