I know someone who says that he didn’t eat lunch because he forgot. Doesn’t your stomach basically tell you when it’s time to eat? I don’t think I’ve ever forgotten to eat.
I know someone who says that he didn’t eat lunch because he forgot. Doesn’t your stomach basically tell you when it’s time to eat? I don’t think I’ve ever forgotten to eat.
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Body unawareness can describe situations where a person is disconnected from or unaware of the signals their body is sending, such as hunger or fatigue.
My appetite shuts down under stress, which these days basically means I have to remind myself to eat all the time
For some people it’s a stress thing, and other people that take medications like adderall or certain anti-depressants can have suppressed appetites. My husband will forgot to eat on weekdays when he has his adderall, but if he misses a dose, he gets ravenous.
some people don’t have a strong hunger signal. it happens to me a lot, i can easily forget to eat because i don’t often feel hungry. now i tend to consciously try to eat at regular intervals, after i passed out at work a few years ago
Usually it’s when I’m working on art projects. I’ll go 16 hours just working and not eat, drink or use the restroom. I’ll definitely feel hungry, but if I’m struggling with my project I’ll ignore it and eventually it goes away.
If I’m busy, I forget. Even if I stop to make something for my husband. I get really shaky when I’m overly hungry, which is what reminds me.
If I’m sitting around doing nothing, I feel that hunger HARD. If I’m focused on work, that hunger signal takes a back burner, so I just don’t pay attention. Like how your leg falls asleep, I don’t notice until I realize what’s going on, and then you REALLY notice it.
I didn’t understand this either until I started a glp-1 medication. Now I routinely forget to eat.
I forget to eat because my brain is SO focused on other things that hunger becomes nothing. The signals that go to my brain say Danger. But it doesn’t come across like hunger danger more just like panic.
My husband wrote me out a sign a while back that says “Everything will be okay. Don’t forget to eat!”
Even as a fat guy, I have found myself forgetting to go to lunch. I was in the middle of a project at work and was just on a roll. Someone asked, “Did you even go to lunch yet?” I was maybe an hour and a half past when I normally went. Sometimes you get wrapped up in something and just forget other things
I sometimes eat once a day because Im just not hungry or Im doing something and I lose track of time.
For me, eating is a chore. I enjoy it as much as I enjoy doing the dishes lol (unless it’s candy). It’s also the reason I’ve been trying and failing to put 10 lbs on for the last 10 years lol
I’ll often not realize I need to eat until I have a hunger headache. If food is in front of me, I eat it, but if not… I just don’t think about it.
Your brain can block out signals from the rest of your body. In long gaming sessions this happens to me.
It can be easy to ignore and then forget that you were hungry lol
After a while the rumbling or hungry feeling can go away… Or be suppressed by that bottle of water that’s been sitting in the same spot for a couple days that you meant to drink that many days ago.
But at least it’s conveniently located for now, and easier than going to the kitchen and stopping whatever important thing that is happening.
Important as in important to the person that is doing it.
For some that could be finishing your house in Minecraft (or whatever in whatever game) or it could be that assignment you forgot was due today, even though you had weeeeks to get it done.
Some people just don’t have much in the way of hunger cues. That doesn’t make any sense to me, as I need medication to stop thinking about food literally all day, but apparently some skinny people just forget to eat for an entire day because their bodies don’t tell them they’re hungry loudly enough for them to hear it over the other stuff they’re focusing on. My partner can literally be too tired or lazy or focused to notice he hasn’t eaten since yesterday. He will get dizzy and be like “oh dang it’s been a while since I had a carb” and a while was 36 hours and he needs a banana or something to give him some blood sugar.
Whereas I am, absent the meds, thinking about my next meal while eating the present one.
The term for being in tune with your body’s internal signals is called interoception.
Some people have a high level of interoception.
Some people have a low level of interoception.
I’m in the latter category. I will routinely forget to eat because I don’t notice that my body is hungry, because that sense you describe is not as strong in me as it is in you.
