Yesterday I ate a very small breakfast at 7am , ended up putting lunch off until 4pm (meetings at work and then a dentist appt) and then when I did eat lunch, it turned out smaller than I had meant.

By 6 pm, I was beyond starving. Actual physical hunger pangs and the crazed feeling of "must eat. must eat. must eat" I ate a rational dinner (one corn tortilla, 2 tbs black beans, 2 tbs cottage cheese and 1/2 chicken breast, folded up buritto style and a big salad) but really didn't feel like I was satisfied. I distracted myself, drank water, ate some carrots but still felt like I was going to eat anything that didn't move. I finally gave in and had 2 Nature Valley Crunchy granola bars crunched up and eaten with 1/c skim milk. VOILA! I don't know if it was the calories or the carbs??? but after that, I felt fine.

It was the weirdest thing, really. I don't like feeling out of control. Today I brought plenty to eat for breakfast and lunch and plan on eating breakfast, lunch and two snacks about 2 hours apart. None of this being starving hungry, feeling out of control for me!!

Not a pleasant or enjoyable lesson, but a good one to learn. I plan all my food out for every work day and bring it with me in various coolers and bags and bottles because it's SO important to me to not feel crazy-hungry. Sounds like you made reasonable choices despite the feeling, though. Good work!

I am currently attempting to front load my calories, which is the opposite of my typical pattern. I only eat 1200 calories in the day, but when 600 of those occur after 6:00 PM, I'm not sure but that maybe that's my problem?? I'm going to have to see if front loading makes me ravenous in the evenings or not.

I too hate it when food controls me. It's so nice now being able to go out shopping, to amusement parks, to friends' houses, wherever....and not feel desperate wondering where my next meal is going to come from.

I just had an odd thought or memory...I was thinking why the panicked "must eat!" bothers me so much. I remember having an irrational fear of going hungry or not having anything to eat, wondering where my next meal was going to come from. Not that I ever have experienced true lack of food (like a famine victim). The "starving hungries" literally make my brain think I am going to die if.I.don't.eat.something.NOW! LOL must be a primal holdover to make us forage for anything to sustain us back when we truly didn't know where the next meal was coming from.

Planning and menuing for the most part keep me from feeling like this as does eating every couple of hours!

I hate that feeling too! I forgot my lunch yesterday and it was the WORST feeling knowing that I'd have to find a time to go to the caf... it was distracting and awful.