Hungry

I'm hungry.

I mean, I'm really, really hungry ALL the time lately. It's starting to drive me crazy.

I'm not talking about a little, 'Oh, I could do with something to eat.' No, it's complete stomach GROWLING, feeling faint type of hunger.

I'm not sure what it is. It could be that I've been back to a more vigorous exercise routine these past ten days, it could be a bit of PMS ... I don't know. All I know is that I'm HUNGRY!!

The good thing is that I'm not craving anything. I'm not craving fried stuff, sweet stuff, or anything like that. I'm actually amazed at how little (if at all) I crave any of those foods. Even when I read other blogs and they describe fried chicken or other junk food all I think is 'Yuck.' I'm not saying that there aren't foods that I enjoy - french fries are definitely a weakness, and very rarely would I say no to a piece of chocolate! However, they're not 'go-to' foods for me. In fact, I don't think I have a go-to food anymore ... at this point, all I want to do is eat something.

The good thing is that not having any junk food in the house makes it SO much easier to avoid filling up on regrettable calories! I know that if there was chocolate in the house I'd head towards it ... so really pre-planning and avoiding brining unhealthy foods in the house is an important step. Plus, what I'm feeling is hunger, not a craving. It's just a desire for food - and desire for food NOW!

I try to eat every 3-4 hours. With crazy hunger striking every 2 hours, it's getting tougher, but I'm trying to hold off and eat every 3 hours (not sooner) and drink tons of water in the meantime.

It doesn't always work ... for me, it's still about having easy to prepare/eat foods on hand so that I don't have to worry too much - though portion control is still important.

For example, yesterday I sat down with some honeydew melon. One cup of melon is 60 calories; this container had 2 cups ... and I ate it all in one sitting. I'm sure if I had only sat down with 1 cup it would have been fine -- and I would have only consumed 60 calories instead of 120 ... but I sat down with 2, and I ate 2.

Is consuming 60 extra calories of fruit that big a deal? Probably not. That's not the point though -- it just made me aware that even foods that are good for you should be portion controlled in order to build awareness of how much you really need to eat. Two cups of fruit may be harmless, but it isn't necessary - not in one sitting.

Today I had pineapple -- and I only ate 1 cup (75 calories) instead of the 2 that were in the container ... and it was fine. It satisfied my hunger; I didn't need to eat 2 cups of it though I could have and I still would have only consumed 150 calories.

So I'm trying to be sensible with my food choices. I have a menu that I'm following as strictly as possible, but lately I've had to deal with this hunger ... the best thing for me has been grapes. I wash a cup of them (110) calories and put them in a ziplock bag and eat them through the day. I'll have a few at work, some on the way to the gym, a few right after my workout. I usually don't get through the whole bag, but they're clean, easy to eat yummy snacks that fill me up just enough so that I can get past my growling stomach and get on with my day.

Fruits aren't the only thing I snack on. Sometimes I need to eat something hot and salty (because of my low blood pressure). I know nuts are an option, but munching on nuts can be more difficult to control and the calories add up quickly. Still, they are quick/easy. If I've got a bit time (and patience) I'll chop a few veggies (cucumbers and carrots usually). Some days I'll have some soup ... it all depends on how hungry I am and what's on hand.

I hope that this hunger doesn't last for much longer ... well, at the very least, I hope that however I do end up handling the hunger in a healthy way.