I've recently cut my caloric intake to about 1200 a day. I'm pretty fine during the day eating 3 meals and 2 small snacks, but my problem begins at night. I get very hungry and I try to help it by drinking a cup of tea or having a fruit but sometimes it just won't go away. I just ignore it until I go to sleep, but I am worried that the hunger means that I'm slowing my metabolism down. I am thinking that since I was so used to eating until I was stuffed that my stomach stretched and so now it just doesn't get full easily even though I'm eating what I should be eating. Does this make sense or am I just sabotaging myself?

What you're suggesting makes perfect sense; you're adjusting your body (and mind) to a different eating style; eating what you need instead of eating until you're full and your MIND is used to the old habits, your body is a fast learner and is content just to have something to burn for energy.

Because a lot of it is in your mind, "hunger" isn't necessarily any indication of what your metabolism is doing with a few exceptions: if you just cut your caloric intake down to 1200 and it was significantly higher, then your body might go into shock so make it more gradual... the first step I usually tell people when they want to cut their calories down is to not change a single thing but take note of everything they eat for a few days, that gets you a baseline of what your body is already used to, then cut from there gradually (most people say 10% but math is hard! Just don't cut it in half or anything.) Early on you might feel slight bouts of hunger but you shouldn't feel like you're starving.

It's not a good thing to starve yourself, listen to your body... if it's hungry it's hungry (also keep in mind that a lot of times we confuse thirst for hunger... there's that tricky "mind" thing again, so drink lots of water). In fact, I read somewhere that going to bed "hungry" (>3 hours without a snack or meal before going to sleep) increases the odds of obesity, although I'm not exactly sure why, I assume it's a habit/behavior thing.

As far as keeping yourself feeling "full", you can try making yourself a post dinner smoothie, just blend some berries, ice, plain yogurt, peanut butter, whey protein powder and/or whatever for a while to get the yogurt nice and "volume-y" and itll be very filling and healthy. Another trick is to eat a handful of almonds with a glass of water: the water will help the fiber to expand, making you feel fuller.

haha cliff is great for stuff like this!

i have your problem - eat 'till i'm stuffed... and now that i'm not... then what?!?! HUNGER! i've been working on my portion control for about three weeks and now that it's starting to click, i actually start feeling UNCOMFORTABLE if i eat TOO much.

the best thing that worked for me is (yes, water!) and healthy finger food - grapes, almonds, fiberONE bars (very filling!), raspberries, chopped apples, peeled oranges, etc... stuff that you can pick at and won't eat ALL AT ONCE. drink lots of water in between each bite!

also, be careful of the foods you choose - multi grain and whole wheat really help with it! i even buy those evil little wheat thins in 5-grain (delicious!) and whole wheat (yum-may!). i've discovered (the hard way) that those little 90-calorie bars aren't filling or very satisfying at all and in the end, i end up eating more afterwards so switching to a fiber-rich snack w/ more calories might be a better investment since it will keep you full and satisfied.

wow. novel. hope that helped! good luck!

Switch your 1200 calories to lots and lots of leafy vegetables and fruits with moderate amounts of lean meat and good fats - you will be stuffing yourself trying to get all that food down, and the low glycemic index of those foods will assure that you won't get hungry any time soon. Plus, you'll get plenty of vitamins and minerals.

For instance, a 100 calorie salad can consist of 6 cups of lettuce, 4 cups of spinach, 1 oz. of lean ham or turkey, and a 1/4 cup of low fat balsamic vinaigrette. (You subtract dietary fiber from total carbohydrates). That's 10 CUPS of vegetables, plus the meat. There's no way I could eat twelve of those salads a day!

That's an Atkins thing, net carbs... I really dislike the whole Atkins thing and how popular it got, but this isn't really the appropriate thread to whine about that heh.

Leafy greens and other fruits and veggies are awesome though, they take longer to digest which means they'll keep you feeling full longer... which is why it's always a good idea to start dinner off with a starter salad (low-fat dressing or not, it's up to you) since it's a smaller calorie hit but leaves less room for the calorie heavy entrees that follow.

