In Need of Help Reprogramming my Stomach/Brain

Grace4Peace

I used to be (up until 5 days ago) a serial night snacker. It was nothing for me to eat a couple thousand calories after my family had gone to bed. I've quit doing that since starting MFP but now I'm struggling with hunger pains.

I know that I am not hungry because I'm hitting my calorie limit and eating a lot of protein. I generally feel full all day, except for when it gets close to meal time. I don't even wake up hungry. Yet, right now my stomach and/or my brain are telling me to go raid that kitchen and stuff my face! I'm able to hold it off for now, but I want to get ahead of this for the days when my resolve isn't as strong.

Does anyone have any advice on how to beat this or get through it or is this something I'm going to have to ride out until my body adjusts? (I hope not!)

Thank you in advance!

bmeadows380

Congratulations on learning the difference between hunger and head hunger! That was one of the biggest challenges I faced - learning when my body was truly hungry and when it was just my brain driving me to eat even though my tummy was quite content.

I'm an evening snacker, too, and I've learned to save as many calories as I can for evening. Before I started exercising, I would often try to skip breakfast or keep it really low and even now, while I need to have a morning meal now to fuel the exercise, I still keep it low. I found that if I push breakfast off as late as I can, I don't really feel hungry again until the afternoon, and can get by with a lighter lunch, which in turns leaves me a big chunk of my calories for evening when my will power is the lowest.

I'm single, so its easy for me to control whats in my cabinets and fridge; that's a lot trickier when someone else lives with you. I found that some things I just can't keep - chips, nuts, marshmallows, apparently.....If I know they are there and the package is opened, I'm going to have a hard time staying out of it. Some things are easier if I buy individual portion sizes - I can limit myself to one package and that's enough.

I also try to keep lower calorie snacks that I can enjoy. Fruit, cheese sticks, lunch meat - 2 oz of deli turkey is around 60 calories and 12g of protein. I've been using low calorie bread - Heiner's 35 is 35 calories per slice, and 1/4 serving of peanut butter is usually 45 calories, so I can have peanut butter on toast for 80 calories when its something carb that my body wants (sometimes I need something bready to satisfy my craving; fruit, protein, fats just don't cut it).

Are you sedentary or getting in some light activity? One thing that I've found is that activity does blunt the head hunger down for a while. I've been doing cardio at lunch time, and even if I'm a little hungry before I start, by the time I'm finished 30 minutes later, that hunger is usually gone, and I can go another hour or two before eating lunch. If you aren't doing anything now but are able, look for something you can do lightly and slowly build up. A walk around the block? A couple trips up and down the stairs? Or just looking to increase your daily step count?


If it gets really bad, look at your goals. If you are going for an aggressive deficit say 2 lbs/wk, try knocking it down to 1.5 lbs or 1 lb a week to gain back some extra calories. A slower deficit but achieving your goals in the long run is better than a quicker deficit but burning out.

conniewilkins56

I hoard my calories like a miser!...I usually have coffee for breakfast and occasionally some fruit or a slice of thin toast with a tsp of real butter on it...I stay up very late so I usually sleep until 9:30 or 10:00 in the mornings...my husband of 44 years is an early riser so mornings are his alone time and late nights are mine...we are retired and do not have a fixed schedule...if we stay at home for lunch ( like we have the last 5 weeks) we usually have a small chef salad,sandwiches made with lean meats or egg salad or tuna salad or a lean cusine lunch entre...afternoon snack for me is Chobani Flips yogurt,roasted almonds or string cheese and some berries or melon...dinner is our main meal and we have 3 to 4 oz of protein, a salad with light dressing or a cup of light soup, a vegetable and a potatoe or rice or pasta...I ALWAYS have a snack at 8:30 p.m. that is a couple of hundred calories...tonight I had an apple (6 oz), 24 teddy grahams and a T of peanut butter..sometimes I have popcorn or a couple of pudding cups or Nature Valley granola bars, or light hot chocolate and a Fiber Brownie bar..after that I only have water or tea...

If I only ate when I was hungry, I wouldn’t be overweight!...I am a binge eater so I have to control my urges to eat...trying to figure out what triggers a binge is very hard to do...

I do not do specific exercises but I move around a lot, park way out in the parking lot at stores and do tons of food prepping and cooking and keeping the house clean, laundry,etc...

Good luck on your journey!

bobsburgersfan

Since you described yourself as a "serial snacker" I'm thinking it has a lot more to do with habit, and unfortunately "riding it out" is sometimes the best way to break a bad habit. Of course, that's much easier said than done. One thing that works for me is to find something to keep busy - a hobby, a cleaning project, anything to basically distract me from the fake hunger.

Sometimes the snacking is a situational habit, like it's a habit to snack when I watch TV. If I plan to still watch TV, I'll sometimes make rules for myself about what I'm allowed to snack on, like I might tell myself an apple is my only snack option. Or sometimes I'll set time goals, like I won't eat anything for 20 minutes. And once I get through that, I'll add another 10 minutes, and so on.

It's maybe just the way you worded it but when I want to eat and it's not true hunger, I don't feel "hunger pains", like you said. It's 100% in my brain and I just have a strong desire to eat, usually sweets and fattening stuff. I think of hunger pains as the evidence of actual, true hunger. So if you're feeling actual hunger pain in your stomach, you might legitimately be hungry, and then you should definitely try to move around your calories like the others suggested!

