Huge appetite since puberty

[SerCay]

Ever since I was about 15, I developed a huge appetite.

 

Binge eating in the evenings, no puking though.

 

I am not obese, I'm about 40 pounds too heavy.

My weight has increased gradually over the years.

Except 4 years in between, when I was on a pill that amazingly brought back my appetite to a normal and I was on healthy weight for a couple of years, until I quit using it.

 

I work out, but then I get hungry and eat after working out.

I can eat healthy, but also junk food etc. It doesn't really matter to me what I eat. I can easily quit eating junk, but then I'll eat a lot of healthy food which is again unhealthy because of the amounts.

 

 

I wonder 2 things:

 

- Could it be because of hormones or some kind of vitamin deficiency that I have such an appetite? Since it stopped during the pill.

 

- Did anybody have and beat this kind of appetite? Except for the convenientional things as drinking a lot of water etc.? (Cause I do that already)

[GemmaUK]

Whatever you eat - leave something.

 

Decrease the quantity. Learn when you are hungry and full.

Never eat anything sugary in the day - you will rise and then bomb in blood sugar levels and feel the need for fast volume of food.

 

Your stomach is over stretched - you need to shrink it back to accept less so that you feel fuller sooner. You will feel hungry for a few weeks max.

 

Some days I can eat a huge plate - the next day - nope - I just can't even eat half.

[basil67]

Why did you stop taking the meds for this?

[SerCay]

The pill is birth control... not meds for it

I quit birth control cause it changes me as a person..and not for the good!

[Herbalist]

If possible have a doctor order blood panels for you to check your hormones, nutrition, etc. Part of this testing should also be your blood sugar levels which will require a period of fasting before the blood is drawn. Hypoglycemia issues can cause frequent hunger due to dramatic drops in blood sugar.

[GemmaUK]

Hypoglycemia issues can cause frequent hunger due to dramatic drops in blood sugar.

 

Also, hypoglycaemia can be caused by eating sugary foods and white based grain.

Plus the 'low fat' items you see everywhere are loaded with sugar so they are best to be avoided completely.

[SerCay]

Friends,

 

could it be because of:

 

COFFEE!

 

I started drinking coffee only when I was 19.

Until that time, yes I had a big appetite, but would not gain to 40 pouds overweight. Also, I needed much less sleep. I used to be awake when I woke up in the mornings. Ever since I started drinking coffee, I actually need coffee to wake up.

 

A couple years after starting coffee, I got vitamin D and B deficieny, have been taking supplements ever since. I also suffer from constantiredness and....appetite!

 

I did some research on it today, and indeed coffee decreases the absorbtion of certain vitamins, and because it's a diuretic, it also makes you pee out other vitamins faster.

 

I am going to quit coffee and see where it gets me.

 

Anyone experience with this?

[sooshi]

Yes, it's possible for coffee to have those effects.

 

Coffee is a stimulant and taxes the adrenals, causing the adrenals to become fatigued. And because adrenals are affected, so too are all of the hormones produced by the adrenals. It can also adversely affect liver detoxification, causing things to move too slowly or too quickly.

 

I think it's a good idea to eliminate coffee for a while and see how you do. Be aware, though, that you are probably going to experience withdrawal for the first few days if your body has been trained to believe that it needs coffee.

[Herbalist]

Also, hypoglycaemia can be caused by eating sugary foods and white based grain.

 

Sort of. I've had hypoglycemia problems since I was a little kid. The problem is that the body will release way too much insulin in response to eating, causing the glucose level in the blood to suddenly and dramatically drop. The problem is there regardless of what you eat, but yes if you eat sugary things especially on their own, then it makes the symptoms worse, as the sugary foods will get processed into glucose to the blood very fast, then all of it gets wiped out with a massive insulin release. Whereas eating complex carbs and proteins takes longer for the food to break down into glucose (protein can be converted into glucose in addition to the complex carbs) which means a steadier supply of glucose into the blood, so that even after the initial insulin dump, glucose will continue to be provided at a steadier pace. So eating sugary foods can cause a hypoglycemic reaction earlier in life, but does not cause the underlying insulin problems that I mean when I refer to hypoglycemia issues.

 

Having hypoglycemic issues early in life does make one more at risk of developing type 2 diabetes where the body is more or less desensitized to insulin, though. Since people can cause their own desensitizing with sugary foods throughout their life, and people with early life hypoglycemia problems release large amounts of insulin automatically which puts us at a greater risk then. Also diabetes can cause hunger problems if the person is consuming mostly carbs/sugars and the body is no longer able to break it down for energy properly due to being desensitized to its own insulin (in type 2). So the hunger problems can remain in the transition from hypoglycemia issues to diabetes.

