Once I start eating, I can't stop

ftsolk

Some days, I start work between 9 am and 12pm. On those days, I generally don't eat much of anything before work. Occasionally, I might have some cheese- maybe a Larabar. Other days, it's just some juice- if anything at all.

On days that I eat something in the morning, I find I'm hungry a few hours later. In addition, if I have a day where I'm off work or start work later, I find it harder to stop eating once I start.

On days when I only eat one meal, it's usually dinner. Some days, I can eat that meal and be done for the day. Other days, I find it hard to stop eating. It makes me almost afraid to eat.

I can go until 4pm without feeling hungry if I don't eat anything at all. I wanted to try eating at least SOMETHING earlier in the day most days, but if I do, I either find that I can't stop eating, or if I don't have the freedom to eat anything, I am at least finding that I'm hungry sooner.

I'm just not sure what to do at this point.

libbydoodle11

Plan your meals. Pack a feedbag for work. Heck, pack a feedbag everyday. Include all of your meals and lot's of water. If you get hungry, eat. Either way, it sounds as though you need to eat more. Perhaps the reason you can't stop eating is because you only eat a Larabar or a glass of juice during the day. Weight loss is not about how little you eat. It's not about how fast you can lose. It is about eating as much as you can while still maintaining enough deficit so you are still able to lose. Look up a TDEE calculator and go from there.

desweds

LOG EVERYTHING YOU EAT AND LOG IT ACCURATELY.

I'll bet a ten dollar bill that if I hung out next to you 24/7 for a week you'd discover you're eating a lot more than you think, especially on days where you say you don't eat anything till 4. Been there. Done that. Bought the XXL tshirt.

Anyhoo, Keep emergency food that's good for you and filling. I keep a whole english cucumber at my house and at work. I love them cucumbers. They arent waxed and they have an almost 60 day shelf life in the fridge. When you need to pig out, tell yourself "I will let myself eat as much of anything I damn well want but first I will eat this entire english cucumber and drink two glasses of water." Do this and you might eat some bad food but trust me, you won't snarf like you used to.

You're probably a carboholic like me. Take a look at some of these low carb diets. I found them very helpful not to lose weight but to stop my carb cravings. Going three days eating TONS of zero carb food - forgetting the calories just no carb - tends to unhook me from my carb cravings.

SherryTeach

I've never called the bag I take to school with my food a "feedbag." That would make me feel like a horse.

jennifurballs

desweds wrote: »

I keep a whole english cucumber at my house and at work. I love them cucumbers. They arent waxed and they have an almost 60 day shelf life in the fridge.

Where do you find English cucumbers that last 60 days? I'm lucky if mine last more than a few days, and even then, I have to slice them and pack them in layers of paper towels.

crisb2

ftsolk wrote: »

Some days, I start work between 9 am and 12pm. On those days, I generally don't eat much of anything before work. Occasionally, I might have some cheese- maybe a Larabar. Other days, it's just some juice- if anything at all.

On days that I eat something in the morning, I find I'm hungry a few hours later. In addition, if I have a day where I'm off work or start work later, I find it harder to stop eating once I start.

On days when I only eat one meal, it's usually dinner. Some days, I can eat that meal and be done for the day. Other days, I find it hard to stop eating. It makes me almost afraid to eat.

I can go until 4pm without feeling hungry if I don't eat anything at all. I wanted to try eating at least SOMETHING earlier in the day most days, but if I do, I either find that I can't stop eating, or if I don't have the freedom to eat anything, I am at least finding that I'm hungry sooner.

I'm just not sure what to do at this point.

Google "intermittent fasting" it's basically what you're doing. Just research it some more so you have some guidelines. That's how I fell into IF myself. I realized the earlier I started eating the hungrier I was throughout the day, so I started reducing the "eating hours" in my day. I noticed I was feeling really good so I did some research and stumbled upon intermittent fasting. Now I do it on a schedule. I really like it. Planning and eating "5-6 small meals a day" had me thinking of food all day long, it was driving me crazy. Now, I only eat between 2pm-10pm, because I like to eat in the evening. If I eat in the morning and (try to) fast in the evening it just doesn't work for me.

