Buttomless pit days
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oat_bran
Posts: 370 Member
Basically I just want to know if anyone here experiences this and know what I'm talking about.
Every few weeks I get a few days (2-4 days or so) that I call bottomless pit days. I feel "ravenous" almost non stop. I put it in quotes because it feels a lot like hunger, but at the same time it can't be true hunger. I don't feel 100% satiated after even a big meal and my stomach starts to growl and contract an hour after eating and I get this spasm-like (almost painful) sensation (I think this is what people refer to as hunger pains) as if I haven't eaten for many hours. Except that I have just eaten! In fact I may still feel food in my stomach and YET, I still feel as I haven't eaten in hours. Even if logically, I realize that it's not true hunger, instinctively it produces a very powerful and almost constant drive to eat. All I think all day is food.
But the thing is, It doesn't matter how many calories I eat (or have eaten the previous days), how much I eat in terms of volume, how many carbs/fat/protein/fiber I eat. In fact I may eat non-stop all day and overshoot my TDEE by a thousand and this sensation will be still there. In fact I realised it can't be true hunger after eating at maintenance (and over occasionally) for several months. This is why I'm convinced that it's not true hunger. After a few days, it just goes away and I'm back to normal: I am satisfied with my meals and last several hours without food easily.
I'm not sure if there's a clear patterns in terms of how often I get these days, I'm only just now starting to track it. But it appears that I get them every 2-3 weeks. I suspect that it might be something hormonal. Though I'm not sure how sex hormones can be the culprit since I'm taking an oral contraceptive that has the same dose or hormones each day and I skip the inactive pills so I'm not supposed to have a natural cycle and my estrogen and progesteron levels are supposed to be stable. Also, the particular brand I'm taking is particularly prescribed against PMS.
Does anyone has an idea of what I'm talking about? Or what it could be? It's driving me crazy. "Powering through it" or "distracting myself" doesn't work. I find it almost impossible to not eat all day long and ruin all of my progress. Nothing seems to help for long. Drinking water helps for like 20-30 mins, than it's back. Munching on low-cal stuff feels the same as eating nothing. I have to spend all my energy on resisting the urge to eat. I can't concentrate on anything for long. Willpower is a limited resource so after a while I have no energy left to resist. Especially when I wake up at night feeling like I'm starving and I am barely awake/conscious and almost instinctively eat hundreds of calories. If it was just about a day, maybe I could power through it by concentrating all of my energy on it. But 3-4 days?
Every few weeks I get a few days (2-4 days or so) that I call bottomless pit days. I feel "ravenous" almost non stop. I put it in quotes because it feels a lot like hunger, but at the same time it can't be true hunger. I don't feel 100% satiated after even a big meal and my stomach starts to growl and contract an hour after eating and I get this spasm-like (almost painful) sensation (I think this is what people refer to as hunger pains) as if I haven't eaten for many hours. Except that I have just eaten! In fact I may still feel food in my stomach and YET, I still feel as I haven't eaten in hours. Even if logically, I realize that it's not true hunger, instinctively it produces a very powerful and almost constant drive to eat. All I think all day is food.
But the thing is, It doesn't matter how many calories I eat (or have eaten the previous days), how much I eat in terms of volume, how many carbs/fat/protein/fiber I eat. In fact I may eat non-stop all day and overshoot my TDEE by a thousand and this sensation will be still there. In fact I realised it can't be true hunger after eating at maintenance (and over occasionally) for several months. This is why I'm convinced that it's not true hunger. After a few days, it just goes away and I'm back to normal: I am satisfied with my meals and last several hours without food easily.
I'm not sure if there's a clear patterns in terms of how often I get these days, I'm only just now starting to track it. But it appears that I get them every 2-3 weeks. I suspect that it might be something hormonal. Though I'm not sure how sex hormones can be the culprit since I'm taking an oral contraceptive that has the same dose or hormones each day and I skip the inactive pills so I'm not supposed to have a natural cycle and my estrogen and progesteron levels are supposed to be stable. Also, the particular brand I'm taking is particularly prescribed against PMS.
Does anyone has an idea of what I'm talking about? Or what it could be? It's driving me crazy. "Powering through it" or "distracting myself" doesn't work. I find it almost impossible to not eat all day long and ruin all of my progress. Nothing seems to help for long. Drinking water helps for like 20-30 mins, than it's back. Munching on low-cal stuff feels the same as eating nothing. I have to spend all my energy on resisting the urge to eat. I can't concentrate on anything for long. Willpower is a limited resource so after a while I have no energy left to resist. Especially when I wake up at night feeling like I'm starving and I am barely awake/conscious and almost instinctively eat hundreds of calories. If it was just about a day, maybe I could power through it by concentrating all of my energy on it. But 3-4 days?