[Buddhist]

Friends,

 

could it be because of:

 

COFFEE!

 

I started drinking coffee only when I was 19.

Until that time, yes I had a big appetite, but would not gain to 40 pouds overweight. Also, I needed much less sleep. I used to be awake when I woke up in the mornings. Ever since I started drinking coffee, I actually need coffee to wake up.

 

A couple years after starting coffee, I got vitamin D and B deficieny, have been taking supplements ever since. I also suffer from constantiredness and....appetite!

 

I did some research on it today, and indeed coffee decreases the absorbtion of certain vitamins, and because it's a diuretic, it also makes you pee out other vitamins faster.

 

I am going to quit coffee and see where it gets me.

 

Anyone experience with this?

 

I wouldn't put it just down to coffee though. Unless you are drinking buckets of the stuff it's unlikely to be the sole cause of your symptoms. Adrenal fatigue, though as suggested by Sooshi can cause fatigue, lethargy, persistent weight gain and a host of other affects as well. Adrenal fatigue is a long term situation where your body is gradually flooded with stress hormones until the point where those hormones disrupt your thyroid functioning and then the whole thing starts to go downhill with a range of seemingly non-related symptoms that really just point to widespread systemic malfunction.

 

But the other thing to consider is that we often crave and get addicted to substances which we have allergic reactions to. I am wheat and most grain intolerant (it doesn't make me desperately ill but I get a whole host of digestive complaints from it as well as massive water retention and other signs of mild allergic reaction). And yet I practically lived on the stuff and love, love love the taste of it. It's a chore to keep myself away from it.

 

If you are intolerant of caffeine or some other substance in coffee you may be reaching for it like an addiction and that could be throwing your body off balance. Do you drink coffee black, or with milk and tonnes of sugar/syrups? If you're drinking milk based coffee with syrups then it's more likely to be the milk and syrup than the coffee causing the weight gain.

 

What does the rest of your diet look like? Because coffee on it's own isn't known for causing weight gain. Just saying you eat healthy and sometimes junk isn't enough info. What do you think healthy food is exactly? You'd be surprised a lot of people think things like bowls of pasta, breakfast cereals, bread are healthy foods. The sad reality is, most people do not have a gut that digests these items well. Very few people can actually be healthy on a grain based diet.

 

What proportion of your daily food consists of fresh and cooked vegetables (not including potatoes)?

What proportion is non-processed protein (eggs, chicken, beef, lamb)?

What proportion is grain based?

How much table fruit are you eating everyday?

How much water do you drink everyday?

What other beverages do you drink and how much of it?

[sooshi]

As Buddhist say, I wouldn't put it down just to coffee, either. She asked some good questions about your diet, and I agree that many people who think they are eating well, actually aren't (I've been there!).

 

You mentioned being on the birth control pill (BCP) in the past. Being on the BCP wrecks havoc with your hormones and is likely still in your system, even if it's been years later, unless you've actively sought to cleanse it out.

 

Also, with coffee, even if you drink only a cup or two a day, it might not be good for you. People with a slow phase I liver detoxification (which processes caffeine, among many other substances) will have trouble eliminating caffeine from the liver. Someone who drinks a cup of coffee at night and has trouble sleeping is an example of possible inefficient phase I. Foods like broccoli, cabbage, oranges, and citrus peel help activate phase I.

 

It sounds like you'd benefit from cleaning out your liver, which is likely backed up from your years on the pill--and it's easy for the liver to be clogged these days, given all of the toxins in the air, in our food, etc. In addition to the foods listed above, helpful herbs that have an affinity for the liver include dandelion root and milk thistle. I also really like lecithin, which you can get in powder form and sprinkle on (unheated) foods. Lecithin helps the liver make bile, to which toxins and wastes get attached, so that these toxins and wastes can eventually be excreted.

 

In place of coffee, I'd recommend herbal teas. Coffee is a diuretic, so nutrients get flushed out after you drink it. Teas like dandelion root and stinging nettle are nutrient-dense, and although they also act as diuretics, they don't flush out nutrients from your body, and instead help to cleanse and purify your blood and body.

 

What's your poop like? Small pebbles? Does it look usually look like a big sausage? Is it liquidy? How often are you pooping? Eliminating wastes and toxins through our poop is the primary way we get rid of toxins from our body. If it's not working well, then the other doors of elimination aren't going to work optimally.

 

Apart from the diet aspect, you also need to look at your lifestyle. What stressors do you have? How do you deal with stress? What's your sleep like? Do you exercise regularly, etc.