God I wish I had this issue. I’ve dealt with food noise my entire life.
ADHD. I get so focused on things that I literally forget to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom. I’ll lose several pounds in a week bc of this
Everyone has different urges with food. I am at all times either eating food or resisting the urge to eat food. Even when I’ve eaten so much I feel sick, part of me is still feeling a compulsion to eat. I’ve heard of some people who literally don’t ever get the urge to eat food, and have to consciously remind themselves to eat. If they don’t then they just accidentally starve themselves until they literally pass out. Most people are somewhere between these two extremes.
personally, chronic stress and adhd medication for years has basically rewired the way my body feels hunger, if ever. in episodes of high stress i typically have to set alarms on my phone to eat something a few times a day. 🤷♀️
Stress. I’m a big hungry fella. I usually don’t forget to eat.
Two years ago I was in a very tough place at work and hated my job. I was so stressed out that I’d have to force myself to eat at the end of the day. I also barely slept. I was only able to sleep if I took atavan. A project was dropped in my lap and it was a job that was bleeding millions of $ and I didn’t have the expertise or help to fix it. My even fatter more useless manager was too busy playing some sword game on his cellphone.
I constantly wanted to barf otherwise. I lost 16lbs in two weeks (which wasn’t good). I had bloodwork done and they said that I was malnourished.
Lately if I’m focused on something eating doesn’t cross my mind.
I never understood this until it happened to me a few years ago when I was buying and moving into a new house (so stress I guess). It wasn’t that I had completely “forgotten”- it was more like I was still aware that I was really hungry but all of my other mental and physical impulses were yelling at me louder than my stomach was, so I just kept ignoring it.
On any random day though? I have no idea how some people do this regularly.
Several times I was simply so busy, I didn’t even notice.
Doesn’t even have to be crazy busy… just… doing stuff. Or even just driving on a road trip.
Also, I may get slightly hungry, not get around to eating, and it passes…. then I’m simply not hungry at all.
I will be extra hungry later thought.
I go from not hungry at all to nauseous because I haven’t eaten in so long, which of course makes it difficult to eat because I feel like I’m about to barf.
when i was in ED recovery, i barely ever had an appetite- once you get out of the routine of eating, your brain kinda stops sending the signals and you stop feeling hunger the same way. and like other people said, some people don’t have strong hunger signals, some medications also lower appetite
They are running on adrenaline and likely addicted to it.
my stomach growls for about 20 mins and if I dont eat, it just stops growling
Yeah idk. Couldnt be me🤣
Eating isn’t fun when I can’t enjoy the atmosphere . If I’m stressed and have a bunch of things to do I won’t eat because from my perspective eating is supposed to be a treat. Can’t treat myself if I feel bad
I have no introception. I can’t tell my bodily needs till it’s too late. I will go with no food 24-36 hours
When I was young I would forget to eat all the time. In my teens and twenties… I also smoked cigarettes and drank coffee all day, which both suppress the appetite.
Too busy to eat when they feel hungry, and past a certain point you simply stop noticing hunger. I’m bad with this and normally only eat 1 meal a day
I skip lots of meals. It’s not because I forget to eat, but I choose not to for one reason or another. Hunger goes away. Water helps a little.
If I get too stressed hunger signals turn off, and then they come back all at once later and I’m starving!
Hyperfocus.
I do frequently, it’s a symptom of major depressive disorder
For me hunger ques rarely exist and i just get into a project
Cognitive issues from distress, having something like adhd, being busy, not getting enough sleep, any sort of issue that prevents you from feeling hunger, distractions.
ADHD. Especially if I am busy, I can go all day without eating anything. But for some reason, when I’m at work and things are slow..I get snacky.
