Ok, I admit that one of my new Year’s resolutions is to lose some weight…I have about 30lbs to lose and want to do it properly so to that end, I am watching what I eat and have started exercising (btw, the Yourself Fitness game for PS2 is wonderful). My question is why do I feel hungry about 2 hours after breakfast where if I don’t eat breakfast, I can go all the way to lunch without feeling hungry. About 3 years ago I lost 20lbs with diet pills and eating 2 meals a day (lunch and dinner) but then I got pregnant and put it all back on plus another 10 and I am still carrying it 2 years since my daughter was born!
Here’s what I ate yesterday…
Breakfast: 2 slice Weetabix with Splenda and fat free milk (I was starving by about 10 but managed to hold out till 11:45 for lunch)
Lunch: Chef salad (2 slices of black forest ham, 1/2 oz cheddar cheese, 1/2oz feta cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, 1 tbls sundried tomato vinaigrette) plus a small french baguette.
Dinner: 1 small baked chicken thigh, 1/2 cup mashed potato, 1 cup baby peas.
Today so far I have had:
Breakfast: 1 pkt instant oatmeal (strawberries and cream flavour). 1 slice of 7 grain toast, 1 tsp butter, 1 slice black forest ham.
I was thinking that if I increase the size of my breakfast, I won’t get so hungry midmorning, but it’s now 10:30 and I’m starving. What can I do???
I don’t eat breakfast for this reason. Why do I want to use up a bunch of my calorie allowance on a meal that I am not actually interested in eating (I’m never actually hungry first thing in the morning) which just ends up making me ravenous a couple hours before lunch?
If you want to keep eating breakfast, maybe you should break it in half . . . Have a bowl of cereal or oatmeal at breakfast and a piece of fruit or a cup of yogurt when you get hungry midmorning.
Your body doesn’t know you want to lose weight, and it doesn’t know you’re consciously changing your diet. It’s used to the idea that lunch is always there, and you’re not going to get much exercise, so if you skip breakfast, it’s happy to run on stored energy until lunch.
However, now you’re exercising, and your body is freaking out. “AAAUGH! We’re being chased by lions!”
You’re also eating much lighter meals, and your body is freaking out. “AAAUGH! No more (whatever you were eating before)! We’re going to starve!”
So, even though you ate breakfast, two hours later, your body thinks it’s time for a nosh, lest you waste away (which is, actually, your plan, sort of…).
Also, if you’re exercising now, your body is burning more energy in its slack time (say, mid-morning) repairing whatever damage the exercise did and making you stronger, so whatever stored energy is being used up. You want to use up stored energy; it’s called fat. If you use it up, your body wants to replenish that supply, because, again, your body doesn’t know that you want to lose weight.
I’ve heard it’s better to eat less when you’re hungry, than to eat a large-ish meal and then wait for the next meal. Yesterday I had a Slim Fast shake, a bowl of oatmeal with jam, a bowl of French onion soup, 1/3 cup ham hocks and collard greens, a Vegemite sandwich (two slices of bread, olive oil margarine, 2 oz. medium cheddar, Vegemite), and one Jolly Rancher hard candy. Plus five or six 12 oz. glasses of water and four cups of tea with Splenda and milk. Estimated consumption: 1,400 Calories. (700 up to the soup. No idea how many in the greens but guessing 300, estimated 400 for the sandwich.)
How many Calories in the instant oatmeal? I eat plain old oatmeal made with water (150 C) with a spoonful of strawberry jam (50 C).
Try eating something with whole grains and little or no sugar for breakfast. I’m no low-carb junkie or anything, but one thing that does seem to work (at least for me) from the low-carb camp is the concept that white flour/sugar leads to hunger.
Eat a bowl of regular (preferably steel-cut, but at least not instant) oatmeal for breakfast with Splenda, and see if you get hungry. I can’t eat more than about a half cup, and I’m stuffed until lunch. Comparably, instant oatmeal, cereal, toast with jam, anything like that leaves me hungry at mid-morning.
There is an interesting book called The 3 hour diet. The premise is that a small meal every six hours will help you lose weight better than 3 big meals a day.
I can’t tell you if it works or not, since I got ill before I could try it. But it was an interesting read.
And Johnny L.A. beat me to it, but come on over and join our club!
If you eat a breakfast of all carbs, no protein or fat I guarantee you WILL be hungry soon after.
The ideal breakfast has plenty of fiber, some protein, some fat, and little refined sugars or flours. Unfortunately, most standard breakfast foods are low in protein, low in fiber, and high in refined carbs (cereal, toast, bagels, pancakes…) Have an egg in the morning instead, scrambled with spinach and ham. If its your bag, some herring or smoked salmon is breakfasty yet filling. Cottage cheese with Splenda and cinnamon. Or try a different approach to breakfast. Have a salad for breakfast, why not? Celery with cream cheese is suprisingly filling (1 stalk with 2 TBSP cream cheese=96 cals). Don’t forget to drink a glass of your favorite low-cal beverage – tea, coffee, water, whatever.
Although I’m not a huge fan of them, since they’re very processed, some nutrition bars do pretty well in a pinch. Balance and Zone brand both have a similar balance of carbs, fat and protein (30%/30%/40%, I think). I work on a farm and 1/2 a Zone bar takes me through 3-4 hours of manual labor in the morning. Not bad for 105 calories.
Another thing is just changing habits. Whenever you think are feel hungry out of habit, try having some water flavored with lemon or some herbal tea. Although it is possible to drink too much water, most people don’t drink enough. Try to get 4 8oz servings of caffeine-free low-calorie beverage during your workday.
