A few days ago, I had a conversation with someone about the topic of extreme hunger. For those who might not be familiar with this terminology, it’s a period during recovery from an eating disorder in which one feels an insatiable hunger, resulting in thousands of calories being eaten in a relatively short amount of time. Some consider this bingeing, which I do not agree with in the slightest. I think it is a time of recovery that needs to be taken seriously, but I really do not believe it should be equated to bingeing. I’m going to try and explain why, because I know this can be a time of increased anxiety and shame. That should not be the case. One should feel proud of giving into the hunger and listening to one’s body. It’s about nourishing a long forgotten body, starved and left out to suffer. It’s changing the tides.
Extreme hunger is scary. It’s extremely valid to feel frightened, terrified even. It feels like your body won’t ever stop growling at you, begging for more food. Do you keep going? Do you force yourself to stop eating, even though you know you’re still hungry? Do you continue even after 3,000 calories? Is that restricting? What about refeeding syndrome?
The easiest way for me to understand extreme hunger is the comparison of breath. I know I heard something along similar lines somewhere, but for the life of me, I cannot find the original author of this thought. If you do happen to come across similar articles as to what I’m about to explain, please do leave it in the comment section so I can add it here for a better reference.
Holding Your Breath
Think about holding your breath. Not just to rid yourself of hiccups, but for a significant length of time. This past February, the world record was increased up to 24 minutes and 3 seconds for holding your breath. Imagine yourself holding your breath for that long. Your body is depleted of all oxygen. It’s tortured by this. But you keep going and going… until finally you stop. You open your mouth and you take in some oxygen for the first time in 24 minutes.
Now imagine how your body reacts at this precise moment in time. When you allow yourself to take in a breath. Do you automatically return to a steady state of normal paced breathing? No.
Your body heaves and gasps, pulling at the air to get in every ounce of oxygen it’s able to. It needs to make up for those past 24 minutes where it suffocated. It’s reacting to the torture it just endured.
When you deprive your body of air, an essential component to living, what is it going to do when you finally allow yourself to breathe again? Is it going to automatically return to a normal pattern and rate? Nope. It’s going to go crazy; you’ll heave and inhale as much air as you can.
Your body doesn’t trust you anymore. It can’t. Not after that.
Now it’s on alert because it’s worried you’ll hold your breath again. It’s now on guard for asphyxiation. Your body needs to learn how to trust you again. It’s gonna take in as much air as it can get right now in case you decide to stop breathing again.
Extreme Hunger
Let’s take this same concept and apply it to food.
For however long you’ve restricted your caloric intake, your body has been left deprived, starved, neglected. Then, you make the courageous steps to begin recovery. Be proud of yourself. That is the most difficult decision to make, and to make it again and again each day- I commend you so much for that. Seriously, be proud of that.
So now you’re here, a few weeks into recovery (or however long it takes, there is no prescribed time for this to happen) and your body notices that you’re eating more. You’re providing the nourishment it needs again. It’s excited now. It’s going to take advantage of this opportunity. You’re beginning to listen to hunger cues. So now, it’s going to set off a hundred more hunger cues. It wants you to get the memo- it’s ready to replenish itself.
Extreme hunger, when listened to, is a beautiful reconnection between yourself and your body. It’s a time to submit and give in to the irrational rules you’ve so long followed. They don’t mean anything anymore. What matters most is that you’re listening to your body and you understand this will end.
And I promise, extreme hunger will end.
I know in the moment it seems as though it’ll go on for the rest of your life, but that won’t be the case.
Take it back to the breathing metaphor.
Okay, 24 minutes of holding your breath. How long would it take to get back to normal breathing? Maybe 5 minutes. Maybe 10 or it might even take a half hour. My point is, I’m not a doctor, so I don’t have any clue about the length of time, but it will go back to normal. It has to. Our bodies are intelligent- they know when to back off. It’s all about proving to them that we can be trusted again. Even though, yes, we restricted, we over-exercised, we ate insufficient nutrients, our bodies, if we choose recovery, will give us a second chance.
