Everyday Systems

Hiya, I;m only a few days in, but I've had this problem a while.
I have dinner around 8-9pm, but wake up around 5/6am with the kind of hunger that makes me feel sick.
I can't have breakfast at this time because I would then need lunch at 11am and dinner at around 5pm, which doesn't help the problem at all.
I had a yoghurt this morning, which counts as a snack, but there is no way I could have waited until my usual breakfast time of 9am. I woke around 5 and had my yoghurt at 5.50 today.
I'm sure others have had this problem too, so I apologise for being annoying!

Thanks

I have experienced the same hunger, my usual bad time though is around 10am as I have to have my breakfast v. early, 6am, before starting work. When I first started No S I gave myself a mod of having fruit at any time, just fruit. I have since phased this out mostly and do nearly all vanilla days as I have got used to it now and no longer need the mod, I just eat the same amount of fruit, but with meals. Maybe a piece of fruit before bed and/or a piece early morning?
Another option a lot of people find helpful is milk, juice or hot chocolate. It can be just enough to settle the stomach.

Try having a smoothie first thing, maybe? If you make it yourself, you can add some oats as well as the fruit and yogurt which would make it quite filling.

Also, what are you eating for dinner? Maybe it's just not quite enough.

Ah so you think it'd be okay to have some fruit first thing if I'm up early?
I'm a student nurse and when I'm working I will have to do four meals at 6ish, 10ish, 2ish and 8ish.

Typical day is:
B: banana, yoghurt, 2 pieces of toast
L: Sardines on toast, orange, mashed potato (if some left) and lettuce
D: Chicken Kiev with mashed potato and beans with an orange on the side. I have a lot and I'm quite full after!

I've had similar diets over past few days due to what's on offer in the supermarket!
Thanks

My first thought after looking at your list is that you should eat more vegetables. The stuff you're eating is all quite quick-burn fuel; adding in some bulkier plant-based foodstuffs might help you feel fuller for longer. A brief enquiry; when you say 'beans', are those fresh beans or baked beans?

If you want to try fixing your sleep without changing your current diet too much, a glass of milk (or other milky drink) before bed might help.

This may be way off base, but how much water do you drink? As a student nurse you must be rushing around like a crazy person a lot of the time and I know from working in the catering industry that remembering to drink plenty of water when you are busy can be hard.

Dehydration can easily be mistaken for hunger. Obviously if you drink a lot of water ignore this, but if not it might be worth trying to sip a large glass of water when you wake up hungry, if that doesn't work then milk isn't a bad call as it provides both liquid and protein and doesn't count as a meal.

Good luck with it!

Sarah

I've been having some lettuce. And they were baked beans!
I will add some veg in like broccoli, but I just hadn't bought any.

I won't be on placement for a year, so the rushing around isn't a problem! I drink maybe a couple of biggish glasses of squash a day, and a lot of tea

I know of one S'r that has milk before bed, perhaps eating more veggies as suggested above and glass of milk later in the evening might help.

Can you make a salad and put your sardines in there to add more veggies? I always have my fruit with 2 of my meals. And of course someone mentioned perhaps adding more water. It will probably take time for your body to adjust as well.

One of my favorite in between drinks when I'm home of course is 3/4 cup of Orange Juice, 3/4 cup of club soda, squirt of lime juice. Poor over ice and enjoy. We are allowed juice between meals from what I read in the book..unless I read wrong I'm sure someone will straighten me out .

There are a few things you can try but it'll be about what works for you while staying as close to vanilla as possible - people have already given some really good tips.

I'd suggest trying things like:
- plating a breakfast and eating half early, half mid morning
- having a large smoothie or juice mid-morning (or first thing, and your 'proper' breakfast later)
- upping the size/calorie content of your evening meal

The reason that smoothies/juices are often recommended while still being calorific is that they don't break the 'no snacks' habit in terms of physically eating food. So mentally, it does fit more in with NoS and building those habits of not eating between meals.

