Hunger and fullness? Overthinking eating - answer

Izzy, do you have any advice on being sort of denial about hunger. Like, this is a REALLY complex mental issue of mine, but to explein it in short:
1) Hunger can cause feeling low and sad, right. That's biochemicaly correct
2) One can feel hungry without actually needing more food/energy (ie emotional hunger or lack of sleep)
3) One can feel full even WHEN actually needing more food/energy (ie, having eaten too volumous foods without adequate energy)
4) One can sometimes have energy when hungry AND sometimes not have energy when full
5) One can have little energy without it having to do with lack of food.

Combine all these "theories" and you have my messed up mind regarding hunger. When in school I always feel like "I have energy, I can't be hungry, I don't wanna eat because wouldn't it be considered emotional eating to eat if not physically hungry?". And when my stomach is empty: "Why is my stomach growling, I have enough energy, I don't feel like eating even". This leads to me having a panick attack and suicide impulses because of what I think is actual hunger (or lack of food). However, if I'm bored at home I am the other way around. Using all these "excuses" or explainations to eat. Like, "my stomach is growling, so i can eat now" and eat even if I am not physically hungry or even actually want food. 

My whole day revolves around this thinking where nothing ever feels "just right" in terms of either energy, hunger/fullness, apetite/loss of apetite, etc etc. Like, all these rules about hunger and energy don't add up in "real life". It is like I am looking for a "one size fits all"-solution. 

And the emotional part about hunger causing feeling low makes it hard for me to know weather I eat to soothe my emotions or because of hunger. 

I am always expecting something to "happen" when I eat or don't eat, that "just right"-feeling :( 

This thinking is a major stressor for me, as I always fear the panick attacks that can come because of hunger - AND for no reason at all. The sheer feeling of hunger is something I have to go through every day like normal people. But it upsets me that it is something I cannot control and predict and reason with. 

I have also lost weight due to this, which makes me underweight, and I know that would worsen the thought chaos. However, when I was above "normal weight" I stil had these obsessive thoughs. 

Don't know why I'm sharing this... Just wanted some relief I guess

Hello,  I understand completely what you write, because as you mentioned in the  points all of those statements are right and hunger and fullness is very confusing because it can be both mental and physical reasonings but also if you dont have a very good relationship with food it can be hard to know actual hunger and hunger due to other reasons. But it sounds very much like you are overthinking food and hunger and fullness far too much. There is no "one right way", and when you overthink hunger and fullness and obsess about food you lose balance completely. And the more you try to focus on when to eat or not eat the harder it is to find balance because there is no "right" time really.

My best advice would be to try to start with a meal plan with 5-6 meals per day. This is because when your body and mind are out of tune and hormones arent working as they should (i.e what controls actual hunger and fullness), then its hard to listen to your body. So the best thing then is to just eat regular meals throughout the day and let your body adapt to that instead of overthinking when to eat and what.  As your body then adapts to the regular eating you will also begin to feel hungry during those times that you eat - it can take a few weeks for your body to normalize and to feel hunger and certain times but with regular meal times it will help. But also it will keep you from getting those low blood sugar dips which can lead to anxiety, moodiness and negative thoughts. Not to mention that if you go so long without eating it makes it even harder to eat because it is like the ED voice gets stronger the longer you go without eating - hence why regular eating is so important in recovery as well as it keeps you from getting to that stage where you are VERY HANGRY and eating is harder than it should be.

I wouldnt overthink food so much, instead follow a meal plan and regular meals (the best would be to go to a dietician who can help you so that you eat enough. .Because even if you eat regular meals but arent getting enough energy your body will adapt to that but you wont be getting the right energy and wont be helping yourself 100%). And when you have a plan to follow then you eat your food whether you are hungry or not and there should be no second thought to it. Because once you begin thinking "should i eat, shouldnt i eat. Am i hungry or should i wait" then you will just make it even harder to eat because your eating disorder will always convince you to not eat if you have the chance.