Refeeding Syndrome
There is one aspect of Extreme Hunger to be careful with, and that is refeeding syndrome. Please keep in mind I’m not a doctor and I have no medical credentials tied to the back of my name. All of this is my opinion on extreme hunger. If you have any fear the hunger you feel will result in your body rebelling against you to the point where it would shut down, as is the case with refeeding syndrome, I encourage you to seek out the professional advice of a nutritionist or other doctor. They know what’s best, far better than what I, a measly English and Religious Studies major, could ever articulate.
Extreme Hunger vs. Bingeing
As for the notion of extreme hunger and bingeing being synonymous, I disagree with this sentiment. In my mind, and this could be just the opinion of my own understanding, extreme hunger is in response to eating disorder recovery. Bingeing is out of one’s control, a form of an eating disorder in itself. Both can be caused by restrictive diets, but I think there is a difference. I think it may be possible for extreme hunger to turn into bingeing, but that is why vigilance in recovery is so important. I know I need to be mindful about the actions I take, even now as I am 3 years from the start of my recovery.
Struggling with bingeing is not something I’d wish upon anyone, and I know that some people do in turn develop problems such as this in recovery. I’m not well versed on this subject, so if anyone does have an experience they’d feel comfortable sharing with me (publicly or privately), I would be honored to know your story. It’s a topic I’m not as familiar with as I’d like to be, considering I think of myself as an eating disorder advocate, so I’d like to learn more. Please do let me know if I’m mistaken in my ideas about the correlation, or lack thereof, between extreme hunger responses and bingeing. I think my research has led me to believe they’re different, but this is only coming from my perspective. I want to keep my blog as an open forum, so let me know if you feel differently!
This is not me encouraging someone to eat everything in sight because that’s the “only way to recover.” No absolutely not. I really believe there are an infinite amount of ways to recover because each of us are our own person. That’s what is so beautiful tragic about this world. What works for me won’t work for the next person I meet and so on and so forth. That said, I know the majority of people enduring eating disorder recovery will mark their path through similar experiences, some long and some short. I want to offer my perspective on the idea of extreme hunger, and I think I can sum it up to one rule for recovery. I don’t believe recovery has very many rules, considering mine was all about abolishing the distorted logic of my mind, but here, I think recovery does have one vital rule for success:
If you are hungry, eat.
That’s it. Looks simple, but I think we all know how much further complex it goes once we dive under the surface.
Extreme hunger is not something to be afraid of. There will inevitably be fear at the beginning, but I guarantee you will feel pride once you come out of the other side. Nourishing your body, finally feeding it the calories it desperately needs is something to be celebrated, something to be regarded. You are something to be celebrated and regarded, simply for choosing to fight.
I feel like it’s been a long time since I’ve sat down to write an entire post dedicated to one aspect of recovery. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or not, but it feels like one. I’m happy to continue my advocacy for eating disorder awareness, because I realize how important that is, but it’s nice to know I’m able to separate that part of my history into a box in my brain. it’s no longer one long veiled sheet impressing itself into every crevice of my life.
For other Eating Disorder Recovery Related posts, please feel free to check out my Recovery Resources page. I hope in those posts you might find solace and comfort.
Loading InLinkz ...Questions of the Day
- Have you experienced extreme hunger? I’d love to hear your thoughts and your story!
- How long do you think you could hold your breath?
- What is your favorite way to take care of your body?
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I so agree that it really is so simple; eat when you’re hungry, but it looks so different for all of us like you said. I had extreme hunger, and I definitely wasn’t binging when I ate, because my body definitely needed all that food. THank you for addressing this so sensitively and kindly. <3
Yes! Feeding your body is a natural right. <3
A very important topic to speak about – thanks, Julia, for lending in your own experience and wisdom. For my personal situation, I’ve never really experienced extreme hunger. That, or I’ve never let myself? I feel like when I’ve started to sense I’ve reached the point of always being hungry I get scared and pull back. So this is a note for what NOT TO DO, for all. I wish I could say I’ve surrendered to this feeling and gave in to it – so I’m proud and inspired by you and all others who have done so in the past. That being said, even in the hospital when I was having 3500+ calories I never, as I can recall, experienced extreme hunger. To this day my hunger cues are still take their very very sweet time coming back. A part of me wishes they would and I felt more hungry, because that may make eating more more validated, but I also do not envy the anxiety that extreme hunger may cause. Anyways. I guess just an example how everyones’ bodies and journeys are different. Thank you for the link up <3
Cora- I’m so honored you would share all of that here in this post. What you wrote is SO important and I’m grateful you shared your story. No one’s recovery story is the same, but learning about each other’s can help fill in the questions.
