"But I am not hungry"

[Staples]

Everyone who has kids has heard this. But I don't understand it. Am I weird?

It is time for lunch. "But I am not hungry."

"So? Open your mouth, chew and swallow, what relevance does not being hungry even have to this conversation?"

Seriously. I eat three times a day. I rarely get to the point where I am hungry. Same thing with water. I drink well over a gallon a day and I always have. I am rarely ever hungry or thirsty.

Open your mouth, put food in. Chew it and swallow. Why do people NEED to be hungry to do this?

I am not fat or one of those people who are always hungry so I don't think I have some sort of special power.

 

[sandorski]

Why eat if you don't have to?

 

[IronWing]

There used to be a syndicated column by a person we used to refer to as The Child Nazi based on her incredibly harsh suggestions for child-rearing. There were two points upon which she recommended that parents preemptively surrender to kids: eating (when they eat and what they won't eat) and when they pee/poop. Parents will never prevail in these matters.

 

[tracerbullet]

Agreed, I've heard it as well, and it seems true - you can't control what goes into them or what comes out.

You can do some things like limit snacks and be sure you set a somewhat consistent schedule, otherwise their own mysterious metabolism will set their being hungry or not.

 

[nakedfrog]

Yes, you're weird.

 

[clamum]

I'm definitely not like that. If I don't feel like eating... I don't eat. Or eat something small or with really low satiety and "easy" to eat for me (example being salads or fruits, I could eat those anytime) if I know I should be eating something. And if I eat too much, I feel all bloated and crappy and nauseous.

Definitely makes gaining weight hard which is something I'm trying to do now. But as a kid I ate pretty normally I think, and ate whatever my mom made (I've never been picky as far as foods go).

 

[TheVrolok]

Yes, you're weird.

This.

 

[JM Aggie08]

What a ridiculous point of view. Hunger is your body telling you that you need nutrients. If you're not hungry, you don't need to eat.

"Daddy, I don't have to potty."
"You will sit on that toilet and force it out! Who cares if you don't have to go; JUST GO"

 

[ShookKnight]

If you eat for reasons other than being hungry, that is emotional eating.

Plus, you may be prone to being overweight.

Honestly, eating when hungry is your best bet.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Eating when not hungry makes me feel kinda sick, food is not appetizing to me and it takes much more effort to put it down. It's not that simple as "just chew and swallow". I never understood this whole idea that you HAVE to eat just because it's a certain time. I just eat when I'm hungry... often only once a day... maybe that's a bad habit, but it's what I find is easier, I don't see the point of eating just because.

 

[ElFenix]

I eat three times a day.

really? are you a carpenter? maybe pick crops? or something else with manual labor?

 

[Red Squirrel]

3 times a day is considered normal but I just can't eat that often myself. When I went on a family vacation I felt like all we did was eat. By the time you finish one meal and cleanup you're practically getting ready for the next one.

 

[Staples]

3 times a day is considered normal but I just can't eat that often myself. When I went on a family vacation I felt like all we did was eat. By the time you finish one meal and cleanup you're practically getting ready for the next one.

I can relate. When my mother visits, she makes something huge for breakfast that takes forever to make. Then cleans up and like two hours later, "it is time for lunch," she says. Even I have to object and state that we just ate.

For those in this thread thinking three times a day is weird, what in the world were you taught when growing up? Breakfast, lunch and dinner is what I learned. I could slide by and eat only twice a day. I do it occasionally. If I am busy I skip lunch and I will get the sense of hunger. I could easily skip lunch everyday, breakfast would be easier I think but I do it because I think it is the healthy way to do things. It helps stabilize blood sugar among other chemicals.

 

[tracerbullet]

Yeah, we do breakfast, lunch, dinner and perhaps a late snack for the adults if we're still up at 10PM since it's been a few hours since dinner already.

Pacing meals throughout the day is good. I suppose everyone knows that. We do the schedule not for the sake of having a schedule, but because we don't eat too much at any meal, and so 4-5 hours later we are inevitably hungry.

We don't eat because it's lunch time, it's simply lunch time because we are hungry!

 

[HomerJS]

I remember an incident when my son was 6 years old.

Had tickets to a minor league baseball game. It included a picnic. There were burgers, dogs, chicken and ribs. All included. I ate and he said "I'm not hungry. Game started and the free food ended. By the 3rd inning I heard "I'm hungry"

I remember yelling

 

[PingSpike]

What a ridiculous point of view. Hunger is your body telling you that you need nutrients. If you're not hungry, you don't need to eat.

"Daddy, I don't have to potty."
"You will sit on that toilet and force it out! Who cares if you don't have to go; JUST GO"

LOL, this is true of course. But I'll ask my kid if she needs to go and its vehement "NO!" and then 10 minutes later its an emergency. To her you don't have to go unless a turd is already coming out.

 

[tracerbullet]

Yeah, this is why I can see the "damnit sit down and eat" thing. Mine won't be hungry for lunch, but sure enough in a half hour she's starving. She only wasn't hungry because she wanted to play more.

So for OP's situation context would be important. There are times what he's (she's?) saying makes sense.

 

[nakedfrog]

LOL, this is true of course. But I'll ask my kid if she needs to go and its vehement "NO!" and then 10 minutes later its an emergency. To her you don't have to go unless a turd is already coming out.

My ex was and kids are like that, my theory is that it's something in the internal body signaling that functions differently that causes it. I mean, I would figure as an adult it would be enough of an inconvenience that you'd just start going earlier if you knew it was on the horizon versus waiting until you need to go NOW.