Happy Hump Day all! Thanks for all the great show ideas on yesterday’s post. I totally jotted them down and have convinced The Husband we NEED to check them out. It was tough because he is a big fan of American Pickers, International House Hunters, ESPN everything, but, he agreed that some of the shows are probably better than The Bachelor LOL.
Tonight’s post is going to be FAST because I am exhausted and cannot wait to do my 20 minutes of yoga and crawl in bed. Now that I think of it being HUNGRY all day long probably has something to do with needing some more zzzzz’s.
Do you all notice that? Are you hungrier when you don’t get your 8+ hours of sleep?
My co-worker was telling me yesterday how Starbuck’s gave her a FREE drink for “Feel Good February” so I totally thought I NEED to go to see if I get one for FREE too.
Ummmm….nope, no Feel Good February for me. No worries though, it didn’t stop me from getting my usual Venti Iced Dirty Latte (FF latte with 1 pump mocha) (4 points+)
Another delicious 100% Whole Wheat Banana Muffin with a banana (4 points+)
I wish I could be someone who get away without having protein in the morning….then again, I might just live on scones, muffins and bagels. I was hungry 2 hours later.
Mid morning Snack ~ 4 TJ’s Social Crackers & Sargento LF Colby Cheese (4 points+)
I pretty much dreamed about lunch all morning long. That is honestly probably why I was hungry 2 hours after breakfast 
I couldn’t wait to dig into more Fire Cracker Chicken over 1/2 cup brown rice. (8 points+)
Spicy Asian Peanut Slaw (1 point+)
Keeping with the theme of the day, I was starving again 3 hours later. I snacked on some more cashews and an apple (3 points+).
I had actually planned making The Husband his STEAKHOUSE DINNER tonight, but, when I got home he told me we had to help some of our friends move some heavy furniture.
I was STARVING on our way home and we both agreed we didn’t have the patience to wait for something to cook. So The Husband decided it’s been wayyyyy too long since we visited our friends at Vasquez Deli ~ the BEST tacos in the world!
Since Vasquez doesn’t have their nutritional information online, I looked up the points in my Complete Food Companion. You could do the same online or Weight Watchers Mobile.
I got 2 Spicy, Crunchy Chicken tacos for 10 points+.
This really is the BEST, Spicy Shredded Chicken ever!….it’s so juicy, spicy and melts in your mouth!
NEW AT FRIENDS FOR WEIGHT LOSS
* Quick & Easy Cheesy BBQ Chicken Quesadillas
There are still a few hours left to enter to win Annie’s new 1 point+ dressings ~ the 6 winners will be picked tomorrow!
Q’s
What do you do when you have HUNGRY days where you feel like you can and will eat everything in site?
For me, I just eat everything in site….KIDDING! I usually try to FOCUS on drinking my water and picking FREE snacks (fruits and/veggies) to bulk up my meals and snacks. I really try to avoid things that won’t help my hunger (empty calories)….Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t….for those days, I dig into my WPA.
Night all!
My HUNGRY days seem to balance out with non-hungry days. One day, I eat everything in site and the other day, I don’t really have an appetite at all. I just go with it.
Power Foods! I’m with you, Danica – I just seem to do better with protein as the foundation of my breakfast…and I’m trying to keep an eye on the proportions of meat to veggies to starch on my plate (1/4, 1/2, 1/4). When I do that, I seem to be really satisfied all day long. The other thing I notice is when I’m ‘itching’ to have ‘something’…but I don’t know what it is – that is often emotional – and more than not as a result of procrastination. So if I just get busy getting the monkey off my back, often the craving goes away (of course, sometimes I just grab a banana and feed the monkey – 0pp)!
I’m noticing that I do much better with protein in the a.m., too! Yesterday, I also ate about every 2-3 hours. I tried not to freak out about it (why do we freak out when we get hungry like that??!!) and just made balanced healthy choices. Turns out I felt GREAT! I didn’t have any crazy cravings and felt more even keeled all day. I know it’s only one day, but maybe this eating every couple hours thing is a good thing!
