Buttomless pit days
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O yes. I know this feeling. I normally get it for about a day a month, but sometimes it's worse, sometimes better. It is the reason that sometimes I'll finish the day upwards of 1500kcal over, feeling sick because I'm overfull, and yet I still want to continue eating.
I've always put it down to hormones.
I normally cope by munching on a whole iceberg lettuce until it's time to eat properly. It doesn't stay it on bad days, but on most days it keeps me distracted long enough until the next meal.1 -
I actually just had this happen recently...I felt like I was craving something specific but I didn't know what it was, and I wanted to eat everything I could to see if it would satisfy that craving.
I found that tea with honey helped me, instead of sugar or sweetener. I'm not opposed to sugar or sweetener, in fact I use both regularly, but on days where I have a constant grumbly tummy the honey seems more satisfying.
Another thing that helped was finding something time consuming to eat (I think another comment mentions it also). I like to get the steamfresh edamame in the pod, toss in a little kosher salt, and eat it after I open each pod (my mom likes to open all the pods first into a bowl then sit down and eat, but I found I can eat a lot very quickly, defeating the purpose). I've also carefully portioned pistachios in the shell, so I have to work on opening the shell to get the nut out (same with walnuts/almonds in the shell).0 -
This happens to me as well, but it seems to be on a 6-8 week cycle. The hunger is so intense and so strange. It even seems to get worse after I eat a meal sometimes! I suspect maybe my body is craving some specific nutrient, but I haven't been able to pinpoint it yet. Drinking water or eating lots of veggies just results in me having a bloated tummy that still demands to be fed. Every once in a while I seem to hit upon whatever it is my body wants and then it gets quiet again. Sadly, this is usually something from the vending machine at work!2
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Happens to me too, seemingly at random (am on hormonal BC). I've had luck combating the bottomless pit feeling by eating a large, high-fat/high-protein lunch with some simple carbs. So I'll get some fried chicken and french fries or a burger and just go to town, maybe adding a milkshake or some other high-calorie dessert. Often the calorie count is around 1100-1800 total. Afterwords, I finally feel satisfied and often don't eat much more than a salad or a small sandwich and some fruit for dinner, and I don't tend to feel as hungry in the following days. I make up for the extra calories by making sure to get in extra steps/workouts afterwords when I no longer feel ravenous.1
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Happens to me too, seemingly at random (am on hormonal BC). I've had luck combating the bottomless pit feeling by eating a large, high-fat/high-protein lunch with some simple carbs. So I'll get some fried chicken and french fries or a burger and just go to town, maybe adding a milkshake or some other high-calorie dessert. Often the calorie count is around 1100-1800 total. Afterwords, I finally feel satisfied and often don't eat much more than a salad or a small sandwich and some fruit for dinner, and I don't tend to feel as hungry in the following days. I make up for the extra calories by making sure to get in extra steps/workouts afterwords when I no longer feel ravenous.
Interesting you would mention burger and fries. It's also one of my go-to meals when I'm very hungry. I don't do salad for dinner, but I do fare better when I have a typical 1000+ calorie lunch that is high in carbs. Since I give myself extra calories, like I said earlier, my allowance tends to be close to 3000 calories so I can afford a burger meal without having to be frugal with my other meals.0 -
Don't be so quick to put this back on hormones - as crazy as those are, they aren't the root of every problem!
I encounter this too - altho I'm not sure I would use the word "cycle" to describe it. I have been tracking different types of foods that I've been eating, and I've actually found that mine is triggered rather than cyclic. For me, it seems to last until I cut refined sugar out of breakfast and morning snack. As soon as I forget and grab a cookie or donut at coffee time (and who doesn't have those in the office!) the feeling comes back. I can eat until I feel like I"m going to throw up
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awesomek001 wrote: »Don't be so quick to put this back on hormones - as crazy as those are, they aren't the root of every problem!
I encounter this too - altho I'm not sure I would use the word "cycle" to describe it. I have been tracking different types of foods that I've been eating, and I've actually found that mine is triggered rather than cyclic. For me, it seems to last until I cut refined sugar out of breakfast and morning snack. As soon as I forget and grab a cookie or donut at coffee time (and who doesn't have those in the office!) the feeling comes back. I can eat until I feel like I"m going to throw up
Yes, this does happen to me too when I am high on carbs (and fat) and low on protein.
OP you did say that macros don't matter, but perhaps you should look at exactly how much protein you are having? For example, you may think you are good with 20% protein, but perhaps your actual sweet spot is 30%.1 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »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.
