When I’m not hungry but want to eat anyway, it’s a sign for me to turn inward. While it can be tempting to look at “low willpower” as the problem and blame the addictive qualities of sugar, snacks, or fast food – most of the time, eating psychology plays a much stronger role than food itself.
Sure, the desire to eat when you’re not hungry can have a biological cause, especially if you’re stressed or sleep deprived – and I will talk about this part, absolutely. However, there is often a psychological component as well, and that component is often overlooked and arguably far more important than the actual food you eat. (Scientific studies will back me up, as you’ll soon see.)
Biological Reasons Why You’re Not Hungry but Want to Eat
Let’s begin with the biological factors, because that’s where our brains want to go first. Then, we’ll dig deeper into eating psychology to answer that pervasive question, why oh why do I eat when I’m not hungry?
Here are some of the most common biological factors that can trigger unwanted cravings and the desire to eat when you aren’t hungry:
1. Stress and anxiety trigger hormones that make you want to eat
When you’re not hungry but want to eat anyway, stress and anxiety can play a factor by two fold. First, cortisol can cause you to seek food even if you aren’t hungry.[1]
Second, stress and anxiety are difficult emotions to live with (tense muscles, nervous energy) and high-reward foods offer a way to self-soothe. This is a perfect example of how the desire to eat when you’re not hungry can be both biological and psychological.
2. Excessive dieting can trigger cravings even when you’re not physically hungry
Many of us have been trained by diet culture to eat as little as possible; and when we crave food when we aren’t hungry, we panic. If you find yourself thinking, “Why do I eat when I’m not hungry?” take a moment to reflect on your eating for the day. Ask yourself if you’ve actually had enough to eat.
If you struggle with overeating or weight gain, you may think there’s zero chance that you’ve eaten too little – we are all used to thinking we eat way too much. However, undereating is an extremely common pattern among dieters (after all, it’s the definition of a diet).
A normal, well-functioning body craves food when it needs energy, and sometimes, if we can’t feel our hunger, all we feel is the craving. Undereating could very well be the reason why you’re not hungry but want to eat anyway.
3. Caffeine can suppresses your appetite
Coffee and all caffeine-containing drinks have appetite-suppressing qualities.[2] While this might sound like a useful tool for weight loss, studies have shown that dieting through calorie restriction is ineffective and ultimately leads to long-term weight gain, not weight loss.[3] This is how coffee and caffeine can lead to overeating.
When caffeine is running through your system, you won’t feel hungry even when you actually are. This can cause you to have self-doubting thoughts like, “Why do I eat when I’m not hungry?” when in fact, you actually are hungry, you just can’t feel it.
4. Exercising at a high intensity can suppress your appetite
Want to dig even deeper into the big question, Why do I eat when I'm not hungry? Take my quiz to discover your eating psychology strength. (Even if you overeat sometimes, we all have a strength around food, and I bet I can guess yours.)
When you’re not hungry but still want to eat, sometimes you actually are hungry, but you just can’t feel it. High intensity exercise is a surprising culprit.
Sometimes exercising at a high intensity can actually suppress your appetite so that you don’t feel hungry even when you are.[4] If you’re an athlete that struggles with the desire to eat when you aren’t hungry, try your best to do the kind thing.
After high-intensity exercise, the kind thing is usually to eat good food that nourishes and sustains you. You are the expert on your body, and only you will know what’s best. This is the premise behind intuitive eating.
5. Macronutrient deficiency can cause cravings even when you’re not hungry
A balanced diet is key to maintaining a healthy body and mind, and this balance includes consuming the right proportions of macronutrients: proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Each one plays an essential role to a properly functioning body, and a deficiency in any of these macronutrients can trigger cravings, even when you’re not physically hungry.
Take a low-carb diet, for example. IYour body needs carbohydrates for energy, and when you significantly reduce your intake, you might start craving carbs as your body starts asking for what it’s missing.
