Hunger pains in the middle of the night

debable · Post by **debable** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 5:51 pm

hello everyone,
Yesterday was my first day on No S. I was hungry, but fine during the day.

I woke up at 3 a.m with severe hunger pangs, I tried to go back to sleep, but after 1/2 hour I got up and had a slice of bread with peanut butter and a banana, I then went back to sleep.

For dinner (5pm) I had chicken breast, mashed potatoes and broccoli, in larger portions than I am used to, but I was doing Weight Watchers and other diets for years, including several snacks a day and frequent binges.

My question is:Should I stuff myself at dinner for now, until I adjust, or should I have a bed time snack if hungry?( I did go to bed hungry)

All opinions are appreciated

Nicest of the Damned · Post by **Nicest of the Damned** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 6:55 pm

I'd try eating more at dinner, certainly. Stuff that plate! Pile the food high on the plate. Really.

What this plate-stuffing will do is to show you that yes, you can be satisfied with one plate of food and no snacks later. I had a much easier time with No S once I got past that realization. It doesn't work to just tell yourself that in words- the part of your brain that you have to convince is not very smart, and is animal-like. Only the direct experience of eating one plate of food and feeling stuffed made that lesson real for me.

Later, the amount of food on my plates did move downward, though slowly and with fluctuations. You will eventually adjust to eating less food. Unfortunately, there's no way to rush that process.

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 7:13 pm

Nicest is right. Make sure you're eating enough during the day. Don't be afraid of big plates at first. (They get smaller, promise).

Keep in mind that No-S does have some training stages, especially if you're coming from dieting or disordered eating. This also might mean a small weight gain at first. DON'T PANIC.

Also, No-S is a notorious SLLLLOOWWWW way to lose weight. The idea, of course, is that No-S is just how you want to eat for the rest of your life, so a dieting vs. maintenance stage isn't going to happen.

You just eat three meals a day, and after some years (depending on how much you need to lose), you'll probably be at your body's ideal weight.

Anoulie · Post by **Anoulie** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 9:32 pm

And, this may just be me, but I always have dinner at 6:30 or 7 pm. 5 pm sounds really early to me. So maybe you could try postponing dinner a little?

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 1:06 pm

The dinner time might be an issue at first, but I sometimes eat dinner at 5 and don't have a problem with waking up hungry or even getting hungry if I stay up late.

Not to be rude, but are you sure they were real hunger pangs or just an urge go eat? Did your stomach feel EMPTY? If not, I don't think a bigger dinner is going to help. You just have to resist that urge. Your eating compulsion, driven by emotional urges and cravings, is probably just fearful that you might have found an answer! If it's real hunger, and it happens again, remember that you can drink milk, which can also help you sleep. If I'm ever up late and get hungry, though I don't usually get hungry after dinner even if I wake up in the middle of the night -age-related-, I have milk. Satiety without chewing.

I don't know what your portions were at dinner. How full did you feel? The volume of my meal can make me feel full because I like the crunch of a lot of vegetables with my meat and starch, but I find from lunch that I will get hungry a lot faster if I forget to add some kind of fat, which doesn't take up a lot of space but which can add to satiety without my feeling too stuffed. Even a tablespoon of butter/olive oil makes a huge difference. Or a couple of tablespoons of chopped walnuts. If you ate a pseudo-diet meal of plain-ish chicken, low-fat mashed potatoes, and lemon broccoli, yeah, you probably would get hungry. You don't have to smother your food with cheese or anything to boost its satiety. Just make sure some fat is there.

debable · Post by **debable** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 1:29 pm

Thank- you for your help

My meal was too plain and portions too small.Last night I woke up several times, feeling hungry, but not ravenous like the night before, and i was able to go back to sleep,I did have a larger meal and ate until I was quite full.

I don't mind being hungry in the daytime and powering through, but when I was in pain and breakfast is still 4 hours away,that was a little hard.

I had a glass of skim milk before bed (diet groceries in house) and that helped, today I will buy some 2% which will probably be more filling.

We do eat early, When Hubby gets home from work he is hungry and we have a six year old and eight year old who go to bed early. I did make it an hour later yesterday,but we won't be able to eat later every day because of evening commitments.

Thank again for you help, much appreciated