Kalikel

You sound just like me, before they fixed my thyroid. I constantly craved carbs because I had no energy.

Do you have enough energy? Get enough sleep, exercise regularly, eat enough?

I don't have any idea what your problem is, but I so remember feeling that way. Go to the doctor and make sure you don't have any physical problems.

Hang in there and good luck!

Momjogger

I find that almost any processed carb does that to me as well, so I experimented and found things I can eat that do not start a hunger cycle but keep up my energy. They include: Greek Yogurt with frozen fruit and stevia, hard boiled egg with a banana, oatmeal with fruit (like a whole apple cut up or half a cup of frozen blueberries with cinnamon and a little brown sugar) - quick in the microwave - cook fruit first and then add oatmeal and cook again - about 4 minutes total, lunches are chili, split pea soup with turkey ham, chicken soup (with carrots, cauliflower, and butternut squash), or a salad with chicken on it and a serving of fruit with lunch, dinners vary a lot - usually a baked white or sweet potato with a protein and vegetable. I do make a flat bread whole grain pizza and have it with a salad on occasion. Bread, pasta, chips, juices, all start a downward spiral for me. I used to think Overeaters anonymous was CRAZY (saying that people are addicted to processed carbs such as white flour), but the longer I travel this journey, the more validity I find in this theory. My body is wired to crave certain types of food and it starts a hunger cycle that is hard to control. I have much more control over what I eat AND how hungry I feel when I decrease the processed carbs. Obviously by my food list, you can see I certainly eat carbs, but they are whole and paired with protein. Some people have strong theories against this, but they are NOT ME. I am in my body and I know how food affects it. You are on YOUR journey, so play around with your food intake, timing, and food types and you will find things that work for you too. Good luck!

dramaqueen45

If I eat breakfast I am definitely hungrier. They say you should always eat breakfast but when I was at my lowest weight I never ate breakfast and sometimes I would go until 3:00 or 4:00 without eating anything and not hungry- I maybe would eat an orange sometimes. I didn't miss it. I think I was doing intermittent fasting but didn't realize it. I was in college and eating wasn't a top priority. No wonder I was so thin haha. Well then I got pregnant and I had to MAKE myself not only eat breakfast but also eat something that would stick with me at 10:00 pm or later because otherwise I would get terrible morning sickness.

habit365

Would it be possible to set fixed meal times regardless of what time you are working, something that works on work days and other days? I wonder if it might be the erratic eating that contributes to your inconsistent hunger.

celtic_thistle

Cut your carbs waaaay down and don't eat breakfast. I swear by those two things. Carbs will crash your blood sugar and leave you hungrier than ever a couple hours later. Load up on fat. An avocado with an egg in it is a great meal and will keep you fuller than any carb-laden crap. Also, If I delay my first meal til noon or later, I eat less overall.

Oh, and it seems obvious, but don't buy things to snack on and be tempted by. Keep the bare minimum on hand and you won't be tempted to "graze" throughout the day.

Regardless of anything else, make sure to log everything and be honest with yourself about it!

ljashley1952

I'm not much of a morning eater either. I'm hungrier in the mornings if I've had a big meal the night before or if I get up really early. Then I need to eat something. A typical morning for me is coffee and toast or banana. I also have occasional days when I just want to graze all day. Those days are the ones when I need to be getting some exercise and staying busy. The kinds of busy where I don't have time to think about food. Get into a big project or something that occupies my hands and my mind.

These days I'm much better. I seem to have hit that point where I'm not craving food all the time or I'm better able to work through it. I do much better if I don't stress my body by only feeding it once a day. That will cause me blood sugar swings and I'll get really hungry and headachey.

Graelwyn75

Why on earth are people flagging this as spam? Seriously, I hope the moderators start giving warnings to people who flag innocent posts.

To the Op, sounds as if you might want to look into Intermittent fasting.

Kalikel

I don't get why this is being flagged, either. What possible problem could anyone have with it?

ftsolk

habit365 wrote: »

Would it be possible to set fixed meal times regardless of what time you are working, something that works on work days and other days? I wonder if it might be the erratic eating that contributes to your inconsistent hunger.

