Just not hungry at the right times!

[molliollioxenfree]

It's day 4 of my first Whole30, and things are going pretty well. My only problem is that I'm just not hungry enough! If I eat a template meal at around 9 or 10am (I'm a night owl and tend to be most productive at night, so I have trouble getting to bed before 1am and waking up before 8:30 or 9), I find that I'm often not hungry for meal 2 until 4pm or later and can't always stomach a full template meal, and that in turn means I'm not hungry for my third meal until at least 9pm (or even later if I actually managed to eat my whole lunch).

 

My breakfasts thus far have consisted of three eggs, sometimes a bit of smoked salmon, a bunch of veg and sometimes fruit, and about 1-2 tbsp of mayo. I haven't been measuring the mayo exactly, so it might be a bit more than that sometimes, but I'm generally good at eyeballing measurements, so I think I'm probably pretty close.

 

So how can I get back onto a normal meal schedule? Am I having too much fat, too much protein (I doubt that one)? I don't want to have to force myself to eat when I'm not hungry, since that doesn't sound like a healthy approach to food either. 

[SugarcubeOD]

I answered this question a bit in the group thread but the way to get onto a proper meal schedule is to eat every 4-5 hours. The fact that you're not hungry, that you're staying up till 1 am and not getting up until 9/10 is a big part of this and I would suggest that you work on trying to normalize your schedule a bit. If you can't and you're happy with your waking/sleeping hours, then you need to teach your body that the time between 9am and 7pm(ish) is eating time and then eat every 4-5 hours during that time. You don't need to wait until you're hungry to eat, that's not going to help (as you can see). Plate up a template meal, eat as much as you can at the proper eating time and then if you can't finish it, pack it up and eat from it again as soon as you are able (not waiting for hunger). This should help resolve in a few days.

[skeslack]

I really appreciate someone brought this up. I m starting my Whole30 July 11 and I'm trying to plan my schedule and running into some dilemmas for how to schedule my meals. My work hours pretty much dictate my schedule for eating and exercising. I work 10 hour days 4 days per week plus a hobby job on a 5th day but I have more control of that schedule. I work 7:30am-6pm and don't usually leave work until 6:30. My commute is 20 minutes so that puts me home at 7:00ish. My workouts typically have to happen between 7-8pm. I go to barre3 1-2 nights per week at that exact time. If I go to class then I don't get home until 8:30pm. In order for me to practice good sleep techniques and get the sleep I need I really need to be to bed by 10-10:30. That doesn't give me much time to eat and follow the rule of "stop eating several hours before bed". I have to be up by 6am at the latest to prep for work. I'll have to eat breakfast around 6:15am, lunch at work is noon, and dinner time runs right into when I leave work and have to get to my workout. How much time needs to be allowed between eating and working out? Frankly, with my job I don't have a lot of downtime and I'm working up to the last minute and then running off somewhere else. How important is the time between eating and going to bed? How much time is necessary between eating and a workout? Help is much appreciated! Thanks!

[ladyshanny]

I think if I was you I would pack my dinner and eat it around 430-5pm prior to leaving work. You would probably not need a pre-workout meal then but should have a post-workout, depending on how strenuous the class is and how depleted you feel.  Just a couple bites of lean protein and some starchy veggie on your way home from class.  Doesn't have to be a full meal's worth but gives your body needed nourishment to replenish what you've just burned.

[skeslack]

Thanks for the tip! Only problem is I am seeing patients during those times so I have to figure out how to sneak in a meal. I'm usually scheduled to finish with patients at either 5:30 or 5:45. I should be able to make that work.