Meal help!

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mistress8956
mistress8956 Posts: 265 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Between 7pm and 10pm I always find myself craving food! I leave myself enough calorie room for a snack if the cravings get bad but I rather avoide it if I could! I don't eat breakfast ( just not hungry or a morning person and I've tried forcing myself but it seems like needless calories) usually have salad n veggies for lunch so dinners my largest meal and filling...so why am I hungry again?!

Replies

  • Whyareyoumad
    Whyareyoumad Posts: 268 Member
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    You may not be eating enough. Breakfast is a very important part of the day, gets your metabolism going. For snack at the time you mentioned, why not yogurt, almonds, carrot sticks, celery, frozen yogurt, etc? Why just a salad for lunch?
  • coloprincess16
    coloprincess16 Posts: 24
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    Literally use to be the same way..about half my calories were from being hungry at night. Drink seltzer water with no sodium (I usually try to find one of the sweeter tasting ones) and it fills you up without the calories...also helps with water intake!
  • Nikoruo
    Nikoruo Posts: 771 Member
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    When changing your life style you really have to get down to your eating habits. eating 2 maybe three meals a day is definitely not the way to go! What you should really be doing is eating about 5 small 200 or less snacks a day and 3 bigger meals of 300 calories or less. Eating about every 2 hours if you can. Making sure to have plenty of water with each meal! It's tough at first but it keeps your body active and alert. Once it gets use to the constant intake of food you don't feel hungry anymore and don't need snacks. What's better is that if you go along with this you should have enough food right up to about an hour or two before you go to bed which means there is no room for snacking time. Having all your food at the end of the day sets you up for failure. It makes you hungry after, even though you've eaten a lot, because your body knows that it's not going to get something good for nearly another 24 hours. So i say to start there. Eat less at dinner and spread out the food all throughout the day. Consistently snacking (while calculating what you are eating!) is actually a much better road to go. Even if you aren't hungry in the morning. Sometimes it can take months to get used to a new thing.

    Think of it this way... your body went from dinner at say... 6-7pm and then you don't let it snack and you sleep for like 8 hours. You then miss breakfest and morning snack and skip right to lunch. That's a whopping approximately 18hours without any real food in your body for your body to get nutrients from! it's madness i say! lol
  • mistress8956
    mistress8956 Posts: 265 Member
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    I tryed out the breakfast thing for about 2 months the most I could manage was 300 cal max. But it didn't make a difrence in my weight loss (comparing eating breakfast to not) and at night I still wanted to snack but was out of calories :( so I cut out breakfast in favor of snack. But I'm really trying to cut that out because I end up having 80% of my calories in the evening which I'm told is a bad thing. I get free lunch at work but the choices r limited, and salads usually the most appealing ( I work in a school cafateria) I just wonder is it 'mental' like my subconscience wants sugar or is my body actuly needing somthing
  • mistress8956
    mistress8956 Posts: 265 Member
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    Nikoruo lol it makes sense when u say it like that! I'm allowed 1340 calories a day and damnit I'm hungry
  • Nikoruo
    Nikoruo Posts: 771 Member
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    haha it's all down to your mind. LIke i said. at the very very max your big meals should be 300 calories and your snacks around 200 calories. You have to figure out the exact numbers from there. It changes depending on what this site gives you as your daily required intake and after exercise.

    Don't forget, Rome wasn't built in a day and you will not be perfect at sorting our your eating habits that fast either. Experiment for a couple of weeks at a time. Higher intake, lower intake, more often, less often, at certain times etc. It takes a bit to get to know yourself. That's really what it comes down to. Getting to know yourself and your body :)
  • rogerou812
    rogerou812 Posts: 6
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    Eat your breakfast its the most important meal as we all have heard even a banana you will get used to it that's what I did wrong for too long now my Metabolism boots up as it should everyday
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    haha it's all down to your mind. LIke i said. at the very very max your big meals should be 300 calories and your snacks around 200 calories. You have to figure out the exact numbers from there. It changes depending on what this site gives you as your daily required intake and after exercise.

    Total broscience. Your body doesn't care when you eat or how many calories you eat at a certain time. If you have a 1500 calorie budget you can eat 3 500 calorie meals, 2 750 calorie meals, 5 300 calorie meals or eat the whole 1500 calories right before bed. It won't make any difference to your weight loss.

    A lot of people are just in the habit of eating in the evening while watching TV. It's just a habit. If you've eaten a decent amount during the day then it's a want not a need to eat. Retrain your brain by scheduling some exercise or if you absolutely feel the need to eat then save back enough calories for a snack like popcorn that is low calorie but has volume.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,752 Member
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    When changing your life style you really have to get down to your eating habits. eating 2 maybe three meals a day is definitely not the way to go! What you should really be doing is eating about 5 small 200 or less snacks a day and 3 bigger meals of 300 calories or less. Eating about every 2 hours if you can. Making sure to have plenty of water with each meal! It's tough at first but it keeps your body active and alert. Once it gets use to the constant intake of food you don't feel hungry anymore and don't need snacks. What's better is that if you go along with this you should have enough food right up to about an hour or two before you go to bed which means there is no room for snacking time. Having all your food at the end of the day sets you up for failure. It makes you hungry after, even though you've eaten a lot, because your body knows that it's not going to get something good for nearly another 24 hours. So i say to start there. Eat less at dinner and spread out the food all throughout the day. Consistently snacking (while calculating what you are eating!) is actually a much better road to go. Even if you aren't hungry in the morning. Sometimes it can take months to get used to a new thing.

    Think of it this way... your body went from dinner at say... 6-7pm and then you don't let it snack and you sleep for like 8 hours. You then miss breakfest and morning snack and skip right to lunch. That's a whopping approximately 18hours without any real food in your body for your body to get nutrients from! it's madness i say! lol

    I disagree.....i'm much more satisfied eating 3 larger meals a day than I ever was eating 6-7 meals a day. eating constantly isn't any better for your metabolism. i'd start with a decent breakfast - include plenty of fat and protein - you'll probably find having a big breakfast will keep you more satisfied throughout the day. drinking a lot with a meal may not be beneficial, it may make your digestion less effective. drink between meals, and get plenty of water.

    if you're not used to eating breakfast, it may take some time to get used to. keep at it though - you'll likely find that after a while your body will wake up hungry and you'll be able to fit in a proper meal. make a full sized meal, eat evenly around the plate, eat as much as you can then save the rest til later if you can't finish it.

    are you bored at night? perhaps you're more used to the action of putting food in your mouth than actually needing the food. i'd try and find something better to do and keep your mind occupied.

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