So taking the thinking and planning away from food can help to normalize your eating and make it more regular and also gives your body the fuel it needs so that it can recover and hormones and bodily functions can start to become more normal again.

Once your body has become more balanced then it is easier to try to eat intuitively where you can just listen to your bodies signals i.e somedays you eat more, somedays less but there is a balance. However some people are more sensitive to things such as stress, emotional eating, anxiety that makes them lose appetite or just forgetting to eat which means that intuitive eating isnt for them and they need a meal plan to follow otherwise they end up not eating enough or eating too much. So some people just need some form of meal plan to keep them on track and get enough energy and that is ok as well!!

I know this isnt the best answer or advice but food shouldnt be so much mental instead it should be physical - however when you have an eating disorder both the physical and mental sides of hunger and food are messed up and then its best to just follow a plan!! :)

Lifestyle change - exercising less, feeling more hungry - answer

Hi izzy can you help please? I've just restarted college so i can't exercise like i used to as theres no time and when i get home I'm too tired so my weight has been shooting up which is extremely frightening and also I've been feeling so so hungry too that I've had to up my diet despite the weight gain but as I'm doing this alone i don't know what to do to stop the hunger. I've just forced my self to have a second sachet of porridge to my normal snack of 1 sachet but I've also had to eat an extra slice of toast before bed too. i feel so out of control. i can't concentrate on my work and don't know what to do to stop the hunger. i am very near my target weight, thou i set this, so now I'm scared cos ill have to reduce my food soon but what about the hunger? i just feel I'm always in pain and only to the point of agony do i give in and allow myself to have something extra but I'm often taking it out of my meal allowance so its all messy and i just feel a big fat greedy pig. i just want to be free. i can't go on like this. does extreme hunger make you put on loads of weight? also what do i need in my diet to help with the hunger? i have a fear of fats so my diet is pretty much fat free, is this why?



Hello,
   It doesnt sound like your mindset is so healthy at all, and there are many thoghts and fears you need to challenge. Exercise shouldnt be done "just so that you can eat" or to compensate for eating - exercise should be done because you enjoy it, but also you can eat even if you dont exercise, you dont need to compensate or eat less. The reason you might be feeling so hungry is 1) When you are studying your brain uses alot of energy to concentrate and focus and you feel more hungry, 2) You feel more stressed which can increase hunger, 3) Your body so desperatly wants more food and calories and to reach its healthy weight (DONT focus on numbers, Jjust because you have set your goal weight at X kg doesnt mean that your body will settle there. So allow your body to settle where it wants and dont focus on a number). 4) Exercise can actually surpress appetite, so now when you exercise less your true hunger is coming and you should listen to that hunger.

You shouldnt walk around feeling super hungry, then you wont be able to study or concentrate or do anything because you will just think about food and how hungry you are. So my best suggestion is to make sure you are satisfied after every meal. DOESNT MATTER how much you need to eat... doesnt matter if you need to eat 3 portions of oatmeal in the morning or 3 portions of pasta in the evening - eat until you are full. Also healthy fats are essential in your diet but also they help fill you up. Fats dont make you fat. You need healthy fats in your diet and i can assure you that if you add fat into your daily intake it will help keep you fuller and more satisfied! Add some nuts or nut butter to your oatmeal, add oil to your food or avocado on toast or to your salad, add seeds and nuts to your snacks. Your fear of fats is something you need to overcome and face, whether you do it this week, next month or 3 years from now you cant fully recover unless you face that fear as it is holding you back in life. Ask yourself,  why do fats scare you and are those thoughts logical? What will happen if you eat healthy fats? What are you scared will happen? Slowly add them back into your diet, maybe start with adding 1 tablespoon of nut butter to your oatmeal in the morning or adding butter on your bread. .Small steps will make a difference.

And eat. Eat until you are satisfied, forget about numbers. Your body is giving you signs that it wants more food and then you need to listen to those signs. Restricting wont help and can lead to binge eating in the future if you keep trying to go against your bodies signs.

The only way you can overcome your fears and feel more balanced is by facing your fears - no one else can do it for you. All these things holding you back, you need to overcome them.

