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It's Midnight And I'm Hungry

tmorgan813

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Warning* This is not very comical. I think my hunger pains have taken over my sense of humor right now* :)

 

 

I ate dinner at at a normal time. I believe it was around 6pm. Since then, I have kept hydrated with my decaf. Crystal Lite. But, it never fails. Every night around 9pm, I want food. I have thought about this and wondered if it's "head hunger" or if I am truly hungry and I've finally figured out that YES, I am hungry. This is real hunger. This is the hunger that most people feel throughout the day but for some reason I don't feel until 9pm or later. Is my body trying to sabotage me? Why do I want food so late? Don't get me wrong, I also experience "head Hunger" but tonight (and most nights, that's not what I feel).

 

Tonight, my husband and I went to Royal Farms so he could get some food. I have to admit, because it was after 9, I wanted to taste everything in there. This has not been normal for me when I go into stores. Most of the time, I look at things and think, "that would taste good, but I really don't want it". He decided on a two piece chicken meal. Now, for the record, I love chicken. I can eat chicken everyday. Actually, I have eaten it everyday for the past few days. But for some reason, I had to walk away from the where he was ordering as all I could think about was jumping behind the counter and grabbing a chicken wing or leg and going to town with it. The same thing with the Krispy Kream donuts. Now, once I walked away, I was fine (though still hungry) I know I can't eat any of those things and to be honest, my mashed sweet potatoes sound more appealing to me now.

 

I think it's knowing I can't. I've never been good with being told I couldn't do something. If someone told me I couldn't do something, I would do everything in my power to prove them wrong. But with this, I can't do that. Proving "that person" wrong would only hurt me. I would also be saying that I did all this for nothing. And, I must admit that my biggest fear is being one of those people who in two years is the same weight or more than I was on my surgery date. That REALLY scares me. It scares me enough to not force the food in, to make sure I get my protein, and to make sure I get my liquids. Also, it scares me enough to teach myself how to deal with this "hunger" I feel after 9pm. Maybe I will need to eat dinner later. I am a night person so eating at 7pm would help with the hunger a little bit. As for the "head hunger" that I get at times, I think I have to just keep doing what I'm doing. Walk away. Tell myself what's important. No matter how good a tiny piece of donut would be, it wouldn't feel nearly as good as weighing 150lbs. I don't think anything could top that. Well, maybe winning the lotto, but I have a much better shot at making my goal weight.

 

So, I need to change my eating times. Or eat more than three times a day. Though, right now that seems to be all I am able to get in. I think I will strive to eat more than three times a day. I am sure once I am healed and able to "snack", things will be better. I am sure right now, a hand full of almonds would fill me up and satisfy my hunger, but I am not to that point yet. So, like all of you, I will continue to learn as I go and hope I am doing the right things. Because, no matter what, I'm going to be a loser. And, I am going to be proud of it.



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I hear you. Kinda on the same page with your feelings right now. I am just going to have to go to bed earlier too. Can't wait til I finally reach the stage where I am eating a regular diet. 2 wks postop right now and just starting pureed phase....

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I was lucky to be on pureed right out of the hospital. I will be a month out on Thursday and I am allowed to go to soft food. I am not too sure how much better that will be. LOL Keep up the great work and I am sure once you get on pureed food, you will begin to feel better. Once I was able to actually get some food in (even pureed) I began re-learning my body and it's hunger signs and fullness signs. I'm still not great at figuring out how full I am, but I'm getting better. LOL

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I am exactly like you tmorgan! I stay up late so I have more time to get hungry after dinner. I truly am hungry again about three hours after dinner. It is not head hunger at all...my stomach will actually growl and I will have trouble falling asleep because I really am hungry. My nutritional plan has me eating three small meals and two snacks. What works best for me, is saving that last snack for the hunger after dinner. It's never anything big and it's usually protein and I'm losing fine so far, so I will continue with my late night snack! :)

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I remember when I first starting feeling the same way. And I agree with you, it wasn't head hunger. At only 3 ounces capacity, imagine your stomach from 6:00pm-7:00am. That's a long time to have an empty stomach. I would eat a sugar free Popsicle and that would satisfy me. I ate a lot of those in the first 2 months. tmorgan813, I sure enjoy reading your humor.

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I'm a morning person so if I was up and awake at 9 p.m. that would be a giant shock to my system :) I think "night time" people have to adjust their eating to accomodate their hours otherwise you will remain unhappy (and hungry).

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Eat 3 meals & have a light snack in between... I have multi-grain crackers & cheese. I try not to eat a snack to close to bed or I feel like I'm gonna throw up. My Dr. says 5 to 6 SMALL meals... or drink a small protein shake to get you through the hunger... Good luck.

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Also...myfitnesspal.com is great for tracking your food & calories,protein, etc... I'm Doreykn on there.

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I am experiencing the same thing because I tend to be a night owl. When I get home from work I am hungry - but thinking of having a cup of soup to hold me over and then have dinner around 7:30, then if I really get hungry later just have a SF jello with light cool whip or a cup of diet hot chocolate. Wondering if having one of my protein shakes later in the evening might help. I have to work this out, I don't want to get off track!!

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Well, I advise everyone to do this...stay away from artificial sweetners. I honestly think they create a sense of hunger and I think it is just poison. I also recommend eating 5-6-7 small meals throughout the day rather than 3 meals. Who ever said we need to eat three meals a day...and we all followed it...had us all bamboozled. If you really need to jump across the counter and have at it with some chicken...go ahead and do it. However, I bet once you do or once you eat more than you can handle, you won't do it again or you will learn soon not to do it - as you will likely get the nasty slimming and need to throw it up. I often think I can eat more than I am, but when I go 'past that point' I definitely pay for it - either lots of burping or I have to throw it up. So, learning to eat real small portions several times throughout the day is key for me. I've also had some evening cravings and I find that it I do a little protein, it usually goes away. I've been doing a couple spoonfuls of hummus at night to squelch that sort of craving.

I swear I have to relearn how and how much to eat every day.

That is my two cents.

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Three meals a day isnt enough, aim for 5-6 small ones, it really does work. I am 12 weeks out today and I seem to be eating all the time...and keeping my body from getting hungry. Best of luck to you.

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