 

Prolonged stress leads to adrenal fatigue. Getting in those B-vitamins is essential. Take a b-complex in its active form if you aren't already taking one. And a gentle form of magnesium, such as bis/glycinate or malate. Calming herbs include lemon balm, holy basil, and passionflower.

 

Take time to slow down, breathe, and be kind to yourself and your body.

Edited November 18, 2016 by sooshi

[Imported]

Have you ever "dieted" and/or skipped meals to stay under a calorie count?

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I don't. I just order the pizza exactly as I want, or make the spaghetti with meatballs exactly as I want or the Japarnese pam fried noodles, exactly as I want.

 

 

 

 

I am just saying if it confused you to vote exactly as you want, you were probably bamboozled by HRC for a few there.

[Emilia]

Eating a lot is a habit, that's all. We all have to watch the amount. It's very easy to get into grazing all day in the office or binge eating. You simply need to watch how much you eat, get into that habit.

[PogoStick]

People always look for exotic answers instead of starting with the most obvious, sensible point: your food choices.

 

You already dismissed eating healthy food because you "eat too much of that too". It indicates a state of denial regarding your diet.

 

Most likely, it is NOT your hormones.

 

It is likely: what you eat, how much you eat, and how much exercise you perform. Fix those 3 things completely for at least 6 months before you decide you need to find other solutions.

[GunslingerRoland]

Do you eat out a lot? Because I know for me, if I eat out I get used to the huge size of meals that places provide. You have to wean yourself off of that. Eat at home, and cut down gradually on the size of your meals back to normal size.

 

The hunger should start to get better.

 

Also I understand what you are saying about working out, it's a bit of a double edged sword in that way. But honestly if you are working out and eating nothing but healthy food it should start to have effects. Start logging what you are actually eating. Because it's easy to think you are eating healthier/less than you are.

[SerCay]

It's not so much about being hungry.

It's just that constantly having to eat something while watching a movie or television, in the evenings mostly. I just get restless when I have to watch a movie or show without munching. really weird. Drinking something is not enough.

 

For most replies; you are addressing how much I eat and whether I eat healthy or not, while the main subject of my thread is appetite. Which is a different topic.

I hope there are still some people out here who can tell me more on appetite (without hunger).

[Els]

How much exactly are you eating?

 

It's not so much about being hungry.

It's just that constantly having to eat something while watching a movie or television, in the evenings mostly. I just get restless when I have to watch a movie or show without munching. really weird. Drinking something is not enough.

 

Maybe get some REALLY low calorie food, like blueberries or carrots, to munch on? I would be very impressed if anyone could gain weight snacking on those.

 

Also, err, how often are you watching movies/TV in the evenings? Might be worth expanding your hobbies if it's a '3 hours a night, every night' thing? Not just for your weight, but for life in general.

 

I mean, I don't blame you at all. Maintaining/losing weight is definitely not as easy as people claim it is, because our bodies have stopped evolving at the hunter-gatherer stage where food was relatively more scarce and physical activity more common. Modern day food and jobs just do not mesh well with that. But we can still control it to an extent, just with a significant amount of effort.

Edited December 7, 2016 by Elswyth

[DarrenB]

Blueberries as a sweetener, Crispbread and salsa as a savory snack, chilli con carne+rice as a main savory dish.

 

Try a routine of eating the above or things alike, you may just have a tendency to stick with them. They're also extremely good for you also, you'll maintain a balance with your weight, hunger and/or diet.

[GunslingerRoland]

It's just that constantly having to eat something while watching a movie or television, in the evenings mostly. I just get restless when I have to watch a movie or show without munching. really weird. Drinking something is not enough.

 

Have you ever been to a movie theater? How many people don't have a snack in it? I think what you are talking about is pretty normal for most people. I think that is where the whole couch potato thing comes from. You get the double whammy of expending 0 calories, while feeling the need to consume them at the same time. But if you lead a healthy lifestyle overall, and watch a few hours of TV a week, those snacks won't make too much difference.

[creighton0123]

It really depends on what you're eating. There are plenty of natural things you can consume (aside from caffeine) to better remedy this. A serving of nuts, avocado, or "good" fat helps.

 

Same goes for vegetable juice, oatmeal, cayenne pepper as a seasoning, ginger, yams, dark chocolate, mint, yogurt, and eggs.

 

My suggestion is to eat like you currently are for a week, but keep track of what you're eating, then every week, cut out 50 to 100 calories while working in some of the foods above. This will give your body time to adjust to the smaller food intake without causing a big drop in energy or spark cravings.