I see so many people here who say that they mess up their diet at night. For me, it is quite the opposite. I wake up ready to eat enough for two...or three. If I would allow myself I can easily eat 3 eggs, a bowl of oatmeal or grits, 2 pieces of toast or biscuits with jam, a large glass of milk, and a couple of pieces of french toast or pancakes w/turkey sausage or turkey bacon. I won't even be stuffed after all that.
Lunch and dinner I'm not so hungry for. I dislike going to sleep full, so I think that is part of it.
Usually for breakfast I have one cup of oatmeal with a tbl spoon of peanut butter and a handful of blueberries. If not that, usually scrambled eggs and 1 piece of extra fiber wheat toast (dry). This is my struggle time. I feel totally deprived after my small breakfast.
Anyone else like this? Any thoughts on how to reduce my morning ravenousness?
I'm also somewhat atypical - I'm not often terribly hungry in the morning, nor struggle with hunger late at night (occasionally some psychological desire to eat in the evening, but not much actually hunger), but rather am frequently ravenously and almost insatiably hungry in the afternoon, maybe 1-4 pm. When this happens I find that I often cope best by eating a light breakfast or skipping it altogether, allowing myself to eat a large sit-down meal once I get actually hungry (along with plenty of water), not going back for more food unless I've already planned to ahead of time (I won't feel overly full even on a rather large quantity of food), and then skipping dinner, snacking a bit if I get hungry (but do my best to be mindful of my eating at this time). Exercise in the evening also helps, because to me personally running dampens my appetite, as does drinking water and tea. So my lunches can look pretty crazy - looks like I'm eating for two or three sometimes, although I make fruit and veggies my focus. And I compensate by eating quite small breakfasts and dinners. It's my happy medium.
[To be fair, I don't always do this by any means. For example, sometimes I get very hungry in the morning, so I eat a big breakfast instead of lunch. Other days I eat three approximately equal meals. As long as it all averages out, it works for me.]
Perhaps you can do something similar, eating a very large breakfast and smaller lunches/dinners. Something to try and see if it works to your personal strengths and weaknesses.
I use a good light turkey sausage, Egg Beaters, and tons of veggies sauteed in a bit of cooking spray.
When I get tired of that, I scope out a light tortilla, fat free refried beans, light cheese, and add in sauteed peppers, onion, and then add in the lettuce, tomatoes, etc.
Of course I've also been known to eat a tuna sandwich for breakfast, or a veggie burger and a baked potato.
Breakfast does not have to be traditional breakfast food. There is no law that says we can't have tuna sandwich, or whatever tickles our fancy.
Winter, cold, sometimes I have a bowl of my home made, calorie and WW friendly chili for breakfast!
Whatever floats your boat and keeps you satisfied, happy and on track!
Those of you who wake up hungry and love breakfast are all so lucky! They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day but when I wake up, the thought of eating makes me sick. I never get hungry until around 11:00 or 11:30, and then I usually want lunch.
I used to eat late at night, but since rejoining WW, I have managed to control it.
I use up most of my WW points between noon and 7:00 p.m.
What also helps me is to go upstairs or away from the kitchen after I have used my daily points.
I love the idea of having whatever you want for breakfast. I also like to sometimes have breakfast items for lunch or dinner. I just go with what I am craving.
Last edited by doingmybest; 09-18-2013 at 02:39 AM.
I wake up ravenous and eat about half my daily calories for breakfast. Not only is it what my body likes, it just makes sense to me. I'm going to be active and busy for the next 12+ hours, so of course my body needs fuel. Why would I eat a huge meal in the evening when I'll be doing nothing but going to sleep? (And, yes, I know this isn't scientifically accurate. But it's what my brain thinks...and it's what works for me. Had to throw that in here in case John shows up in this thread. )
My advice is follow your instinct. Feed your body instead of trying to "reduce your morning ravenousness." Maybe try tracking what you eat and how you feel so you can see how breakfast impacts your energy, your weight loss, and your mood.
The only thing I would caution is to make sure you're getting enough protein in the morning and not just eating carby/sugary things. Your morning hunger could be related to low blood sugar, and if you eat lots of carby/sugary things you'll be spiking your blood sugar only to have it crash a few hours later which will make you feel like crap. It seems like 99% of what most people consider breakfast food is carby/sugary stuff - toast, oatmeal, granola, cereal, muffins, pancakes, fruit, etc. Eat some eggs and/or meat and/or cottage cheese. Or like shcirerf said, think totally outside the box and eat dinner for breakfast.