Unfortunately, no. My schedule is very sporadic both in regards to the hours I'm scheduled to start (usually between 10am and 2pm) and the hours I'm scheduled to get off work (between 3pm and 8pm). In addition, I typically get called into work early OR clock out late (by as little as 15 minutes or as many as 4 hours). If I take a break, it's often at the very end of my shift. This means, that there are days when I'm scheduled to get off at 5pm, and I'll get a chance to take a 15 minute break at 6:30 before clocking out at 6:45 (or 6:38... I get paid for the full 15 minutes at that point, so I don't always bother taking the whole break).

I can- sometimes- snack a little while working, but there are days when taking sips of water is a challenge, and I don't really like eating while working. I'm too distracted, and it's technically not allowed (they just tend to turn a blind eye since we don't always get our breaks).

Today, I didn't eat anything until around 6:30pm. I slept through my alarm (or perhaps it didn't go off.. I'm not quite sure). I rushed out the door. I took my break at 3:15 (I was supposed to clock out at 3:00), and used that time to get ready to go out before running out the door. I don't eat anything after 1pm on Mondays because I have my Weight Watchers weigh-in on Monday nights. I wasn't particularly hungry all day, but I'll admit that I've been a bit more snacky these past few days in general. Perhaps this is part of why I'm fighting the urge to eat some cheddar crackers right now (I'm also tired which is probably a huge factor).

I'm going to try making some loose IF guidelines to help me create some stability to my eating. I can probably manage not eating between 12AM and 12PM (or, if I'm absolutely desperate, I may allow myself to have raw vegetables). So, on days off, I'll probably be eating more between 12-1pm and 9-10pm depending on what's going on. On work days, there's a good chance I'll be eating within a shorter window.

desweds wrote: »

LOG EVERYTHING YOU EAT AND LOG IT ACCURATELY.

I'll bet a ten dollar bill that if I hung out next to you 24/7 for a week you'd discover you're eating a lot more than you think, especially on days where you say you don't eat anything till 4. Been there. Done that. Bought the XXL tshirt.

Anyhoo, Keep emergency food that's good for you and filling. I keep a whole english cucumber at my house and at work. I love them cucumbers. They arent waxed and they have an almost 60 day shelf life in the fridge. When you need to pig out, tell yourself "I will let myself eat as much of anything I damn well want but first I will eat this entire english cucumber and drink two glasses of water." Do this and you might eat some bad food but trust me, you won't snarf like you used to.
.

True, there are days when I probably underestimate how much I eat with snacking, but there really are days when I eat NOTHING all day. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays tend to be the worst. Tuesdays and Thursdays are days when I eat more often- unless I'm called into work.

The English cucumber thing sounds like a great idea- though I may have to switch it up. It would help fill me up AND if I can't bring myself to eat a cucumber- or snap/snow peas, grape tomatoes, radishes, bell peppers, etc- then I'm probably NOT really hungry anyway. Though, can I eat them with salt? I know it's weird, but one of my childhood favorites was radishes and scallions dipped in salt. (Though, I probably won't enjoy it as much as I did back then).

Plus, I am fully aware that I'm not drinking enough water these days, so that may be something else to consider.

I should also start snacking on raw veggies more often in general. Rather, I should cut back on "snacking" in favor of actual meals whenever possible (usually 1-2 meals and maybe a snack as needed), but allow myself to snack on raw veggies if I feel like munching.

I will say that even with the lack of weight loss over the past several months (I've been maintaining my weight loss after a slight gain after getting hired at my job). I was able to fit into a size 12 jeans just before I started my new job, and now I'm in a very comfortable size 10. There's definitely some room in them, but not enough to give size 8 a try yet. A few people have commented on my supposed weight loss. I haven't really lost anything recently, but I guess I am still losing inches. Sure, one pants' size in 5 months (when I actually realized I was down a size) isn't a lot, but considering the complete lack of progress on the scale, I'll take it!

