Echo: Fuel issues.

[Echoceanic]

 

 

I'm back for the rest of this challenge! Hope everyone has been doing well.

 

I didn't really have much to say over the course of the almost a year I've been away from here (reason why I took a break) but these days I find myself with a problem, so I thought I'd better post here before I go crazy in confusion. If anyone can help it's you guys.

 

See, I've always had a good relationship with food. I did have outside pressure about the amount of food I ate (aka people thought I didn't eat, then acted surprised I did) but it didn't manifest into anything. And I have always eaten quite a lot. 

But also I have slept a lot.

And now I stepped sleeping as much and got to a nice 7-8 hours a night that didn't make me feel like a drummer used my head as a practice space on the daily.  Due to the heat I've also gotten in the habit of drinking about 10 glasses of water a day from my usual 4. All great stuff.

But, my appetite has gotten bigger. Like, a lot bigger.

Like, I had three fried eggs with cottage cheese, and was hungry half an hour later - had to eat one and a half gyros in order for my stomach to stop freaking out. Five meals a day, all pretty large, all about three hours apart. 

I'm hungry all the time, the stomach hurting kind of hunger. I have a few go to meals and snacks but they have begun to take a tool on me (I can't eat another peace of bread with peanut butter or I'm going to scream). This naturally leads to frustration and anger and stress which of course make the situation worse.

And I have no ideas left. 

I am also on a pretty tight budget.

 

So this month I'm gonna try and see what to do. If anyone has any tips, or can just reassure me a bit, I'd appreciate it. 

 

Current plan is to introduce a lot more meat in my diet - I'm not a vegetarian, but I eat more vegetarian meals than meals with meat in a week. I don't think 'increase the physical amount of  food in one meal' will work because I don't want to make myself sick but I'm gonna try and see if I can get into the habit of refilling my plate (a full plate used to fill me, now not so much).  I also know I've been eating a lot more simple carbs just due to the fact I can't think of what to cook and the veggies with tomato puree and mushrooms get annoying. So I'm going to switch out pasta with frittatas for a while as a 'we have nothing in the house' meal. 

Updates will happen when I figure stuff out.

 

An addendum - I haven't had any extra physical activity - actually exercising less these days due to heat, knee inflammation that just passed and just general reshuffling of priorities. And my weight hasn't changed. I also don't have any other symptoms, not fatigue, nothing, so I'm pretty confident it's not a medical thing. The less sleep = bigger appetite has happened before, hence why I connect the two.

 

So let's see if I can stop being hungry.

[Defining]

If you're struggling with hunger, my suggestion is pretty much always 'add beans and vegetables'. Potatoes are also highly satiating, and personally I'd avoid things like pasta/rice (or at least portion them), since they are easy to eat a LOT of kcal in one go with - and are very dense for your digestive system to handle. When in doubt, a premade curry sauce with a couple tins of beans and a bag of frozen veg is always an easy/tasty option.

Protein and soluble fiber are the most satiating of foods, and less dense in kcal/g vs stuff like fats (cheese, peanut butter, etc.) and simple starches. NOT that kcal is the most important metric, but presumably you don't want to double your caloric intake, even if you do want to bump up your total food. What are you hoping more meat will do? It's substantially more expensive than legumes & lentil proteins....

 

In the meantime, is 'more sleep' an option? Individuals have different needs, some folks just don't do well on only 8hrs/night.

 

Is the option available to chat with a doctor? The new hunger could be a symptom of a hormonal imbalance (even without anything that you may have noticed), might still be worth checking out if it won't cost an arm and a leg.

[Echoceanic]

7 hours ago, Defining said:

Protein and soluble fiber are the most satiating of foods, and less dense in kcal/g vs stuff like fats (cheese, peanut butter, etc.) and simple starches. NOT that kcal is the most important metric, but presumably you don't want to double your caloric intake, even if you do want to bump up your total food. What are you hoping more meat will do? It's substantially more expensive than legumes & lentil proteins....

 

Mostly because I already eat a  lot of legumes - they are usually my main protein for the day. The  meal  mentioned usually has either a can of beans or a can of chickpeas in it, sorry I didn't mention it. Though yeah I will pay more attention to those too. More potatoes is always a good idea too, thanks.

I think the heat kinda messed up my usual meals too because cooking is a lot in this weather and hot food is too. Thought about this last night.

 

My caloric intake is... not really a thing I think about? As long as I'm full and and not crying at the end of the month money-wise, I don't really care about it.

 

7 hours ago, Defining said:

In the meantime, is 'more sleep' an option? Individuals have different needs, some folks just don't do well on only 8hrs/night.

 

The option is still available now, but wont be when I need to get up at 5 or 6 am for my first shift soon. I was trying to get used to it, and since I wake up naturally at around that time too (I was oversleeping actually, hence the drummer in my head). 

 

7 hours ago, Defining said:

Is the option available to chat with a doctor? The new hunger could be a symptom of a hormonal imbalance (even without anything that you may have noticed), might still be worth checking out if it won't cost an arm and a leg.

 

Due to the cost and the general hassle - I fully expect their response to just be 'eat more' - I'm avoiding it unless I am sure something is wrong. The less sleep = more food happened at my last job, but it was exacerbated by all the stress - I basically had to eat every two or so hours. 

[Echoceanic]

A bit of an overview of the past few days:

 

- I pretty much get hungry every 3 hours again, apart from epic fails like the eggs.  If I time it I might get rid of the starving feeling.

- I consistently wake up stomach-gnawing-hungry, so that's a bit rude.

- We don't really have what is considered snacks in the house?

- I'm on a pasta moratorium (apart from lasagne) and resting the peanut butter a bit too. Tired a bit. 

[Defining]

Belated reply, my apologies. You may want to check out  YTer named Stephanie Buttermore, she took an eating approach that she dubbed 'all in' to address hunger issues that were closely tied to hormonal problems.

[Echoceanic]

15 hours ago, Defining said:

Belated reply, my apologies. You may want to check out  YTer named Stephanie Buttermore, she took an eating approach that she dubbed 'all in' to address hunger issues that were closely tied to hormonal problems.

 

Thanks I'll check her out.

[Jupiter]

Yay, you're back! Following!  

[Echoceanic]

On 8/18/2021 at 9:12 PM, Jupiter said:

Yay, you're back! Following!  

 

For a bit yeah! It's nice to see you!

[Jupiter]

40 minutes ago, Echoceanic said:

 

For a bit yeah! It's nice to see you!

 

 

[Echoceanic]

Yay! I got my food intake under control. Honestly, mostly I needed to calm down. Once I got my head on straight I knew what to do. Thanks to everyone that checked up on me, even if I didn't post a lot.