I had a week during my recovery when I was hungry for wayyy more than 3,000 calories a day and I remember being SO freaked out by it–but obeying my hunger was the best thing I possibly could have done! I restored weight and healed my metabolism so much faster than if I’d just stuck to the minimum guidelines.
I really love that you wrote this post, because when I was experiencing extreme hunger, the thing that made me feel better was going online and reading all the stories that I could possibly find about other people’s experiences. You are helping so many recovering young women (and men!) out there, so thank you! <3
Claire! i’m so appreciative of your honesty here. You sharing your story will help anyone who reads this and is going through the same thing. Your words bring comfort.
This was a great post. I love the analogy of holding your breath because it is so spot on. Personally during my refeeding days I never experienced extreme hunger, or at least not that I realized. I was given a meal plan to which I followed and from what I recall I was alway satiated and never felt an extreme amount of hunger in addition to the thousands of calories I was eating. I assume I was eating around 3,000 calories a day at the time. It is important that those who do experience it, don’t consider it a binge, because it’s not. They ARE two completely different eating disorders and you can not simply just bounce from one to another. A person suffering from anorexia may eat an extra 500 calories one day and consider that a binge, when it is not at all.
Michelle- thank you so much for weighing in on your story, even if it doesn’t include extreme hunger! I think it’s so important for all sides of recovery to be shown and understood. Everyone and their bodies are so different! That’s what is so beautiful about the world.
This is SUCH an important topic, so thank you for discussing. I don’t think I ever really experienced extreme hunger, but I do remember when I really started making an effort to eat enough calories for my body, my hunger cues and signals kicked in REALLY strong and it felt downright strange to be listening to them. I think that is what makes hunger in general during recovery so hard. You don’t know if you can trust yourself, your connection with your body is tenuous and strange, and you’re not sure what is “normal” anymore. I do think that sharing stories and seeking all the help and support possible is a great way to gain reassurance and answer some of the thousands of questions that spring up.
As always, love reading your words, have an awesome day girly! xoxo
Sometimes, I still don’t know what the heck my hunger cues are saying! It makes sense though, I’ve put my body through a lot so of course it is not always going to know what to do. Thank you for sharing your experience! I always enjoy hearing your thoughts on my posts. 🙂
I’ve never experienced this but I LOVE your breath analogy as it makes SO much sense. If you deprive your body of anything of course it needs to catch up!
Thank you so much Kristy! When I first learned of it, it helped me relax about it all too.
I think it’s really great that you touched on extreme hunger vs bingeing. So many people get caught up on that in recovery and think that just because they are eating more and are hungry a lot, they are bingeing. Thank you for this Julia! Such an informative post girly
Thank you Alyssa! I just want to keep this platform open for as much educational dialogue as we can produce.
Hey Julia, I definitely agree with the sentiments of this post!
Personally I definitely experienced extreme hunger in recovery, and I think I still do from time to time even now that I’m weight restored! Once I ate an entire Betty Crocker can of vanilla icing in half an hour.. and then went and had a big dinner. It definitely felt like bingeing at the time, but looking back I know it was my body taking advantage of a lapse of self control on my part, which eventually developed into more balanced recovery. Nowadays when I feel that primal hunger come on, I go and buy M&Ms and cookies and eat them until I’m satisfied, and I’m always surprised by how much less it is each time, as my body starts to trust me more.
Thank you for opening up a platform for people to share their experiences!
