How long would this food keep you going for?

[Enjoytheweethings]

Ate 3 boiled eggs for breakfast around 8am. A bowl with maybe 150g plain yogurt and a generous handful of blueberries.

Suddenly starving now and ate two handfuls of cashews and have wolfed down a load of tiny little crackers with peanut butter, hiking snack things. Apparently about 300 calories worth.

I thought nuts were high density when it comes to calories? Why am I so hungry?

Had a shit day at hospital appointment and seemed to go from no hunger to feeling queasy with a headache that eased after eating.

Would you feel ok eating this quantity of food?

3 boiled eggs and a yoghurt?
Quite obvious why you're hungry, stop being so daft.
MN bewildered under eater at its best 🙄

OP has explained they they're struggling to eat because they're grieving. They're trying to fuel themself by eating "filling" food when they don't feel like eating. Don't be so mean!

You need to eat lunch and dinner.

If you're struggling to do this have you thought about trying Ensure high calorie drinks or protein shakes?

You're hungry because you've burnt way more calories than you've eaten. Please get some high calorie drinks if you are finding it hard to eat.

No.

Grieving may result in not feeling like eating. It doesn’t mean that you don’t understand a few hundred calories may leave you feeling hungry.

If you don’t see this for what it, that’s your problem.

Stuff that might work if you're struggling

Add peanut butter to the yoghurt, or crushed nuts
Custard. Better still apple crumble with it, comfort food
Liquid calories. Get a McDonald's milkshake or a Frappuccino, hot chocolate, anything like that
Ice cream is easy to eat too and pretty calorie dense
Porridge with fruit and nuts

You must know that’s a tiny amount of calories, and you appear to be avoiding carbs, and thus not eating fibre. I think there’s a bit more than grief here OP. Do you have a history of issues with food ?

If you’re having a rough time emotionally then write a list of easy meals Eg -

eggs on toast and a piece of fruit
Porridge with yogurt, seeds and berries

Chicken salad sandwich
Soup and a ham roll

filled pasta and salad
baked potato with cheese, coleslaw and salad
etc

get the food in and eat them. Set an alarm for meal times if you need to. Drink 6 glasses of water, and get enough sleep

I don't have a problem - seems like you do, though.

Drink 6 glasses of water, and get enough sleep

Although perhaps don't try to do it in that sequence 😃

You are wrong, and pretty judgemental.

I do not have an ED, I don't count calories, I eat high fat foods, I eat whatever I want.

I categorically DO NOT want to lose weight. I lost some when my loved one was actually dying and have managed to put it back on.

I am WORRIED that I now seem to go from no appetite to having no mental want for food but physical symptoms of hunger, feeling physically unwell. It is hard to explain.

I'm trying to eat well on some days, 5 a day etc and then many others like today it is a shitshow.

My hormones feel messed up, my normal hunger signals and sated signals seem fucked up. I have autoimmune illnesses and wonder if something else is going on. Mentioned at my doctor today who couldn't care less about the hormones.

I could sit down and eat a full pint of ice cream, no problem, stuff like that slips down easy even if not hungry, because it tastes nice. But can't do that every day.

You need to probably just eat more of the things you fancy
Good fats and protein so yoghurt with the nuts

It's quite normal to not fancy food in the day then be starving at night, it's at that point you need to eat something more than nuts. Just buy some ready prepared food from m and s, nice soup or anything easy to eat you might fancy and have it in the fridge

Sorry I assumed you were trying to do a fast day.

You didn’t eat any proper meals all day. That’s why you were hungry. Even if you’re grieving it’s not rocket science that if you only eat a few snacks all day it will result in feeling hunger.

I mean even if you didn’t feel very hungry or had a good appetite you do know what constitutes a proper meal, so you know if you don’t eat any all day then that’s why you feel hungry.

Thank you. Yes, where I am doesn't really have many places like M&S where you can get really nice easy tempting stuff.

What you say is interesting about not fancying food in day, then getting starving at night.

Normally, I think I'm much more regular about eating meals and my body probably isn't really used to doing things this way.

Have never been somebody who could go all day without food just running on coffee or other drinks like some of my mates. Hence boiled eggs before going to appointment despite not having that 'mental' hunger and feeling phsycially ok and not hungry at that time.

You also read on here about people who don't have breakfast, who work through lunch break or just grab a snack on the go and keep until a large dinner, so it definitely seems like some folk can eat on a schedule like this completely fine.

Maybe you could make a meal plan and set a strict schedule so you are eating appropriate mess three times per day to make it simpler.

I mean even if you didn’t feel very hungry or had a good appetite you do know what constitutes a proper meal, so you know if you don’t eat any all day then that’s why you feel hungry.

Yeah but I'm used to hunger cues signalling that I need to eat, before it reaches a point where I'm unwell and shaky with a headache.

This is new and unpleasant. It literally feels like grief is breaking me.

I got home from consultant and spent a few hours in tears, drinking cups of tea.

Crying is supposed to be good for stress relief as it reduces cortisol I think. But perhaps suppresses hunger hormone?

If your hunger cues go (which I've had from stress / depression) then just go through the motions? Eat normal meals at normal times rather than waiting for any prompting from your body. Not feeling hunger seems like quite a normal expression of grief, and just because your body hasn't given you any hunger cues doesn't mean it's going to cope with the lack of food.

But going back to your original question...

Which was - How long would this keep you going for?

Then asking why you are hungry.

You brought the grief issue in.

If you're hungry then eat! I've also lost weight through grief, it was a relief if my stomach rumbled, it meant my anxiety had waned.

As for the question - that would see me until 3pm easily and then I'd have a snack, the dinner about 5 or 6ish.

Hmmmm I eat toast for breakfast, sandwich for lunch and cooked meal for tea. Never feel hungry maybe chuck the nuts lol

I guess then you might have to do some batch cooking/prep of tempting light meals and snacks, or ask your support network to help?

No problem with eating late in the evening if you're hungry, just make sure you have access to something filling and healthy not just nuts. Cheese and crackers or toast probably better.

I thought nuts were high density when it comes to calories? Why am I so hungry?

You're not eating balanced meals or enough calories. You've indicated 15 hours between "meals."

I went through grief and loss of appetite recently, just keep trying to eat simple foods (maybe a chicken soup?), small portions more often, nuts/avocado/peanut butter are good snacking options, smoothies maybe with full fat yoghurt and a spoon of peanut butter… Supplement with Ensure if you have to.

@TheDogsArse I agree

Asking if what they're eating is sufficient and why they're hungry at certain times is ridiculous

Have I stumbled into a pro-anorexia group?

Yeah, it's called Mumsnet.

Grief or not, you KNOW you need to eat something more substantial a few times a day......stop waiting for hunger to tell you to eat and just do it.
Porridge for breakfast.
Soup for lunch.
Jacket potato with choice of filling for evening meal.
It's not spectacularly difficult to understand.

I thought it was a pretty big breakfast, but then that was it! Of course you are going to be hungry if you don’t eat all day. 🧐