If you’re wondering about your caloric intake, fiber intake and other stats, try www.fitday.com. It’s free and easy to use once you get the hang of it.
Thanks for that. I had a dentist’s appointment this morning, so I didn’t eat. I got back around 11:30 and had a Slim Fast. But I was hungry. So based on this post I had a tin of kippers and a scrabled egg. 250 Calories, plus 190 from the shake.
I would love it! Email’s biddee at hotmail dot com. Thanks!
I have headed over to the weightloss club thread and will be posting in that and thanks for all the advice. I will definitely start doing the higher protein breakfast tomorrow and see if it makes a difference. I’m not sure whether I should keep this thread open and updated. What do you guys think?
I’m in no way an expert (or even well-informed) on the subject, but it’s my understanding that having breakfast kickstarts your metabolism for the day, which causes you to burn more calories. Take this advice with a large grain of salt (or a small one-- sodium’s a killer).
I did my second session with Maya (PS2 Yourself Fitness) tonight and my buns and thighs are burning but I actually felt really good doing it, better than last night. Will be upping the excercise length to 30 minutes by Friday (have been doing 15 minutes the past two days). I can feel my ab muscles burning as well. I tried to do some of the yoga after my fifteen minutes, but my daughter decided I was a horsey and sat on my back while I was in snake pose so that kinda fell to pieces LOL.
Breakfast tomorrow: 1 egg with 1 slice ham
Midmorning snack: fruit salad (already made with melon, grapes, apples and pears…mmmm yummy)
Lunch: baby carrots and hummus (homemade…very yummy)
Dinner: Steak and baked potato and veggies
I have decided that I should really have a midmorning snack if I’m going to eat breakfast…that empty feeling midmorning is horrible and then I end up overeating at lunch so this way hopefully I can stave that off.
Fiance and I have decided that we will do a menu on a Sunday and shop weekly for only what’s on the menu…that should save us money and keep us motivated because we know what we’re eating for the next week. He’s got more time on his hands so he did 30 minutes with Maya today and is suffering now LOL.
Although it’s supposed to be terrible to skip breakfast, I find this to be true too. If I don’t eat breakfast, I get hungry shortly before lunch. If I do eat breakfast, I’m starving by 10:30. Another odd thing I’ve discovered is that a banana at lunch is more filling than a sandwich (generally PB&J or turkey), and it takes longer before I’m hungry again. Our bodies word in strange ways.
Ok, now I’m confused. I was doing some research online to try and figure out exactly how many calories I should eat to lose weight and it ranges from 1400 - 2000 calories…which is it??? I can eat so much more food that I would like to eat at about 1800 calories. The menu above is about 1450. I would really like to have an extra egg at breakfast but I’m really not sure anymore.
Try having more calories for breakfast, and less at supper? Your body is letting you know when it’s low on fuel. You need to keep your body going, and not let your body think it’s starving. Eat more calories for breakfast, less for supper and see if that helps. Or get a light snack in between breakfast and lunch about an hour or two before you usually feel hungry, a banana or something. (I’m betting it’s always about the same time you feel hungry, isn’t it?) Your body is working correctly, it’s just that you’re not used to getting the signals and interpreting them. I’d go with the idea of keeping it “no more than 2000 calories” per day, and not do that much too many days in a row, but I’d not go as low as 1400 often either, only if I wasn’t going to have a busy day. Keep it within a range, that will give you more flexibility and you won’t feel quite so bad if you “splurge” a bit as long as you stay under 2000 calories for the day. This doesn’t work for everyone, but for some people having more calories first thing in the day, and less right before sleeping is what keeps them from feeling hungry.
Adding, don’t feel horrible if you have a day or two where you have had 2050 calories either. Just in general work not to go past 2000 calories per day, and watch what kinds of food you eat too. The key is moderation and a balanced menu. Sometimes one day will balance out the previous one, but in general try to eat what’s healthy for you. Don’t fret too much over the exact number, right now you need to learn how to eat more healthy, and give your body the fuel it needs while still losing weight. If you consistently eat 2200 calories a day, aren’t hungry and are losing weight/healthy then don’t worry.
Don’t worry so much about calories and start paying attention to how you feel. Figure out how much you need to eat for breakfast/midmorning snack in order to feel slightly hungry (not REALLY hungry) before lunch. Eat enough at lunch/afternoon snack so you’re feeling hungry around dinner. Eat enough at dinner that you wake up hungry.
At least, the times I actually lose weight, this is typically how it goes for me. Small meals, make sure I’m hungry before the next meal. I find if I let myself go and not worry about food (and usually gain weight) I can look back on my day and realize that I never once truly felt hungry.
What Athena says also makes sense. A slight hunger at meal time is expected, but “really hungry” is something you should pay attention to, and you should adjust your caloric intake accordingly. You’re just learning your body’s caloric needs now, take note for when you’re not in the process of losing weight. You’ll need to know this for weight maintaince as well. Good luck.
About 2 years ago, I lost about 20 pounds on the fast food/beer diet. For 2 months in a row I’d usually eat a burger or tacos for breakfast and would consume no food for the rest of the day until I got home from work and I’d drink 6 or 8 beers. I guess my body adjusted because I never really felt very hugnry throughout the day and I had plenty of energy, although I didn’t exercise at all either except for my right hand at night (I mean for the tv remote control).
Now I eat several meals a day (mostly healthy foods) and decided to have just a beer or two per week, but I feel hungry if I go more than a few hours without eating. I haven’t put any weight back on but I’m always hugnry and always eating.