Have a great week 🙂
Lizzi
Lizzi, thank you so much for sharing your experiences with extreme hunger. I feel like it’s not talked about enough because people believe there is shame tied to it, but ultimately, many people go through it! I’m so glad you’ve come to peace with it.
I totally needed to read this post today. I am really struggling and despite eating more my weight is still down. I have to follow my meal plan, no excuses. I really like this metaphor and will be thinking back on it often. Thank you so so much for all your advice and encouragement. You are an incredible inspiration- and a beautiful writer!!
Girl you can DO this. I so believe in you. Keep pressing forward. You need to gain the weight, make the most of your recovery. <3
<3
Now I just need you to understand that you deserve a real, actual recovery. You can do it, Kaila. Don’t hide behind the facade of your blog anymore. You’re capable of more than this half-life.
This post came at a great time!! I JUST committed to following the MM guidelines a few days ago after trying to “recover” by eating much less and finding out I was actually LOSING weight.. and the extreme hunger has already started. It’s really strong and yeah, I am scared that I will become weight restored too quickly and freak out and lead to a relapse. Posts like these make me feel so much better about listening to my hunger and now I actually feel PROUD for not giving in to the ED voices and denying myself of the energy that my body is crying out for.
You should feel proud! In this day and age, it’s like society wants us to ignore our boys… but that is so backward! Keeping you in my thoughts Alia. I know how scary of a time it must be for you right now, but have faith- it does get better!
Hi, I really loved this article. My feelings of hunger came back about a year and a half ago. I went on a meal plan last summer, and my cues went back and forth between being normalized and “extreme hunger.” The second half of the year, I began ignoring cues for longer than I probably should have, and extreme hunger came back. They have gone back and forth between normalization and extreme hunger all summer.. And I’m beginning to get frustrated. I’m tired of feeling this anxiety. It’s been a year and I’m still battling extreme hunger and normalized cues.. Any advice? Should I be worried? I’m a healthy weight- in fact, 62 percentile.. And have been gaining for 2 years. So my weight has restored, but I’m still struggling with this.
Well, reading these comments, it’s definitely a little embarrassing to say… But I was diagnosed w anorexia nervous. I followed Minnie maud and developed extreme hunger in my recovery but soon the extreme hunger became very compulsive and then I gained a ton of weight in a very short amount of time so then I was diagnosed with binge eating disorder. My doctor says ED’s are a pendulum, they can go from one extreme to another. For me, Minnie maud made me develop “binge ED”. Then again, I don’t really know, I thought it was extreme hunger but the drastic change in weight led professionals to think otherwise. Also, I’m still about 5-10 lbs under my goal weight, but am still diagnosed w binge ED (no I don’t purge). I swear, ed’s can be so complicated, it drives me crazy!!!
Nervosa* haha I also apologize for my many grammar errors, I did not proofread and as an English major it must be killing you😂
I’ve read so many posts on extreme hunger and I’ll probably continue to do that just to reassure myself😂 but this one actually helped a lot more than some of the other ones, I’m in recovery right now for the second time (definitely the last time) and oh my I have extreme hunger. I have for about a week now and wow iam actually in so much pain but I JUST CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT FOOD😂 i don’t count up what im eating anymore, very proud of myself😂 but I know I’m probably eating more than 10,000 calories some days and I’m vegan as well so that’s alot of food but i know it’ll be worth it in the end and I saw something somewhere else that said that was fine you’d find yourself eating that much and I was like oh great but yeah. I really want it to stop so I can get back to normal and things but I trust all the posts that say it will stop so thank you for reassuring me some more!!xx
Im in recovery now. Ive restricted like more than one year. Im bmi is around 14. These week i experienced extreme hunger the first time. Today I ate a normal lunch and then it came, I ate 3 chocolate bars, a whole pack of crisps, chocolate candy and much more, smth like 3000 cal, and I dont feel satisfied. But today I wont eat more because Im feel like i will explode literally. I hope it will end soon. Now I weight 42kg so I have a long journey. Thanks from sharing and hugs and kisses from Poland! 🙂