I've had a strange day food-wise, I can't seem to get rid of a horrible gnawing hunger-feeling. Here's what I've had to eat so far:

6:15am glass of FF milk with my vitamins (approx 2 cups)

6:45-7:00 2 Lunberg Farms wild rice cakes with 1Tbsp whole foods honey roasted PB (fresh ground) with water (about 2 cups)

8:00-9:30 water (I keep a bottle at my desk and drink regularly, this morning I drank a lot, cause I was still HUNGRY!)

9:30 I determined that the water didn't help, I was still hungry. So I had a large banana and a cup of green tea. I took my time eating/drinking these.

9:30-10:30 still hungry so I drank some more water

10:30 ate 1/2 of the 1/4cup of raw almonds I brought for my afternoon snack

11:00 had 2 tums thinking it was indigestion

11:30 still starving, so I ate my lunch. 1/2 cup of brown rice, 4 oz chicken, a few tablespoons of picatta sauce (light on the oil etc) with water to drink.

12:00 Took some gas-ex thinking it was gas

12:30 STILL HUNGRY, I went upstairs to our cafeteria and got some salad-1 cup raw spinach 1/4 cup garbanzo beans, with just balsamic vinegar-thought I might need some more fiber to fill up, had some more water.

It's now 12:55 and I'm still feeling like I could eat a rhino. I plan to go to the gym at 1:30 and i know I've had enough for "fuel", but this gnawing pain is terrible and I know it's going to be distracting. Nothing satisfies it for more than 10 minutes or so.

According to TDP, I've already had about 1070 calories today and I think I was pretty well balanced with stuff that SHOULD fill me up, not to mention I'm doing everything I know to stave of eating (drinking water, tea, etc). All that's doing is making me pee. I'm aiming for around 1700-1800 total for the day (not including gym) so I know I have enough left for dinner, but not if I can't get this hunger under control.

Oh, I'm 5'6", 160lbs, fair-to-moderately active day-to-day not including gym time. Aunt Flo is coming to visit next week. My gym time is usually about an hour-30 minutes cardio, 20 Nautilus, 10 stretching.

Any ideas on what's going on here?

It is probably TOM-related.

You know, some days, you're just HUNGRY...no rhyme or reason, you just want to eat and eat and eat. We all face them. They're irritating, but I usually take them to mean that my body actually DOES need the extra food.

In my experience, you can treat these days in one of two ways. You can try to adhere very strictly to your calorie limit, get really REALLY hungry, and (again, my experience) end up eating something terrible for you at the end of the day. Alternately, and this is what I try to do, you can listen to that hungry feeling, continue eating small, healthy amounts of food, and end up at a much lower calorie total for the day than if you'd tried to stay exactly to plan despite the hunger and then got a cupcake because you were starving.

PMS-related hunger, btw, corresponds to an increased calorie burn...your body actually uses more fuel in the days before your period, making you hungrier.

You're doing well...can you have a huge salad with some protein? Lots of volume for your calories, but don't get that starved feeling or it could backfire later.

Did you get enough sleep last night? When I am sleep deprived, the next day I am totally ravenous.

Seriously? No really, SERIOUSLY? Huh. I had no idea that was the case. Then again I suppose that could be why I scarfed down 3 Milky Way minis yesterday....I don't really have PMS symptoms that I notice until the actual week of my P (in terms of bloating, lethargy, etc) so I didn't think to assign my hunger to that. Good call, thanks.

I got plenty of sleep last night, I passed out in the middle of Idol. Who was kicked off BTW?

I think it is TOM related. The week before my TOM I could lick the pait off the walls I get so hungry. Those days what I try to do is eat lots of raw veggies...It's all about VOLUME!!!

I increase my protien a little bit too.