My interception isn’t great, particularly for hunger and thirst. I tend not to realize im hungry until my stomach is growling or I feel weak. Even then, sometimes those signals don’t happen if I’m really busy or hyper focused. Frequently my bf will ask if I’m hungry and I say no bc I genuinely don’t sense hunger, but then a second later or when he starts talking about food, my body will kick in and stomach will growl and I realize I am actually hungry.
I used to wonder this. Now I’m taking Mounjaro and I don’t wonder anymore. Some people just don’t have that little voice that tells them to eat.
If I’m really busy I forget but about 3 hours later im usually starving.
If you ignore the hunger signal for a bit it will go away for awhile at least
I have had a friend put Aleve into my hand, because I said I had a headache, and despite the bottle being right there, I forgot. I forget about leftovers in the fridge, unless I can see them. I forget to eat, then binge when I finally remember. I have ADHD. Now that I have meds for it, I hope to be more focused and healthy!
ADHD
No, mine doesn’t. I can get very wrapped in a project and lose track of time. It can happen if I’m reading a book.
There are definitely substances that people rely on to get through their day, that can lead to decreased appetite. I know back when I was drinking coffee more heavily, AND smoking cigarettes, I could go all the way from breakfast to dinner, without even thinking about food.
Also, a lot of people live under a constant level of anxiety and stress (for whatever reason, and there are many…) and while “stress eating” is definitely common, a lot of people who are upset or stressed will react in the opposite manner.
And hell, I’ve even heard of people who have jobs that keep them so laser-focused, that they just kind of get through an entire shift without stopping to even consider eating.
Sometimes 2pm hits and I realized I’ve had nothing to eat all day. Sometimes I’m ravenous at 9am.
My depression ruins my appetite, so I get hungry and then agonize over what to eat because nothing sounds good, and I end up eating nothing. And then later on I eat too much because I realize I’m super hungry and then feel sick.
It’s awesome. /s 👎🏻
Usually I’m hungry but busy and then eventually the hungry feeling goes away. So by the time I’m no longer busy I don’t feel hunger anymore and then I forget that I haven’t eaten.
The hunger feeling eventually comes back but usually by then I’m starving
Yes. Sometimes I do get naturally hungry and starving. Other times typical due to work being stupid and scheduling several lunch time meetings in a row, I end up going through them and go “oh crap I need to eat”.
I don’t tend to get hungry, i just feel tired and out of energy so i sleep instead
I’m also often just so busy i forget about meal times
ADHD can make someone forget to eat. Hormones are a big factor as well.
If I am playing and I am fully into the game I will not see the time spent and when I am Focus I will not especially be hungry the same while watching a series
Eating is such a chore. Figure out what to eat, maybe even go out and buy ingredients, then make it. It’s easier to just eat a snack or smth.
It becomes a habit to forget after the years.
I tried to diet (for a random reason, not really any coherence to this) early this year. And honestly, as hard as it is at the start, once you are used to ignoring hunger, it becomes actually quite easy. And once you are good at forgetting/ignoring hunger, if your buzy and your stomach tells you that you need to eat, you might just ignore it until the next meal.
We are too busy doing other things and or don’t feel hungry
I’m real slender and if I have coffee and nicotine I don’t get hungry until about 3pm.
Anxiety
When i am focused i am locked into whatever i am doing and all hunger and bathroom cues go out the window until im nauseous from hungry or about to piss myself.
I forget all the time. I have to have calendar reminders set on my watch and my BF’s first question to me when he gets home have you eaten. I love cooking and adore food but I get wrapped up in my research and forget to eat or drink. Our dogs have been trained to drag me away from my desk and into the kitchen so I remember I need to eat.
I was extremely ill when I was a kid, and felt so sick that I was completely unable to eat. Almost starved myself to death and they never figured out why.
That was 40 years ago and I still don’t have much of an appetite. The sensation of “I feel hungry” and “I have the desire to eat” are still pretty much separate in me, and if I want something specific then anything else might as well be like eating rocks. When I was younger that was as specific as wanting X flavour crisps/chips and any other flavour not even seeming like food. That faded to if I wanted crisps, any flavour would be okay, and eventually if I wanted crisps anything salty would be okay… But right now I want something salty, and I don’t have anything, so eating nothing is better than eating the cupcakes next to me.