Dont step on the scale for a few weeks. Instead allow yourself to eat and focus on your studies but also on having a social life/meeting friends. Dont hide away and suffer in silence. By trying to live life and be around normal and healthy people it can help alot in recovery when you arent just stuck with your own thoughts and fears, but instead out living life and trying to be as healthy or normal as you can - i.e eat lunch with friends or go for a coffee and bun if friends ask you to join. And dont worry about exercise, you dont need to exercise and if you dont have time for it, its ok. Right now i think you should just focus on trying to face your fears, trying to fight the voice in your head and also cope with your school work.

I would also suggest seeking some type of proffessional help if you can - it is very helpful and can help you to cope with stress or just someone to talk to.

You are not lazy for not exercise and you are not greedy for being hungry. Also with the "meal allowances" maybe the best thing is to disregard that meal plan for a while and just eat... it can help take away the guilt if you see food as "extra" when its not extra, its just more because you are hungry. If that makes sense.... the meal plan can be a good base line to follow i.e with your meals everyday, but if you are extra hungry then you should eat more and not see it as "extra" or "greedy".

You need to face your fears and deal with the anxiety and know that it will get easier. But a life with an eating disorder isnt a life, its just surviving. You are strong enough to get through this!! You just need to dare to make a change in your life and in your eating and dare to go against your ED thoughts. Nothing bad will happen and weight gain isnt the end of the world... there are far worse things than gaining weight.

  Dont focus on a number - not on weight, not on calories, not on minutes of exercise done. Instead focus on being the healthiest and happiest version of yourself. The hunger will fade when you eat more and increase healthy fats in your diet and you will be able to focus and concentrate and sleep better when you eat more and not feel so hungry.

Focus on the healthiest and happiest version of yourself - and that means fighting free from the ED thoughts! :)

Extreme hunger - already gaining weight so cant justify eating more

Sorry off topic but do you have any advice. I am always feeling hungry to the point of having no energy, being in constant pain & anxiety & i cannot concentrate on my wk. i eat about 1900 cals surely this is enuf. I am putting on weight so i cant justify eating more cos the scales will go up even more & i fear overshooting my target. Yet these chronic hunger pains are causing me so much distress.


Hello :)

If you are feeling that amount of hunger i would say eat.... 1900 really isnt that much and even if you are gaining weight i think your body might still want more energy, and you might be going through an extreme hunger phase.

I know it might feel "wrong" to eat more when you are already gaining weight, but if you are so hungry then you need to eat more. I dont really know how much weight you need to gain, but even if you are close to your goal weight, dont worry about overshooting it. Instead, give your body lots of energy and rest for a while and try to let your body balance itself out. The best thing you can do is to give it a try and eat more. During extreme hunger people can eat anywhere from 3000-7000kcal in a day, and i know it sounds alot or sounds like a binge but it isnt.... its because your body just wants lots and lots of food and wants energy. But also if you have been very "strict" with your weight gain and eating, then i think this is your body saying that...."i need more food, 1900 isnt enough".

Its recommended that for weight gain you try to eat around 2500+kcal a day, because think if you are eating 1900 kcal a day and gaining weight, that means your metabolism isnt where it should be as most people eat around 1900 and maintain.

I think the best thing you can do - even if it seems scary. Allow yourself to eat.... whether its 2 days of lots of eating to give your body some type of peace or if its a week, it doesnt matter. Dont step on the scale... because really, you wont gain that much extra weight, it will be alot of water weight most likely but if your body is screaming for food, there is a reason for it.

Think like this.... everyday your body needs around 1200-1500kcal a day - just to function and to be alive... for all the processes in the body to work properly, and from those calories the brain needs around 800kcal a day (and needs glucose to function!). And then if you are studying that means the brain needs even more glucose each day, and during recovery your body is trying to repair itself from all the damage... the metabolism is trying to get back to normal and normal body temperature and all of that takes alot of energy, and then of course just moving and doing daily things such as walking to the fridge, putting on clothes, making food, going to the bathroom, taking a shower etc all of those things take energy, even just lying in bed or sitting and reading means your body is burning calories.

