If you’ve ever wondered ‘Should I eat if I’m not hungry?’. The conventional answer is NO. Wait until you’re hungry.
Don’t touch food unless your stomach tells you to.
It sounds logical. And I get why people say it.
But that rule can lead to overeating. And worse, missing out on some of the most enjoyable parts of our experiences with food.
Personally I eat when I’m not hungry on the regular. It actually helps me stay at my favourite weight with ease and joy.
Here’s why I think you should experiment with it too.
4 Reasons to Eat If You’re NOT Hungry
1. Food is about so much more than nutrition
Hunger isn’t the only good reason to eat. There’s pleasure, celebration, nostalgia, tradition, connection, comfort.
When I made a caramel slice recently it wasn’t about fuel. It brought back this beautiful wave of memory of my mum who died many years ago. One bite and I instantly felt that connection with her.
Ruling out food unless you’re hungry means you miss out on all the extra beauty, nostalgia and connection that food can bring to our lives.
2. It can be antisocial and difficult to manage
Unless you’re a hermit living in a cave, life doesn’t schedule itself around your hunger cues.
One of my clients is a teacher with a set lunch break. If she’s not particularly hungry and she skips lunch, she’s ravenous mid-afternoon with no way to eat. Then when she does have the opportunity to eat she struggles to stop before inhaling everything in sight.
Regular meal times make life easier.
And they mean you can actually sit down and eat with the people you love. Connection is just as valid a reason for eating as hunger.
3. Getting too hungry makes it harder to stop
When I wait until I’m really hungry, it can feel like my appetite is out of control. I tend to hoover everything down.
Stopping before you’re stuffed becomes extra hard. Especially for people with diabetes and Peri-menopausal hormones like me.
Whereas eating before you’re ravenous actually protects you from overeating a big stack of calories later. And may also reduce binge eating behaviors, eating disorders and obesity.
4. Rules like this fuel the desire to overeat
Tell yourself you can’t eat unless you’re hungry and your brain wants food more. Cravings increase. That’s just how human brains work.
But give yourself genuine permission to eat when you’re not hungry and you won’t want to anywhere near as often. Or as much.
Which can in turn lead to gentle sustainable weight loss without the guilt or shame.
How to Eat When You’re Not Hungry
The habit of regular meals is the aim.
Work out a rough meal and snack schedule that suits your life. It doesn’t need to be military-precise. If it makes sense for you choose a weekday rhythm and a different weekend.
If it’s mealtime or official snack time and you’re not that hungry, give your body a chance to eat anyway. Just serve yourself less or be prepared to leave bites behind.
Think of it like a half-full tank on your car. You can still pull in at the petrol station, you just don’t need as much fuel to fill up as you do when the tank is on empty.
Common Questions
What If I’m Not Hungry But I Want to Eat Outside Meal or Snack times?
When you feel the urge to eat outside your mealtimes and you know you’re not hungry, that’s usually emotion.
Boredom, stress, or other negative emotions you’re trying to avoid feeling.
You don’t have to ban yourself from eating for emotional reasons.
It’s OK to use food for comfort if you’re NOT using it as an excuse for eating way too much.
So instead of mindlessly opening the bag and going for it — serve yourself a reasonable amount.
For example just one cookie or one scoop of ice cream. Put the pack away. Let yourself enjoy it. Slow down. Savour. Feel the comfort.
When you intentionally comfort yourself in this way, you’ll find you mostly won’t consume as much as when you’re telling yourself you shouldn’t be eating now.
And check out my 11-second magic trick for reducing emotional eating. It’s a simple yet spookily effective tool to support emotional eating in a more intentional way.
Should I force myself to eat if I have no appetite?
It’s up to you. If I’m really not hungry sometimes I will just skip the meal. But more often I will serve myself out something small and give my body the opportunity to eat.
Sometimes I actually do end up eating a bit. But often it’s a bite or two and I know I’m done.
Giving my body the opportunity to eat at my regular meal times keeps my circadian rythmn in balance. And it means I generally don’t get hungry before my next meal.
If I’m not hungry when I wake up in the morning, should I eat breakfast anyway?
If you normally have breakfast I would still give my body the opportunity to eat at my normal time. I just wouldn’t expect to eat as much as normal.
But if you’re like me, and you don’t every really get hungry until later in the day, just have your first meal whenever feels good to you. For me that’s around 1-2pm.
THE TAKEAWAY:
Should I Eat If I’m Not Hungry?
I hereby give you permission to eat when you’re NOT hungry.
And more importantly have fun and delight in eating each and every time you are lucky enough to be able to do so.
This is what naturally healthy food lovers do!
Just remember to be mindful of your serving sizes. If you’re not super hungry you probably won’t need as much food.
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My Best Bite this Week
Mother’s Day lunch at Rebel Rebel — one of my favourite restaurants.
Chef Seanie Mac does this incredible cabbage dish. He wraps wedges in foil. Slow-cooks them until they’re almost pasta-soft. Then chars them right before serving.
It comes with a tahini sauce and a fresh parsley, mint and sumac salad. Rich, smoky, bright, lemony with the perfect amount of salt.
It’s the business. One of those dishes I think about for days afterwards.
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What I’m Excited About
My morning coffee-in-the-garden habit. Thanks to my favourite food writer of all time Nigel Slater.
Rain, hail or shine, I take my coffee outside, slow down, and actually use my sense of smell. I sniff the herbs, snap a leaf of eycalyptus.
This morning it was the lemon blossoms on my tree. Five, maybe ten minutes.
But it’s become one of the most grounding parts of my whole day.
In your corner,
Jules from Stonesoup xx
(Your favourite Australian Food Scientist)
See my bio
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