How to handle hunger pangs
When you’re hungry you can’t think straight. You can’t think about anything except food. So it’s hardly surprising that eventually you crack... here’s how to handle those unbearable hunger pangs
I can’t bear being hungry. It’s the one thing that makes dieting very difficult for me. A friend who’s lost all her excess weight recently told me, “In the end you have to eat less than you want to. You just have to accept being hungry some of the time.” Maybe that’s the key to why some people succeed, long term, and keep the weight off? But most of us can’t. Some of us simply cannot cope with being hungry. Perhaps it sets off some primordial panic in us?
Some days I don’t feel hungry first thing so I delay breakfast. We’ve already seen that the 5:2 diet and its sister the 16:8 can be a great way for some people to lose weight. On the 5:2 you semi starve for two days a week and eat normally for the remaining five. Whereas on the much gentler 16:8 you go without food for 16 hours, most of which are overnight when you’re in bed.
On Monday this week I wasn’t hungry first thing. So I waited till I was. That was around 11.30. I’d been up since 7.30 so it was 17 hours since my evening meal. However after having my late breakfast I was still hungry. I thought this was a good thing. Meant I wasn’t eating enough and so would surely lose weight? I was using more calories than I was taking in. I went for a brisk walk feeling delighted that I must be burning the fat off.
Eat filling meals
Then I had lunch but that too didn’t entirely satisfy me. I just wasn’t full enough after. Lunch was left over rice and chicken; a decent-size portion but clearly not sufficient. Breakfast had been a small slice of Emmental cheese on toast. I normally have crunchy peanut butter on a thick slice of seeded wholemeal toast which is very filling. But I felt like cheese for a change.
I guess you know what’s coming... eventually I cracked. I just couldn’t stand it any longer. I ate again. And again. And again. This wasn’t a binge; I just had to keep eating till I felt full. So a bit of toast, some cheese, a banana and a couple of chocolates. Not a huge amount but it blew the calorie count. The scales the following day showed a small increase - half a pound. I can’t know for sure if that was caused by over eating on Monday but it did teach me a lesson I’ve learned over and over yet never seem to quite accept - eat enough at mealtimes not to feel hungry afterwards. Smaller meals won’t do the trick if you then have to eat something else to make up for it.
Stick to daily weigh-ins
For me four or five smallish meals a day doesn’t work. I know it works for some people but for me it’s best to have three decent meals a day and try not to pick between them. That’s the best way to control calories; picking after a meal inevitably means you consume more calories than you realise. It’s also why buffets are so tough for dieters. Stick to proper meals, no or very little snacking between them, and you’ll register you’ve eaten.
I’m glad to say my daily weigh-in this morning showed I’d taken that half pound I gained back off. It’s another tick for daily weigh-ins. It forces you to be much more vigilant than weekly weigh-ins. Former England footballer and the BBC’s Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker also believes in daily weigh-ins. In an interview with The Times magazine this week he said: “I’ve weighed myself every day since 1989. I’ve done it ever since Terry Venables advised me to at Barcelona. It means if I see myself starting to slip up, I can cut back on my food a bit... I’m pretty disciplined.”
So my message for this week is avoid hunger pangs by eating enough at mealtimes, avoid snacking if you can, and stick to daily weigh-ins. Good luck. More next week.