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Replies
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did you just start? How long has this been happening. I think something similar to me happened when I first started, and if I fall off the wagon it happens when I start again, I'd be used to eating fried food and take out and when I stopped and started eating at home I felt hungry even after I just finished dinner!
What low cal stuff are you eating? I found that if I had veggies on hand (carrots and broccoli) to munch on it would help.
Also, it stopped like 2 weeks in once my body adjusted.0 -
I go through the exact same thing. Im not over restricting food, eating enough calories and eating what fits in my macros (i make chocolate ice cream fit!)
I dont have any answers or ideas to improve this, hoping others will be able to help0 -
RachelElser wrote: »did you just start? How long has this been happening. I think something similar to me happened when I first started, and if I fall off the wagon it happens when I start again, I'd be used to eating fried food and take out and when I stopped and started eating at home I felt hungry even after I just finished dinner!
What low cal stuff are you eating? I found that if I had veggies on hand (carrots and broccoli) to munch on it would help.
Also, it stopped like 2 weeks in once my body adjusted.
I've been dieting on and off for many years, so I'm not new to this. Though I don't think I had these days until about 2-3 years ago, but I'm not sure when it started exactly. I like healthy whole home-cooked foods and I'm eating quite healthy even when I'm not trying to restrict my calories intentionally. Veggies is exactly the kind of food that I was talking about. But really like I said, it doesn't really matter what or how much I'm eating - this sensation is almost always there. A big meal would dull it, but only for an hour or so. Snacks don't do much.0 -
I have had something similar, although I never track it. It does seem to happen 1-2 days a month for me.
The only solution I have found is to find things to eat that take time, that I can eat one or two at a time and stretch the intake over hours. For example, I create a snack bag of crackers that is a serving size, and I log the entire serving. But i eat maybe one cracker, wait until hunger is too sharp to ignore and eat another. This will last me until lunch, then i do the same with another snack in the afternoon.
Example: I eat R.W. Garcia sweet-potato crackers at work. A serving is 16 crackers. Between breakfast and lunch I eat 8 of them, spaced out as much as I can. After lunch if I am still hungry I eat the other 8, spaced out. 140 calories spread out over 8 hrs.
This method kept me from overdoing it on calories, since I never stopped feeling hungry. And the slow spacing over time tricked my brain into thinking i was eating and made the hunger abate for a little bit.11 -
Hey Oatbran!
I can't tell from your name or pic if youre someone who would menstrate or not, but I feel this way a few days a months as a result of my natural hormone fluctuation - typically occurring for two-three day before my period starts.8 -
Any time I experience this, I realize I'm within a few days of my TOM. I think many women experience this, at least many of the women I've spoken to. I've even said things before like "I don't know what's going on with me, I'm so hungry even though I've eaten plenty" and the responding question is usually "Are you getting your period?". Good luck!3
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I've had those occasional bottomless pit, hollow leg days, too, and never found a reasonable explanation for them. While I was losing weight, I didn't have an unreasonable or unhealthy deficit, I didn't exclude any of the foods I love, ate a well-balanced diet and I couldn't even blame it on TOM because I was already post-menopausal.
But once I discovered that stuffing myself didn't really make it ease off, I just distracted myself with activity instead. Figured out there was no sense in blowing my calorie budget for the week (lol) if it wasn't even going to fix the "issue."
So, no real insight here, just commiseration.
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I have those days too--even now that I'm on my 3rd hormonal IUD AND continuous dosage birth control pills! It doesn't happen every month, maybe every 6 months or so. I find that basically out of nowhere, I have a couple of days where I must have ALL the food, ALL the time and then a day where I'm exhausted and can hardly keep my head up. Just like all those years ago when I had monthly cycles. I know it technically shouldn't happen, but somehow it does!1
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Do you have days where you're appetite is lower? I have this happen as well. Days where I can't seem to get enough to eat, but I also have days where' I'm just not that hungry. So on days where I'm super ravenous I just feed the beast. This happens whether I'm restricting calories or not. On days like that I could eat a HUGE pile of veggies till I feel stuffed only for it to just "disappear" a few minutes later. I try to employ certain strategies to keep me from going too overboard. Making sure I have enough protein and fat on those days, making sure I'm hydrated, and chewing lots and lots of gum. Sometimes it works, sometimes I just say "screw it" and I'm over my maintenance for the day by 1000+ calories. If it's just a couple days every few weeks, I wouldn't worry about it too much. A few days shouldn't mess up your weight loss too bad. It may just be a little slower then you'd like. I say eat, but try to moderate as best as you can. Maybe track what your macros were the week or a day prior to these hungry spells? There could be something you're lacking that's causing the hunger to go out of whack. Also you mentioned you're on birth control. Even though it levels out you're hormones for the most part, it may not be getting everything. Your body may still be producing it's own hormones that could be causing it. See if it follows a pattern. I've been on birth controls where PMS symptoms still managed to come through. I would turn into a carb hungry ragey cry baby the week before my placebo pills like clock work. I'm on a different one now where this doesn't seem to happen to me anymore.