NovusDies

How long can you wait before you eat your first meal of the day?
How late can you eat your last meal of the day?
Can you add more lower calorie vegetables to your last meal to bump up the fullness factor?
Can you add more fiber in general to your day?
What can you do to make unwanted snacking harder to do?
Do you log before you eat?
Is the food sitting out advertising itself to you all day? If so, that should change.
Is there something you can do to change your nightly routine so that it breaks the possibility that one habit doesn't trigger another?

conniewilkins56

NovusDies wrote: »

How long can you wait before you eat your first meal of the day?
How late can you eat your last meal of the day?
Can you add more lower calorie vegetables to your last meal to bump up the fullness factor?
Can you add more fiber in general to your day?
What can you do to make unwanted snacking harder to do?
Do you log before you eat?
Is the food sitting out advertising itself to you all day? If so, that should change.
Is there something you can do to change your nightly routine so that it breaks the possibility that one habit doesn't trigger another?

These are all great ideas and strategies for me to use, too!

papayahed

A friend of mine will brush her teeth and mouthwash after her last meal/snack of the day as kind of a signal that the store is closed. Perhaps you could try that as a "new" habit. I've never tried it but it works for my friend.

conniewilkins56

bmeadows380 wrote: »

Congratulations on learning the difference between hunger and head hunger! That was one of the biggest challenges I faced - learning when my body was truly hungry and when it was just my brain driving me to eat even though my tummy was quite content.

I'm an evening snacker, too, and I've learned to save as many calories as I can for evening. Before I started exercising, I would often try to skip breakfast or keep it really low and even now, while I need to have a morning meal now to fuel the exercise, I still keep it low. I found that if I push breakfast off as late as I can, I don't really feel hungry again until the afternoon, and can get by with a lighter lunch, which in turns leaves me a big chunk of my calories for evening when my will power is the lowest.

I'm single, so its easy for me to control whats in my cabinets and fridge; that's a lot trickier when someone else lives with you. I found that some things I just can't keep - chips, nuts, marshmallows, apparently.....If I know they are there and the package is opened, I'm going to have a hard time staying out of it. Some things are easier if I buy individual portion sizes - I can limit myself to one package and that's enough.

I also try to keep lower calorie snacks that I can enjoy. Fruit, cheese sticks, lunch meat - 2 oz of deli turkey is around 60 calories and 12g of protein. I've been using low calorie bread - Heiner's 35 is 35 calories per slice, and 1/4 serving of peanut butter is usually 45 calories, so I can have peanut butter on toast for 80 calories when its something carb that my body wants (sometimes I need something bready to satisfy my craving; fruit, protein, fats just don't cut it).

Are you sedentary or getting in some light activity? One thing that I've found is that activity does blunt the head hunger down for a while. I've been doing cardio at lunch time, and even if I'm a little hungry before I start, by the time I'm finished 30 minutes later, that hunger is usually gone, and I can go another hour or two before eating lunch. If you aren't doing anything now but are able, look for something you can do lightly and slowly build up. A walk around the block? A couple trips up and down the stairs? Or just looking to increase your daily step count?


If it gets really bad, look at your goals. If you are going for an aggressive deficit say 2 lbs/wk, try knocking it down to 1.5 lbs or 1 lb a week to gain back some extra calories. A slower deficit but achieving your goals in the long run is better than a quicker deficit but burning out.

I think this is a great post for “ snickers”... there are quite a few good ideas in this thread....please read and comment some feedback!...we can all use a good healthy snack...what are your favorite “ go to” snacks!

conniewilkins56

Not snickers lol. SNACKERS but a snickers does sound good!

joone_9

Yes I’m glad I read this thread. Maybe we should make a new conversation to capture snack ideas. I always have to save loads of cals for nighttime snacking. It’s a bad habit I can’t seem to break so rather then let it interfere with goals I plan ahead and work it in. I just wish I could be a bit more healthy as most of my snacks are unhealthy ones in the evening so healthy or different ideas are welcomed! I also find making and drinking tea in the evening helps when I don’t want to go over cals and feel like snacking.

FitByFifty1970

I wasn't a snacker but during covid at home I got into the habit of snacking in the afternoon, chips and salsa was a big one. Plus I now live with my boyfriend and he eats a large dinner and is the primary cook so I was eating way too much. He is a huge nighttime snacker and recently cut it out, frankly it was just will power for the most part but right after dinner he eats a square of a special dark hershey candy bar. I personally pre-log most of my food leaving space for unplanned items. I now snack on pickles - gherkins (sweet and regular), and regular dill pickles, I keep the mini Kind bars (90 calories) and tons of flavored rice cakes (usually 50 calories), we both love those. I recently rediscovered laughing cow cheese wedges (around 50 calories) and I put it on wheat thins or melba toast. We also snack on flavored tuna pouches (usually 90 calories). Hope these are good ideas.

conniewilkins56

I love the Fiber One brownies!....love string cheese and Ol Wisconsin meat stir with Trisquits...I drink way too many Diet Pepsi!

88olds

I eat snacks, all planned. Pretty much on schedule. If find delay to be useful. It’s not that I have to “just say no,” all I have to do is wait. I even started making my own “cookies.” About 60 calories held back until just before bed. I did this because I found not having anything available too stressful just before bedtime. A lot of nights I skip that last snack. But its there if I want it.

I put the quotes around cookies because they are just overripe banana and quick oats. If I gave one to my grandma and said it was a cookie she’d fall on the floor laughing.