[Sakai]

first of all, I just want to give everyone a big hug
I think it's been about 4 months from the last time I posted here. I work far too much now to do any thinking about weight loss.
but I found out I gained back 20 pounds that I took forever to lose. >_<
so I'm back on the diet wagon.

anyways, my problem is pretty new, but very frustrating.
I'm always hungry. I eat just as I always do, but for the past 2 weeks I've suddenly have to eat ever 2-3 hours. I'll eat before work and about 3 hours into work I'm starving.
I mean really bad, almost painful hunger pains. Then I eat lunch and about 2 hours later I'll be starving again. I thought it might be because I'm so active at work. (walking 6+ miles every night) but I've been working for 4 months and this problem only started 2 weeks ago.

I don't know if it just might be a phase or something. but it makes me mad that just when I want to start losing weight again, I suddenly want to eat all the time. -_-.

Any ideas what's up?

[bargoo]

I eat something about every 3 hours. I plan my day that way. This avoids tha starving feeling.My day looks like this;breakfast,snack,lunch,snack,dinner, snack.I am sure that my snacks are included in my calorie allotment for the day.












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[JayEll]

Same here as for bargoo. But tell us what you are eating for your meals and snacks--maybe we can make suggestions.

Jay

[Romeos Girly]

This may be a sign that you need to change what you are eating. Personally, I eat five meals a day, breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. The key I find is to evenly space lean-protein through the day and stay away from refined carbs.

You also may want to try and train your body to wait a little longer for food. When I first started eating healthier, smaller meals, I would get really hungry. When I did, I would have a hot cup of tea or a big glass of water. This would allow my body to wait a little longer for food and helped me get on a schedule that I could stick with.

[rubberlegs]

I try to chug 2 cups of water before every time that I eat. It helps me.

[wateraddict]

chugging down water always helps me if I get hungry before a meal

[Bikini Dreader]

Everyone has made some great points. The other thing I would consider is that you might be eating for other reasons or getting hungry for some other thing other than food?

For instance my case: I am unhappy in my job and don't do much outside of work other than workout and get groceries. This has made me "hungry" all the time. As soon as I start my work I'm "hungry". When I'm sitting on the couch I'm "hungry". I've realized that I'm not actually hungry truly, I'm actually feeling hunger when I'm: bored, tired, frustrated, unhappy, lonely, etc. I don't know if this is the case for you but it was for me and I had to realize that before anything could change.

It has taken a while for me to stop focusing on food and eating. I try not to "fill up" before I go on an outing out of fear that I might starve to death if I didnt, etc. Food and eating and meal planning was consuming me so I found that I really had to work on that and learn to be hungry again. Your body will tell you when you need food - it took me some time to realize that and to learn what it felt like.

I dont know what your case is, but I thought I would have liked to have this perspective at the earlier stages of my change.

Welcome back to the group!

[Sakai]

I've started keeping a bottle of water with me so I can drink as I work. I know that sometimes your body will tell you it needs food, when really you are just thirsty.

I usually have soup or a open face sandwich for lunch at work. with a snack size bag of baked chips and a power-aid. (liquid calories >_< I'm so bad about that) I use to drink soda for lunch but I've been slowly switching over to just water. It's my night off tonight and I'm going to start gathering up all my weight-loss things again ^_^ dust off my food journal and start keeping track of my food.

at the moment whenever i feel hungry I just grab a handful of mixed nuts and that'll kill the hunger.

[baffled111]

Watch the nuts! They're healthy but *very* high in calories! They really need to be measured out.

[JayEll]

Hey again,

I meant, list what you eat at every meal and snack in a typical day. It's hard to figure out why you might be hungry otherwise.

I agree with Baffled. Nuts were my downfall. Every handful contains about 160 cals. Three or four of those, and about 1/3 of your daily calories are consumed.

Jay

[smisen]

Nuts can be great - almonds will really kill my hunger, but I only let myself take one handful and then walk away from the package. I also make sure I'm eating a good balance of fiber and lean protein at every meal - too many processed foods and I'm hungry a few hours into the day.