Nourish your body properly, give it enough energy and dont worry about overshooting your target. Your body needs the food... dont step on the scales for a week or two, just focus on giving your body food and being ok with it. And with a goal weight, you never know if that is your healthy weight... i was told that 58kg was my healthy weight, but now i weigh around 63-65kg and that is my healthy weight. But when i was in recovery i was set on having 55kg as my goal weight and i said i would never weigh more than that because then it would be "too much", who knew that i would weigh 10kg more than that and be ok with it. But that was because my body wasnt healthy at 55kg and my actual goal weight, where my body settled was 60kg (and then with strength training i gained muscle mass and now my healthy weight is a few kilo more). And that is ok, because weight is just a number. What you need to focus on is having a healthy mind and a healthy body no matter what the scale says, so try not to focus so much on a certain number or goal weight.... if you body needs food and you cant concentrate because you are so hungry, then you need to give your body more food!!!It will be ok, nourish your body and try to listen to your bodies signs!

THIS and THIS post about extreme hunger might be helpful

Emotional eating vs extreme hunger

I have gotten quite a few people wondering about the difference between extreme hunger and binging.

I have written this post here: http://living-with-anorexia.blogspot.se/2013/12/extreme-hunger.html  which is about extreme hunger. And that is during recovery and the refeeding stage. It can also feel uncontrolled, as if you're binging. But its not really...

And then there is binging or emotional/Mindless eating which is different from the over eating/extreme hunger in recovery. I found a great article here: http://www.helpguide.org/life/emotional_eating_stress_cravings.htm
And i am going to share some of the information. So that you can understand the difference between emotional eating/binging and extreme hunger... and maybe figure out which one it is.

However, if you are in recovery and have just ... or even for a while begun eating normally/regularly then expect extreme hunger and its nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about. That extreme hunger does go away.

Understanding emotional eating

If you’ve ever make room for dessert even though you’re already full or dove into a pint of ice cream when you’re feeling down, you’ve experienced emotional eating. Emotional eating is using food to make yourself feel better—eating to fill emotional needs, rather than to fill your stomach.

Using food from time to time as a pick me up, a reward, or to celebrate isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But when eating is your primary emotional coping mechanism—when your first impulse is to open the refrigerator whenever you’re upset, angry, lonely, stressed, exhausted, or bored—you get stuck in an unhealthy cycle where the real feeling or problem is never addressed.

Emotional hunger can’t be filled with food. Eating may feel good in the moment, but the feelings that triggered the eating are still there. And you often feel worse than you did before because of the unnecessary calories you consumed. You beat yourself for messing up and not having more willpower. Compounding the problem, you stop learning healthier ways to deal with your emotions, you have a harder and harder time controlling your weight, and you feel increasingly powerless over both food and your feelings.

Are you an emotional eater?

• Do you eat more when you’re feeling stressed?
• Do you eat when you’re not hungry or when you’re full?
• Do you eat to feel better (to calm and soothe yourself when you’re sad, mad, bored, anxious, etc.)?
• Do you reward yourself with food?
• Do you regularly eat until you’ve stuffed yourself?
• Does food make you feel safe? Do you feel like food is a friend?
• Do you feel powerless or out of control around food?

The difference between emotional hunger and physical hunger

Before you can break free from the cycle of emotional eating, you first need to learn how to distinguish between emotional and physical hunger. This can be trickier than it sounds, especially if you regularly use food to deal with your feelings.

Emotional hunger can be powerful. As a result, it’s easy to mistake it for physical hunger. But there are clues you can look for that can help you tell physical and emotional hunger apart.

