howdy, just curious about eating habits... in general, i eat 5 times a day at 2 hour intervals. However, some days i manage to skip clean through a meal without even realizing it, because i'm simply not hungry. Is this healthy? is it better to eat only when i'm hungry, or to try and maintain a strict timeframe to keep my metabolism up?

good lordy, what does a person have to do around this place to get some answers?

I always stick to a strict meal plan..... If I were to miss one of those meals I would be missing out of 100-300 calories, I need those cals because I don't want my body to go into starvation mode. So I eat even when I am NOT hungry. It also keeps your metabolism good and strong :eat:

I always stick to a strict meal plan..... If I were to miss one of those meals I would be missing out of 100-300 calories, I need those cals because I don't want my body to go into starvation mode. So I eat even when I am NOT hungry. It also keeps your metabolism good and strong :eat:

Same here. I eat when scheduled no matter what. In fact, I like eating long before I am hungry so I don't end up with a ravenous feeling and eat everything I can get my hands on. :D

I know what you mean. There are lots of times that I get busy, I'm not hungry, and I forget to eat. That's not good, but short of setting an alarm, I'm not sure what to do about it.

It's far better to eat when scheduled and eat before you get hungry. I find that if I let myself get hungry, that's when I'm most tempted to cheat.

The other thing with waiting until you are hungry to eat is you are more likely to over eat. I don't know about most of you but that was part of the impetus behind me being obese was the fact that I don't get the normal "you're full" message until I'm two or three servings over what I should be eating.

Part of that of course is the speed at which so many of us eat these days. I've seen people wolf down food in ten minutes that should probably take them half an hour.

More germane to the topic, I find scheduling and eating meals at set times is the best to help me take in all the food that I need. I have it spaced to where for some of the meals I am just getting hungry when I eat. This really reduces the urge to splurge and overeat.

I know what you mean. There are lots of times that I get busy, I'm not hungry, and I forget to eat. That's not good, but short of setting an alarm, I'm not sure what to do about it.

It's far better to eat when scheduled and eat before you get hungry. I find that if I let myself get hungry, that's when I'm most tempted to cheat.

I hear you about getting busy and forgetting to eat. Sometimes at work I could go all day without remembering to eat if I didn't force myself. Now I try to keep a schedule like this:

Breakfast: 6:20 AM (right before I leave my house and head to work)
Snack: 10:00 AM (This is the hardest one for me to remember so I keep my snack on my desk in plain sight to remind me)
Lunch: 1:00 PM (This is my scheduled lunch break and where I work is really strict about adherence, so this is easy to remember because I am FORCED to go or get an "occurance")
Snack: 3:15 PM (Another scheduled break at work that I am not allowed to forget!!)
Dinner 7:00 PM (This is easy to remember because this is the only time of the day I feel a little bit Hungry)
Snack 9:00 PM I usually remember this on time or within 1/2 hour of it. I usually have a protein shake. I try to make sure I don't eat any later than 9:30 PM.

This schedule has worked wonders on my appetite. I used to skip breakfast, eat a small lunch, then not eat until I got home from work. By that time, I was ready to eat all the food in my kitchen!! Now I realize why you hear so much about "5-6 mini meals" when trying to shed fat. It really tames your apetite when you eat every 3-4 hours throughout the day.)

I also go to school in the evening and will be starting a new class soon. On school nights I will have to go directly from work to school and be there from 6:00-10:00. I will really have to plan ahead for those nights because I don't want to end up coming home and eating at 10:30 PM!! :eek:

alot of people mistake hunger for cravings.

if your stomach is absolutly growling and moaing, than eat!

but if its just your mind thinking im hungry, drink some water and i almost guarnatee you the hunger pains will go away. eating every 2-3 hours helps reduce hunger!

drinking lots of water and viberous vegies helps alot