| I honestly can't tell when I'm hungry |
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sephiro499
New Member
| Joined: | 28 Aug 2008 |
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| Posts: | 2 |
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Posted: 28 Aug 2008 05:52 pm |
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This may sound really strange but I have a hard time telling hunger from other feelings both emotional and physical (even though the line between those things is pretty blurry). The only way I can truly know is if I can't sleep and my head is racing, this tells me I haven't eaten enough.
I have severe anxiety and have been conditioned throughout my 0-18 life to just 'keep going' and ignore whatever is going on inside.
Growing up I had no control over anything. I once read that people not eating is a way to establish some control where no control exists. I do know growing up we were poor and I honestly have no memory of eating dinner in the house we lived in from 8-13 and none from 0-8 in the other house.
My life has really been dominated by me running from one need to the next. I only really notice the hunger until I haven't eating for 6-8 hours and then I'm having trouble thinking.
I do have one memory of being about 9 years old and coming into my friends house from playing and shaking with hunger. I remember my friend's mother on the phone calling my mother to tell her what was going on. She gave me a dannon yogurt and I felt better and then went outside.
I've never had problems being overweight but growing up I was borderline underweight. When I was 18yo I was 135lbs and 6 feet tall. I remember being able to see all of my bones in my chest.
I know the above statement sounds really weird but I figured other people who have suffered may have similiar experiences.
Thank you and hello to all as a new member
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MidgeH
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 29 Aug 2008 01:53 am |
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Hi sephiro.
I have always experienced a similiar thing. In my case, I have trouble telling when I am full as well as distinguishing real hunger from an emotional one.
Although I am someone who pretty much doesn't believe in self help (or professional analysis for that matter) I found a lot of interesting things to think about in regard to this when I read "When Food is Love" by Geneen Roth. I read it years ago,but it's pretty much the only self help book I can remember the title to because it made that much of an impact.
Anyway, this is a complex issue and it has taken me years to even come to any sort of understanding about how I determine the need to eat from the need to <fill in the emotional issue that food can substitute for>. I found that getting some other inputs that made me start thinking about food differently helped (even if it was delayed help!)
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sephiro499
New Member
| Joined: | 28 Aug 2008 |
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| Posts: | 2 |
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Posted: 29 Aug 2008 01:14 pm |
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Oh yea I think what you are trying to say is you really can't diagnose and treat yourself when it comes to complicated issues. Yeah I do see a psychologist and a psychiatrist for ongoing treatment it's just one of those issues actually just like you have said is difficult to understand. I've mentioned it to my therapist but haven't been able to get into it as of yet since I don't understand it I can't communicate it. I have kept a food log in the past and that has helped me remember what I have eaten so I can determine if I should eat again or not.
I'm basically discovering all of these feelings for the first time. They were always there but I was conditioned to shut down and ignore everything. I used to think the burning in my throat was that I had to eat again, turns out it is heartburn.
It just takes alot of time to figure out what is what. Just like as children we eventually assign the word hunger to the feelings that accompany needing to eat, that never happened for me.
Last edited on 29 Aug 2008 01:15 pm by sephiro499
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MidgeH
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 29 Aug 2008 02:23 pm |
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| You might want to try another log, but include additional information. You might want to take it from an activity/emotional stand point. Before you ate, what was going on, how were you feeling, physically where did you feel it (your head, your throat, your stomach). Also writing down what you were doing/feeling during times when you thought you might need to eat and didn't (and why you didn't) could help too. Then you could show that to your therapist.
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Johnny_walts
New Member
| Joined: | 15 Sep 2008 |
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| Posts: | 23 |
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Posted: 20 Sep 2008 02:51 am |
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Hello Sephiro499,
I think you should go for a good physician as after proper diagnosis you can be able to know about what's the reason behind this problem.
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