Posts by hungrykid

Original Post by ily51:

I think fat, fiber and protein are the holy trinity of feeling full. (in that particular order) Sugar was only put here to make our lives more enjoyable. ^^

By cutting refined sugars from my diet, I have found it quite easy to feel satisfied with much less food. For me, consuming refined sugars only leads to consuming more refined sugars. Your order is spot on. 

Original Post by amethystgirl:

In theory, but like you said, there would be a nutrition issue. Plus, you'd get to your calorie target a lot faster than if you included carbs and protein.

There is something called TEF - thermal effect of food, and I believe there are some differences in how the body breads down different macronutrients, or how much energy it takes to break down fat vs protein vs carbs. It doesn't change how many calories you take in, but it changes the amount you burn by a little. I think that's the right explanation. Anyway, something to look into, if you are curious.

To tell you the truth, I am curious about virtually everything, so I will definitely read more into it. Based on my experiences, I have found that I actually hit my calorie target much later. For example, 2 tbsp. peanut butter, a slice of whole wheat bread, and a glass of milk, will keep me going for nearly 5 hours. However, a bowl of oatmeal with a glass of milk might last an hour or 2. Furthermore, the latter meal typically leaves my stomach feeling weird, somewhere in between hungry and not. Thus, I find it much more preferable to have the first meal, as not only does it keep me satisfied longer, but it also...digests better? I don't exactly know how to put it. Doesn't really matter though. So long as I know that what I am doing is not ruining my health, it is fine by me!

Original Post by ka2007:

i believe that as long as one has enough nutrients, there is no real need to have that piece of chocolate (or, for me, potato chips:)

Yeah, at the end of the day I just end up kicking myself for it. All I can think about is, "if I hadn't had those empty calories, my total could be much lower...what a waste!"

Original Post by skinnykaty:

I have had the same thing before. last summer I was having a lot of trouble sleeping and I would constantly wake-up at the same time every night feeling awfully hungry and I would have to eat to be able to go back to sleep. And it really made me put on the pounds. And I dont know about you but I am an emotional eater and I was having issues with friends and what not and I feel like that contributed to my eating.

I would definately think about if there is another reason why your eating for example struggles at work at home with friends, and maybe if that is dealt with the midnight eating might stop, do you know what I mean? Im not saying thats why your eating but its something to think about.

I hope I helped and best of luck to you.

katy

I don't think I'm an emotional eater. It happened again tonight, however, I was not quite as hungry, and was therefore able to feel satisfied after having less. However, when I woke up later, I was hungrier than I was yesterday when I ate more. I am not particularly concernced about gaining weight from it though, as I still manage to stay within my caloric limits. Plus, I am eating healthy foods, as opposed to the traditional pizza and cupcakes.

Original Post by minda_spk:

Getting therapy while underage can be tough, I've done it. If your parents have you on their health insurance it will generally pay for at least 16 sessions.

Once their, with confidentiality rules, you can discuss with your therapist what he can divulge to your parents. I was 17 in therapy, and my rule was simple: 'nothing' I also told him I didn't like meeting him with my parents. That was after the first time it happened, and it never did again. Most therapists want to help you, so putting your own terms on it is acceptable.

Unless you threaten suicide or threaten to harm others, they will not break your trust. The therapist may still meet with your parents

The only real challenge is convincing them you need to go. I skated by that one, since they put me there, but perhaps just explaining how confused and out of place you feel would do it. They may assume that a therapist will try and convince you to be 'normal' and let them think that if it will get you in.

I'll give it some thought. I just don't want things to turn out the same way that they did a few years ago when my mom took me to go see a doctor. To make a long story short, the doctor asked me a slew of questions with my mom standing right there, the two of them left the room, came back, and my mom and I left with me none the wiser. That really bothered me. If the whole point of the visit was for me, then why were the two of them so secretive about it? Furthermore, my mom used one thing that was wrong with me as an excuse to take me there and have something else checked out. The consequence of all this is that I have a very hard time trusting my parents where doctors are involved, and who could blame me?

Original Post by tasherie:

 please see a therapist. Talk your frustrations out. Maybe talk to your doctor about some anti-anxiety meds or anti-depressents. They are not a cure all but maybe they can help you cope.

Dont be afraid to be yourself. As long as your not hurting anybody there is no problem with being the person (male or female) that you feel that you are. There are a lot of options out there for people living like this and maybe try to find a support system for it? I know that there are a lot of people like you so don't feel like your alone. If you feel like your not getting support from you family..so what? We are meant to live our own lives. Move on and do your own thing and I promise you your people will come around, and if they don't then you really didn't need them in the first place.

Im sorry for the long post, but it seems that you are crying out for help.

There is a lot of help out there..and if you ever feel like you are going to hurt someone or yourself seek help immediately!!!!

I honestly doubt that I would ever carry out any of the harmful thoughts that cross my mind. Despite the fact that I have these thoughts, I also have a terrible fear of hurting any living thing that conincides with them. 

I have no problem being myself. It is my family that does, and as a minor, I am basically stuck with them. Aside from this issue, my family and I get along rather well, which is not too terribly diffcult when you don't spend much time together. 

Original Post by kjac76:

I didn't get the chance to read all the replies, so I hope I'm not repeating things, but, sounds to me like you may have some anxiety/obsessive compulsive tendancies. I'm not a doctor, but I also suffer from similar issues such as ... restricting my calorie intake to a certain specific number and then wanting to punish myself if I go over. Or   over-exercising if I go over, etc.

Some things I do to control hunger, especially at night, is drink hot tea. I sometimes drink chamomile and add a little warm milk. This helps me to fall asleep and fill my stomach. Drinking a full glass of water also helps.

