In theory, we are all working all little booties off with lifting and cardio. If you're hungry, and you make a wise food choice, should you just eat? In other words, you should never go around hungry, right, because then you are messing with your metabolism? But if 6 egg whites didn't cut it and you are hungry, should you keep eating (wisely)? I had dinner tonite of chicken, brown rice, and black eyed peas (great for protein) and when done, I still felt hungry!!!! I know that might be getting my appetite sensor in check but I notice on healthy lowfat meals, I am often still hungry after eating because I don't get that fat satiety. I haven't eaten again, but I'm just curious if I should....... Going to bed hungry doesn't really seem smart either...........

This is a tough questions because there are so many factors that influence what the answer should be... I think that both fat and fiber affect our satiety. Your dinner didn't have much fat, and depending on the quantity of black eyed peas and rice, might not have had a high amount of fiber. Some fruits or veggies would round out your nutrient balance a little more and add fiber without adding a lot of calories.

The issue of "hunger" is a tough one. I think sometimes we feel hungry when we aren't (emotional reasons, thirst, we're cold or tired, etc) and sometimes we feel full even when we haven't eaten much (lots of fiber, lots of fluids, stress, etc). Because there is so much ambiguity, I tend to count calories and stick within a range.

That being said, I have recently discovered that for many months I kept that range too low and spent a LOT of the time feeling very, very hungry. I exercise and lift (about 2-3 hours each day) and I would even work out hungry! Then I spent a couple months bingeing to compensate for undereating and to deal with my emotions and everything else. Finally I am realizing that I need to eat enough that I am not tempted to binge and enough food to sustain challenging workouts. So I've increased my calorie range and I am feeling much better.

I know I didn't really answer your question, but I hope this helps!

Lindy

I would eat an apple or something. I don't believe in being hungry. I have found that a little fat and fiber go along way. So if it's almost bed time and you're hungry I'd have an apple and maybe a small piece of cheese. That should curb it. I do think the calorie counting thing really works. I'm amazed at how much I've cut back my caloric intake since I started keeping track at the beginning of the month. I don't let myself get hungry. If i get hungry I will pig out. I rather eat something...a cucumber with lemon and salt, apple, etc. Heck you could eat a ton of cucumber and be fiine.
I say cucumbers b/c I happen to love them.

Yup, I eat too. FF cottage cheese and ww crackers for dipping are my extra evening snack choice lately.
Water, tea ???

Yes, if I'm truly hungry, I eat. I try to balance what I had earlier. I try to make healthy choices. I may have a small amount, then wait twenty minutes before having more. But I eat.

Hunger varies with exercise for me. If I'm lifting heavier or more often, I get hungry for a while. Then it tapers off. Same as if my running mileage goes up. I figure my body is trying to tell me something.

I was hungry a lot during the year that I was losing weight and still frequently am. Long ago I concluded that my food satiety and hunger cues are wired wrong, so I just try to ignore hunger as being faulty signals. If I ate whenever I was hungry, I'd weigh 100 pounds more than I do now, sadly.

So the way I manage is to eat by the clock, not my stomach. I generally plan my meals in advance and try very hard to stick to them, shooting for 250 - 300 calories per meal. That amount should be adequate for about three hours.

Anyways, I always figure if I'm hungry, it's a good thing because my body is being forced to tap into stored calories!

Just another example of how we all need to do what works for us. I think my metabolism is probably higher than others. I think that it wasn't a slow metabolism that made me gain weight in the first place, it was just very bad habits. And binging. So what works for me won't work for others. And vice versa.

Susan, what type of whole wheat crackers do you eat? I've tried all kinds of things from things that taste like bark/dog biscuits to the Ritz w/w - which are good, but not that healthy. WOuld love some new suggestions to try.

Thanks Meg, your words are comforting. I think of it to as my stomach eating up my backside fat cells, but wanted to make sure I'm not doing sure muscle or metab damage by not acting on the sensation.

Sure enough, I had another imsomniatic nite (I posted about this awhile ago). I definitely find that I don't sleep as well on a low-cal nite as I do when I've eaten fully during the day.

Triscuit Thin Crisps .... 11 crackers = 90 cals = 3.5 gms fat, 13 gms carbs, 2 gms protein

I eat by the clock, too, and I'm hungry too. SusanB, those 90 calories of crackers mean the difference between maintaining or gaining for me. If I ate whenever I was hungry, I'd be back where I was 6 years ago in no time flat. If I'm truly starving (stomach rumbling so loud that no one can sleep) I'll have a couple of spoonsful of lf cottage cheese.

Mel

Oh, I'll have to look at the thin crisps. I don't like regular triscuits, but I'm sure the wheat thins come the same way. As long as they've taken out the partially hydrogenateds, then I'll try them. THat's been the downside with alot of the crackers, still have the pho in them.

Soyabean oil ... In order to lose weight, I really cracked down on what I call 'overt' carbs. I'm the gal who used to eat two or three sandwiches for an evening snack. I've added oats back in and the triscuits are an attempt to do more like BFL.
I guess I should have clarified that the crackers and ff cottage cheese would be either my 6th or 7th "feeding" of the day. I did sound misleading or like I eat whenever I want. That's not the case. Sorry.

I just finished reading Mindless Eating (which has a thread in the Maintainers Library section) and the author there states that for some of us - read Mel, I guess - 100-200 extra calories a day makes the difference between maintaining and losing (or if we're already maintaining, gaining) over the long run. But he maintains that unless we're vigilant and tuned in to what makes us eat, many of us take in more than we intend. It's a interesting book, and he's quite an entertaining writer.