Trying to talk myself out of thinking I'm hungry

  • I ate breakfast at 9:00 and was nicely full from it after. It had plenty of fiber, protein, fat and volume. I followed it with a nice big glass of water and some hot tea.

    It's only been an hour and a half and my mind is telling me that I'm hungry. I KNOW I'm not. We've had some tension the last 2 days at work between me and one of my employees so I'm 99% sure I'm looking to stress eat. I won't do it. I can't. This is day 9 binge-free and it feels so great. It's just so frustrating to hear two voices in my head - one saying "I'm hungry" and the other saying "no, you're not."

    I've mentioned that I made myself a bracelet last week that is to serve as a reminder of my goals and it really has been helping. Pretty much anytime I catch a glimpse of it my mind automatically says "that means you wait", meaning, wait until the next scheduled meal. So that HAS been helpful.

    My lunch is scheduled for 12:30 because 3.5 hours is a perfectly reasonable amount of time to wait. AND, the breakfast I had this morning is the same I've been eating for the last week and I KNOW it's filling. The only difference is that for some reason I woke up at 4:30 this morning, so from that angle, I've been up longer than usual and thus more time to get hungry.

    Anyway, I'm just rambling now. I know you guys understand these feelings/thoughts. A few weeks ago I conciously stress-ate (like, actually said it to myself as I was doing it yet kept doing it), so I need to be stronger this time and NOT do it. Thanks for listening.
  • I can definitely relate with that struggle in your mind about whether you are actually hungry or not. There are actually some things that I can eat or drink that make my stomach feel like it's hungry. Apples, for instance. Or anything carbonated. Or after I use mouthwash. It's weird..
    The only thing I can suggest is to add one more thing onto the argument against eating/hunger.
    "I'm probably not actually hungry, but even if I am, it's not the end of the world and I can still wait until my next planned meal."
    Good luck!
  • Can you go distract yourself? If I'm doing something away from my desk, I don't notice "hunger." Sitting at my desk consciously trying to drink tea and coffee and water and chew gum to stave off the feelings just reinforces it and makes it worse.
  • i have gotten to the point of ONLY eating when im hungry......sometimes until my stomach is growling. (i still eat 3 meals a day) but i tought my self to just think of other things besides food and there are more important things to do besides eat.
  • Thanks for the replies you guys. I ended up eating lunch about 20 minutes early but that was fine because shortly after I had to leave to go give a speech to a university class and by the time I got home it was time for my snack. On the way home I got SUPER stressed trying to do some errands and ended up eating my regular snack plus a protein bar (I just get mad cravings for them, they taste so good), but I adjusted my calories for the rest of the day and only went over my plan by 150, so I still had a deficit at the end of the day.

    That was a victory for me. Usually once I go off plan even a bit, when it's stress related, it becomes a free for all. But I was able to be logical in my head and talk myself out of it and didn't end up doing any damage. The next few days I'm traveling and that's usually easier for me, largely due to having celiac and not getting to have that "ooooo, I'm on vacation, I'm going to eat pastries" thing that I used to get. And it's work, not vacation. Anyway, I feel like I kicked a few rocks over the edge yesterday but didn't jump off feet first like I normally would, so I feel good about that. Thanks for the input and for listening.
  • Quote: "ooooo, I'm on vacation, I'm going to eat pastries" thing that I used to get
    That is me in a nutshell, oh man.

    Glad to hear you're fighting your way through and not totally losing control!
  • Maybe you are like me, I get hungry every two hours! I'm also not a very scheduled person... I don't have any set time for meals. I just have smaller meals throughout the day. It actually makes me feel satisfied because I feel like I get to eat all day. I also think that's what a lot of dieticians recommend.