I had a really problematic day yesterday. I felt hungry all day long, and usually I have my meals and snacks paced so that I don't get too hungry.
I tried to see what might be making me so hungry. Skipped meals? No. TOM? Not an issue. Stress? Well, yes, a little--we are negotiating for a new house. But my feeling of hunger didn't seem like the emotional munchies. It was belly growling, hollow in the middle hunger.
Come evening, I ate my normal dinner and added a salad with 1 TBS of full-fat dressing. Still hungry. I added another serving of protein. Nope, still hungry. After an hour and a half, I ate a half-serving of granola with a half cup of 1% milk and six almonds. That helped slightly, but I still had that feeling. Well, I decided at that point that it was just how things were, and I'd just have to go to bed feeling that way.
I went over my planned intake by about 250 calories. I still had a calorie deficit for the day, though, thanks to exercise. So I think I managed OK--I didn't lose control and keep on eating. But it was pretty tough.
What strategies do people have for getting through these hungry days?
Hmm... I trick my stomach with chewing-gums, but I'm not sure if it's a very good solution in itself. Or I drink a big mug of tea (without sugar/milk, of course). Fortunately, I'm the kind of person who can sleep whether her stomach is quiet or not, so I don't "have to" eat no matter what in the evening if the hunger still persists.
Jayell, you just described my day yesterday almost to a T. Although TOM started for me Tuesday evening and although it has not been a factor for the most part I am noticing this to be the 2nd month in a row where it has. I'm wondering if my body is changing. But I digress. I also went over my calorie budget by about 200-250 though kept up on my exercising. I was just hungry, all day. My usual stuff wasn't doing it for me. I ate some unplanned, but healthy foods. Didn't lose control. And finally decided to call it a night. Luckily it doesn't happen too often. I think we both handled it well and I'm not really sure what else we could have done. I for one don't like that hungry feeling and was afraid to let it go too long, I didn't want an all out breakdown. Should I have just sucked it up and been hungry all day? I really don't think so. Days like this are bound to happen. I suppose if they keep on happening I will have to change something up, but for now I think we both did the best under the circumstances.
Oh man, yesterday was like that for me too! I ate just like I always do, but around 7:00 I realized I was hungry and that feeling would just not let me go. I had a yogurt and drank water, but it definitely didn't help. Finally I just went to bed-- I still wanted food, but I wasn't going to get up to get it after brushing my teeth and everything.
It's weird that some days are just like that. For whatever reason, your body just says, "More! More!"
I did fine yesterday until around 6:00PM. I was TRYING to keep to my 1200 calories after losing four more pounds recently. I checked my Fitday to find that I was STILL only at 1037 calories for the day. I decided to get some Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters (my new favorite cereal). It's just 220 calories when you have it with 1/2 cup skim milk, and it is 11 grams of fiber. Great stuff! I had the cereal, but I STILL was hungry.
What to do...what to do...
I made myself a cup of tea with milk and Sweet 'n Low and had a tablespoon of my beloved Crunchy Jif peanut butter. I ate the peanut butter very slowly and imagined that I was eating MUCH. MUCH more than that one tablespoon of it! I kept drinking my tea WITH my peanut butter. It really helped me. I was fine then.
I think my body was saying, "CHERYL! Give me more FOOD!!!!!" I just think on some days our bodies NEED more food! The trick is to not go crazy with food, I am a MASTER at THAT, unfortunately!
I hate days like this! Usually I am so busy that I don't even think about food, but then there are days when my body will not be satisfied will the calories I have planned for it. No matter what I eat- protein, fiber- I am still ravenous. Honestly, the only thing that helps is just to let myself eat. I just try to eat something healthy. Otherwise I am miserable from the hunger. I have actually lost weight after days like this before.
I also drink a lot of hot tea or eat a bowl of SF jello.
I did fine yesterday until around 6:00PM. I was TRYING to keep to my 1200 calories after losing four more pounds recently. I checked my Fitday to find that I was STILL only at 1037 calories for the day. I decided to get some Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters (my new favorite cereal). It's just 220 calories when you have it with 1/2 cup skim milk, and it is 11 grams of fiber. Great stuff! I had the cereal, but I STILL was hungry.
What to do...what to do...
I made myself a cup of tea with milk and Sweet 'n Low and had a tablespoon of my beloved Crunchy Jif peanut butter. I ate the peanut butter very slowly and imagined that I was eating MUCH. MUCH more than that one tablespoon of it! I kept drinking my tea WITH my peanut butter. It really helped me. I was fine then.
I think my body was saying, "CHERYL! Give me more FOOD!!!!!" I just think on some days our bodies NEED more food! The trick is to not go crazy with food, I am a MASTER at THAT, unfortunately!