One explanation for this is glycogen, which is a stored form of glucose (sugar) that the body uses for quick energy. A low-carb diet may cause cravings for carbs because the body relies on glycogen for energy, and when carb intake is restricted, glycogen stores become depleted, prompting the body to seek carbohydrates to replenish those energy reserves.[5]
This is where the beauty of listening to your body to inform what you eat comes into play. Instead of thinking in terms of glycogen and other scientific phenomena, you can simply heed the messages that your body is giving you, and cravings are one of those messages.
6. Low quality sleep affects your hunger hormones
A lack of sleep has been shown to decrease levels of leptin, the hormone that makes you feel satisfied and stop eating.[6] Have you ever finished a meal and felt full but not satisfied? This could be why (along with a slew of other psychological reasons, too). Searching for a food to “hit” the taste that you’re craving could be one reason behind the complex question, “why do I eat when I’m not hungry?
7. Dehydration might masquerade as hunger — but it’s unlikely
Many sources like to point to dehydration as something that can be confused with hunger and therefore trigger the desire to eat even if you’re not hungry. However, after digging into scientific studies, I found little evidence in support of it. I actually found several studies that refute it.[7], [8], [9]
However, dehydration is still worth mentioning because every person is different and therefore some people may find it helpful to drink water when they’re not hungry but still want to eat. Personally, sometimes I find that I crave fruit when I’m actually thirsty, not hungry, and I need to remind myself to explore both options.
The next time you’re not hungry but still want to eat, drink a glass of water and wait a few minutes and see if the craving for food subsides. If it does, then you’ve found your answer. If not, then maybe it’s time to look a little deeper into the psychological causes of overeating.
Psychological Reasons Why You’re Not Hungry But Still Want to Eat
When you’re not hungry but want to eat anyway, there could be psychological factors at play that are completely subconscious. Until you look at your psychology to better understand your behavior around food, you may continue to run circles around that nagging question, why do I eat when I’m not hungry?
To find the answer, let’s look at eating psychology instead of food, which is akin to looking at the iceberg underwater (90% of its mass) instead of just what you see on the surface (the obvious 10%).
Here are some psychological factors to consider when you’re not hungry but want to eat anyway:
8. Tiredness and fatigue can trigger “eating for energy”
Have you ever come home from a really long day and headed straight for the pantry? Sometimes this is because you’re reaching for food instead of a nap. Both eating and napping are ways to build up energy; and when you’re hungry, you should eat. But when you’re not hungry and want to eat after a long day, you likely just need some rest.
9. Mindless eating and snack habits can trigger eating when you’re not hungry
Mindless eating can occur when we eat in front of the TV, snack at our desks, or munch during other activities that distract us from our hunger signals.
Traditional advice may encourage you to establish regular meal times, create a dedicated space for eating, and eliminate distractions. However, I personally find that this does not help the majority of us.
It’s almost an insult, really, when someone tells me to “just eat without distraction and your mindless eating will be solved.” Most of us eat while distracted because it’s compulsive, which means we can’t “just” stop. There’s more to it than that.
I have a YouTube video on the topic of eating while distracted. Spoiler alert: I’m not actually against eating while distracted! But I do encourage you to use it as a tool to dig into your psychology, of course.
The next time you find yourself wondering, “Why do I eat when I’m not hungry?” look at your mealtime behavior. If you are a distracted eater, that is okay. Just make sure that you’re addressing your psychology – using tools like my Stop, Drop, & Feel method to stop binge eating – so that you’re addressing the subconscious layer.
10. Peer pressure and social eating
When you’re not hungry but want to eat, social eating and peer pressure are another psychological layer to look into. In social situations – especially if you’re a people pleaser – you might feel compelled to eat to “go along” with others or to avoid appearing impolite.
The next time you’re not hungry but want to eat, take a look at your social dynamics. Did you eat when you were alone or surrounded by other people?
It can be difficult to say no when someone is offering you food, which can lead to eating when you’re not hungry. People-pleasing takes time to unwind because it often stems from deep-seated beliefs. Most people cannot simply wave a magic wand and “just stop caring about what other people think” overnight.
In fact, people-pleasing is such a large factor that I dedicated an entire lesson to it inside Food Normal, my online course about eating psychology.
