I'm hungry...

[PrincessFiona]

Help.

After regaining 10 pounds over the last month (actually, I gained 10 pounds in 10 days because i went through a depression/hormonal stuff ) I threw myself back on the healthy wagon yestrday.

Yesterday went fine...but I am absolutely starving right now and I don't know what to eat.

Today I have had:

Breakfast:

1 slice of toast plain
1/2 canteloupe

Lunch:

Serving of cottage cheese
1 omellete (2 eggs w/ 1 serving of cheese)

snack: Carrot sticks

I'm starving and it is only 2. I've eaten a big bag of carrot sticks, but I just feel...hungrier.......

kris

[Rapunzel]

Take a NAP!!!

Those hunger pangs only last for a set period of time (I can't remember the average time period but we're talking something like half an hour). If you can ride through them you'll be OK.

For me, lying down and sleeping always helped. Put the baby down in her crib with some toys if she won't sleep. If she cries put a pillow over your head!

(One plus of having Amanda home with you is that you can have her watch the baby for an hour if you need to take a rest, btw - good sister bonding time and good work for her to do).

Anyway, I vote sleep!

I agree with what Tara said.

[Michele]

I also agree with Tara. I also *try* to do the breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper....but it usually doesn't work out that way.

[alison]

Sorry to interrupt (but maybe it sheds light on this a little?), I'm just not hungry first thing in the morning. As in, I can go until around 11 without food. Do I force myself to eat a big breakfast? Or do I embrace my lack of hunger and eat lunch and dinner? I'm thinking if I force breakfast, my appetite throughout the day might look different.

Any thoughts?

[Rapunzel]

I find that if I eat a large breakfast it expands my stomach so that I need a large lunch and dinner.

I've found that what works best for me - particularly when I am trying to lose weight - is to have a light breakfast and lunch and maybe a bit heavier dinner.

One of the goals with weight loss is to literally shrink your stomach (which is, of course, a muscle and can contract to a progressively smaller size). The smaller your stomach the quicker you fill up the less food you eat the more weight loss that can occur.

I am particularly hungry when I am tired - as my body tries to compensate for the lack of energy by consuming more energy. Getting a good eight to nine hours of sleep religiously is the first thing to do - before even changing your diet!

And, I cannot - absolutely cannot - fall asleep for the night with an empty stomach. Yes, I can do an hour or two nap during the day with a growly stomach (because it does short-circuit those growls). But, I will wake up right in the middle of the night if I have not had a satisfying dinner.

So, I save my most hefty meal portions for the evening time. Fat and protein do fill me up - and that is why a light breakfast or lunch for me consists of a protein bar. And, it helps me maintain the necessary low calorie intake (1200 calories for a serious weight loss goal) while giving me "room" to have a bigger, more satisfying dinner.

So far, this has worked four different times (after each pregnancy when I have, on average, about 40 lbs to lose AFTER I've lost the pregnancy weight). SLEEP! And, adjust your meals accordingly so you don't sabotage yourself! If it means you must do a heavy breakfast and go light with the other meals - so be it! If you find that, like me, after a heavy breakfast you feel inclined to eat a larger lunch and dinner then that is a warning sign that you need to shift that heavy meal to later in the day (for some that might be lunch and for others such as myself - dinner).

But, the number one thing that prevents me from losing weight is if I am not getting enough sleep. And, that lower calorie intake WILL make you more tired at first. And, we are all at our most vulnerable will-power-wise when we are tired. So, being tired can help you along in breaking from your dietary regimine.

I wish I could remember where...probably on the Yahoo Health section...I saw an article about a relationship between sufficient sleep and weight loss. Not getting enough sleep stresses the body and makes you hungrier? Or something like that. I'll see if I can find it.

[Rapunzel]

I wish I could remember where...probably on the Yahoo Health section...I saw an article about a relationship between sufficient sleep and weight loss. Not getting enough sleep stresses the body and makes you hungrier? Or something like that. I'll see if I can find it.

Well, and also hunger pains (that rumbly, painful, growly feeling) actually DO have a set amount of time that they last before they fade. At the time they are happening it feels like they will never go away! But, a short while later (I can't remember the average amount of time they last) they disappear!

That's another reason to take a nap! You sleep through the worst/hardest part when you have those pains and you are tired (ie lowest willpower possible).

And, anytime you cut your calorie intake your body is going to attempt to decrease your energy output. So, you're going to feel much more tired. Getting some extra sleep helps prevent that lack of willpower and gives your body energy that's not in a calorie form.

I would be interested in reading what the article said....

[Rapunzel]

It matters when you eat in regard to your willpower. Because, in the end, for most people weight loss mostly concerns willpower in controlling that calorie intake and energy output. It is important to know your limits psychologically.


