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Comment by bserge | Hacker News Reader

Extreme hunger, like others said. I'd class it as a subset of impulsive behavior, which is basically your primitive brain doing it's caveman shit and not listening to you, the conscious mind.

Apparently some people don't have this problem, which makes me incredibly envious (or would if I could feel anything).

It's this nagging thought of "JESUS CHRIST YOU'RE GONNA DIE IF YOU DON'T EAT A LOT RIGHT NOW!"

I've experienced it after hard days at work (construction), multi hour lifting, cycling 50km. Same shit every time. Surprisingly, unlike what my dumbass brain says, I don't die if I eat only a little and just go to sleep.

Counting calories didn't work btw. It actually made it worse as my primitive brain would know it's "starving".

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> I've experienced it after hard days at work (construction), multi hour lifting, cycling 50km. Same shit every time. Surprisingly, unlike what my dumbass brain says, I don't die if I eat only a little and just go to sleep.

I too have experienced this sensation my whole life under such situations. In fact, one of my favorite things to do in life is go for a 6-7 mile run, come home and lift weight for an hour or two... then... wait until I'm hungry (usually about 45 min) and eat an insane amount of food. The food tastes 10x better, and the sensation when eating it is pure bliss.

Always have felt great doing that, and I'm really skinny. We clearly don't have any idea why some people can do that, and others cant. It's probably not until we understand that difference that we'll have any sense what metabolically is happening.

As someone whose weight has been all over the place in my life, I really appreciate hearing this. I've known it is true forever, but it is rare to hear other people saying it. There is much more to weight than calories in/out. Some people can skip a meal without noticing, others count the minutes until the next meal. I always flip it on its head. For some reason it is easy for people to understand that certain people would have trouble gaining 20 pounds, others could do it in a month easily. But when you talk about losing 20 pounds, people start talking about willpower.

I've really never thought about that flip before.

I explain it that way to people all the time and they almost all say that.

I was questioned in high school in the 90s whether I had an eating disorder. I just ignore hunger until it goes away... I simply don't want food. I don't like to eat around other people, either. When I do eat, around 2am every day, I've really looked forward to it so it's pleasurable. But as a functional alcoholic I fully understand counting the minutes to something. This where "eating disorder" self control comes into play. I think of myself drunk just like I think of myself fat with a face covered in food in front of other people, and it's been enough to stop me for 20 years from hitting the bottle until work is over. On the subject of self control, everyone is a hero if you can find any at all.

Thank you for sharing.

> "eat an insane amount of food. The food tastes 10x better, and the sensation when eating it is pure bliss"

This stuck out for me. Especially interesting that taste & eating sensation are both heightened.

Have you heard of Pavlovs Dog, that started salivating when he rang a bell? Normally it's seen as an example of conditioning. But I think it's an illustration of something I noticed in my own life: That the primary cause of hunger feelings is expecting a treat.

When I haven't eaten in a while and know food isn't coming, I don't really feel hungry, I just feel tired.

Interesting to hear!

"hunger" is a simple word for a pretty complex mix of biological, psychological, and environmental factors.

Said like a true Fella. I hear this a lot.

I used to have that problem with sleeping and hunger. For me it just went away eventually.

Interesting. How long is eventually by the way?

It's hard to say, but probably not more than a month. I think I compensated a bit by saving some calories to eat directly before bed, but there was definitely some time of simply powering through it. If the Fella plan makes things like this easier then that sounds pretty cool.

re: powering through, any tactics you used? Or literally just there in bed promising yourself not to move?

Water helped to an extent. I believe at some point I just lied there for a while and didn't give in. Eating just a little but not enough to not have a deficit anymore also helped. I've done this whole thing very slow and steady in general, and I think that helps with consistency.

Someone here or on reddit once had a problem with their mind keeping them up for either hunger or to check their phone or something, and they started doing pushups every time it happened, and some part of the brain learned the association and cut it out. I never did that but it might be worth trying.

Helpful to know, thanks!

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