if I am alone in never having felt hungry in my life?

[itsallsohard]

TW for anorexia and apologies for those with weight struggles, but I'm not and never have been a sufferer from anorexia nervosa. I've been steadily BMI 20 or so all my life, without much effort, and am nearing 60... and looking at my husband, who has weight issues, and my children and siblings, who are like me, it has recently dawned on me that I have no idea at all what people mean when they say they "feel hungry." I say it when I see something I want to eat, but I want to eat it because it looks delicious, not because I feel anything else. I eat when it's conventional to do so (lunchtime/ dinnertime) but I am entirely capable of totally forgetting if I'm on my own, and so are my siblings and now apparently my kids. I'm not sure I've ever felt hungry (and we were poor growing up - food-bank poor). I think somehow I just don't have those sensors. Is this possible? Anyone else out there?

I have a relative like this.
Only person I know like it.

But she does get ratty if she hasnt eaten around the time she normally eats.
So something is happening somewhere.

Mankind would have died out pretty quickly if the whole population didn’t feel hunger or thirst.

I am the same and so are my adult children.
I exercise lots because I enjoy it but I can run 10 miles and still not feel hungry despite no breakfast beforehand ( tried that and made me sick if I ate beforehand) . I’ve learnt to make myself eat afterwards though otherwise I feel sleepy.

Fascinating.

I wish i was like this but sadly, Ive always had to diet and watch my weight.

Ive been both skinny (BMI 19) and overweight - BMI 27 - but mainly around the 24 mark.

My nickname when young was 'Hollow Legs' because I was always hungry - even after eating. It was like something was gnawing at my insides.

Thankfully, in my thirties, i discovered the ketogenic diet and realised the evils of sugar. How I wish i could go all day without thinking of food. Hangry is real for most of us.

God I wish. I get stomach rumbles and feel nauseous tbh. Also daydream about food and get cravings. I'm very lucky to not be fat

I've heard this is common in people with neurodivergence, not saying you have anything but it's something to consider. I do feel hunger but have always had periods where I've felt repulsion towards food. It's odd, not disordered eating in the negative sense as I'm a good eater, perfectly happy mentally etc. I think these things must be "normal" but just not talked about?

And so full of tact!

I'm so envious of naturally non hungry people. DH is like this too, takes little pleasure in food and only eats when he feels he should. Would live on weetabix for every meal if he could. I have lost 5st on WLI which makes me feel like a non hungry person and the change is incredible.

You are very very lucky.
I am literally never not hungry.

Even after a meal I am hungry. I simply do t get the " full up" signal. Until the invention of Mounjaro when I suddenly experienced what it was like to not think about food every minute.

What do you mean by 'feel hungry' tho? I can basically forget to eat too if I'm home alone. But eventually I get irritable or tired or lightheaded or my stomach growls ... And I know that I'm hungry. Surely if you didn't eat for a day at some point you'd feel a bit faint and realise you needed food? That's "feeling hungry" surely? 😅 Do you just mean you don't feel that as quickly or as often as most people?

I very very rarely feel thirst !

maybe deliberately stop eating to see what it feels like?
I remember running out of money in late 80s and living on cornflakes. Ok until milk ran out then I go paid and ate a whole cadburys cake in about 10 mins.
I was a student working in a pub in the summer

I'm the opposite. I don't feel when I had enough. Whatever feeling I'm meant to feel it's not there. One of my children instinctively knows then they had enough and the other doesn't.

I'd suggest that you are at your constant weight BECAUSE you don't get hunger pangs, so eat much less.

I had a housemate like this at uni. Exactly as you describe.

Hunger is far more than this to me. Growling stomach, light headedness, feeling weak are symptoms of needing food, but hunger is something different to me. It's a feeling in the belly but also, weirdly, in the chest area for me. Kind of a pulling, like an ache but not painful. It's actually really interesting to try and put things into words!

I very very rarely feel thirsty. I drink out of habit, but almost never water, and I could go for a very long time and forget to drink (though I'd get a headache and then remember why it's important!) Drinking is mainly to fill up my stomach because of aforementioned hunger!

I don’t have this constant hunger that some
other people have.

But I have felt hunger, there are times I have been absolutely starving and needing food urgently with the shakes, but there are also days I would forget to eat and am only eating out of duty so I don’t get to that stage.

I know my sister is hungry all the time and she cannot understand how anyone would forget to eat. It’s like saying ‘I forgot to breathe’

I rarely get thirsty either! The only time I ever feel like I need a drink, its a signal that I actually need to pee.

I mostly have to force water down and absolutely hate it. I only do that out of duty too.

Oh this is so interesting. Yeah I never feel hunger as anything different than just a physiological 'needing food' much like becoming aware I need to wee I suppose 😄(which I can also put off fairly indefinitely!)

Wow! That’s a superpower I would like 😂 I’m always hungry haha

Before I got pregnant I didn’t get hungry.

this is almost certainly linked to the fact I developed lactose intolerance as a relatively small child and as a result felt nausea and had diarrhoea and constipation regularly, with occasional vomiting.

I had HG during pregnancy and vomited about 20 times a day and was on anti nausea drugs.

afterwards I ate a very restricted diet and worked out I was lactose intolerant. Turns out if you are not experiencing nausea and diarrhoea you do notice hunger.

these days if I get a tummy bug or whatever I just stop eating and it does give me a lovely sense of calm because it stops the nausea etc.

so in my case I think it’s fucked up jnteroception as a result of illness.

I have always been naturally thin - too thin sometimes when training a lot in my sport. I definitely get hungry though. Can't bear it, I get angry and NEED FOOD NOW!!! But once I have eaten again I won't think about it again for quite a while, I don't have constant food noise.

So I can't relate, but finding it easy to be thin doesn't mean not feeling hunger in all cases.

Have you genuinely never felt hunger? Hunger isnt wanting food, its gnawing in your stomach. Has your stomach never rumbled?

Like if you skipped a couple of meals would you really not feel uncomfortable? I have emetephobia and have unfortunately skipped quite a few meals throughout my years, I can not want to eat but I still feel hungry, cramping in my stomach, which eventually leads to nausea, lightheadedness. It's really loud and uncomfortable, painful if you leave it long enough

To me saying you've never felt hunger is like saying you've never felt the need to go to the toilet, or felt pain. It's wild that the body might be missing such a basic function?

Can you read? I literally said it was just a thought and I wondered if it had any backing.

are you always usually this rude? I will take my gold star thanks because I really like my body!