From not hungry to starving

qpmomma1

I go from not being hungry at all to starving in a matter of minutes. Is there an in between?? I have an issue with over eating and I tend to overeat when I am starving. Any tips for this? I do drink water through the day.

KcRavassa

I have that issue too sometimes, though mine is usually accompanied by feeling nauseous for a few minutes. Either I A, wait it out by doing something distracting (like reading something) or B, eat a protein bar or something I likely won't want to keep eating once I finish my portion. Also drinking hot things (black coffee or tea for me) can fool your stomach to leave you alone for a bit!

Mini_Medic

I would try eating more frequently even if you don't want to eat or you aren't necessarily hungry right then. It's likely a blood sugar regulation issue and eating more frequently will help balance it so you don't bottom out or overeat to compensate.

Gamliela

I have this same issue. Actually haven't figured out a way to deal with it. I feel good when I don't cave in and negative about myself if I go over my calorie settings.
I think Mini_Medic and RavassacK give good advice.

qpmomma1

Thanks for the tips! I'll try packing a protein bar and eating more frequently. The blood sugar thing does make sense.

kommodevaran

Google and try out "The hunger scale".

WVWalkerFriend

Throwing this out there as a just in case type of thing, but if you're going from fine to super hungry very quickly you may want to have your doctor check your A1C levels. I'm diabetic so therefore maybe reading this through my own experiences but its just something to keep in mind. A healthy person's blood sugar should not be dropping that quickly.

Gamliela

uh oh

WVWalkerFriend

Gamliela wrote: »

uh oh

It could be that you're fine blood sugar wise and just hungry. If it happens a lot you might want to look into it, though.

kshama2001

Sometimes I'll be very focused on something and when I come up for air notice I'm ravenous. I like to always have planned food on hand. The vast majority of my food isn't hyper-palatable, and I am able to just eat til I'm full, and stop.

If I'm going to eat something that takes more than a few minutes to prep, I try to start before I get really hungry, and then eat it slowly, as my appetite warrants. This works really well with smoothies - I take a few sips and put it back in the frig for 30-60 minutes until I'm hungry again.

StaciMarie1974

qpmomma1 wrote: »

I go from not being hungry at all to starving in a matter of minutes. Is there an in between?? I have an issue with over eating and I tend to overeat when I am starving. Any tips for this? I do drink water through the day.

Being aware of it so you're in control of how much you eat... And for me, taking longer to eat and/or waiting before I have more. Often the feeling of still being hungry goes away with a little time once I've eaten a reasonable amount.

toxikon

I have this issue when I eat a lot of simple carbs. I find the hunger comes on very quickly and leaves me feeling nauseous, jittery and weak.

When I follow a more low-carb style of eating with mostly healthy fats, meat and veggies, my hunger is very slow and stable throughout the day.

Rocknut53

kommodevaran wrote: »

Google and try out "The hunger scale".

That was interesting. A brief chart that sums it all up. I very seldom know the difference between real hunger & emotional hunger. The chart is helpful.

DamieBird

The same thing happens to me, but I started noticing that it happens around the same time most days (weekdays anyway), and usually just about 30 minutes before my normal meal time. I chalked it up to 'habit hunger' more than anything else. If I'm super hungry OUTSIDE of an hour or so around a meal time, then I consider that I may be truly hungry and eat something. Either way, it does tend to come on fast for me, too. I'll be fine and then feel like I could eat everything. It's worse if I don't get enough complex carbs (happens often if I go too many meals without rice, bread, pasta, etc). My A1C and blood sugar levels have always been good, so I don't think that's a contributing factor for me. If you don't already eat them, maybe add potato/rice/grains to your meals to try keeping the sudden hunger spike at bay?

kgwoozle

Be there done that and I now have a mandatory afternoon snack, no matter what. If don't I'll eat anything and everything or get incredibly hanged. Some thing I read and a doctor told me it was a adrenaline reaction thing.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/20/health/science-behind-being-hangry/

Loug1983

The same thing happens to me, always has and I recently had a blood sugar test come back fine, as DamieBird says it usually happens as my regular lunch time is approaching.

There are a couple of things that I've found help me cope, eat something light to see me through for an hour or so, or get up and make a cup of coffee, the distraction helps, and then the coffee keeps me going a bit longer.

If I'm having a busy day and don't have time to dwell on it I can just power through, but if I'm not too busy that can be a lot harder. If it's happening regularly I would keep some calories aside for a snack.