Sleep deprivation and fatigue

ChubbyRose84

Sometimes when I'm woken up by my kids too early, or I'm sleep deprived, I get hunger pangs.

It breaks my fast and I always eat something bad.

Any ideas on a better way to deal with it?

RAinWA

I use coffee - lots and lots of coffee.

I get super hungry when I haven't had enough sleep (which is happening a lot lately) and it's a bear to get through sometimes. I try to keep some snacks on hand that aren't going to break my calorie bank and log them before I eat them. I try to stay away from carby snacks at those times because they tend to make me sleepier. Hard boiled eggs, cheese, steamed veggies, etc.

Fursian

Sounds like habit and or a go-to for stress. When you are in these modes it is difficult to get your awake brain to behave in the same "well slept, unstressed, happy manner".

I'm leaning more and more to pre-prepared food, something light in calorie that you've made prior to the "incident" that triggers you. If it really is hunger, this should suffice. there is a few low cal foods you can grab and prepare, the beauty of the online gen.

Make sure you're getting adequate daily calories and nutrition first and foremost.

peggy_polenta

there are lots of articles about this. but basically: "when we’re tired, higher levels of grehlin – also known as the hunger hormone – is released, while leptin – the hormone that tells us when we’re satisfied – is lowered." so now that you know why, maybe you can just learn to ignore it.

veganbaum

Sounds like you might be doing intermittent fasting. If so, maybe that's not the best fit for you? There's nothing wrong with eating breakfast if you're hungry. Maybe you just need to have a plan for what you'll eat for breakfast when you find yourself in those hungry situations and stick to those plans.

Wetcoaster

ChubbyRose84 wrote: »

Sometimes when I'm woken up by my kids too early, or I'm sleep deprived, I get hunger pangs.

It breaks my fast and I always eat something bad.

Any ideas on a better way to deal with it?

Eat something good?

Explain bad...

pinksunnyrose

It’s 2am here and I just had 15 cherries. I have nights where I can’t sleep here and there and the late night snacking hasn’t had an effect on my progress at all.

PAV8888

Effect, there is. Insurmountable, it isn't.

Recognize and react: get the sleep you need as you are likely to continue over eating till you do so, or till you get your second wind.

Deploy damage limiting arsenal: your collection of zero or low calorie drinks and zero and low calorie "goodies", foods, and veggies that you normally use to create more filling yet lower calorie meals. Now is the time to use your tricks!

kshama2001

Wetcoaster wrote: »

ChubbyRose84 wrote: »

Sometimes when I'm woken up by my kids too early, or I'm sleep deprived, I get hunger pangs.

It breaks my fast and I always eat something bad.

Any ideas on a better way to deal with it?

Eat something good?

Explain bad...

I'm not the OP but do have cravings for high calorie / low nutrient food when I'm sleep deprived.

This doesn't happen too often as I work really hard at my sleep hygiene and don't have kids, so my strategies are all on the preventing sleep deprivation side rather than what to do when it happens.

ChubbyRose84

I can't always help my sleep deprivation when it happens as my kids are autistic and wake up super early, no matter what.

I will see if I can't push the hunger away with tea or miso soup next time.

siobhanaoife

Caffeine. Oddly, salt helps me in this situation - a salty cup of broth, for example. For when my hindbrain cries out too insistently for baked goods, Trader Joe's makes a muffin (well, sort of muffin), called a "blueberry mini fiber cake", which is essentially a muffin that's almost all fiber. I eat one with a big cup of coffee and it's enough like a normal muffin, plus enough of a gut bomb, to fill me up for a while.