In other words, my childhood illness basically disconnected the physical and psychological drives to eat. I’m an extreme case but not a unique one.
When I get so wrapped up in something, it happens. Hours have passed and by the time you realize you haven’t eaten it’s too late/feeling too lazy to actually make something. So snacks it is.
Forgetting to eat can happen.
Well I find with having ADHD if I end up really engrossed in something my brain can absolutely ignore it until it gets to the breaking point where I’m shaking.
The body is weird and the mind is weirder, my friend. I often forget to eat on days off because I get absorbed doing something.
The way it tends to work for me is that I put off eating because I’m busy or lazy. Then, after enough time goes by, the hunger cues go away. So I end up skipping meals or eating hours late because I stopped feeling hungry.
I’m not good with paying attention to bodily signals, so if I’m out of routine, I’m going to forget. Hell, even if I’m in routine, hyperfixation distracts me a lot. Luckily I live with folks who are much better at remembering so I get at least 1 meal per day lol.
My aunt with dementia could not tell you whether she had eaten two minutes ago or two days ago. My cousins have to make sure she eats regularly.
Some times people are so immersed in whatever they’re doing the brain doesn’t register the fact that they’re hungry, or the “signal” is sent differently than expected (putting myself as an example, sometimes when I’m hungry it feels like I’m really dizzy)
im never hungry its a problem sometimes
ADHD. We can forget to do a lot of things when hyper focused or just busy. We can’t read our body signals the same. If we’re bored, we snack for the sake of snacking. On busy days we don’t eat. On stressful days I don’t eat. Sometimes I forget until I’m dizzy and nearly passing out. Like right now, I’ve been sitting here, ignoring the fact I need to use the toilet. My body really wants me to go and yet, I haven’t moved yet because I’m distracted. This is normal for me. I won’t go until I’m bursting so badly it’s an emergency at times.
Two years ago, when I was significantly heavier than I am now, I would agree. It was a constant struggle to fight against hunger.
Then I was diagnosed as diabetic, and put on Mounjaro. I now forget to eat, and am normal weight with a low A1C.
It’s a difference in chemicals in the body, as far as I can tell. If you have the right amount of the chemical that tells you you’re full, you can skip meals without an issue, and this can sometimes be forgetting to eat. If not, you won’t.
Sometimes, people forget their own birthdays. If someone isn’t hungry for whatever reason (metabolism, sleep disruption, hydration levels, etc) and they get distracted with busywork, they might forget to eat. Some bodies are just used to a schedule and can signal when its mealtime, but others rely on the brain to remember to have a good 3 square a day.
I have amnesia so I forget to eat all the time
If you’re already not used to eating very much, it’s not a big deal to miss a meal. You initially get hungry but then it dies down before long.
Until recently, I only had a small breakfast and would usually skip lunch and just eat a decent sized dinner. But then I started going to the gym and counting calories and holy shit I have to eat so much more food than I ever have before in order to hit just maintenance calories. I’m shooting for 2410 a day and sometimes it’s a struggle.
I have gastroperisis which basically means my stomach is partially paralyzed. I stopped feeling hunger cues about 2 years ago. I’m never hungry.
I took adhd meds for years that made me not have an appetite and be aggressively not hungry. Like thinking of food made me nauseous and I had literally zero cravings for like 3 years. Now that I’ve been off of them for maybe 2 now I am slowly getting my hunger queues back but I have to continue to eat consistently and remind myself to eat even though I’m not hungry always
I’m morbidly obese and if I’m busy my brain doesn’t recognize hunger. It’s not that I forget it’s that it isn’t important to me.