I will make a salad with 4 cups of greens, 1/2 cup shredded carrots, 1/2 cup brocoli slaw, 1/2 Cup whole kernel corn, 1 tomato, 1 cucumber, some celery, peppers, some avocado, 1 HB egg, 1/2 cup beans(Black or garbonzo) 2 oz chicken breast (cut up really small) I use salsa instead of dressing or I make my own using plain lowfat yogurt and powdered ranch dressing mix...or a little of both is my personal favoite This makes a HUGE bowl and I just eat until I am stuffed...lots of food very few calories.

I have three theories about hunger (unashamedly plagerized from other posters at 3FC). Amanda won't be far away and she'll correct me if I'm out in left field.

1. Hormones ... everything Amanda said. Yes, we need to make new blood cells, heal etc. You need calories for that. Even cramping is muscle usage.

2. Is biological too. I honestly believe some folks are not wired to perceive hunger properly. Some folks are left handed, some folks dream in colour ... why should we be surprised at any perception oddities. I almost never have growling tummy hunger and I know I'm not alone.

3. Hunger is a mystery designed to drive us crazy. Just kidding. It's so mixed up with desire, want, need, comfort ... and then thrown into a society that really never lacks much. A psychological/societal enigma??

I had trouble yesterday and the day before. I think it has to do with anti inflammatories I'm taking. They are not joking when the say 'take with food'.

So take what you like and discard the rest. I agree with the folks above that HudsonHawk is probably a victim of hormones.

Susan - you're right on.

Studies have estimated the increase in BMR at 8-10% in the week before your period. That means, if your BMR is normally 1400 calories a day, you burn an extra 140 calories a day during that week.

They've also estimated that women EAT an extra 500 calories a day during that week. Clearly, not the way to go, but your body DOES need more fuel during that time.

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/c...TRY=1&SRETRY=0

Because I like to back up what I say with citations...

I find that on days that I can't seem to eat enough - exercise helps. I don't know if it is distraction, endorphines, or what but some good cardio will usually squash the hunger for awhile.

Manda, I'm an editor, so I'm all about properly citing material-Bravo!

Just got back from the gym and I'm feeling a lot better. Lately I've been going to the gym first thing in the morning-like 6:30am, but I took yesterday off and I didn't go this morning either. So I think today in addition to being hormonal, my body was all out of wack schedule-wise.

Man, I haver some days where I am just VERY hungry, all day long!!!

I have found if I eat bread one day I tend to be hungier that day and the next. IM talking like starving...but i have only noticed it on days i eat bread. I use to have a big weakness for bread...i still do but i do a good job at fighting it off...esp since it brings on the hungry starving feeling.

Also, exercise suppresses your appetite. If your body is used to you exercising first thing in the AM, and then you don't do it for a couple of days, that could give you an increased appetite. I know people diet successfully without exercising, but I seriously don't know how. Exercise is key to me controlling what I eat.

And, when my schedule is out of whack, I almost always have problems with hunger. So I think not exercising is probably impacting your appetite in multiple ways.

Then, there's also the TOM stuff. No wonder you are hungry--it's sort of the perfect storm.

Also, not sure this applies in your case since you don't mention what you ate yesterday, but if I have a day where I eat a lot of refined carbs, I always have a lot of trouble with hunger the following day. I suspect it's because it raises my blood sugar levels (just a guess based on stuff that I've read--Sugar Busters and You on a Diet--I haven't had my blood sugar tested or anything.)

So I went home last night and was smacked in the face with a major pizza craving. Like an uncontrolable urge for salt, cheese, and bread that I couldn't resist. So I got a small cheese pizza-and ate 2/3 of it in binge-like fashion. I guess it's better than eating 2/3 of a large pizza, but I was still hit with some pretty bad guilt about the slip-up. And oh boy, this morning I sure saw the bloat in my tummy!

So went to the gym this morning on my regular schedule and upped my cardio in time and intensity to try to make up for my mini binge. I followed it up with 2 hardboiled egg whites and some berries, so I should be good to go until lunch time.