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ashesfromfire wrote: »Hey Oatbran!
I can't tell from your name or pic if youre someone who would menstrate or not, but I feel this way a few days a months as a result of my natural hormone fluctuation - typically occurring for two-three day before my period starts.Any time I experience this, I realize I'm within a few days of my TOM. I think many women experience this, at least many of the women I've spoken to. I've even said things before like "I don't know what's going on with me, I'm so hungry even though I've eaten plenty" and the responding question is usually "Are you getting your period?". Good luck!
Yes, that's what I thought, too, at first. But like I said, it doesn't make much sense since I don't really have a natural cycle since I'm on stable dose of hormonal contraceptives. I don't even take inactive pills so the dose of hormones I'm receiving every single day is exactly the same. And even if I would count an end of a pack of my oral contraceptives as the end of my "cycle" (which doesn't make sense since I go straight to the next active pill, like I said), even then these days don't correspond to any particular part of my "cycle".0 -
It will most likely come down to hormone inbalance and/or bacteria imbalance.
Your stomach may produce too much of the hormone Ghrelin.
you can read more about it here
https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/1836-hormonal-control-of-digestion
If I may come with one tip: If youre a fast eater (or even a normal eater) slow down your eating speed, chew every bite you take. This may help with your problem.
Try it, it costs you nothing but a little more time when eating.4 -
Any time I experience this, I realize I'm within a few days of my TOM. I think many women experience this, at least many of the women I've spoken to. I've even said things before like "I don't know what's going on with me, I'm so hungry even though I've eaten plenty" and the responding question is usually "Are you getting your period?". Good luck!
Yes, that's what I thought, too, at first. But like I said, it doesn't make much sense since I don't really have a natural cycle since I'm on stable dose of hormonal contraceptives. I don't even take inactive pills so the dose of hormones I'm receiving every single day is exactly the same. And even if I would count an end of a pack of my oral contraceptives as the end of my "cycle" (which doesn't make sense since I go straight to the next active pill, like I said), even then these days don't correspond to any particular part of my "cycle".
I am too. But I still experience it.
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Yep, hormones. I had that even on the pill too. It's enough to undo all my monthly progress unfortunately (small deficit) because I'm just too hungry to function (only carbs seem to make me feel better).
It just really sucks.0 -
ashesfromfire wrote: »Hey Oatbran!
I can't tell from your name or pic if youre someone who would menstrate or not, but I feel this way a few days a months as a result of my natural hormone fluctuation - typically occurring for two-three day before my period starts.Any time I experience this, I realize I'm within a few days of my TOM. I think many women experience this, at least many of the women I've spoken to. I've even said things before like "I don't know what's going on with me, I'm so hungry even though I've eaten plenty" and the responding question is usually "Are you getting your period?". Good luck!
Yes, that's what I thought, too, at first. But like I said, it doesn't make much sense since I don't really have a natural cycle since I'm on stable dose of hormonal contraceptives. I don't even take inactive pills so the dose of hormones I'm receiving every single day is exactly the same. And even if I would count an end of a pack of my oral contraceptives as the end of my "cycle" (which doesn't make sense since I go straight to the next active pill, like I said), even then these days don't correspond to any particular part of my "cycle".
If not for the BC, the timing makes it sound like it's related to your cycle.
I used to take Prometrium, a natural progesterone, for something else and my appetite still went up at ovulation and premenstrually. I don't have enough info about BC to speak knowledgeably about this.
The other thing that occurred to me is maybe your weekly weight loss goal is too aggressive. How much do you want to lose and what weekly weight loss goal did you choose?0 -
even with contraceptives you still have ups and downs of hormones.
i get pms hunger and ovulation hunger. neverending eat boxes of donuts or whole pizza hungers-i don't but i feel like i could1 -
I have those days too--even now that I'm on my 3rd hormonal IUD AND continuous dosage birth control pills! It doesn't happen every month, maybe every 6 months or so. I find that basically out of nowhere, I have a couple of days where I must have ALL the food, ALL the time and then a day where I'm exhausted and can hardly keep my head up. Just like all those years ago when I had monthly cycles. I know it technically shouldn't happen, but somehow it does!I am too. But I still experience it.kshama2001 wrote: »If not for the BC, the timing makes it sound like it's related to your cycle.
I used to take Prometrium, a natural progesterone, for something else and my appetite still went up at ovulation and premenstrually. I don't have enough info about BC to speak knowledgeably about this.
