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Jellie's avatar

How do I stop myself from feeling hungry at odd hours?

Asked by Jellie (6474 points ) April 25th, 2011

I’m trying to lose weight by cutting out snacking. It’s difficult because I feel hungry at odd hours like between lunch and dinner, whenever I’m bored, when I can’t sleep, whenever I see food. And snacking on something low-fat or healthy is not an option because we never have anything like that lying around the house and I know I will never eat it anyway. So can I stop myself from feeling these hunger pangs outside of breakfast, lunch and dinner?

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12 Answers

KateTheGreat's avatar

Instead of eating large meals, eat smaller ones throughout the day. Always have tiny snacks around to eat too.

gmander's avatar

Drink plenty of water. Just keep sipping throughout the day. Keep off the ice cream, that’s my achilles heel.

rooeytoo's avatar

What you eat can also trigger hunger, when you eat sugar or white carbs, it will satisfy you momentarily but soon your body will be crying out for more, your pancreas is working overtime. You need to eat protein and complex carbs, fiber too will fill you. Also as Kate said not eating a snack can slow down your metabolism and make weight loss more difficult. It is better to eat a snack of protein, cottage cheese with a small piece of fruit or a tomato, small portion of peanut butter on an apple.

Honestly the best book I have ever read about keeping your weight under control and staying healthy is The Food Tree by Ranveig H. Elvebakk, MD. Here is her website. The book is worth every penny.

gm_pansa1's avatar

Drink lots of water, and keep healthy snacks around. I’m bad with night snacking, and as of today, I’m cutting that out of my schedule. lol…...

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Have only the snacks you would not have “because we never have anything like that lying around the house and I know I will never eat it anyway.”

The way to stop snacking on the wrong food is to have only the right food ( low calorie), no big mystery.

blueiiznh's avatar

It’s ok to eat when you are hungry. plan these healthy snack in between. Portion control is key. Drinking 50–60 oz of water per day is also key.
Count your calories, write down what you eat eat day.
Making yourself write it all down helps you to not cheat yourself.
There are plenty of web site that can help you do this. Here is one free one web-md food and fitness planner

downtide's avatar

Drink more water. A lot of the time, that feeling of being hungry is actually thirst.

deni's avatar

You don’t have to stop snacking to lose weight. Actually you should snack. Just eat healthy snacks. Clementines, grapes, apple with peanut butter, a homemade smoothie, some carrots. Also if you feel hungry in the middle of the night or before you go to bed, drink a bunch of water. Sometimes you mistake thirst for hunger. Then if you’re still so hungry you can’t sleep, have a snack. Long live snacking!

derekfnord's avatar

I think the collective has it right. Take the amount of food you’d normally eat in three meals, split it out over 6–8 mini-meals, and have water at hand at all times. :-)

skfinkel's avatar

Why do you say there is nothing around the house that is healthy, and you wouldn’t eat it anyway? Perhaps you are beginning to think you have more control over food that you eat and that you want to eat than you want to admit to yourself. Here’s an interesting article on sugar that was in the nytimes last week:

whyigottajoin's avatar

Sleep more.

boffin's avatar

Chew gum…. Sugarless

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