11. “Hedonic eating” can play a role when you’re not hungry but still want to eat
Many of my clients and readers are intrigued by the phrase “hedonic eating.” It’s a clinical phrase that refers to cravings for highly “palatable” food such as those high in fat, sugar, salt, or carbs. When you’re craving cookies or chips, hedonic eating could be the reason why you’re thinking to yourself, why do I eat when I’m not hungry?
It’s extremely important to note that hedonic eating is rarely ever the only psychological factor that drives compulsive eating, but it can be a big factor nonetheless.
12. Boredom eating
We all know that feeling of wandering the pantry when we’re bored and wishing we weren’t. Boredom eating is a common trigger for the desire to eat when you aren’t hungry. However, this trigger is often misunderstood.
From my experience, when boredom eating is involved, there is almost always another emotion underneath boredom; and it’s an uncomfortable emotion that we don’t want to deal with. And that emotion is what’s behind that persistent question, “Why do I eat when I’m not hungry?”
Emotions fester unless they are given the room to be felt and processed. This is why emotional eating tools like the “Stop, Drop, & Feel” are the foundation of my psycho-spiritual method to stop compulsive eating.
Get straight to the bottom of it. Discover the psycho-spiritual reasons behind why you’re not hungry but still want to eat in my free ebook, The Spiritual Seeker’s Guide to Stop Binge Eating. (link opens a popup so that you don’t lose your place)
13. Addiction to sugar
When you’re not hungry but still want to eat and you have the urge to reach for sweets in particular, there are two layers to unpack: the biological and the psychological.
Biologically speaking, sugar consumption triggers the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with reward and pleasure. Over time, repeated sugar consumption can lead to desensitization of dopamine receptors and lead to addiction. This can trigger cravings and compulsive eating, even when you’re not physically hungry.
While sugar addiction is well-studied and real, I always like to dig deeper. (That’s why I have an entire workbook dedicated to the psychology of sugar cravings.) From my experience, sugar cravings fall into the same category as compulsive eating where the desire for sugar is a response to discomfort.
Tools like the Stop, Drop, & Feel are powerful enough to stop the compulsion to reach for sweets despite sugar having highly addictive qualities. When you try the tool for yourself, you will see what I mean; and it is a true testament to the power of eating psychology over dieting.
14. Poor environment design can trigger cravings
Your environment plays a significant role in your eating habits. Imagine there’s a jar of candy sitting on your desk, right next to your computer. Whenever you glance its way, your brain gets a reminder of the sweet treat just within your reach.
When you’re not hungry but want to eat, it could be simply due to a visual cue that’s triggering craving. It’s not that you’re weak-willed or lacking in self-control. Instead, it’s that the human brain is wired to respond to easily accessible rewards.
The next time you’re asking yourself that all-too-familiar question, “Why do I eat when I’m not hungry?” look at your environment design. You can try putting things out of sight and therefore out of mind.
However, please note that if I could simply rearrange my kitchen in order to stop eating when I’m not hungry, I would have been done with compulsive eating decades ago! As I’ve said many times already, compulsive eating often goes much deeper than surface-level tips like this.
Still, it’s worth nothing that your environment can be a factor. Do your best to put food out of sight and therefore out of mind. If compulsive eating continues to be an issue, then you know this wasn’t the defining factor.
15. Procrastination can cause cravings when you’re not hungry
When we procrastinate on big projects, we may experience negative emotions like stress, anxiety, guilt, or frustration. To cope with these emotions, many people turn to food as a way to self-soothe or delay getting started.
Whenever I’m not hungry but I want to eat at work, the first place I look is my to-do list. Sometimes, I may realize that my desire for food is simply procrastination from a big, looming project that I find intimidating.
What To Do When You Are Not Hungry But Want To Eat
By now, you know all about the biological and psychological reasons for cravings when you aren’t hungry. Now, what can you do about it?
Here are some tips to help you manage the urge to eat when you’re not hungry:
- Find non-food coping strategies: If you’re eating in response to emotions, find alternative ways to cope with them. Engage in activities such as exercise, meditation, journaling, or even just taking a nap to address emotional needs without relying on food.
