Hmmmm...what does this mean??

[Barb]

Okay....what is head hunger? Is it when you see food and think yummmm...even though you are not hungry??

[503-250]

I've always thought of head hunger as being when you eat not because you are hungry, but because your brain has been trained to eat at certain times, or during certain events (football, movies..etc). Or as it pertains to old habits which haven't yet been broken, like eating while cooking, or grazing while putting away groceries.

[Barb]

Thanks for answering...luckily I don't have any of those issues. I have just heard the term being used a lot lately and was wondering what it meant.
Take care!

[PhotoNut]

Head hunger, for me, is when something triggers a desire to eat that becomes an obsession. It niggles at me, pokes at me, and if I'm doing a very good job of ignoring it, it begins shouting at me. Eventually, I become convinced that I'm starving and MUST have that food! However, if I stop and really focus on my stomach and ask myself if I'm truly HUNGRY, the answer is usually no.

Drinking a bottle of water and finding something to do to distract my brain is usually a good way of getting past these bouts of head hunger. Sometimes, I give in and eat but I don't eat what I'm craving. I eat some form of hard protein, like tuna or chicken.

It is thought that head hunger is a sign of your body lacking something, and because we have traditionally eaten crappy food choices we immediately believe that we are hungry for something that isn't really going to satisfy the real NEED of the body. I have a list somewhere that shows what our bodies are really lacking when we crave certain things like chocolate, sugar, flour, etc. I'll see if I can find it.

[Plainsneech]

I thought it referred to anytime you were eating because of your mind and not for your body? No ?

[Hippo's Hope]

Susan, I would be really interested in that list of food cravings and what our bodies really need. Looking forward to seeing it. Thanks.
Hope

[diva girl]

I get head hunger all the time. And then there's "mouth hunger". That's when you're craving something specific that you know in your mind is not something you really should be having at a certain time.

Mouth hunger usually occurs after either visual or olfactory cues...you know....after you've seen the cake with icing or smelled the bread baking. Suddenly, whammo....that's all you can think about or want.

It's all conditioned responses from years of abusing our hunger cues. Normal people rarely have these obsessions...damn their hides. My normal friends don't just HAVE to have potato chips. They can resist them....alternatively, if they want them, if they're honestly hungry at that exact moment....they have them. A few. Not a bag, like I'd want...but a few. Again....damn their boney little butts.


lyn

[shackdog]

yep its in the head, thus head hunger and also what everyone else has said. so dont listen to the head

[Barb]

yep its in the head, thus head hunger and also what everyone else has said. so dont listen to the head

LOL yeah I think I'll be ignoring my head, mouth, ears, eyes..lol Just gonna listen to my stomach......this is scary!:eek:

and your avatar is so cool Shackdog!!!