Type 2 Hunger

[Fifi2022]

Hi , I’m type 2 on 500mg metformin x3 a day . Today I’m feeling really hungry , I’ve had a healthy lunch but I feel so much hunger . I took my bloods and it’s 5.3 not sure why I’m so hungry ? I’ve had a little cheese and water but can’t shift this extreme hunger

 

[markpj31]

Hunger can be linked to insulin resistance. Try eating something that should keep you full for a while like boiled eggs or full fat yogurt mixed with some low carb seeds/cereal/berries.

 

[TeddyTottie]

If you are eating a low-carb diet then I personally would just eat something! I find that one of the freedoms of low-carb is, for the first time in my adult life, I do not have food cravings and I have broken the link between eating and emotional reward. So if I feel hungry, it’s a real hunger and not just a need to stuff my face because I’m craving carbs, or bored, or depressed. So I eat something suitably low-carb, maybe a bit of cheese or cold meat. Or, if the timing is appropriate, just bring my meal forward.

The reverse of this is that if I am not hungry then I don’t eat! So no snacking unless genuinely hungry and often, only one meal a day. It all sounds terribly worthy, but actually, it just happens naturally for me. I do make sure I eat enough of the right foods for my meals to largely avoid mistimed hunger.

 

[MrsA2]

Hi , I’m type 2 on 500mg metformin x3 a day . Today I’m feeling really hungry , I’ve had a healthy lunch but I feel so much hunger . I took my bloods and it’s 5.3 not sure why I’m so hungry ? I’ve had a little cheese and water but can’t shift this extreme hunger

I'm learning to recognise hunger too. Proper hunger is OK, shows your body is using what you put in properly, however false hunger can be carb craving, boredom, habit, loneliness and many more things.
A trick I've heard of is the hard boiled egg trick. Hard boil 6 eggs and keep them in the fridge. Then when the hunger strikes ask yourself "could I eat a hard boiled egg?". If the answer is yes,then you are hungry so eat an egg. If hunger strikes again, ask again, if yes eat another egg and so on. If the answer is "no I couldn't eat an egg" then it is something else causing the feeling so deal with whatever it is ( carb craving may take will power or distractions example). Apparently 4 eggs is the most eaten to satisfy hunger.

Once you are used to the trick you don't need the actual eggs (unless you like them very much). Just eat until full, then stop.

I do seem to be really hungry (not false hungry) since low carbing but find if i eat to satiety then i often don't need the next meal.

This is all so unlike I was for the past 50 years, I can't believe the changes but it is so much better for me. Hope it will be for you too.

 

[TeddyTottie]

I'm learning to recognise hunger too. Proper hunger is OK, shows your body is using what you put in properly, however false hunger can be carb craving, boredom, habit, loneliness and many more things.
A trick I've heard of is the hard boiled egg trick. Hard boil 6 eggs and keep them in the fridge. Then when the hunger strikes ask yourself "could I eat a hard boiled egg?". If the answer is yes,then you are hungry so eat an egg. If hunger strikes again, ask again, if yes eat another egg and so on. If the answer is "no I couldn't eat an egg" then it is something else causing the feeling so deal with whatever it is ( carb craving may take will power or distractions example). Apparently 4 eggs is the most eaten to satisfy hunger.

Once you are used to the trick you don't need the actual eggs (unless you like them very much). Just eat until full, then stop.

I do seem to be really hungry (not false hungry) since low carbing but find if i eat to satiety then i often don't need the next meal.

This is all so unlike I was for the past 50 years, I can't believe the changes but it is so much better for me. Hope it will be for you too.

Absolutely, @MrsA2! When I think back to life before diabetes I often used to say ‘I’m hungry’, but I really wasn’t. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I don’t think I ever let myself get more than a bit peckish before stuffing in more food. I think a lot of people in the western world are sufficiently affluent and have easy enough access to food, to be able to eat what they like, when they want it. I doubt that many people have ever really experienced even normal hunger. Now, I often feel quite keenly hungry as the time for my main (evening) meal approaches. I really rather enjoy it, and I look forward to my meal with real awareness and anticipation, and really savour the whole mealtime experience. It feels right and natural to me!

Edit to add : sorry, just reread this and it sounds like I am being judgmental of the OP and others…. that is not my intention, just ruminating on how we seem to have lost our connection with how humans are designed to function as just another animal species!

 

[MrsA2]

on how we seem to have lost our connection with how humans are designed to function as just another animal species!

I believe that is firmly down to marketing, advertising and mass food production. Its all about the money

 

[markpj31]

I believe that is firmly down to marketing, advertising and mass food production. Its all about the money

Yep, and 70%-80% of food out there (especially cheap food) is complete junk.
I don't think human beings were designed to consume 200 carbs in one fast food meal deal at one sitting. We are, after all, animals and I can't think where you would get 200 carbs in one hit from anything in nature.