It could be viewed as a blessing in disguise as people mentioned above. I saw two different things in your post, what you could eat versus what you do eat. What you do eat didn't sound so bad.
For me carbs are the problem. They set me up to be hungry the rest of the day. So if I had toast or biscuits or pancakes for breakfast I would be toast. I stay away from grains as much as possible but oatmeal is the least worst choice.
If you had eggs and bacon I think that would be fine. Protein is really good to get the brain going. The typical American breakfast with lots of grains is not good, but almost anything else is going to be ok.
I have this weird thing where I love dinner foods for breakfast anyway. I can have a hamburger patty, steak, chicken, whatever. I do fine as long as I limit or eliminate the grains.
Those breakfasts sound somewhat low calorie to me, especially for your height (of course I don't know how many calories you are eating the rest of the day). I would also recommend to follow your instincts and if you feel hungrier in the morning then allot your calories so that you can have a more substantial breakfast. I also agree on increasing protein intake.
I agree on not going to bed feeling full, it has been my experience that my sleep is better (also important for weight loss) when there are 2-3 hrs between my last meal before bedtime.
I rarely wake up hungry (usually when I've had a large meal the night before). This is convenient for me since I like to go the gym in the mornings so it helps that I can start to work out without having eaten much (which would require me to wait some time post eating before working out).
Usually people aren't hungry in the morning because they ate too much the night before. You want to get a good amount of protein into your breakfast, not just carbs with cereal and fruit.
I see so many people here who say that they mess up their diet at night. For me, it is quite the opposite. I wake up ready to eat enough for two...or three.
I'm the same way. Night-time eating is not usually a problem for me, but I'm hungry the moment I get out of bed and I LOVE breakfast. I don't really have the answer. Most days I have two buttered toasts and a fried egg, but it doesn't feel like enough and I sometimes have a cup of Greek yogurt and/or some almonds an hour later. I've tried having low-carb breakfasts, but it makes absolutely no difference in my hunger level.
Freelance
Last edited by freelancemomma; 09-19-2013 at 01:52 PM.
My gut reaction to reading your post maui is to ask if you have considered IF? If your eating window is from wake up for 6 or 8 hours you can eat a huge breakfast, have a small lunch at the end of the window and fast til the next morning.
Or even skip the IF and have a huge breakfast and small lunch and dinner. what you eat when doesn't matter in things as much as the calories. If you are happiest eating the majority of them in the morning and going light the rest of the day than do it.
Those of you who wake up hungry and love breakfast are all so lucky! They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day but when I wake up, the thought of eating makes me sick. I never get hungry until around 11:00 or 11:30, and then I usually want lunch.
There is no reason to eat breakfast. I have eaten breakfast less than 10 times over the past three years.
Different things work for different people. I eat the same amount of points for breakfast and lunch and have a little bit more for dinner. Then sometimes I eat breakfast and don't eat again til dinner. I get so busy I forget to eat or am not hungry. Not the healthiest way to be, but I do try to listen to my body.
I'm the same way! I used to eat carbs for breakfast (cereals, toast, etc) and was always hungry within 2-3 hours.
Now, I eat 4 scrambled egg whites (and leave in 1/2 a yolk) with spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, and a little bit of turkey, all scrambled in coconut oil. I also have a whole wheat english muffin, usually topped with cottage cheese but sometimes I'll do almond butter. When I first started this breakfast, I was still hungry pretty quickly. But my body has adjusted and now this keeps me going for at least 5 hours!
I used to be able to put away 4 slices of french toast, sausage, eggs, and hash browns...so I'm with ya on the morning hunger!!
I usually stick with scrambled eggs or oatmeal. (I get the steel cut kind.) Sometimes I have cottage cheese with some strawberries and a slice of extra fiber wheat toast with peanut butter. I've tried adding more egg whites to my egg days to create more volume. That helps a bit.
I made buttermilk pancakes yesterday with equal parts GF flour and whey protein, with applesauce instead of oil. Surprisingly delicious! And I was full for hours. It was still a fairly high calorie breakfast - normal for me is a latte and then wait a few hours - but it was some long-running fuel. Maybe a weekend idea?
Maui, why not shift an extra 100-200 calories to your breakfasts, if your hunger naturally peaks then and then ebbs throughout the day?
Morning hunger
