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]

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]

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

[julirama723]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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!