I've also cut out some of my caffeine intake. I dring half and half caffeine/decaf coffee in the morning. And I do not allow myself caffenated drinks after 5pm.

Another thing, if you exercise, don't do it after 5pm either. It can give you extra energy that will not only keep you awake, but also make you hungry.

You may need to talk to your doctor about your obsessive tendancies such as specific number of calories to meet and picking at your skin. We all have some sort of obsessive qualities, but when it begins to interfere with your life, it may be time to talk to your doc. A simple anti-anxiety pill may help you to overcome it.  

Tea makes my stomch feel weird for some odd reason, but I have no objections to drinking more water.  As for exercise, I acutually feel much better when I do exercise at night, as opposed to when I don't. When I neglect to walk in the evening, I am left feeling rather anxious and restless. So, can't exactly agree with you on that one. I appreciate the advice, though!

Original Post by minda_spk:

You are at a healthy weight. Lose 10 pounds and you'll be underweight. If you're concerned with your appearance, focus on toning your body, there is absolutely no need for you to lose any.

That being said, I'll still offer my opinion of your diet : )

For one, if you started exercising, you could feasibly eat this a day (less a cup of milk or two). Some weight training and cardio would also help your mood.

As for diet, I feel I should reiterate that you don't need to lose weight, and I'm offering this because you want to maintain. The first big question: where are your veggies? You need lots. They are also great for controlling binges just because you can eat so much. Your diet, while the foods are healthy, is all dairy and grains (for this day). The amount that your eating really isn't off, especially for your age. Perhaps planning your meals would help with keeping things healthy as well as giving you some control you seem to need to diet.
Up your protein. A lot. Chicken, fish, nuts, whatever. Up your veggies, eat same leafy greens everyday. While snacking throughout the day is fine health-wise, it could making your brain think that it never eats because you never sit for a meal.

One thing I commonly do is I make a list of everything I want to eat the next day. For instance, tomorrow I'm going to have v8, a glass of chocolate milk, wasa crackers with cream cheese, 1oz cashews, banana, large ceasar salad, grilled chicken, green beans, 1oz cashews, tomato w/ cottage cheese, 3 plums, 2 squares of dark chocolate. I would guess this seems like a lot, but there will also be a 90 minute workout so I can lose weight with that.  Now, I make this list (just in my head) and I try to eat everything on it (in that order). Make a list that has foods with lots of nutrients, protein, and some good fat. While your eating enough calories, if you're not getting enough nutrients and protein your body may still be wanting you to eat. Besically, even if you shouldn't be hungry, your body hasn't had what it wants.

Basically my advice boils down to lots of protein and vegetables. If you want a granola bar, eat a grilled chicken salad first, and then once you're hungry again, eat the granola.

As for the guilt, the amount you eat is neither excessive, out of the ordinary, or horribly expensive. Plus its going to make a healthy diet harder to stick to if you also have to battle guilt.

If you're family is convinced you don't eat, I imagine they would be happy to let you go grocery shopping with them and pick out the healthy foods you want to eat that you're less likely to binge on. It sounds like you might just be a bit lost. You aren't on a strict diet (and you really don't need to be) so you're not sure what to eat and how much. Just because you're not working towards a large goal, set a small one. Go a whole day without granola. Make it a goal to actually get 5 servings of veggies a day.

Hope this helps!

I agree with you, I do not need to lose weight. And yet I do. I have not yet been diagnosed by a health professional, but I am thoroughly convinced that I am the opposite sex. Even though I am presently at a healthy BMI, it means that I have breasts that I absolutely do not want. They make me feel disgusted with myself, and on some days, suicidal. My parents are determined to shove me back into the closet from whence I came, so keeping my weight in check is the only means by which I can feel okay with myself. I know this appears to contradict the logic of many people within this community, but I feel it necessary for my sanity to keep my weight at the lowest healthy BMI available. Will I sill have a female body? Sure, but at least it will look slightly less so. I would love to focus more on exercise and less on diet, however, that is simply not feasible within my household. I can walk, but that's about it. My mom is not going to invest a dime in exercise equipment, and even if she did, she would be suspicious of me using it. I honestly have no clue where this overwhelming hunger has come from, but my only goal at the moment is to reverse it. I need to eat semi-normally so that I can focus on my work, and thereby "forget" about the nature of my body. I do not mean to insult women, I am just rather certain that I am not truly one of them. Not to sound too disturbing, but when I am around kids my mind inevitably wanders to the catalog of ways in which I could harm them. I sometimes try to suppress these thoughts, while other times I embrace them as positive signs that my female body does not accurately reflect my male mind. Again, let me reiterate that the above was by no means intended to be an insult to women, and moreover, I am not trying to promote starvation dieting. Trust me, been there, done that, and would not go back to it for the world! (Oddly enough, you feel just as out of control when your weight is precipitously plummeting as when it is slowly going up.)

Original Post by minda_spk:

Your hunger at night it most likely the result of poorly controlled blood sugar. The best fix? stop eating sugar. Eat more protein. In fact, eat protein all the time. It will drastically reduce your appetite. Eating small meals throughout the day can also help, this also helps your body control your blood sugar.

I already eat quite a bit of protein. Additionally, most of the sugar that I consume in a day comes from fruit and dairy products. Like I said, the problem appears to be how much I am eating, as opposed to what I am eating. I have absolutely no desire to eat "bad" foods (i.e. pizza, ice cream, etc...) Instead, I tend to binge on "healthy" foods, such as whole grain cereal, milk, and low-sugar granola bars. In the end, even though these foods are relatively low in calories, they add up very rapidly when you are eating them to reach a certain number, as opposed to hunger. I would happily remove many foods from the house, however, I am really not in charge of what comes in.