• Emotional hunger comes on suddenly. It hits you in an instant and feels overwhelming and urgent. Physical hunger, on the other hand, comes on more gradually. The urge to eat doesn’t feel as dire or demand instant satisfaction (unless you haven’t eaten for a very long time).
• Emotional hunger craves specific comfort foods. When you’re physically hungry, almost anything sounds good—including healthy stuff like vegetables. But emotional hunger craves fatty foods or sugary snacks that provide an instant rush. You feel like you need cheesecake or pizza, and nothing else will do.
• Emotional hunger often leads to mindless eating. Before you know it, you’ve eaten a whole bag of chips or an entire pint of ice cream without really paying attention or fully enjoying it. When you’re eating in response to physical hunger, you’re typically more aware of what you’re doing.
• Emotional hunger isn’t satisfied once you’re full. You keep wanting more and more, often eating until you’re uncomfortably stuffed. Physical hunger, on the other hand, doesn't need to be stuffed. You feel satisfied when your stomach is full.
• Emotional hunger isn’t located in the stomach. Rather than a growling belly or a pang in your stomach, you feel your hunger as a craving you can’t get out of your head. You’re focused on specific textures, tastes, and smells.
• Emotional hunger often leads to regret, guilt, or shame. When you eat to satisfy physical hunger, you’re unlikely to feel guilty or ashamed because you’re simply giving your body what it needs. If you feel guilty after you eat, it's likely because you know deep down that you’re not eating for nutritional reasons.

Emotional hunger vs. Physical hunger
Emotional hunger comes on suddenly.	Physical hunger comes on gradually.
Emotional hunger feels like it needs to be satisfied instantly.	Physical hunger can wait.
Emotional hunger craves specific comfort foods.	Physical hunger is open to options–lots of things sound good.
Emotional hunger isn't satisfied with a full stomach.	Physical hunger stops when you're full.
Emotional eating triggers feelings of guilt, powerlessness, and shame.	Eating to satisfy physical hunger doesn't make you feel bad about yourself.

Alternatives to emotional eating

• If you’re depressed or lonely, call someone who always makes you feel better, play with your dog or cat, or look at a favorite photo or cherished memento.
• If you’re anxious, expend your nervous energy by dancing to your favorite song, squeezing a stress ball, or taking a brisk walk.
• If you’re exhausted, treat yourself with a hot cup of tea, take a bath, light some scented candles, or wrap yourself in a warm blanket.
• If you’re bored, read a good book, watch a comedy show, explore the outdoors, or turn to an activity you enjoy (woodworking, playing the guitar, shooting hoops, scrapbooking, etc.).

Learn to accept your feelings—even the bad ones

While it may seem that the core problem is that you’re powerless over food, emotional eating actually stems from feeling powerless over your emotions. You don’t feel capable of dealing with your feelings head on, so you avoid them with food.

Allowing yourself to feel uncomfortable emotions can be scary. You may fear that, like Pandora’s box, once you open the door you won’t be able to shut it. But the truth is that when we don’t obsess over or suppress our emotions, even the most painful and difficult feelings subside relatively quickly and lose their power to control our attention. To do this you need to become mindful and learn how to stay connected to your moment-to-moment emotional experience. This can enable you to rein in stress and repair emotional problems that often trigger emotional eating.

Authors: Melinda Smith, M.A. and Jeanne Segal Ph. D. Last updated: February 2014.

Helpful posts about extreme hunger, hunger and fullness and intuitive eating

Ive gotten alot  of questions regarding extreme hunger, intuitive eating, hunger and fullness and how to eat more. I have written quite a few posts regarding these topics, so i thought i would just link the posts and if you need any more advice then it is just to comment and i will try my best to help :)

Extreme Hunger
Emotional eating vs. Extreme hunger
Recovery reminders and truths
Gaining weight after anorexia: What to expect
Hunger and fullness
Calorie intake in recovery
Fear of continuing to gain weight after reaching a healthy weight
How to eat after recovery
Phases of recovery
Overeating because its delicious
Making a change and overcoming fear
Increasing meal plan and fear of weight gain
Eating intuitively masterpost
Facing fears and restrictions
Dont compare your eating to anyone elses
Eating more than others
Metabolism and calories in recovery
Facing fears and restrictions
Eating normal foods
Disordered eating times


Hope these help!

