How do you deal with hunger?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I know enough to not restrict all day and then eat the house down at night… that said, it is a fight every DAMN night not to “carb” myself to sleep. It really feels like the natural way for me to get to sleep. Multiple slices of sourdough toast and butter, leftover pizza, peanut butter in a tortilla - they all seem perfectly reasonable to my disordered brain after a substantial balanced dinner and fruit for dessert. I do not feel sick after, just unhappy because of calories consumed. I feel sleepy.

I exercise in the morning. At night I take a hot shower,, sip tea, read, etc. and toss and turn and think about crackers. I feel like thin women secretly take sleeping pills. Not really, but how do you sleep?

Just want to also say I also spend way to much time thinking about crackers. I use herbal tea in the evenings with a touch of honey. But honestly feeling hungry is a big struggle for me.

[Anonymous]

I read articles about how ghrelin will make me smarter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I am hungry then my diet is all wrong for me.

I do IF and eat plant based whole foods. No added sugar if i can help it, and mostly water and tea. I am stuffed when I eat my delicious foods because I eat HUGE quantities of finely chopped salads wit, protein, colorful veggies, seeds, nuts, cheese and a tiny bit of dressing. It has to taste delicious. AND then I eat my meal. I eat so much food that the fasting phase is actually a relief to my body and jaw. If I want to eat something unhealthy...I just try and make it healthier. A few tablespoon of chik-fil-a peach shake on a bowl of finely chopped peaches, banana and a sprinkling of pecans. I eat until I am satisfied.

My big take away to lose weight and be healthy, is that a huge, finely chopped, deliciously dressed colorful salad with everything (and a very tiny amount of dressing), should be what you eat before every meal. It should not be your meal because then you feel dissatisfied and hanker for "other" foods. So eat your meal after your salad. You will be so full with the salad that you won't be able to eat very much of your meal anyways. And that keeps you satisfied.

If you are hungry, you are already doomed to fail. You need calories, you need taste and you need your stomach to be full.

Oh, and if you eat shit tasting diet food, you will fail. Your diet food should be amazing food that you would pay to eat in a restaurant Taste is essential so use variety, spices and herbs. A wonderful presentation, the freshest and best ingredients, and cut the processed crap.

Any tips on how to make the salad prep easier? I'd love to do this and like finely chopped salads especially, but it is so much work and I haven't been able to find already prepped stuff that I like.

Hi, I am a different poster but I recommend a cheap wooden salad bowl and a half-moon knife like they have at Chopp'd. You can make all kinds of salads, often using leftovers, with minimal prep. I've made super quick finely chopped salads using leftover chicken, roasted veggies, beans, corn, cheeses, nuts, fruits, whatever happens to be growing in the garden, etc. The beauty is that you don't have to chop the stuff separately. Just toss it in the bowl, add a tiny bit of dressing if you want, and chop away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aside from eating, that is

You have to answer the question you pose. If hungry, you eat. If you only think you are hungry than drink water. Why are you asking?

[Anonymous]

I've been eating an entire avocado every day recently - have it with my eggs in the am. Keeps me full all day.

If hunger persists, I just try to distract myself - vaccum, take a walk, drink water. Tell myself I'll just wait another 30 minutes etc etc

Good luck

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I know enough to not restrict all day and then eat the house down at night… that said, it is a fight every DAMN night not to “carb” myself to sleep. It really feels like the natural way for me to get to sleep. Multiple slices of sourdough toast and butter, leftover pizza, peanut butter in a tortilla - they all seem perfectly reasonable to my disordered brain after a substantial balanced dinner and fruit for dessert. I do not feel sick after, just unhappy because of calories consumed. I feel sleepy.

I exercise in the morning. At night I take a hot shower,, sip tea, read, etc. and toss and turn and think about crackers. I feel like thin women secretly take sleeping pills. Not really, but how do you sleep?

This is me, when things are bad in my life and I lack discipline. This is also my DH in those circumstances. We feed into each other's night carbing big time. It's a lot easier to justify eating them together than it is to justify eating them alone, at least for me.

Right now, I am back in a relatively healthy place in that we have a loaf of good sourdough and a lot of crackers, but we made a plan to cut out the night snacking and basically not eat after 7pm. Our current plan is to go for a walk, have sex, take a shower, have some tea, and ultimately probably melatonin ourselves to sleep. In my experience, if we follow that plan this week, by Friday, it won't be a struggle anymore. It's really just getting there.

[Anonymous]

If hungry, eat—but don’t overeat; learn that you can be satiated without being “stuffed”.

If not hungry, don’t eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I know enough to not restrict all day and then eat the house down at night… that said, it is a fight every DAMN night not to “carb” myself to sleep. It really feels like the natural way for me to get to sleep. Multiple slices of sourdough toast and butter, leftover pizza, peanut butter in a tortilla - they all seem perfectly reasonable to my disordered brain after a substantial balanced dinner and fruit for dessert. I do not feel sick after, just unhappy because of calories consumed. I feel sleepy.

I exercise in the morning. At night I take a hot shower,, sip tea, read, etc. and toss and turn and think about crackers. I feel like thin women secretly take sleeping pills. Not really, but how do you sleep?

This is me, when things are bad in my life and I lack discipline. This is also my DH in those circumstances. We feed into each other's night carbing big time. It's a lot easier to justify eating them together than it is to justify eating them alone, at least for me.

Right now, I am back in a relatively healthy place in that we have a loaf of good sourdough and a lot of crackers, but we made a plan to cut out the night snacking and basically not eat after 7pm. Our current plan is to go for a walk, have sex, take a shower, have some tea, and ultimately probably melatonin ourselves to sleep. In my experience, if we follow that plan this week, by Friday, it won't be a struggle anymore. It's really just getting there.

Love this! Team work makes the dream work!

[Anonymous]

If I’m hungry, I eat. If I’m trying to skim down, I make sure what I eat is healthy and I processed. In between meals I try to just do fruits, veggies, hummus, cheese sticks, ie smaller snacks. But if I really have a hankering for a pack of cheez it’s, I’ll eat those. I’ve found that denying my hunger just leads to grumpiness and bingeing later., which is counterproductive.

[Anonymous]

You grab for the healthy food first. Just do delay the hunger a bit. Grab an apple or banana since that is the easiest thing. Or maybe a handful of berries or nuts. Don't go for the cake, pie, candy bar, soda, ice cream.

[Anonymous]

I am limiting myself to 1 ingredient snacks..fruits, veg. nuts mostly. If I am not in the mood for that I can not be that hungry.

[Anonymous]

I have a drink, zero sugar lemonade or coffee with nothing in it. Then I am not hungry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am limiting myself to 1 ingredient snacks..fruits, veg. nuts mostly. If I am not in the mood for that I can not be that hungry.

Thank you, I like this idea.

[Anonymous]

Drink water or tea, do something outside where I have no access to food.

[Anonymous]

I have been super successful with my hunger pangs by focusing on eating nutritionally dense foods. I do not waste my time eating processed carbs that offer me little in terms of nutrition and spike my glucose and insulin. Salad does not offer much either so unless it is combined with a protein and fat, I won’t waste my time.
This leaves me with mostly eating animal based foods, meat, cheese, eggs and milk/cream. I eat whenever I am hungry which is usually around lunchtime and then a smaller dinner snack. My only tule other than nutritionally dense food is to stop eating two hours before sunset.
Best thing I have ever done! I am 48, been doing this 5 months and have regained energy, lost over 42 pounds, no pain and regulated my blood sugar. Blood work is also great.