Thank you! These are all very helpful tips. Monthly calorie planning sounds like an interesting idea! I'm going to see if I can do the same. It should be definitely less scary to overeat by a 1000cals if I know that I don't have to make up for all of it the same week!
Yeah, I think I need to experiment more with different eating schedules for these days. I am too attached psychologically to my habits. I'm so used to eat 4 400-500 meals every four hours or so. Generally I'm not satisfied with smaller meals. But maybe eating smaller meals is a way to go for these days? Or I may try what another person has suggested and try having a huge lunch and see if it manages to hit the spot and keep me full longer. I'll experiment more. I mean, I'm pretty sure I will still feel hungry but maybe it'll make things more tolerable.0 -
O yes. I know this feeling. I normally get it for about a day a month, but sometimes it's worse, sometimes better. It is the reason that sometimes I'll finish the day upwards of 1500kcal over, feeling sick because I'm overfull, and yet I still want to continue eating.
I've always put it down to hormones.
I normally cope by munching on a whole iceberg lettuce until it's time to eat properly. It doesn't stay it on bad days, but on most days it keeps me distracted long enough until the next meal.buffinlovin wrote: »I actually just had this happen recently...I felt like I was craving something specific but I didn't know what it was, and I wanted to eat everything I could to see if it would satisfy that craving.
I found that tea with honey helped me, instead of sugar or sweetener. I'm not opposed to sugar or sweetener, in fact I use both regularly, but on days where I have a constant grumbly tummy the honey seems more satisfying.
Another thing that helped was finding something time consuming to eat (I think another comment mentions it also). I like to get the steamfresh edamame in the pod, toss in a little kosher salt, and eat it after I open each pod (my mom likes to open all the pods first into a bowl then sit down and eat, but I found I can eat a lot very quickly, defeating the purpose). I've also carefully portioned pistachios in the shell, so I have to work on opening the shell to get the nut out (same with walnuts/almonds in the shell).
Thanks for the tips! I especially like the iceberg lettuce idea. I mean, I'm sure it'll do nothing for the "hunger", but keeping my mouth and hands occupied may help to distract myself for a while. And it's so little on calories that it's ok.0 -
O yes. I know this feeling. I normally get it for about a day a month, but sometimes it's worse, sometimes better. It is the reason that sometimes I'll finish the day upwards of 1500kcal over, feeling sick because I'm overfull, and yet I still want to continue eating.
I've always put it down to hormones.
I normally cope by munching on a whole iceberg lettuce until it's time to eat properly. It doesn't stay it on bad days, but on most days it keeps me distracted long enough until the next meal.buffinlovin wrote: »I actually just had this happen recently...I felt like I was craving something specific but I didn't know what it was, and I wanted to eat everything I could to see if it would satisfy that craving.
I found that tea with honey helped me, instead of sugar or sweetener. I'm not opposed to sugar or sweetener, in fact I use both regularly, but on days where I have a constant grumbly tummy the honey seems more satisfying.
Another thing that helped was finding something time consuming to eat (I think another comment mentions it also). I like to get the steamfresh edamame in the pod, toss in a little kosher salt, and eat it after I open each pod (my mom likes to open all the pods first into a bowl then sit down and eat, but I found I can eat a lot very quickly, defeating the purpose). I've also carefully portioned pistachios in the shell, so I have to work on opening the shell to get the nut out (same with walnuts/almonds in the shell).
Thanks for the tips! I especially like the iceberg lettuce idea. I mean, I'm sure it'll do nothing for the "hunger", but keeping my mouth and hands occupied may help to distract myself for a while. And it's so little on calories that it's ok.
My meals aren't exactly "small". My allowance is about 1500 calories, this makes up for a total of 2500 calories plus exercise, enough to have 5 reasonable meals or 4 with one extra large meal for lunch. As for how I save calories, I have a period of about a week a month where I'm not very hungry. During this week I just don't eat back exercise calories, which results in 2000 extra calories saved. I also calculate my loss for the month for a 4 week interval, not the full 30 days, so that leaves me with 2 more days of being able to eat at maintenance for a total of 4 higher than average days a month.2 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »
My meals aren't exactly "small". My allowance is about 1500 calories, this makes up for a total of 2500 calories plus exercise, enough to have 5 reasonable meals or 4 with one extra large meal for lunch. As for how I save calories, I have a period of about a week a month where I'm not very hungry. During this week I just don't eat back exercise calories, which results in 2000 extra calories saved. I also calculate my loss for the month for a 4 week interval, not the full 30 days, so that leaves me with 2 more days of being able to eat at maintenance for a total of 4 higher than average days a month.