Emotional eating VS. extreme hunger

I have gotten quite a few people wondering about the difference between extreme hunger and binging.

I have written this post here: http://living-with-anorexia.blogspot.se/2013/12/extreme-hunger.html  which is about extreme hunger. And that is during recovery and the refeeding stage. It can also feel uncontrolled, as if you're binging. But its not really...

And then there is binging or emotional/Mindless eating which is different from the over eating/extreme hunger in recovery. I found a great article here: http://www.helpguide.org/life/emotional_eating_stress_cravings.htm
And i am going to share some of the information. So that you can understand the difference between emotional eating/binging and extreme hunger... and maybe figure out which one it is.

However, if you are in recovery and have just ... or even for a while begun eating normally/regularly then expect extreme hunger and its nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about. That extreme hunger does go away.

Understanding emotional eating

If you’ve ever make room for dessert even though you’re already full or dove into a pint of ice cream when you’re feeling down, you’ve experienced emotional eating. Emotional eating is using food to make yourself feel better—eating to fill emotional needs, rather than to fill your stomach.

Using food from time to time as a pick me up, a reward, or to celebrate isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But when eating is your primary emotional coping mechanism—when your first impulse is to open the refrigerator whenever you’re upset, angry, lonely, stressed, exhausted, or bored—you get stuck in an unhealthy cycle where the real feeling or problem is never addressed.

Emotional hunger can’t be filled with food. Eating may feel good in the moment, but the feelings that triggered the eating are still there. And you often feel worse than you did before because of the unnecessary calories you consumed. You beat yourself for messing up and not having more willpower. Compounding the problem, you stop learning healthier ways to deal with your emotions, you have a harder and harder time controlling your weight, and you feel increasingly powerless over both food and your feelings.

Are you an emotional eater?

• Do you eat more when you’re feeling stressed?
• Do you eat when you’re not hungry or when you’re full?
• Do you eat to feel better (to calm and soothe yourself when you’re sad, mad, bored, anxious, etc.)?
• Do you reward yourself with food?
• Do you regularly eat until you’ve stuffed yourself?
• Does food make you feel safe? Do you feel like food is a friend?
• Do you feel powerless or out of control around food?

The difference between emotional hunger and physical hunger

Before you can break free from the cycle of emotional eating, you first need to learn how to distinguish between emotional and physical hunger. This can be trickier than it sounds, especially if you regularly use food to deal with your feelings.

Emotional hunger can be powerful. As a result, it’s easy to mistake it for physical hunger. But there are clues you can look for that can help you tell physical and emotional hunger apart.

• Emotional hunger comes on suddenly. It hits you in an instant and feels overwhelming and urgent. Physical hunger, on the other hand, comes on more gradually. The urge to eat doesn’t feel as dire or demand instant satisfaction (unless you haven’t eaten for a very long time).
• Emotional hunger craves specific comfort foods. When you’re physically hungry, almost anything sounds good—including healthy stuff like vegetables. But emotional hunger craves fatty foods or sugary snacks that provide an instant rush. You feel like you need cheesecake or pizza, and nothing else will do.
• Emotional hunger often leads to mindless eating. Before you know it, you’ve eaten a whole bag of chips or an entire pint of ice cream without really paying attention or fully enjoying it. When you’re eating in response to physical hunger, you’re typically more aware of what you’re doing.
• Emotional hunger isn’t satisfied once you’re full. You keep wanting more and more, often eating until you’re uncomfortably stuffed. Physical hunger, on the other hand, doesn't need to be stuffed. You feel satisfied when your stomach is full.
• Emotional hunger isn’t located in the stomach. Rather than a growling belly or a pang in your stomach, you feel your hunger as a craving you can’t get out of your head. You’re focused on specific textures, tastes, and smells.
• Emotional hunger often leads to regret, guilt, or shame. When you eat to satisfy physical hunger, you’re unlikely to feel guilty or ashamed because you’re simply giving your body what it needs. If you feel guilty after you eat, it's likely because you know deep down that you’re not eating for nutritional reasons.

