I've mentioned in a few posts that my daily calorie intake has tended to be too low, about 1000 calories. I just don't usually have a big appetite. That's bad, though; it's stalling me.

So today, I tried an experiment. I thought that maybe if I ate multiple snacks instead of three meals, I could get my calories in. I've listed my intake below.

Breakfast (7:30 AM or so)
2 eggs fried in butter
3 brown and serve sausages
1/2 c. Breyer's LC chocolate ice cream (I know, I know ...)

Snack 1 (10:00 AM or so)
1 slice Orowheat Lite whole wheat bread (4 or 5 net carbs)
1 Tbsp. natural peanut butter
3/4 tsp. Fifty 50 strawberry spread

Snack 2 (12:00 PM or so)
3 medium stalks celery
1.5 oz. cream cheese
4 small green olives

Strangely, I am more hungry than I have been in a while. (I'm making myself a few deviled eggs for my next snack.)

So, does this hunger mean anything? Good, bad, indifferent? Any comments on my plan of attack?

I don't know exactly what it means...all I know is once I start eating, I am more hungry. It is frustrating. Carbs make me want more carbs...or more ANYTHING. The past few days I have been very snackie. I want to nibble and chew and feel full, but I jsut can't seem to ge there. Maybe I'm eating (or feeling like I am hungry) for other reasons...stress, hormones, etc. Who knows. I'm thinking of trying a combo of 2 seperate approaches. If I eat carbs early (I'm still in induction, so that would usually be pumpkin, Splenda, etc...in your case, it could be toast or other items you are allowed to eat) my appetite increases so that I want to snack. A friend who has lost over 100 pounds eating low carb said he doesn't eat ANY (or almost any) in the evening (after 8 pm or so) on advice of his doctor. Clearly it is working for him...he EATS after 8, bust NOT carbs. So, maybe I will try eating my carbs mid-day and keep the high fat-protien meals to morning and evening. That way, if my carbs make me hungry, I will eat DINNER instead of a snack or treat. I'll let you know if it helps.

Plus, looks like you have a long time between breakfast and lunch...you probably NEED a snack in there!

Good luck!

i like the idea about no carbs after 8. I think i will try that also. You said that your friend lost over 100pds thats great. Also a doctor told him/her no carbs after 8 so that has to be good advice coming from a doctor. Today for some reason i stayed hungry all day. I snacked and ate all day since i was hungry. But i wonder why does are body get like that sometimes. Its like you eat but nothing is satisfying.

Soem say eating multiple small meals helps to increase metabolism, so that could be leading to more hunger. In CAD they talk about insulin being released from snacking and that could be triggering cravings. There could also be a trigger food (such as the sugar in the icecream) that is making you have a larger appatite. There is also the case that some people get really hungry before a loss. Just play around with menus and find out what you think it is.

I think it was the eating all day that did it, but that's okay, since it helped me get in my required calories. That ice cream doesn't seem to stimulate my appetite generally, and it's about 4 ECC per 1/2 cup serving.

In fact, I think I will start eating like that all the time. I did it for a few days, and the pounds were dropping off pretty quickly again.

They say if you eat like that and you are hungry, eat when you're hungry. If you don't eat and are hungry, your body goes into "starvation mode" and holds onto every last fat cell thinking you won't get fed soon.

Yes, that's the one thing I DON'T want, and that's what was happening to me when I was—completely by accident, not starving myself at all—consuming 800 to 1000 calories per day.