Stress, depression, ADHD
People on ADHD meds and GLP-1s don’t have as strong of hunger signals
For one week out of the month, my appetite is very small. Another week out of the month, I am always hungry. It changes if you’re female. I also get worried about something or feel sick and I don’t want to eat or just don’t feel like it. Drives my husband nuts but sometimes, I’m not hungry enough to be worth fixing food. I’ll grab a cheesestick, eat it in a few bites, and be done.
Adhd and the fact that eating for me is a chore. I don’t really get any dopamine from it, it’s just “ah, my collection of cells needs to be fed again to continue existing”. Which is why i have not put on any weight despite being underweight and trying to gain weight to become normal weight.
For me eating (especially if i have to make the food) is approximately as enjoyable as vacuuming. It’s something that has to be done, but i don’t really enjoy it.
I also often fail to notice hunger signals.
If you are someone who gets dopamine from food, eating will feel like a reward, for me it feels like another chore that i have to complete before i can do things that i enjoy.
I just don’t get hungry. My wife has to remind me to eat because if she doesn’t I’ll go a day or two between meals
If I’m not in pain I just don’t think about it
Just bring really busy will do it for me, but I also have done intermittent fasting for about six years, so I lean into it. Before that if I was engrossed in doing something I’d just forgo food in favor of the task at hand. Especially doing house cleaning or getting ready to host a party.
I don’t feel hungry when stressed
ADHD
Disordered eating history
I forget and it suck’s because usually i forget until it’s “to late” and my stomach starts hurting. I’ve been like this all my life I’m old enough to have found what works for me (I do not enjoy cooking) so I’ve figured it out everything ill cook hast be done in 20min 30max there is no preparation of long meals, cooking when you don’t like cooking and when you are not hungry is hell.
I if you focus on grocery shopping and buy enough of ingredients so many things can be done in under 20min stuff like rice takes me exactly 20min sandwiches are a go to for me because of how easy and personalized they can be today I can have a really good egg sandwich with span fried egg cheese and avacado under 30min tomorrow I can have a tuna sandwich with mayo celery pickles and tomato, while not appealing to many I eat like a 1950’s soldier I eat a lot of canned food.
Canned soup (big fan of Campbell) but will also do instant noodles,
canned fruits like Peaches, Pinapple or a “mix” that comes with pears, cherries, peaches and grapes.
Canned tomatoes for past egg and things like that or diced tomatoes for sauces.
Canned peas or corn for things like rice
My friends think it’s disgusting but I’ll eat “relatively” (like twice a week or weekly) some sort of canned fish, Tuna, Sardines, Anchovies are my favorite.
I don’t enjoy food like some people seam to I don’t think about food until I’m starving and planning ahead while extremely boring has been a game changer for me.
The simple answer to your question is just we don’t think about it at all it. It’s not the part of my day I’m looking forward too.
On the other had if someone else is making me food count me in! I will be looking forward to not cooking more than you can imagine! Having food that tastes amazing and that I don’t have to prepare is a dream! I don’t go out for food much anymore and don’t order take out often so when I get the chance to have food I will not cook for myself but LOVE I take advantage of it! That I do look forward to!
I have ADHD so my brain ignore the hunger sensations like it ignores pretty much everything else except my immediate focus
Im flabbergasted, really? Im hungry even when im not hungry
Depends on the situation. On a weekend if I’m home all day, I might get up at 8:00am and not feel like eating until 5:00pm. If I’m at work, by 10:00am I’m usually starving and can’t wait for lunchtime to come.
I don’t get obvious hunger cues until I’m starving. I eat on a schedule or I will just keep doing other stuff without stopping to eat.
For me it’s coffee. I’m not hungry at work because I’m drinking coffee.
Sometimes if you’re really into something or really busy, you just don’t need to eat right then. Also if it’s hot you might feel better not eating or eating very little.
Sometimes I don’t eat well until after I’ve thrown up from being so hungry.
It kills the appetite. Stress does too. I’m also mentally not all here because what I think is brain damage but dealing with Drs over past child abuse FUCKING SUCKS.