Emotional hunger vs. Physical hunger
Emotional hunger comes on suddenly.	Physical hunger comes on gradually.
Emotional hunger feels like it needs to be satisfied instantly.	Physical hunger can wait.
Emotional hunger craves specific comfort foods.	Physical hunger is open to options–lots of things sound good.
Emotional hunger isn't satisfied with a full stomach.	Physical hunger stops when you're full.
Emotional eating triggers feelings of guilt, powerlessness, and shame.	Eating to satisfy physical hunger doesn't make you feel bad about yourself.

Alternatives to emotional eating

• If you’re depressed or lonely, call someone who always makes you feel better, play with your dog or cat, or look at a favorite photo or cherished memento.
• If you’re anxious, expend your nervous energy by dancing to your favorite song, squeezing a stress ball, or taking a brisk walk.
• If you’re exhausted, treat yourself with a hot cup of tea, take a bath, light some scented candles, or wrap yourself in a warm blanket.
• If you’re bored, read a good book, watch a comedy show, explore the outdoors, or turn to an activity you enjoy (woodworking, playing the guitar, shooting hoops, scrapbooking, etc.).

Learn to accept your feelings—even the bad ones

While it may seem that the core problem is that you’re powerless over food, emotional eating actually stems from feeling powerless over your emotions. You don’t feel capable of dealing with your feelings head on, so you avoid them with food.

Allowing yourself to feel uncomfortable emotions can be scary. You may fear that, like Pandora’s box, once you open the door you won’t be able to shut it. But the truth is that when we don’t obsess over or suppress our emotions, even the most painful and difficult feelings subside relatively quickly and lose their power to control our attention. To do this you need to become mindful and learn how to stay connected to your moment-to-moment emotional experience. This can enable you to rein in stress and repair emotional problems that often trigger emotional eating.

Authors: Melinda Smith, M.A. and Jeanne Segal Ph. D. Last updated: February 2014.

Extreme hunger

Ive often got asked about extreme hunger, and whether it is common or not. And it is something which causes alot of anxiety within the person. I went through it during recovery, and i felt awful. I thought i was binging, and so restricted to keep myself from eating the amount that my body needed. Because eating loads, and not knowing how much you are eating is anxiety provoking.

  But i found this great article from - http://www.youreatopia.com/blog/2012/5/22/extreme-hunger-what-is-it.html - which talks about Extreme hunger and Why you need to eat.

   So read through the article and hopefully it helps anyone going through this stage.. :)

Extreme hunger is a common experience for almost everyone undergoing recovery from any kind of restrictive eating disorder.

Next to the presence of edema (water retention), extreme hunger is one of the most anxiety-provoking elements of recovery. 

It can happen at any time in the recovery process and varies for everyone as to how long it lasts. Many of you will have already seen this information, but it is worth repeating:

Extreme Hunger:

1) Starts day one.
2) Starts a few days or weeks in.

3) Does not happen.

4) Lasts from months two through six uninterrupted.

5) Shows up and disappears intermittently throughout.
6) Shows up near the end of weight restoration.
7) Blasts away like a fire hose from start to finish.

And if I have missed any variation in the above 7 items I can assure you that it is still perfectly normal.

During this time you will want (and very much need) far more than 2500-3500 calories a day and may find yourself consuming anywhere from 6,000-10,000 calories in a single day. That causes panic for pretty much everyone on the restrictive eating disorder and they lock down on the incorrect thoughts that they will “just keep going” and are “bingeing”.

The enemy is restriction. When extreme hunger hits then you commit to never eating less than the recommended guidelines* on any given day no matter what you ate the day before. It is restriction that will pull you to relapse, not the extreme hunger itself.

*Minimum Recommended Intake Guidelines for Recovery:

a) Females under the age of 25: 3000 calories and sedentary.

b) Females 5’0”-5’8” over the age of 25: 2500 calories and sedentary.

c) Males under the age of 25: 3500 calories and sedentary.

d) Males over the age of 25: 3000 calories and sedentary.

e) Females over 5’8” over age 25: 2700 calories; under age 25: 3200 calories.

f) Females over age 25 and under 5’0” as well as post-menopausal women can lower the minimum intake to 2300, but more is always better.