Regarding the shrinking of the stomach the jury seems to be out on if you can physically lessen the size of the stomach organ by a reduced intake:


http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstrac ... type=HWCIT

Above - reduction in gastric capacity of obese patients after several weeks on a restricted diet

http://www.robynflipse.com/Articles/GH- ... omach.html

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... A967958260

New research by Dr. Allan Geliebter, an obesity expert at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan, has shown that there is a significant reduction in stomach capacity when someone reduces food intake. However, he said, stomach capacity can also be increased by someone who eats more, "which has implications for Thanksgiving."

Dr. Geliebter's research, which he says is apparently the first time such a change has been demonstrated experimentally in humans, involved obese people on a formula diet of 600 calories a day, about five cups of formula a day.

"After one month, there was a pretty dramatic change," he said, a 30 percent reduction in capacity. The control group of people who were not dieting showed no change.

Dr. Geliebter's research did not assess the size of the stomach itself, which is difficult to measure, but its capacity. This was done by filling an empty balloon placed in the stomach and measuring changes in pressure.

The smaller the capacity of the stomach, the bigger the rise in pressure, he explained. There was also a subjective change in feelings of fullness, he said, with the dieters reporting they felt full much earlier in the distention of the balloon.

In the opposite direction, "in bulemics who binge, stomach capacity is markedly increased," Dr. Geliebter said, "and obese subjects have a much larger capacity than normal-weight subjects."

Anyway, I personally believe this newer research because it fits my experience with weight loss and appetite. But, I acknowledge that this is an area that can go either way at the moment.


A diet low in calorie intake can potentially slow your metabolism. Which is a good reason why diet and exercise are so important since both affect metabolism. It can be a nasty cycle - an obese person tries to lose weight by reducing calorie intake which further reduces metabolism making it harder to lose weight and so on. And, that's why physical activity of some sort is so important for weight loss.

And, increased physical activity is ANOTHER good reason to get more sleep!

Every time I have had to take off all of that weight from pregnancy I have to go through several agonizing weeks of having my body adjust to lower calories and higher rates of physical activity. It is soooo hard! The grumbly tummy, the fatigue - it's fairly normal for a few weeks and a lot of the reason so many people don't make it past that first month or two.

Knowing how to work around your weaknesses (ie willpower at its lowest) is so key to any significant weightloss in my experience.

[DCJenn]

To answer the first question, i.e. Kris'

1) You're eating low calorie but not filling low calorie. No wonder you were starving.

2) You need some fat and some protein, preferably at every meal.

3) Sleep- key to life. As much as food and water. (ever see Fight Club?)

Aim for 1500-1800 calories a day. or sign up for a program through ediets.com or weight watchers where the meals are already planned, the grocery lists are made and all you do is prepare the meals. All of the 'thinking' is done for you.

Jenn

[alison]

Tara: Ok... I don't like cereal, but rather, if I have to eat something in the morning, I'd rather it be cold pizza or even soup. I don't like a sweet breakfast. Any suggestions for jump starting my engine without sweets (yoghurt, fruit) and/or cereal?

[DCJenn]

My two favorite breakfasts:

Wheat toast with cheddar cheese slices or

Wheat toast with a tsp of olive oil drizzled on each slice of toast and topped with oregano. Love it.

I'm not a huge sweets person in the am, either. My short spin on the slim-fast plan damn near did me in. Yuck. Who wants that level of chocolate in the morning.

Jenn

[alison]

Thanks, Jenn! I forgot about cheese. You've got some good ideas. I like croissants, but they're all butter, so I'm afraid they're not good diet food.

Chocolate in the morning wouldn't do anything for me, either!

My mom used to make us shrimp/port wonton soup in the morning before school. I used to put hot sauce in my broth. Yum-my!

No wonder I won't touch Pop Tarts! I basically have no use for a toaster!

I like Jenn's suggestions. When I did ediets last year, I picked similar sorts of things. Do you like eggs? I like to have a poached egg and piece of toast. You could also put a slice of tomato on the toast with the egg on top if you want to get fancy.

[alison]

I like Jenn's suggestions. When I did ediets last year, I picked similar sorts of things. Do you like eggs? I like to have a poached egg and piece of toast. You could also put a slice of tomato on the toast with the egg on top if you want to get fancy.

Eggs are ok. As long as they don't look like eggs. So, I will eat them scrambled or in the form of an omelet. Eggs are a good idea for weekends, when I've got a bit more time. I like bacon, but they're no good for dieting, are they? My mil makes eggs when she's here, and does a "special egg" for me, scrambled with chives. It's pretty good!