Sometimes you have eaten enough, but you still feel hungry. How is that possible and what can you do about it?
Question: There are days when four sandwiches for the whole day and dinner are enough, but there are also days when I seem insatiable and after six sandwiches I still don't have enough. While on such a day I do not exercise or consume more than usual. I would like to know why I am much hungrier some days than others. L.O., ZEEWOLDE
Answer Dietician Lenny Versteegden :‘It is important that you make a good distinction between physical and emotional hunger. Physically, under normal circumstances, your body needs the same amount of food every day. When you have your breakfast, lunch and dinner at set times and eat roughly similar amounts, you shouldn't be hungrier one day than the next.
You can provoke extra hunger (or a binge) by eating too late. You can also become more physically hungry when you are under too much stress. Under the influence of stress, more of the hormone insulin is produced, so that you can get hungry faster. This will not happen overnight, but is a somewhat longer process.
Finally, many women experience more physical hunger just before and during menstruation. Eat one sandwich more per meal during that week. Provide structure:eat at fixed times and fixed amounts, so that your body knows where it stands.
Are you on the line? Then your body does not know where it stands. This is especially true if you lose more than 0.5 to 1 kilo per week. When a woman consumes less than 1200 kcal per day, you can get hungry or binge eat at the craziest times. If you lose weight in a healthy way and strive to lose less than 0.5 kilos per week, these feelings arise less quickly.
Emotional hunger means that with certain emotions (eg sadness, boredom, fatigue and/or joy) you start eating and/or feel hungry and want to eat (more). You could check for yourself which emotions make you more inclined to eat. Try to avoid binge eating by looking for distractions in time.'