Thanks for a detailed explanation! It's very helpful! Do you have an idea of what your daily deficit is on these different periods each month? My activity level varies drastically from day to day basis so I find it easier to calculate my deficit daily using my fitbit TDEE estimates (which appear to be very accurate). It seems like I have to be careful to have a deficit that is too high for even a day or it leads to increased hunger over the next few days (I'm not sure about my exact maximum number, but it seems that anything higher than 400 is dangerous). I'm pretty close to my goal weight so it's understandable. I'm a bit cautious about "banking" calories for that reason.0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »
My meals aren't exactly "small". My allowance is about 1500 calories, this makes up for a total of 2500 calories plus exercise, enough to have 5 reasonable meals or 4 with one extra large meal for lunch. As for how I save calories, I have a period of about a week a month where I'm not very hungry. During this week I just don't eat back exercise calories, which results in 2000 extra calories saved. I also calculate my loss for the month for a 4 week interval, not the full 30 days, so that leaves me with 2 more days of being able to eat at maintenance for a total of 4 higher than average days a month.
Thanks for a detailed explanation! It's very helpful! Do you have an idea of what your daily deficit is on these different periods each month? My activity level varies drastically from day to day basis so I find it easier to calculate my deficit daily using my fitbit TDEE estimates (which appear to be very accurate). It seems like I have to be careful to have a deficit that is too high for even a day or it leads to increased hunger over the next few days (I'm not sure about my exact maximum number, but it seems that anything higher than 400 is dangerous). I'm pretty close to my goal weight so it's understandable. I'm a bit cautious about "banking" calories for that reason.
I calculate my activity with fitbit daily too, but it averages out to about 300 calories. My deficit also varies as I carry a "random bank" of calories too. I start my monthly excel sheet with the week I'm usually less hungry, accumulate about 2000 calories in that week and set them aside.
My usual deficit for these days is about 800 calories. After that I just eat to hunger, eating less on less hungry days and banking the calories and eating more on more hungry days and using up the banked calories. I can distinctly tell a normal hungry day from a "bottomless pit" day, so I only use my set aside calories when I encounter those, which for me happen around ovulation and before period about 90% of the time give or take a day.
My usual deficit for the weeks I'm just plugging along averages around 500 calories, and my deficit on weeks where I have those days averages around 200 something calories. During any given month, my average deficit is between 200-500 because some months have celebrations and going out so I give myself more eating leeway. Sometimes I choose to maintain for a while, in which case my deficit is more or less nonexistent for anywhere from a week to a few months.
I'm obese, though, so your acceptable numbers may be a percentage mine.1 -
I get that one or 2 days per month, usually right around the beginning of my period. I try to keep myself busy to keep my mind off of it.1
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Mouse_Potato wrote: »This happens to me as well, but it seems to be on a 6-8 week cycle. The hunger is so intense and so strange. It even seems to get worse after I eat a meal sometimes! I suspect maybe my body is craving some specific nutrient, but I haven't been able to pinpoint it yet. Drinking water or eating lots of veggies just results in me having a bloated tummy that still demands to be fed. Every once in a while I seem to hit upon whatever it is my body wants and then it gets quiet again. Sadly, this is usually something from the vending machine at work!
Yes, exactly! Eating often doesn't help at all on these days and especially eating high volumes of low cal foods only makes me feel bloated. It's sooo frustrating! But it's nice to know I'm not alone with this!awesomek001 wrote: »Don't be so quick to put this back on hormones - as crazy as those are, they aren't the root of every problem!
I encounter this too - altho I'm not sure I would use the word "cycle" to describe it. I have been tracking different types of foods that I've been eating, and I've actually found that mine is triggered rather than cyclic. For me, it seems to last until I cut refined sugar out of breakfast and morning snack. As soon as I forget and grab a cookie or donut at coffee time (and who doesn't have those in the office!) the feeling comes back. I can eat until I feel like I"m going to throw up
I tried to see if there's a correlation between what I eat and my macro levels etc. But there doesn't seem to be one. My macros are pretty much the same every day and even every meal. I try to have a sufficient fat and at least 25g protein with every single meal/snack. And I rarely eat anything with added sugar, I'm really into junk food. So I'm more inclined to believe that it's something hormonal, but I still track different factors like quantity of sleep, stress and what exactly I eat to see any correlations.jennifer_417 wrote: »I get that one or 2 days per month, usually right around the beginning of my period. I try to keep myself busy to keep my mind off of it.
