The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[Simmshe]

Hey guys, I have a quick question.

Seemingly out of the blue (although I'm sure there must be a correlating reason behind this change), I feel like I'm starving. Not since my very first days on MF back in July have I experienced real, painful, stomach-sounding-like-the-Incredible Hulk hunger every two hours.

I'm wondering if this has something to do with my very long days lately (working two jobs and out of the house from 6:30 a.m. till 12 midnight everyday, getting about 5 hours of sleep each night. However, both jobs are relatively sedentary, except on my evening job, I do a bit of walking to different departments several times an evening (but really, it's nothing that's very active). I'm doing six supplements a day--predominantly shakes (70s), and a bar (or two on particularly active days ), and a soup and/or hot chocolate. Also, I average around 120-130oz of water a day.

Any ideas? Have any of you long-timers experienced this? I'm having a supplement every three hours, although after two hours, I'm hungry and just ignore the hunger until meal time. I want the days back when I almost forget to have a supplement and have to force one down--none of this physical hunger stuff ! Okay, okay, those "days" were as recent as last week! This appetite increase just started a few days ago. I'm not feeling vulnerable to eating food or anything--I just want this to pass soon!

Okay, gotta get back to work!

Thanks,

Sheryl

P.S. My weight has been holding for about 14-15 days now, per my usual pattern, so I'm most likely coming up on a drop in a few days. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with it .

[Simmshe]

Okay, already figured out my conundrum (which I would have already pinpointed had I not been so tired !), so I don't need anyone to pick their brains . I forgot to mention that I feel absolutely EXHAUSTED. I'm quite sleep deprived, and do not function well on less than 7 hours of sleep a night (I sure do wish that I was one of those 5-hour a nighter's, but that's not me--5 hours feels like 2-3 hours to me). I'm falling asleep on the metro and at my desk--have to keep drinking water and getting up every so often to jar myself a bit.

Anyways, it's my fatigue that's causing the hunger increase. I've experienced this before, but when I wasn't on Medifast, I would give myself a steady stream of Mountain Dew, candy bars, potato chips, and whatever other junk I could get my hands on that would give me a temporary boost.

I pasted an article below, which articulates the reason why we eat when we're tired, in case anyone's interested--it's good reading :
Study Links Sleep Deprivation, Obesity

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer

LAS VEGAS - Weight-loss experts have a novel prescription for people who want to shed pounds: Get some sleep. A very large study has found a surprisingly strong link between the amount of shut-eye people get and their risk of becoming obese.

Those who got less than four hours of sleep a night were 73 percent more likely to be obese than those who got the recommended seven to nine hours of rest, scientists discovered. Those who averaged five hours of sleep had 50 percent greater risk, and those who got six hours had 23 percent more.

"Maybe there's a window of opportunity for helping people sleep more, and maybe that would help their weight," said Dr. Steven Heymsfield of Columbia University and St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York.

He and James Gangwisch, a Columbia epidemiologist, led the study and are presenting results this week at a meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity.

They used information on about 18,000 adults participating in the federal government's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES, throughout the 1980s. The survey includes long-term follow-up information on health habits, and researchers adjusted it to take into account other things that affect the odds of obesity, like exercise habits, so that the effects of sleep could be isolated.

It seems "somewhat counterintuitive" that sleeping more would prevent obesity because people burn fewer calories when they're resting, Gangwisch said.

But they also eat when they're awake, and the effect of chronic sleep deprivation on the body's food-seeking circuitry is what specialists think may be making the difference in obesity risks.

"There's growing scientific evidence that there's a link between sleep and the various neural pathways that regulate food intake," Heymsfield said.

Sleep deprivation lowers leptin, a blood protein that suppresses appetite and seems to affect how the brain senses when the body has had enough food. Sleep deprivation also raises levels of grehlin, a substance that makes people want to eat.

It also hurts "executive function" — the ability to make clear decisions, said Dr. Philip Eichling, a sleep and weight-loss specialist at the University of Arizona who also is medical director of the Canyon Ranch, a spa in Tucson that offers health and weight management programs, especially for business executives.

"One of my treatments is to tell them they should move from six hours to seven hours of sleep. When they're less sleepy, they're less hungry," he said.

Eichling had no role in the new study but said it gives important evidence for a long-suspected theory in the field. Americans average only a little more than six hours of sleep a night, and one report a few years ago even suggested that the growing prevalence of sleep deprivation might be responsible for the growing obesity epidemic, he said.

I noticed that when I was chewing gum that my hunger was less, so I bought a pack of trident this afternoon, and it seem that the act of chewing helps to quash the feigned hunger--no more gnawing since I have been chewing. Anyways, I'm getting plenty of rest this weekend and will only be doing double duty for another 1 1/2-2 weeks--and no more! I need my 7 1/2 hours!

Sheryl

[fedup]

Hey! I read something about a lack of sleep making it difficult to lose weight also, some article. I wouldn't have even remembered it in this case except you came up with your own solution and jogged my memory too! The info you posted was very interesting to read... it's funny how things like sleep and stress can REALLY effect our weight loss efforts! During my stress fest week a while ago I hardly lost a thing. My body just wasn't letting go! So stress with all the work your doing could be part of it to! Hope all is better and the rumblies go away when things settle down some for you!