Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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So for a long time now, I have not ate during the day. Sometimes (rarely) I will eat breakfast, but most often, I skip it. Then, I go to work and am busy all day and don't think about eating. Everyone (CW-everyone) tells me I'm crazy and harming my body, but I'm ok with defying them because--with very few exceptions--I am not hungry and do not think about food during the day. (If I were hungry, I would eat. I'm not a zealot about not eating during the day--just don't think about it, and don't feel the need to do it.)

Anyway, my first meal is typically when I get home around 3:30-4:30 PM. When I eat at this point, I get ridiculously hungry and, a lot of nights, end up eating way more than I should before I go to bed at 9-10PM. It's like when I start eating, my body realizes all the food I skipped. Is this a mental thing, or is there a truly physical response going on? How do I reduce my seemingly insatiable appetite at night? Or is it just one of those suck it up and go to bed hungry things?

flag	asked Apr 17 2012 at 1:51 Eric 1,951●3●13

I'm not a calories in/calories out advocate, but have you put your numbers into something like fitday or cronometer to see how much you are eating in the evening? It might be totally normal, and you've just accidentally recreated what I've seen referred to as the "warrior diet", with a small evening feed window. – Happy Now Apr 17 2012 at 5:13

Jeff · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-17 04:19:01Z UTC

Ghrelin, the hormone that prepares your body for soon to be incoming food, has daily rhythms that are trainable. I think if you forced yourself to eat in the morning (ideally a big meal with protein), you will get used to that and maybe can stop eating by 4 or 5.

Renee · Answer 2 · 2012-04-17 02:12:29Z UTC

"Don't really feel the need to do it". Well, obviously your body feels the need, that's why it's overcompensating when you get home. Seriously, the body knows. It's starving! I know that IF works for a lot of people on here, but personally I really struggled with after-school binging in high school, when I didn't pack a lunch. And I really struggled with bulimia in my 20s, when I didn't eat enough all day. Now that I eat a good breakfast and lunch, dinner is no longer a 4-hour ordeal involving 10,000 trips back to the fridge. And whenever I accidentally skimp during the day, finishing the evening meal becomes that much more difficult.

Also, I bet your feeling not hungry during the day is due to excessive/late eating the night before. If you have a normal sized dinner and don't eat past 8 or so, you might that you wake up with an actual appetite, or at least get one by midday.

ov227 · Answer 3 · 2012-04-17 02:07:57Z UTC

I do the same thing quite often. I would suggest trying to see what 3 balanced meals throughout the day feels like. I personally like eating all my food in the evenings. I just try and put a limit on it at a certain point. Track calories/nutrient intake for those 5-6 hours in the evening that you eat. It sounds like a fast 5 / intermittent fasting approach which is totally find if you stick to the right foods.

Right before bed, its possible you're tired/bored rather than actually hungry. Drink a glass of water and try to get to bed. If you have to eat something eat some thing small and satisfying.

Limit my appetite at night?

3 Answers