- Practice the Stop, Drop, & Feel: To practice this essential tool, stop before you eat when you’re not hungry, drop into your body, and pay attention to any emotions that arise. Allow yourself to fully feel those emotions without judgment or resistance. The technique is not about restricting or suppressing the urge to binge, but rather about cultivating awareness and understanding of your emotions. When practiced over time, it can help you overcome those moments where you’re not hungry but want to eat.
- Address restrictive dieting patterns: If you’re following a restrictive diet that’s leading to cravings and overeating, consider working with a registered dietitian to develop a balanced and sustainable eating plan that includes a variety of foods. This will help you stop the restrict-binge cycle.
- Create a supportive environment: Be mindful of your surroundings and social cues. If you struggle with people pleasing, work diligently on your psychology to understand the beliefs that guide your behavior.
- Try self-inquiry: One of the best ways to understand the limiting beliefs that drive self-sabotaging behavior is to perform self-inquiry: asking yourself why you do the things you do. Workbooks are particularly powerful for this.
My workbook on stopping self-sabotage, Why We Do the Things We Do, helps you perform self-inquiry strategically on the topics related to food and weight. It will provide you with surprising insight into the subconscious beliefs guiding your behavior around food.
Understanding Your Unique Triggers When You’re Not Hungry But Want to Eat
You just worked through an exhaustive list of reasons why you want to eat when you’re not hungry. Some of them were simple, like the link between coffee and binge eating, while others dove much deeper, like people pleasing driving you to say yes to food even when you aren’t hungry.
If you’re intrigued by the idea of using psycho-spiritual strategies to stop overeating, then check out my 15-page ebook called The Spiritual Seeker’s Guide to Stop Binge Eating below:
- Yau, Y H C, and M N Potenza. “Stress and eating behaviors.” Minerva endocrinologica vol. 38,3 (2013): 255-67.
- Schubert, Matthew M et al. “Caffeine, coffee, and appetite control: a review.” International journal of food sciences and nutrition vol. 68,8 (2017): 901-912. doi:10.1080/09637486.2017.1320537
- Lowe, Michael R et al. “Dieting and restrained eating as prospective predictors of weight gain.” Frontiers in psychology vol. 4 577. 2 Sep. 2013, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00577
- Thackray, Alice E, and David J Stensel. “The impact of acute exercise on appetite control: Current insights and future perspectives.” Appetite vol. 186 (2023): 106557. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2023.106557
- Müller, Manfred J et al. “Is there evidence for a set point that regulates human body weight?.” F1000 medicine reports vol. 2 59. 9 Aug. 2010, doi:10.3410/M2-59
- van Egmond, Lieve T et al. “Effects of acute sleep loss on leptin, ghrelin, and adiponectin in adults with healthy weight and obesity: A laboratory study.” Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) vol. 31,3 (2023): 635-641. doi:10.1002/oby.23616
- McKiernan, Fiona et al. “Relationships between human thirst, hunger, drinking, and feeding.” Physiology & behavior vol. 94,5 (2008): 700-8. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2008.04.007
- McKiernan, Fiona et al. “Thirst-drinking, hunger-eating; tight coupling?.” Journal of the American Dietetic Association vol. 109,3 (2009): 486-90. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2008.11.027
- Carroll, Harriet A et al. “Hydration status affects thirst and salt preference but not energy intake or postprandial ghrelin in healthy adults: A randomised crossover trial.” Physiology & behavior vol. 212 (2019): 112725. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.112725
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I think I may be sometimes boredom eating, but whenever I realise that, and go for the cupboard, I often stop myself and go back to whatever I was doing, but I’m not bored nowadays since I have my sewing to do. Now I’ve begun to realise that if there is food in the cupboard I will go to eat it, simply because there is food there. I want to know how to stop myself from doing that, and do you think it’s best to quell hunger by dinking something like water or tea. I really want to try my best to do intermittent fasting but I need to tackle this problem first.
Please help me.
Kind regards, chloe
Hi Chloe! Ohhh what a good question, and a big question too. Read my article on boredom eating and let me know if it helps. Whenever boredom is involved, there’s usually another layer to unpack. And I’m happy to help further.