My eating habits when eating out have changed. Mondays used to be a complete cheat meal eating frenzy. Now, I'm intentionally leaving food behind and only eating until satisfied- not completely stuffed. I am working on blurring the line between cheat and non/cheat foods. It's a slow process, but I think I am getting there. Right now, it's just taking home leftovers rather than eating as much as I possibly can in one sitting. It's getting dessert and leaving a nice portion behind (and actually eating it slowly instead of snarfing it down). Maybe one day, I'll go out to Cheesecake Factory on a Monday night and get an Arugula salad as an appetizer. Maybe, come Thanksgiving, I won't mindlessly nibble on the Terra chips that are sitting out RIGHT after eating dinner. Maybe I'll even touch the salad. Or, maybe that won't happen until Christmas or Easter, but it will happen. Eventually, I'm determined to break out of this mindset that I can only have "bad" foods under certain circumstances- and that I should avoid filling up on "good" foods on those days so I have more room for the "bad."

SnuggleSmacks

ftsolk wrote: »

Some days, I start work between 9 am and 12pm. On those days, I generally don't eat much of anything before work. Occasionally, I might have some cheese- maybe a Larabar. Other days, it's just some juice- if anything at all.

On days that I eat something in the morning, I find I'm hungry a few hours later. In addition, if I have a day where I'm off work or start work later, I find it harder to stop eating once I start.

On days when I only eat one meal, it's usually dinner. Some days, I can eat that meal and be done for the day. Other days, I find it hard to stop eating. It makes me almost afraid to eat.

I can go until 4pm without feeling hungry if I don't eat anything at all. I wanted to try eating at least SOMETHING earlier in the day most days, but if I do, I either find that I can't stop eating, or if I don't have the freedom to eat anything, I am at least finding that I'm hungry sooner.

I'm just not sure what to do at this point.

I wonder if this might be a thing that happens with people who don't work first shift. I used to eat once a day, in the evening, because that worked best with my work hours. Now I'm back to working second shift and finding that I eat more when I eat breakfast. It's like it kickstarts my stomach or something, which leads to it feeling empty, which leads to me eating again...whereas, if I just wait til later to eat, then I don't get into that cycle. Perhaps our later work and sleep hours lead to a different circadian rhythm.

It might help to know that studies thus far lean heavily toward meal timing and frequency having zero direct impact for most people as regards weight. If you eat the same number of calories, it absolutely does not matter if you split them up into 2 meals or 6. However, there can be an indirect effect of meal timing when it effects feelings of satiety...so for people who can't stand to go 3 hours without eating something, having 6 smaller meals makes more sense. For those, like us, who can't eat breakfast without spinning out in a hunger cycle, it makes sense to pack our calories into one or two meals.

Scarecrowsama

What do you eat? Do you think that it is normal to have such a messy eating schedule?

michellemybelll

i'm confused. are you asking a question? did you mean to write this in your blog?

1992mittens13

Graelwyn75 wrote: »

Why on earth are people flagging this as spam? Seriously, I hope the moderators start giving warnings to people who flag innocent posts.

To the Op, sounds as if you might want to look into Intermittent fasting.

Yes! so many innocent posts get flagged.. Sadly, it normally seems to be questions people have.. My guess is people think it's silly.. but that doesn't mean it should be flagged.. not all of us know all the ins and outs of this journey yet!

I personally have never heard of IF, but I do know that you need to eat more than you are.. and breakfast should be more than some juice or a bar. try packing fruit before you go to bed, or something along those lines, to grab and go in the mornings when you work.. your probably hungry on days you eat because your body is thanking you for finally feeding it and wants more nutrients!

Patttience

Excellent post by lillydoodle up the top. I totally agree with all she says.

Also, work on improving the quality of your food. Eat less refined carbs (bread, pasta, rice, and all those energy bars don't touch the latter. - this will also help get your appetite under control. Eat lots and lots of vegetables.

Don't drink juice at all. Eat your fruit.

Fat is not the big problem we've been led to believe so eat full fat food because it tastes better and does not usually have added sugar to compensate. More satisfying food will enable you to eat less.

Eat more protein - not of the manufactured kind. Keep those to a minimum.

And you may like to read my post in the food and nutrition forum on how to manage an out of control sweet tooth. Key word in the title is sweet tooth.