I hate days like this! I think your choice of a tblspn of peanut butter was a great one. I know, alot of people might think "ooo, 100 calories and FAT" but my guess is that was exactly what your body was asking for. I think people tend to go "can't eat anything w/fat cause it's a bad, bad thing". I disagree. Aside from our bodies needing a certain amount of daily fat, fat satisfies. If you had eaten say 100 calories of pretzels, you'd probably have still been wanting something and possibly would have eaten more trying to satisfiy that hunger.
Around 3:30 - 4:00 pm is sometimes a really, really tough time of day for me. I'm hungry but dinner is usually around 5:30-6:00pm. I'll frequently have 1 tblspn of peanut butter w/a small handfull (or those little, tiny boxes) of raisins. Very tasty -- ok, so it's not peanut butter and chocolate chips! - but if I have that and a big glass of water and just give it say 20 minutes or so, it almost always does the trick. The carbs from the raisins takes the "edge" off, the protein keeps my blood sugar stable, and the fat satisfies. Just until dinner though!
Smart Pop pop corn!!!!!! Pretend-butter flavored is only 15 calories per cup. It even has a little fiber! When I have the munchies...NEED FOOD....even when I've eaten on plan all day long, I can eat a whole bag of this stuff (which takes quite a while!) for UNDER 100 calories!!!!! And, since it really takes a while to eat, my body finally gets convinced that it's satisfied.
I try always to leave myself with a 100-calorie "hedge" throughout the day so that 100 calories more won't throw me off the wagon.
I agree with Cheryl and Allycat on this one. I too, have had those days when it seems you just feel hungry all day (fortunately not to often). I think it's your body saying "Feed Me!" and so I do. I also have had a weight loss the next day. Our body's are just fickle things. I wouldn't worry about it and just proceed on plan.
I had a day like that too yesterday, but wasn't good at all in dealing with it. Coldstone Creamery. Sigh.
I'm up two pounds this morning, but I know it's physically impossible for me to have gained two pounds of fat, so I'm back on track today and hope to see the weight drop again over the weekend.
I had this last night, because we had an early supper. I just went upstairs to watch Grey's, and got myself out of the kitchen. After the hour, I just went to bed.
If it's too early to go to bed (like 3 in the afternoon!), I try to distract - often making a coffee makes the hungry feeling go away, though since I drink it with cream & sugar, I might be just as far ahead having a snack, calorie wise. But I find a coffee had built in portion-control, and if I'm hungry, the "little snack" has a way of becoming a big snack. Once the coffee is gone, it's gone, so at least I don't have more than I planned. Sometimes green tea helps to cut my sweet craving, but I don't find it as helpful for curbing actual hunger.
What a lot of great suggestions! Good to know that others have found ways to cope with this. I still have that "hungry" feeling today, so I'm increasing my water and putting some lemon in it. I no longer have a gall bladder, and sometimes those feelings seem to be related to my liver... but we'll see. I had a good breakfast, 350 cals so far, so I'm not out of fuel.
ellabella, I am partial to Orville Redenbacher's Light Natural, and I was plumb out of it!! Silly me! It also comes in mini sizes. Sometimes popcorn does help a lot because it's filling, as you say.
I once watched a normal-sized friend of mine eat popcorn--and she eats every kernel individually in two bites. Huh??? No kidding. Meanwhile I tended to be a shoveler. So now I try to eat more along that line--kernel at a time.
How weird....I had the same problem yesterday with hunger. I was trying everything I could think of to keep it at bay. Water does nothing for my hunger. gum was not really keeping it at bay. I did try to make sure I ate some fruits for my snacks....Other than my two lady finger sandwiches. lol. But I think i did good. I was pretty well prepared. I got two bannas from my boyfriend, I brought raisins with me to work. And I had a yogurt on hand. (which I do not find yogurt at all filling. It worked for like 30 minutes and then I was back to starving for lunch. I don't see how yogurt makes a good snack for more than 30 minutes.)
anyways, I think the key to those days, are definately having lots of healthy snacks around. Wish i'd had an apple on hand. that would have been a great snack!!
I think I've narrowed it down--I get these types of days when I don't sleep well or I don't sleep long enough. Try taking a nap rather than eating a snack or go to bed a little earlier. I usually suffer one of these days about once a month and it is totally exasperating!
Those Hungry Days
- but if I have that and a big glass of water and just give it say 20 minutes or so, it almost always does the trick. The carbs from the raisins takes the "edge" off, the protein keeps my blood sugar stable, and the fat satisfies. Just until dinner though! 
Coldstone Creamery. Sigh.
