I find it basically impossible to eat enough for breakfast! No matter what I have, I am hungry again within 1-2 hours - hungry to the point of stomach pain and grumbles like I've eaten nothing, particularly when I have to work. I've tried so many things over the years. I've tried lots of fiber (Fiber One cereal, Fiber One English muffins), lots of protein (Canadian bacon, regular bacon), eating regular food instead of breakfast food (having entire Lean Cuisines, though this was a few years ago as I no longer eat those period). I've tried cereal, cereal with fruit, cereal with fruit with bacon on the side, an English muffin with bacon on the side, chicken breast, frozen waffles, vegetables, fruits alone, toast with peanut butter, soup, protein bars, and various combinations of the above. I absolutely loathe eggs, which is why they're conspicuously absent.

Has anyone had similar problems? It sometimes seems like it's not even worth it to eat breakfast since I am so quickly famished, but I do eat it every day. I often am hungry when I wake up, as well, so I wonder if that has anything to do with it. This isn't a recent problem, though; I've been (sadly) a yo-yo dieter for years and have always had this problem.

When was dinner?

Then when is breakfast?

Perhaps it is too long of a stretch, and no matter what you eat, you need more to get your blood sugar back to where it needs to be.

I can't do dinner at 6 PM and wake up at 8 AM without first having breakfast 1 at Midnight or so when I go to bed. Otherwise I am crazy at 8 AM wanting everything.

A.

I generally eat dinner no earlier than 7 pm and eat a snack shortly before bed (10 pm when working, 1-2 am if not - I'm a temp) for the same reason you mentioned. (I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has a midnight breakfast!) Breakfast is either around 6 am or 10 am when I go to bed later.

I used to have the exact same problem, but not anymore. And I have no idea why! I was always starving mid morning as a child, teenager, young adult.

There's nothing at all wrong with snacks. If you are at work, you could pack a Full Bar, or a protein bar, a handful of nuts, a banana. Something portable.

Have you tried oatmeal? 1/2 cup dry (prepared with water) only has 150 calories. Depending on what you add, it can remain fairly low calorie and will fill you up.

I finally started eating oatmeal, even after I thought I couldn't have it the way I grew up eating it. We would add milk and literally cover it in butter and granulated sugar! So I experimented and found a way that I like it to taste, but without the added fat and calories. Just after I take it off the stove, I stir in about 4 tsp. of butter flavor extract (found near the vanilla at the grocery store). I cook 5 servings at a time. That gives it a wonderful aroma and a tiny flavor of butter. Then when I reheat it for breakfast, I add some Splenda brown sugar. It does have a few calories, but I definitely could not eat it without some sweetness. I sometimes also add about 8 frozen dark sweet cherries (unsweetened) or about 1/4 cup of frozen blueberries (unsweetened). I add them after heating in the micro and then heat a bit more.

There are a few threads on oatmeal, but be careful what additions you put in and be sure and measure for calories. Peanut butter, dried fruit, nuts, etc. all have lots of calories but can make it more tasty if used sparingly.

Have you tried adding some fat? Other than regular bacon and peanut butter, all of your choices are carbs or very lean protein. It takes longer for your stomach to digest fat, so it can make you feel full for longer. Maybe 2% yogurt? I recently started combining 2% Greek yogurt with 0% (to make my own 1% Greek yogurt) and just that little bit of added fat has made a big difference in how full I felt. Even better would be if you could find a way to add some good fats--maybe avocado or smoked salmon?

Another thing that helps me is not having my morning coffee with breakfast. I save it until mid-morning, so it sort of serves as a snack. And, speaking of coffee--are you drinking caffeinated coffee with your breakfast? Caffeine can cause your blood sugar to spike and then drop, giving you that shakey, stomach grumbling hungry feeling. I drink decaf only, for this very reason.

Or maybe just give in to it and plan to have a snack around mid-morning. I usually have a small snack (50 to 150 calories, depending on how hungry I am) about mid-morning.

I know that it is hard to fit in with current life styles, but there is a good case to be made for eating a large breakfast (and unfortunately, cutting back on lunch and dinner to compensate).

A nutritionist once advised you should "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper." I don't have the research handy, but I have seen articles on studies that say eating a large breakfast is correlated with higher longevity and that eating more of your calories at breakfast is helpful for weight loss.

So, if you can shift more of your calories to breakfast, you might come out ahead.

I have in fact tried oatmeal (with and without fruit) and felt so disappointed by the small amount of food it was giving me!

I do have a small morning snack... in fact, today I had two because my stomach was grumbling by 9 am and I didn't have lunch until 2 pm. I have heard the adage about eating the most for breakfast, but the other problem for me is that if I don't save a lot of calories for the evening, I will end up cheating because I find it very hard to control myself at night. That is interesting about the coffee theory - I'm so loathe to part with my morning coffee, though! I get up early before work so that I can enjoy that time to myself, just having coffee and checking email. Perhaps a half-caf could be a good start.