Really, it just takes time and dedication: the longer you stick with it and force yourself to control your portions, the easier it will get. It's always hardest at first but just know that you'll get through it and you'll be fine

I can't imagine losing weight without living through some hunger. All the diets that boast "lose weight and never feel hunger"..... I always gained on.....

I think part of the reason, I got heavy is that I really messed up my hunger signal..... not my metabolism, but the message to stop eating when I am full, not keep eating because I want that second piece of chocolate cake!

NOT an Atkins thing, thank you very much. It's a common sense thing, since dietary fiber doesn't get absorbed for nutritional value (unless you're a cow or some other animal with multiple stomachs that can completely digest roughage). Look at the nutrition labels - half of them don't count fiber in calorie count, and the other half does. It's something that isn't regulated yet.

Here's a link for you Cliff
http://life.familyeducation.com/nutrition/health/3 6649.html


3rd paragraph:
"Fiber's imposing set of talents is made even more impressive when you consider that it doesn't contribute any calories, essential vitamins, or minerals to the body."

No mention of Atkins anywhere!

I stand corrected! (until I find evidence to the contrary, not that I'm looking for it )

Hmmm...

I think I made a post about this previously (or at least seriously considered it - I know I bookmarked a few pages at home for this express purpose).

It is the concept of Net Carbs that came out of the carb craze of, and was popular-ized by, the Atkin's Diet. Net Carbs is, of course, the practice of subtracting the carbohydrates from fiber from the total carbohydrate number. YMMV, but this is a pretty reasonable concept as fiber does not (cannot) contribute calories to your diet.

Marketing, however, based on Net Carbs is simply a ploy - you still need to read your labels.

Ooh, I recall some of this if anyone really wants to follow up on it. I believe the thread was related to artificial sweeteners! Net carbs actually include things like sugar alcohols, which is terribly misleading as they can have quite an effect on your metabolism and endocrine system. Some alcohol manufacturers are actually using net carbs for their advertising.

There is a difference between the concept of net carbs, and the idea of not counting fiber as a source of calories. The latter is always appropriate.

@Edit: So, you're both right! The concept of net carbs is a child of the Atkins era, but the properties of fiber can be a completely different issue.

Some "net carbs" ads are subtracting fiber; others are subtracting sugar alcohols. I'm not a fan of sugar alcohols either, but I don't completely shy away from anything that's labeled low carb or advertises net carbs. My Special K cereal box has a big fat "9 g net carbs" on the front of the box, but there aren't any sugar alcohols, just good ol' fiber. I didn't run screaming from the cereal aisle, I just checked the label to see what was up. Kashi even had a "net carb" ad on the box a few years ago, but again, it was just fiber they were discounting. Definitely read your nutrition labels, and you SHOULD consider net carbs when counting your calories. What if you think you're eating 1800 calories a day when in reality only 1000 of it is digestible? The fact that some nutrition labels count fiber toward the calorie count and some don't just makes it even more confusing. You simply can't look at the calories without doing the math on the macronutrients. As much as people scream about starvation mode, LOL, people could be putting themselves in it and not even realizing it if a label is counting fiber toward calories. That could be a very real scenario when eating lots of veggies and fruits.

Yikes! that's not good considering that's pretty much what was happening. I eat dinner at around 7:30 or so but I don't go to bed until at least 12, so I get really hungry between then. At first it was so bad that it was hard to fall asleep. I'm getting more used to it now, but it still grumbles. I do the almond and water thing because it fills me a little bit, but I didn't know it was because of the fiber expansion. Good to know!

That protein shake suggestion also sounds pretty good! I might do that. So, should I just not eat within 3 hours of going to bed? Does that include a snack or just bigger things?

Also, thank you to everyone who responded. As far as the whole net carb thing goes, I usually subtract the fiber from the carb total anyway, but I didn't know it was an atkins thing.

I thought I just confirmed it wasn't and Atkins thing?? Atkins mentioned it as a way to count your carbs, but it wasn't something he came up with.

As far as going to bed - you should try eating a 100 calorie snack an hour or less before bedtime. This will help keep your blood sugar stable while you sleep, which helps keep you from waking up hungry.