The other thing that occurred to me is maybe your weekly weight loss goal is too aggressive. How much do you want to lose and what weekly weight loss goal did you choose?Yep, hormones. I had that even on the pill too. It's enough to undo all my monthly progress unfortunately (small deficit) because I'm just too hungry to function (only carbs seem to make me feel better).
It just really sucks.Crafty_camper123 wrote: »Do you have days where you're appetite is lower? I have this happen as well. Days where I can't seem to get enough to eat, but I also have days where' I'm just not that hungry. So on days where I'm super ravenous I just feed the beast. This happens whether I'm restricting calories or not. On days like that I could eat a HUGE pile of veggies till I feel stuffed only for it to just "disappear" a few minutes later. I try to employ certain strategies to keep me from going too overboard. Making sure I have enough protein and fat on those days, making sure I'm hydrated, and chewing lots and lots of gum. Sometimes it works, sometimes I just say "screw it" and I'm over my maintenance for the day by 1000+ calories. If it's just a couple days every few weeks, I wouldn't worry about it too much. A few days shouldn't mess up your weight loss too bad. It may just be a little slower then you'd like. I say eat, but try to moderate as best as you can. Maybe track what your macros were the week or a day prior to these hungry spells? There could be something you're lacking that's causing the hunger to go out of whack. Also you mentioned you're on birth control. Even though it levels out you're hormones for the most part, it may not be getting everything. Your body may still be producing it's own hormones that could be causing it. See if it follows a pattern. I've been on birth controls where PMS symptoms still managed to come through. I would turn into a carb hungry ragey cry baby the week before my placebo pills like clock work. I'm on a different one now where this doesn't seem to happen to me anymore.
Ugh, I was suspecting that I may still experience hormonal fluctuations even on BC but thought that it wasn't logical. Seems like it may be actually the cause. If it's that, it's good to know the cause. But it still sucks to not be able to do anything about it.
I'm in an upper normal - lower overweight weight range and currently try to maintain a small deficit (I'm very active - so I get to eat a lot!). It seems like anything more than 300-400 cals a day leads to me being to hungry after a while - this time it's true hunger though. But the downside is that a couple of days of overeating by 1000+ calories and all of my progress is ruined. If it weren't for these ravenous days I probably would have reached my goal a long time ago.
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Are you exercising? Is there anything in your exercise routine that could be triggering the extra hunger?
And if water helps, drink more, and experiment to see if you can find a ratio that works to buy you time between scheduled meals/snacks. I find that drinking water all at once--16 oz or so--buys me a lot of time before hunger starts up again. Maybe it won't work for you but it could be worth trying.0 -
Are you exercising? Is there anything in your exercise routine that could be triggering the extra hunger?
And if water helps, drink more, and experiment to see if you can find a ratio that works to buy you time between scheduled meals/snacks. I find that drinking water all at once--16 oz or so--buys me a lot of time before hunger starts up again. Maybe it won't work for you but it could be worth trying.
Thank you for your reply ! I am very active due to my jobs and exercise on less active days. Exercise does tend to make me hungrier, but it's leads to a increase in regular (true) hunger, not the bottomless pit kind I was talking about. I didn't notice any correlation between my exercise levels/routine and these days I am referring to.
Drinking a lot of water (I usually go for 16oz as well) does help - on regular days. On bottomless pit days, 20 mins later and I am starving again. Thanks for your advice anyway, I appreciate it!0 -
Same issue for me, snacking and eating doesn't help at all so I just eat as normal and struggle through the feeling. I have found a regular patten for mine so I ensure I have only got my least favourite foods around and the fridge/ cupboard is almost empty then when I'm sorted again I go shopping! Helps keep temptation out of the way!2
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I pretty much gave up battling these days. I get them around ovulation and before period. I call it hormonal hunger. I just eat slightly less the rest of the month to make up for these days and usually have my calories planned monthly not weekly for this reason. I give myself 1000 extra calories on these days, and even that doesn't feel like enough sometimes because of that drive to eat.
I have noticed that I do better with several meals a day on those days, as often as every 2 hours. It doesn't always work, but it works better on average than my usual meal schedule of spontaneous IF, which oddly enough keeps me full better on non-hormonal days. If I don't allow myself to get to the point of hunger (however slight), I tend to have less of it. Even slightest bit of hunger at the beginning of these days can snowball into a vicious cycle. Actually, I find eating more frequent meals in the second half of my cycle overall better for my satiety (3-5 vs 1-3), not just the bottomless pit days. During the first half of my cycle, spacing meals out and skipping works better for me where I'm generally less hungry, and when hunger happens, it's just something I can easily ignore in favor of larger satisfying meals sometimes.5
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