And then there are some people who are on medications with side effects that cause this to happen. For example, I take topamax. One of the common side effects of topamax is lack of appetite. I take it for my epilepsy. One of the common traits an epileptic can have is hyper/hypo focus. So you have someone who can get super duper focused on one thing and then taking a medication that causes them to not feel hungry. Lunch is usually the only meal I’m interested in. For breakfast and dinner my thought process is usually “I need to eat to take my medication”
I’ll get hungry but not be able to eat yet. By the time I am able to eat, I don’t feel hungry any more. But this always backfires because by dinner time, I’m so hungry I feel like I’m going to throw up. So I try really hard to remember to eat at least something while I’m at work. I dont eat breakfast so skipping some kind of lunch is not a great option.
My wife does this. She will get headaches often from not eating. It blows my mind how someone can go all day and “forget” to eat
Sometimes if I’m working on something I enjoy, I forget about the rest of the world outside that task.
If I feel hungry for about 10 minutes then the feeling just goes away
Also ADHD folks tend to do this a lot. Get on a thing and get into it, look up and it’s too late for lunch now.
Nope. Mine will make me want to vomit once a day and it means that I’m starving, but nothing beyond that. I need alarms to keep eating at times I’m supposed to (I still fail very often since I don’t like taking breaks for eating)
I keep thinking “I’ll just do x and then I’ll go get food” and then I notice one other thing that I need to/could do, and I think that I’ll just do that one more thing and then go get something to eat, etc etc
I forgot to eat often, longest I ever forgot to eat was more than 24 hours. I just not feel hungry.
When I am extremely focused on doing something, or I am in the zone (as artists put it), I’d legit forget to eat as my head won’t be stuck on eating at all.
I’ll literally not eat for a full 24 hours because I forget to, and I work in a kitchen lol I just don’t get hungry really
No one forgets to eat. It’s just something dumb that people say.
I struggled with low appetite since early childhood. Hunger for me is like a slight itch in the back of your mind and so easy not to notice, it takes me so long to finish a meal because it phisically feels like I don’t need food (also sensitive to textures or heavy meals)
I forget to eat every day of my life until like 7-8 PM. (ADHD)
Happens to me all the time. My body just doesn’t always prompt me.
If I’m really focused on something, I don’t realize how hungry I am. So it’s not necessarily that I forget about eating or am immune to hunger, just that my mind is too focused elsewhere to notice.
Distracted partially and also partially I miss my window, I have stomach problems and I’m also autistic so I’m very limited. I can’t just condition my body with a schedule like everyone tells me to because if I eat when I’m not hungry 7/10 times I’ll end up feeling nauseous or throwing up, i can’t eat something I’m not in the mood for or it makes me nauseous and the texture problems limit what I can eat ontop of that, and If I don’t eat soon after I start feeling hungry I’ll get too hungry and then nothing sounds good and then I feel nauseous bc I’ve waited too long and if I eat at that point I’ll either feel terrible or, you guessed it, throw up. So typically if I start to feel hungry and I know I’m not going to be able to eat within the next 30 minutes to an hour I’ll just skip the meal and be nauseous for a little while as opposed to the rest of the day. Not a great solution I know.
No, it doesn’t until around 4 or 5pm. Then I eat.
I overcame an eating disorder from my youth. In those years, the feeling of hunger just became normal, I was desensitized to it. Now that I’m “recovered” I occasionally forget to eat because I, more often than not, dont recognize the feeling of hunger. Days like that, it takes my husband asking me if I’ve eaten yet to acknowledge how long ago my last meal was.
You can be so busy that eating is secondary. Happens all the time when you work on your feet.
You probably aren’t neurodivergent then. Lol
I’m like that too. If I’m busy at work or preoccupied, it just doesn’t occur to me. Then driving home I’m hangry
Some people happen to block out their hunger magically if they’re distracted enough. They might interpret it as being tired instead.