Some people have different metabolisms, personally I find that I can eat before 8pm in the evening, and I won't be hungry when I wake up (I often don't eat breakfast so the next time I eat will be midday). It may be that you need 4 meals a day with the amount of energy you burn naturally, or it may be that it will just take a bit of time to get used to.

It may be that you need to allow yourself one or two snacks for now while you get used to NoS, and then phase them out.

IMO, if it helps get you through the next couple of hours and more imporantly feeling better until your "proper" breakfast time, I think the yogurt or fruit etc. at 5 am or whatever, is absolutely fine.

B: banana, yoghurt, 2 pieces of toast
L: Sardines on toast, orange, mashed potato (if some left) and lettuce
D: Chicken Kiev with mashed potato and beans with an orange on the side.

Is this normal for you, or is it "diet" food? Because it looks to me like you're not getting enough calories.

Your breakfast is probably running about 300 calories. Your lunch is probably under 500 calories, and your supper (depending on quantities) is maybe 800. So you're looking at, probably, under 1600 calories. If you are a nursing student, you are on your feet and working hard all day; you need more calories than average.

This calculator (http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm) gives you a rough idea of how many calories you need to be consuming based on your height, weight, age and activity level.

I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that you're not eating nearly enough calories for your body type and activity level. If you eat larger meals throughout the day, that should lessen your early morning hunger. (It will also lessen the chance that you slow down your metabolism.)

Also, make sure you are getting adequate amounts of good fat. Full fat dairy, cheese, nuts, and olive or walnut oil are all good ways to get some fat into your diet, and fat keeps you fuller much longer (especially when combined with the fiber you're getting from the fruit and beans).

First of all, you're NOT annoying! We all have questions & all have been in your shoes with just a few days into this.

I won't add to the advice other than to tell you to be patient with yourself while you figure this out. If eating some yogurt when you wake up will make you feel ready to face the day and stay on the plan, then go for it. It might take awhile to regulate yourself to this new way of eating & that's okay.

Hang in there & it'll get better!

janie

Find a beverage that relieves hunger. I drink milk.

I second what Keriamom said. Your breakfast looks a bit sugar-heavy as well.

keriamon wrote:

B: banana, yoghurt, 2 pieces of toast
L: Sardines on toast, orange, mashed potato (if some left) and lettuce
D: Chicken Kiev with mashed potato and beans with an orange on the side.

Is this normal for you, or is it "diet" food? Because it looks to me like you're not getting enough calories.

Your breakfast is probably running about 300 calories. Your lunch is probably under 500 calories, and your supper (depending on quantities) is maybe 800. So you're looking at, probably, under 1600 calories. If you are a nursing student, you are on your feet and working hard all day; you need more calories than average.

This calculator (http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm) gives you a rough idea of how many calories you need to be consuming based on your height, weight, age and activity level.

I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that you're not eating nearly enough calories for your body type and activity level. If you eat larger meals throughout the day, that should lessen your early morning hunger. (It will also lessen the chance that you slow down your metabolism.)

Also, make sure you are getting adequate amounts of good fat. Full fat dairy, cheese, nuts, and olive or walnut oil are all good ways to get some fat into your diet, and fat keeps you fuller much longer (especially when combined with the fiber you're getting from the fruit and beans).

I'm not so sure that this is that light on the calories - I would estimate that as more like 1800.

I eat less than that on a typical N day. E.g. yesterday, I ate: no breakfast, a small serving of vegetarian cottage pie (like maybe 1.5x my fist sized) and a couple of handfuls of raw veggies on the side for lunch, and a normal-sized plateful (i.e. normal dinner plate sized but not heaped up or anything) of pasta and roasted vegetables for dinner. I'm losing weight on No S but at a pretty slow rate - like half a pound a week - so I don't think I'm eating too little.

I think the thing with No S is that you not only have to create a calorie deficit on your N days but they have to make up for your S days as well - even if you don't overeat at all on S days, you're probably not undereating during them either.