Monday, January 15, 2007

When hunger is a good thing...

Truth is, there's only one time of day when I like to feel hungry: First thing in the morning.

As a regular "Midnight Raider" of the refrigerator, I used to really load up on food right before bedtime. Sometimes I'd eat entire meals! Huge meals! Restaurant-size meals!

And then I'd curl up in bed and let everything digest while I slept.

The result? Extra pounds around my middle, and I woke up still feeling full. In fact, I wouldn't get an appetite until lunchtime.

When I eat mini-meals, however, things are different. I do my best to curb my nighttime eating, and any midnight snacks are small--a handful of almonds and a piece of fruit, or maybe a dill pickle and some trail mix. I eat just enough to keep hunger from waking me while I sleep. Then I wake up famished in the morning!

And I love that feeling! First, it reminds me that I didn't stuff my face with unhealthy food right before bedtime. And it also encourages me to eat breakfast, which isn't a meal I enjoy. Unless I feel hunger, I'll skip breakfast and start eating at lunch. Studies show that people who successfully lose weight tend to eat breakfast, so I've been trying to turn my morning meal into a habit. It's not a real habit yet, but I'll keep trying.

Anyway, I woke up hungry today. And I soothed my belly with plain soy yogurt mixed with frozen blueberries (and sprinkled with just a small portion of granola), plus some soy sausage patties. That's a lot of soy, but today is an upper body strength training day--so I'm adding a little extra protein to my meals.

5 comments:

Fatinah said...

way to go waking up hungry! How lovely to be able to start the day with a reminder that yesterday was a good one - I bet it keeps you going and helps keep you on track.

Tigerlilly said...

I know I've done well on my diet when I wake up the next morning and I FEEL a little bit skinnier... and breakfast is the best meal of the day for me too... if I have a great breakfast, then I know the rest of the day will follow!

Stay Strong!

jeannie* said...

Woohoo! Waking up hungry is the best!

Anonymous said...

I've found that the secret to losing weight for me is going to bed a little hungry. Oh man is that hard to do. I'm not always successful, but when I am, I can see it on the scale the next morning.

WeightWatchnWoman said...

I understand what you mean when you say you wake up hungry. I wake up hungry a lot now and I don't like it.
But like you said, it does help me to get the breakfast down.