I get this sometimes when I’m gaming or working.
Some people have bad enteroception i think it’s called where they’re bad at reading their body’s signals
People with ADHD often have poor memory, and ADHD meds suppress appetite
My ADHD meds make me food blind.
I get distracted and don’t notice I’m hungry because of it. Next thing I know it’s been hours and I haven’t eaten. When I get really focused on something it can be hard to remind myself to eat.
For me, i just get busy……. I’m overweight so its no biggie.
But, you get to 4pm working and then you realise?… Dam!, I’m hungry.
I’ve had it happen when busy with the kids morning routine, they go to the school breakfast club (toast, water or milk they have) because they like to see friends there & forgot oh I didn’t eat to
For me it’s mental illness and autism. Depression makes me not care about my own needs, and autism makes it hard for me to recognize hunger in my body… sometimes I don’t even drink anything for a long time because of this as well.
Between diabetes, a keto diet, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and failed kidneys, I’ve had to watch what I eat so closely for so long that food is no longer enjoyable, it’s just another pain in the ass thing I have to do to not die.
I just kind of lose energy and focus over time. I often eat because it’s time to eat, not because I’m hungry. I don’t really get hungry.
This has been a very informative thread for me. My daughter has dealt with an eating disorder that is precisely this. I never realized how this can even be a thing (for better or worse, my hunger signals are loud and clear), but it’s interesting to see how many people it affects.
I’m autistic and my nervous system is really bad at telling me what my body wants. My hunger is either 0 or 100. It’s the same with pain, which is fun while working out 🥲
So, unless I’m on a schedule, I can easily go 30-50 hours without eating because I’m too busy doing life shit and don’t get hunger signals until it’s too late. Last time was a week ago and I’m nearly passed out in my BJJ class cuz I hadn’t eaten in 46 hours. Whoops 🤷🏻♀️ Inhaled a protein shake and a piece of pizza and was good to go. Ate a fuck ton of chicken and fish that night lol
Stress and depression will also suppress my hunger signals, so that’s not good either. I’m this damn close to putting a fucking alarm in my phone to remind me to at least drink a protein shake twice a day 😅🤣
When I’m sewing I’m super focused on what I’m doing and I’ll just forget. At some point I’ll realize I’m hungry or have a headache and realize I just forgot to eat.
Depends on stress levels most of the time, or how busy my schedule is. Even with access to food, I find it really hard to eat if I’m too stressed. Tbh, I’m lucky if I eat once a day if someone doesn’t remind me or force me to eat something lol.
If I’m sad tho? Food brings me comfort :’3
When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I don’t notice any feelings of discomfort. I’ll suddenly notice that I’m really hungry, or thirsty, or tired, or my neck hurts from sitting funny, or things like that.
So basically any time I’m feeling stress or anxiety I’ll forget to eat and drink, because I don’t notice the feeling. The feeling of anxiety vastly overshadows the pain you get from being hungry. Hunger is really unpleasant when you are aware of it, but really minor when compared to other forms of pain and discomfort, especially if it’s been less than a day since you last ate.
Hyperfocus.
It’s often a trait of nurodivergence.
I’ve had to work hard in therapy to get to the point of connecting with my internal hunger cues. Now that I finally have, I’m astonished how often I am hungry!
I do it constantly. Just get distracted n forget. Then realize I’m starving like 7 hours later
Just not hungry. I remember when I start getting a headache or stomach pains
If I’m busy I will forget to feed me. Which had been a recurring problem on the boat as everyone is on my feeding cycle. Or at least they were until recently, my current stern-man has no issues going “hey cap… It’s fecking lunchtime…”
hey i’m autistic and i don’t get hunger cues for the most part <3 this is common
ADHD makes you likely to forget to eat. Stimulant ADHD meds kill your appetite, making you unlikely to feel hunger as quickly.
ADHD.
