Another question about hunger, meal timing

[Saree_maree]

Hello,

 

I am having trouble spacing/timing my meals on workdays (3 days a week, 12.5 hour days, varying schedule). On these days I wake up at 4:30, get dressed and ready, and leave the house around 5:15. I have to park quite a ways from the hospital so I walk into my unit around 6 and spend about 20 minutes looking over my patients' charts before clocking in and starting my shift, which officially begins at 6:30.

 

I have a brief lull between 7:30 and 8:00. This is when I have been eating my first meal, a full three hours after waking up. I'm usually very hungry by this time.

 

Then from 8 until at least 12 and sometimes as late as 2PM I am non-stop busy without a minute to sit down. As soon as I am able, which hopefully is closer to noon than two, I eat my second meal. Again, usually very hungry and ready to eat.

 

After lunch things are usually much slower paced unless I get an afternoon admission, and then all bets are off. I have a mini-meal around 4PM. Then I eat my last meal when I get home from work, sometime between 7:30 and 8PM. Again, very very hungry. I go to bed within one hour after dinner because I am exhausted.

 

I'm on day 9. The past few days the hunger has been a little overwhelming, definitely passes the "steamed fish and broccoli" test." Pre-Whole30, I would definitely have little snacks throughout the afternoon, or that level of hunger would lead me to binge and purge (induce vomiting) when I got home from work. Since that disordered behavior is one of the major factors that led me to the Whole30 program, I would definitely like to get this under control.

 

Other members have offered potential solutions, like eating before leaving for work, but that would mean waking up at 4AM and my sleep is very important to me. I have spent the last year normalizing my sleep patterns and I do not want to mess with that schedule. I was also thinking I could eat my first meal at 6 while looking over the charts but then I am worried I would be so so hungry well before lunchtime.

 

Anyway, here's a link to my log, sorry if the entries are kind of long (and this post, too!): http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/30612-sarees-log/

[Tom Denham]

I think you absolutely have to start eating breakfast soon after waking. You can prepare food in advance like boiled and peeled eggs. Then eat 3 eggs and a serving of cold sauerkraut while standing in your kitchen in maybe 5-7 minutes and get on your way. Or prepare boiled and peeled eggs or egg muffins and eat them as you are getting ready, while traveling, or walking to your unit. 

 

On days when you are working 12.5 hours, plan to eat at least 4 meals, so eat again in your typical slot of 7:30-8 AM. When you are working a long day, you need more food. It is like working out. You need a bonus meal. 

 

It is important to front load your eating. You can rarely catch up after not eating early in the day, especially as you have been eating very light meals. Don't be afraid to eat generously. Your metabolism speeds up when you eat generously and your body burns fat more easily.

[Saree_maree]

I'm afraid to eat three eggs. I'm also afraid to gain weight, lose too much weight (I'm quite thin), be too hungry, or not hungry enough! Basically I'm scared of a lot of food-related stuff and have been for just about half of my life. So already I'm thinking that if I eat early in the morning I'm going to have to cut something out later in the day. But I'm going to try to take your advice and eat at least something within an hour of waking on work days. That seems to be the best solution. On my days off I'm already doing that and I certainly feel better on those days so I do know that it makes a difference.

 

Thank you so much for your advice, I really do appreciate it.

[ultrarunnergirl]

You can do this, Saree_maree! Faith not fear!

[Tom Denham]

I eat 3-4 jumbo eggs every day and my doctor is very happy with me and my blood work. You don't have to eat eggs in the morning. I do because I like them, appreciate the nutrients in eggs, and they are easy to prepare. For example, I timed my breakfast prep and eating this morning. It took me 5 minutes to cook 3 jumbo eggs Spanish style and plate them with a serving of Bubbie's sauerkraut. It took me another 4 minutes and 18 seconds to sit down in my living room and finish my plate while turning on my TV to see what they were saying on financial television. 

 

It is fine to eat other foods and exclude eggs from your life. It is actually fast and easy to brown chopped onion and ground beef or pork in a skillet and add an already baked sweet potato to make a hash. 

 

Many people fear that eating more will lead to weight gain, but I promise you that eating meat, eggs, and veggies exclusively make it unlikely that you will. I have been eating this way for more than 5 years. I lost weight for the first 15 months and finally stopped losing weight at 184 pounds. The last time I weighed in my doctor's office about a month ago, I weighed 184 pounds. I assumed I was heavier, but I was wrong.

 

Your metabolism is really the important thing when it comes to maintaining your weight. Your metabolism needs sleep, modest exercise, and generous nourishment to function well. When functioning well, your metabolism maintains your weight without your needing to monitor your calories and maintain exact levels of food intake. I eat more food than most people I know and remain relatively thin. A fast metabolism is a wonderful thing.

[ladyshanny]

I'm afraid to eat three eggs. I'm also afraid to gain weight, lose too much weight (I'm quite thin), be too hungry, or not hungry enough! Basically I'm scared of a lot of food-related stuff and have been for just about half of my life. 

With all due respect and compassion, do you have someone that you talk about this stuff with? An eating disorder counsellor maybe?  There is a lot of panic and anxiety in just the words that you've typed here, it might be worth it in talking this out with someone to try and find some peace?

[EmilyK]

Saree, I know it's hard to work through those fears.

 

I have a long history of disordered eating, and I still find myself getting anxious if I really get to thinking about the quantity of food I consume daily.  However, there is absolutely no doubt that I feel the best I ever have, and I've been eating this way more on than off for six months now and I also have managed to maintain a consistent size this whole time (which has never before happened in my life). 

 

The amount of food freedom I have gained since discovering the Whole30 absolutely boggles my mind.  I am eating enough quantity of whole, nourishing food and my body is loving me back for feeding it lovingly.  If I feel hungrier on a particular day, I let myself eat more of the whole, nourishing food.  I have learned to be able to trust in my body's signals and give it what it is really asking for.  I spent many years depriving myself in the name of health and it resulted in nothing good but now I feed myself the right amounts of the right foods and I both look and feel better than I ever have.

 

I concur with Shannon's advice--finding a counselor to help you work through your anxiety sounds like a good idea. 

 

Best of luck.  It's not always easy to remold your thinking, but the results are amazing.

[Saree_maree]

Oh my goodness, thank you everybody for the kind and compassionate words! Yes, please be assured I have spent years of my life and untold amounts of money on all manner of treatments, both medical and psychological, some of it helpful and some it cruel and unusual. I am actually healthier now than I have been in a very long time, have a loving and supportive partner and family, and an expert psychiatrist and understanding primary care physician. There was a time in my life I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs, when I weighed the same amount as a fully grown adult woman as I did in second grade - now I can run a marathon! I still have fears but they don't rule me! I've got this!

[Saree_maree]

Just wanted to say that I took Tom's excellent advice and ate a hard boiled egg and a half-cup of sauerkraut at 5:00AM before leaving for work this morning and it did absolutely make a difference in my hunger levels for the entire day. I also moved some of the fat from my afternoon mini-meal to my Meal 1 and I think that really helped too. My total food intake was virtually unchanged but just those little tweaks in an effort to "front-load" my eating made a world of difference. Thank you again.