I got the five o'clock hunger blues...

Anyone else have this problem where you get home from work, dinner's not for at least another hour, and you're desperately hungry and overcome by the urge to eat everything in sight?

I've been struggling with this since I started doing CC two weeks ago and I've gone over my calorie limits because of this several times (my mealtime calories are fine, it's the ones in the snack column that put me over, even way over). 

It seems like at those times I really crave things like cheese or chocolate or meat, something with fat and protein. I've tried having things like rice cakes, or veggies, but they just don't work - I eat them, then I go back and get cheese to eat. 

Any suggestions or help? It's a really weird kind of hunger that I can only compare to the kind of hunger I feel in the morning after not eating for eight hours - I feel faint and dizzy, like I'm going to be sick, if I don't eat something.  I've been tested for diabetes, so I know it's not that. It's not normal hunger - it does feel like I've gone far too long without eating, even though I had my lunch at 12:30 that day, and possibly had a snack as well around 3. 

GAH!! I have the 4 o'clock hunger blues, 5 o'clock hunger blues! GR!!! It's so annoying because I know come six I can start making dinner and then eat but those 2 hours from when I come home and dinner are TORTURE - and I am not a snacker so that doesn't work! LOL! I guess I just have to suffer! T MINUS 30 minutes and counting!!!

(I start cooking at six because I really don't like to eat any earlier than that because I'll get hungry around 10 and I don't want to eat around then because then I can't sleep at night - weird but true!)

i know EXACTLY what you mean.
to be honest?
i gave up waiting the hour to have dinner.
who says we should have dinner at 6ish anyway?
not my body.
i get home from school/work, and i have dinner. (about 400 calories)
and then later on, sometime before 8, i'll have something high protein.

i've also started taking an acai supplement. (to see what all the hubub was about and because i was desperate lol)
but it's been working MIRACLES.
i come home, eat dinner and take the acai, and instead of ending up binge eating and altogether having about 2300 calories, i eat about 1700.
also, i've started to eat more during the day before i get home, about 1000 cals, and drink TONS of water.
i guess that's just my perfect little equation, but everyone is different.
good luck!

how long between when you last ate and dinner?  You really shouldn't let your body go more than 3 hours without eating something.  How about some yogurt or some fat free pudding or something that has a bit of protein (dairy), or an ounce of raw almonds or pecans?  you can eat these thing without killing yourself in calories...  That's a really hard time for me, too... so, I try to have some kind of a low cal snack that will tide me over...

but...that kind of hunger says to me that you may be dealing with low blood sugar or something more serious than just the "gotta wait for dinner to eat" blues.  You might want to rework your day so that you are eating a little less each time, but more often throughout the day... is that something you can do?

Just throwing my 2 cents in. 

(edited to correct spelling )

Original Post by gingerkittyos:

i gave up waiting the hour to have dinner.


i've also started taking an acai supplement. (to see what all the hubub was about and because i was desperate lol)
but it's been working MIRACLES.

Unfortunately, my husband doesn't get home until 1 or even 2 hours after I do (I have flexible working hours and can get home as early as 5:30, he doesn't get home until 7:30), so if I want to eat with him, I have to wait. There have been times I've just gone ahead and made my own dinner and left him to his own devices, but at those times I've noticed that he tends not to eat at all, which worries me. 

What you say about the acai supplement is very interesting and I might see if I can try doing that. At one point I was drinking acai juice, but I'm not sure I noticed it having any particular effect on my eating habits, but then again, I wasn't really paying attention. 

What I try to do is bring a piece of fruit for the ride home.  When I am in the car I do not have the option to eat anything else and it gives my body time to register what i ate before I have a chance to eat anything else when I get home.

The fact that your body is craving protein and fat probably means it needs protein and fat. Veggies and rice cakes aren't either of those, so I think your picking the wrong snacks to hold you over. What is your general percentage of carbs fats and proteins? I like light string cheese, it feels guilty because its cheese but it's only 60 calories! Plus its fun to eat and it takes a while, which always leaves me extra satisfied.

Original Post by offinlalaland:

The fact that your body is craving protein and fat probably means it needs protein and fat. Veggies and rice cakes aren't either of those, so I think your picking the wrong snacks to hold you over. What is your general percentage of carbs fats and proteins? I like light string cheese, it feels guilty because its cheese but it's only 60 calories! Plus its fun to eat and it takes a while, which always leaves me extra satisfied.

I've just checked my analysis and it says I eat 31% fat, 16% protein and 52% carbs, over the week and a half I've been tracking. I'm not sure if those are the right proportions - probably too low on protein and too high on carbs and fat? 

a little high on fats (we should shoot for no more than 30% of our diet from fat), but definitely way out of proportion on the carb/proteins... can you up the proteins with lowfat such at chicken/fish/turkey and lower the carbs?  That might help you get past that part of the day that you are suffering so much. 

Original Post by kaseysmommy:

a little high on fats (we should shoot for no more than 30% of our diet from fat), but definitely way out of proportion on the carb/proteins... can you up the proteins with lowfat such at chicken/fish/turkey and lower the carbs?  That might help you get past that part of the day that you are suffering so much. 

Thanks, I will try that. I actually really like protein-y foods, so that'll be an easy change to make. 

Since posting this, I've also weighed myself for the first time in months and realised I was underestimating what I actually weighed by about 45 pounds. No wonder I couldn't stick to what the system told me to eat. 

im always hungry after work ...i dont know if this is good for you but i have a large cup of coffee with skim milk and 1 tsp of sugar and that curbs my appetite until dinner...good luck!!

I get the 7pm hunger blues