MY ADHD stops me from wanting to, remembering to or being able to sometimes. For anyone who doesn’t think it’s a disability, it really is.
So, sometimes I get so into what I’m doing that I fixate then forget I need to eat, or I’m too busy with work and rushing around so I just plain forget.
Sometimes I just don’t feel hungry, my meds cut my appetite, I get anxious, I have bouts of depression and that makes it so I just don’t feel like it.
Sometimes the effort feels like it’s too much and I can’t get started on making anything. Executive dysfunction is a real problem especially when it comes to self care, hygiene, sleep and feeding myself. It’s hard to get started or there can be dishes that need doing before I start or the prep work is too much.
I’m a cook by trade too (haven’t been working in kitchens for almost a decade now because I can’t support myself on the wages in my city) food is my passion and I love cooking but sometimes my brain just doesn’t want to cooperate with me. It’s hard. The worst part? I beat myself up over it because I know i CAN and I SHOULD but I’m sometimes just not able to.
Coming from someone who used to wonder how people forget to eat to now being one of the people who DOES forget to eat…
You get busy, you get stressed, you get distracted, you get so thoroughly engaged in something that you forget. Ever deathscrolled or binged so hard you missed a meal? Basically like that
Have you ever had a newborn?
I naturally don’t feel hungry until about 2pm and then again at around 11pm. I also naturally want to sleep from about 2am-9am. Of course, this doesn’t really work with a modern human schedule, so I basically force sleeping and eating “when I’m supposed to” every day. If I didn’t, I’d go about 18 hours without eating and remember when I started getting headaches.
Hi I forget to eat all the time. I still feel hunger pains (usually) but I also have ADHD and take stimulants. When on stimulants, most of my energy comes from the meds, and while the drug is active the first hour/couple hours (depending how much I took) my hunger pains may be completely gone. When they wear off and I’m hungry, they come back. If I’m not on my meds I tend to overeat. So I think someone who forgets to eat is probably getting their energy/dopamine from something else so their body doesn’t realize it should also get food to do that? Idk if I explained that right but you get it.
After like an hour of being hungry I just stop being hungry and then usually also don’t eat anything for the next 10 something hours.
A lot of people suffer from food noise. Most skinny people do not. I myself do not. I have moments where I sometimes forget to eat, not all the time but sometimes especially if I am busy.
I don’t forget as often anymore but I did a lot as a kid, I had a really fast metabolism so I was hungry all the time and just got used to it
Im autistic and have a poor understanding of my own body’s signals. Affects everything from emotions to appetite, i sometimes dont notice im hungry until i feel ill
No, your stomach doesn’t tell you when it’s time to eat. Your brain does. And your brain is influenced by a myriad of things. In this case, the primary thing that’s influencing your brain is habits and social queues.
The reality is you don’t need to eat at lunch time every day. You can go days without eating (and it’s probably a good thing to do so once in a while).
If you practice fasting, the type of hunger you feel at lunch time starts fading quickly.
I’ve worked 4 days straight. Didn’t sleep and only ate when told to. Hyperfocus is a hell of a drug.
Hunger can peak, then go away. So if someone gets hungry before lunch and decides it’s too early to eat, symptoms of hunger will go away and not come back for hours so yes, without the sensation, they can absolutely forget.
I usually do when I’m deep into working or reading. Guess when the mind is too occupied, you just can’t help but not think about it until you get a breather and then you notice it.
My stomach doesn’t tell me til it’s wayy past time
Some people forget, some just are not hungry enough to be bothered. Today only ate once, not because I forgot – but because I wasn’t hungry.
How can I forget when it’s all I’m thinking about?
I’m having issues with food since COVID (it all smells gross). I’m just not hungry. I know this is a TERRIBLE thing, bc I am not taking in enough nutrients. My brain fog gets atrocious & when I actually lose track of time (ie can’t remember what I did) I know it’s time to force it.
But even before, I usually skipped lunch. I was fine with a small breakfast, light day snack & good dinner.