A few patients (very, very few) do not experience extreme hunger and just go through the process steadily at the minimum required intake plus a few hundred extra calories here and there as desired. The vast majority hit extreme hunger.

It is a unique experience because often the digestive system struggles to keep up with demand. Many describe it as "I'm not hungry, but I'm hungry", or (because the emotions are so difficult to put into words) they will define it as though they are just eating out of boredom.

Usually for non-ED humans the complex signals that arrive from both the digestive system and all other areas of the body are in agreement. The physical fullness of the digestive system coincides with the much more arcane and complex satiation experienced throughout the body's cells.

The signals that the brain receives as to whether the digestive tract is physically capable of handling more food or not is best described as the sensation of "fullness".

The signals the brain receives as to whether there is sufficient energy present throughout the body is the experience of satiation and it involves an emotional response as well that reinforces the neural pattern demanding action.

For those in recovery, often the digestive system is somewhat atrophied in several ways: the stomach may be practicing gastroparesis (drastic slowing of the emptying of the contents into the small intestine to try to extract maximum energy from the too-little food coming in); the enzyme-producing organs are running at half-speed (again to conserve energy); and the bacterial colonies in the large intestine (the good ones) have been decimated due to insufficient energy as well.

As you begin eating to the recommended minimal guidelines, the digestive system has quite a bit of catch-up. And if that coincides with the cells throughout the body demanding a massive infusion of energy to repair damage, then you end up experiencing fullness and hunger at the same time, which is disturbing of course.

The digestive system is frantically sending messages to the brain "I'm going as fast as I can here" and the cells throughout the body are screaming at the brain "More energy now!

Respond to the hunger always; never allow any restriction to creep in. To deal with a digestive system still getting up to speed, eat very calorie-dense foods (lots of ultra-processed, fast food options are great for this phase), snack on nuts and seeds constantly and eat tons of small meals to help the digestive system cope as it gets back to normal.

To summarize, you may find extreme hunger triggers relapse and you need to be prepared and remind yourself of the following facts when it happens:

1) You do not keep eating 6,000-10,000 calories a day indefinitely. There is no concept of "getting used to" the amounts, or being unable to stop.

2) Your body really, really needs that amount of energy.

A daily dose of wear and tear is naturally repaired each day in the human body.

Now imagine a fully stitched hem on a skirt, but there are always five stitches of the hem that come undone by the end of the day and have to be sewn up that night.

After only a few months' worth of restrictive eating behaviors of any kind and the hem is now frayed throughout. There are stitches missing everywhere, long loose threads that can catch really easily and unravel even more of the hem, and so on.

Now, the owner of this skirt finally decides she's going to get out the thread and fix the whole mess. But she still wears the skirt everyday and those five stitches still have to be dealt with at the end of the day.

If she only pulls out enough thread to support fixing the usual five stitches, well that hem will never get fully repaired and will continue to deteriorate -- think of that as analogous to providing 2200 calories per day to your body to 'recover' from an eating disorder.

If she pulls out more thread, she's able to attend to some of the other stitches and that's an analogy for eating the recommended guidelines every day to recover from an eating disorder.

If she pulls out even more thread to attend to some of the areas where loose threads may unravel the whole hem, then that's extreme hunger.

Because the woman sewing is essentially the body and we cannot see the hem it needs to fix, we just go with the demand for more thread when it comes up.

Extreme hunger happens because your body is not just addressing the need to restore weight to the optimal set point, it also has to repair a lot of physical damage that occurs when you create energy deficits within the ecosystem that is your body.

When you restrict energy intake and/or create energy deficits with exercise and exertion, then the body does two things in response to that vacuum you are creating: 1) stops whatever biological functions it can to save energy and 2) takes energy from fat tissue, bones, muscles, organs and nerves to fill the void.