Next time, I want to try planning out every single minute of the day, so that I'm so occupied that I don't even have time to think about food but I think it still won't be easy.0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »
I calculate my activity with fitbit daily too, but it averages out to about 300 calories. My deficit also varies as I carry a "random bank" of calories too. I start my monthly excel sheet with the week I'm usually less hungry, accumulate about 2000 calories in that week and set them aside.
My usual deficit for these days is about 800 calories. After that I just eat to hunger, eating less on less hungry days and banking the calories and eating more on more hungry days and using up the banked calories. I can distinctly tell a normal hungry day from a "bottomless pit" day, so I only use my set aside calories when I encounter those, which for me happen around ovulation and before period about 90% of the time give or take a day.
My usual deficit for the weeks I'm just plugging along averages around 500 calories, and my deficit on weeks where I have those days averages around 200 something calories. During any given month, my average deficit is between 200-500 because some months have celebrations and going out so I give myself more eating leeway. Sometimes I choose to maintain for a while, in which case my deficit is more or less nonexistent for anywhere from a week to a few months.
I'm obese, though, so your acceptable numbers may be a percentage mine.
Thanks for telling me your numbers. It gives me some perspective. I'm in the upper normal BMI range so I think this is why I get too hungry if I my deficit is higher than 500 for more than a couple of days.
After eating at maintenance for a couple of weeks, I think I can now, too, distinguish between "bottomless pit" days and "my daily deficit is too high" hunger and just random increased appetite every now and then. Before I had the impression that I was just inexplicably hungry all the time.0 -
I feel you, I just had about a week long episode where I just snapped. I normally eat around maintenance too so it's annoying! I have no real advice, except maybe leave the house and take a walk or something, remove EVERYTHING you can binge on, and if it's later in the day go to bed.0
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Happens to me too, seemingly at random (am on hormonal BC). I've had luck combating the bottomless pit feeling by eating a large, high-fat/high-protein lunch with some simple carbs. So I'll get some fried chicken and french fries or a burger and just go to town, maybe adding a milkshake or some other high-calorie dessert. Often the calorie count is around 1100-1800 total. Afterwords, I finally feel satisfied and often don't eat much more than a salad or a small sandwich and some fruit for dinner, and I don't tend to feel as hungry in the following days. I make up for the extra calories by making sure to get in extra steps/workouts afterwords when I no longer feel ravenous.
Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I tried your tip - I didn't even had to have over 1k cal meal, I had a big 900-1000cal burger a couple of times and it did the trick! I was full for many hours and even after I got hungry again I could be satisfied with a smaller then usual meal.
However what is interesting is that I tried having a "whole food" meal of similar calories and macros at home - because eating fast food for five days straight is just not healthy and too expensive. I tried 2 big 15% fat pure beef patties with a slice of rye bread + veggies and the other time I tried eating half a roasted chicken with skin with veggies and a slice of bread. And that didn't work. I was still hungry after eating 900-1000 cals. I wonder what was different about the burgers. Very they much higher in fat? or refined carbs? Or maybe the reported calories on the restaurants website underestimated and the burgers were actually much higher in calories?0 -
Happens to me too, seemingly at random (am on hormonal BC). I've had luck combating the bottomless pit feeling by eating a large, high-fat/high-protein lunch with some simple carbs. So I'll get some fried chicken and french fries or a burger and just go to town, maybe adding a milkshake or some other high-calorie dessert. Often the calorie count is around 1100-1800 total. Afterwords, I finally feel satisfied and often don't eat much more than a salad or a small sandwich and some fruit for dinner, and I don't tend to feel as hungry in the following days. I make up for the extra calories by making sure to get in extra steps/workouts afterwords when I no longer feel ravenous.
Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I tried your tip - I didn't even had to have over 1k cal meal, I had a big 900-1000cal burger a couple of times and it did the trick! I was full for many hours and even after I got hungry again I could be satisfied with a smaller then usual meal.
However what is interesting is that I tried having a "whole food" meal of similar calories and macros at home - because eating fast food for five days straight is just not healthy and too expensive. I tried 2 big 15% fat pure beef patties with a slice of rye bread + veggies and the other time I tried eating half a roasted chicken with skin with veggies and a slice of bread. And that didn't work. I was still hungry after eating 900-1000 cals. I wonder what was different about the burgers. Very they much higher in fat? or refined carbs? Or maybe the reported calories on the restaurants website underestimated and the burgers were actually much higher in calories?
Honestly I think the simple carbs make all the difference. I've done exactly the same as you before (substituting healthier sides with a rich main dish) and it just doesn't do the same thing. I think loading up on simple carbs (like from a milkshake and fries) gives me that large spike in blood sugar that lets my hunger go down, and the high fat/protein helps maintain that feeling.0
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