I never feel hungry or tired, but I feel ok. Is this something to be concerned about?

Since publishing our workbook, Fuel Your Brain, Not Hour Anxiety, I receive emails with interesting questions about the material presented. Here’s one I thought I would share:

I am 78 year grandmother and consider myself as a healthy person. I walk 3-4 hours during the weekends and do aerobic exercises and Tai-chi on weekdays. The problem is I never get hungry or tired in spite of all these activities. I eat a good healthy breakfast: a cup of coffee done with soya milk, a half dozen almonds, some raisins and a half of an apple, a spoonful beansprouts, some all bran, 125g of bio yoghurt, and finally a cup of green tea. I have no lunch because I am not hungry. I eat a grilled fish with some greens for my supper around 7 p.m., although I am not hungry or tired.

One of the challenges of responding to people I have not met is that I am not always clear what someone’s question is. So, I am going to pull some possible questions from this query.

First I ask myself, do I hear a problem? I hope when I am 78 years old, I consider myself a healthy person. For me, what heath implies is that I have the physical energy and mental clarity to support the activities of self-care, self-determination, and self-understanding as well as to engage and connect with others. Since she’s wondering about eating, I’m assuming that she’s curious about who she is and who she is becoming – this seems healthy to me.

Sometimes I have to remind people that when I discuss diet change, my meal tips are for people who have mental health challenges. These challenges can include situational anxiety, that prevents people from taking on new challenges, or more serious conditions such as major depression, panic disorders, PTSD or addictions.

If someone has good energy and mental clarity, they enjoy their life and who they are… They should probably stick with what they are doing.

So maybe the person who emailed me is just curious about her lack of appetite. She has a daily practice of movement with walking and tai-chi. Regular movement allows protein to cycle around the body, so we are not as dependent on dietary protein and eating small frequent meals. She also eats protein at the meals which, especially combined with regular movement,  can decrease appetite.

I’m not sure that this person needs to worry about lack of hunger signals, but we can discuss the causes of lack of hunger signals more generally, and what people might try to correct this challenge:

• Lack of hunger + anxiety/agitation/irritation/numbness = low glucose plus adrenalin and will be helped by a lizard brain treat

• Lack of hunger + nausea + more than 3 hours from food = low glucose and high adrenalin and will be helped by a lizard brain treat

• Lack of hunger + eating regular meals with protein, carbs, fat and fiber = getting nutrients in and indicates that the body trusts that it will be fed predictably

• Lack of hunger + a gallon of water per day with little exercise maybe (depending on exercise, temperature of the environment, etc.) = hunger and thirst signals can be confused. Try less water. Usually 1/3 to 1/2 your body weight in ounces is enough (150 pounds is 50 to 75 ounces of water per day).

• Sudden lack of hunger = check with your doctor and have labs run. There are lots of medical conditions particularly thyroid disorders that can disrupt hunger signals.

Lastly, if this person is curious, she could try three days of protein every 3-4 hours and see if she feels any different? Maybe more energy? Maybe her hunger signal will be a little stronger when she is away from food for 3-4 hours .

I always remind myself that there is no “right way” that fits everyone. The way to discover what is useful for an individual is for them to try different experiments and decide if and where changes fit in their life, at the moment.