waking up hungry

i know you are supposed to be a bit hungry when you wake up so that it is easy to kick start your metabolism with a good nutiritonal breakfast...i keep waking up starving, hungrier than i have ever been, it has happened a few times over the last few weeks...i usually spend the rest of the day eating cos i don't seem to be able to get enough food, very annoying. i am eating not long before i go to bed so i don't really understand, i don't go to bed at all hungry...why would this be? what should i be eating for  a night time snack? is there something else i can do to stop this happening?

thanks in advance

Generally, it is recommended that you don't eat too close to when you go to bed.  By the way, it is healthy to wake up hungry, assuming you didn't starve yourself the day before--that means your body processed all its food and is ready for you to have a great breakfast.  If you are hungry the whole day, why not do this: for breakfast have good protein and during the course of the day also have your healthy carbs. 

Now, whenever you get hungry, fruits and vegetables can be eaten in large quantities--they are healthy and will fill you up.  I know sometimes I get really hungry during the day but have come close to my calorie allowance--what I do is eat 2 or even 3 apples (braeburn are my favorites) or I eat a pound of shredded cabbage with lowfat dressing.  Sometimes I eat a pound of strawberries or I cook a package of raw mushrooms in a bit of extra virgin olive oil.  All of those things are low in calories.  I just think if you are that hungry during the day, you should analyze if you are getting the best breakfast you could be.  Then, I would find all the many fruits and vegetables you like and fill up on those.

That happens to me a lot... I usually work out between 7-9 pm ang get home late and I have "dinner" (light one - sometimes is more of a snack to regain the energy I lost in the exercise) when I get home at 10-11pm. When I wake up I'm starving... I have a good breakfast. And about 2 and a half hours after breakfast I need a second breakfast (snack) and usually by lunch time I'm starving again. Lunch is my biggest meal of the day and in the afternoon I'm not that hungry, even though I have to eat every 3 hours... I think that's because my metabolism is kind of fast... Maybe that's what's up with you too.

i wake up hungry and have a huge appetite.  i probably eat half my calories for the day in just the first few hours.  it's when i really load up on carbs, and sometimes i even have dessert.  i don't really understand why people eat such huge dinners...i prefer a small meal.  that's probably why i wake up hungry.  it makes things a bit socially akward because everyone else wants to go out for a big meal at night and i'm never hungry for it. 

I wake up hungrier the later I eat at night.  If I eat right before i go to bed I'm ravenous in the morning.  If I eat until 6 pm, I'm not all that hungry.  I've never been able to figure out why.

cerealaddiction: Great points.  You are definitely eating the right way.  I don't know for how many years, I would skip breakfast or have coffee and rolls/doughnuts, but then I would eat a gigantic supper and on weekends eat pretty late and down a few cold ones late, too.  In general, it just is not healthy to eat big meals close to bed time. I used to have some fairly big "midnight snacks" on a regular basis.  Now, like you, I try to get a really good, full, healthy breakfast.

It depends on what you eat at night also. If you have "bad carbs" or "empty calories" with no nutritional value it makes your blood sugar level crash which gives you those ravenous hunger pangs.

thanks a bunch, you have all given me something to think about. it feels like there will never be a food or meal that will fill me up so i am going to try and not eat so close to going to bed and go for the larger breakfast and see how that goes, fingers crossed. so annoying not being satisfied by food cos then all i think about is food lol...oh well.

thanks everyone