I have the same problem. If I am tired then I feel hungry and snack more often. On those days I make a bigger dinner, less veggies more meat. I will throw a steak on the grill and a potato in the microwave. Never hurts me on the scale. I think sometimes your body just needs a little extra.
Pray, keep busy, water water water,and I try to change the day by eating a protein rich food to get rid of the munchies. Carbs make me crave carbs
In all honesty, when I have my hungry days, I go back and read some of your older posts. It is great to see your ideas and what comments others have written. If I am busy reading, I won’t be tempted to snack over my computer.
Dancia I have a question and I hope this makes it to you. I do not have a Trader Joe’s within 500 miles of me and I am interested in finding something close to the Spicey Peanut Trader Joe Sauce you put on your broccoli slaw. Do you have any ideas on something that would be close? I can’t find spicey peanut anything in my local grocery other than “asian sesame ginger” dressing. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
P.S. I live in TN and I have a friend that lives in CA that works in the office at Organic Annie’s, her name is Christy Williams. Not sure how many Organic Annie’s are in CA but she lives in Vacabille, CA.
There’s a scientific reason to why you feel more hungry when you’re tired! Lack of sleep releases a hormone that makes you feel hungry. It’s why they say proper sleep helps with weight loss (or why the sleep deprived are more likely to be overweight)
i get sooo annoyed on days where I feel like I just can’t get full. And you are righ it usually has to do with sleep or an emotion and less with what I believe is my body needing more food
awesome, yes I do have Hungry days, sometimes the best thing to do
is get involved in a project, I write and paint. ok about shows
on TV I love shows, i love love love Mike and Mollly and Big Bang Theory ok and lets not forget Parenthood that show rocks. Hope you have a humger fabulpus hunger free dat! Ciaop
I’ve read many articles (and read on many blogs) that not getting enough rest DOES make you want to eat more… One more good reason to get your ZZZ’s right ??
On days where it seems like I’m just constantly hungry I also try and focus on drinking lots of water and snacking on some veggies. I usually try and drink as much water as I can and if I’m still hungry after, I reach for some veggies and hummus. If that doesn’t work… all bets are off 😉
I did a test run of a new soup I’d been thinking about and it just turned out ‘ok’ … Don’t you hate when that happens! I have a bunch leftover too … so I am trying to think of way to ‘save’ it. Not sure why I’m sharing, but I do remember you said you were doing a lot of cooking over the weekend and one of the dishes was just ok. UGH. Hate that! 🙂
I don’t often get hungry cos I snack too much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could easily miss dinner if I could just continue to snack all evening long, sometimes I am tempted to do that!
I checked my store for Annie’s lite dressing and they only had one! No poppyseed or Goddess in the lite version :-/
I’m absolutely hungrier when I’m tired. And when I’m hormonal too. (was that TMI??) Have a great day Danica.
oh hungry days are the worst!!! and yes, to if I don’t get enough sleep I want to eat all day…hopefully those hungry days are few and far between.
Starbucks should start a frequent buyer program.!!! 🙂
Coffee, coffee and more coffee! 😉
I have come to the conclusion that if I want something, give in and have it (small portion) or I will eat every snack in the house and still not be satisfied. I sure wish we had a TJ’s around here….love to try some of your favorites. Thanks for sharing.
About a week and a half before my period is going to hit I’m a bottomless pit. I try to stay with healthy picks, but I feed the machine and eat often… otherwise I’m crankypants!! 🙂
Ha, Christin, I am the same way!! For me I try to focus on higher protein, lower sugar & empty carbs and unlimited fruits & veggies. But ask me next week, it’s not going well this week 🙂
I chew lots of gum but I also make a “concoction”…. it’s an “ice cream” fluff… and it’s a bit of a secret recipe… but it’s calorie free and MAGICAL! If you want the “scoop” (ha ha, pun intended!) message me! 🙂
I find that I am most hungry the day after I exercise. I do not know why. I am still having a hard time balancing my points throughout the day. I think I try to save the points later in the day or something. I get 29 points a day. What do you suggest I do? How many points should I be eating at breakfast,lunch,dinner and snacks? I need to make out a menu plan better but need some help. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I have lost about 11 pounds in 7 weeks and I think that is not enough. I did not do exercise to much so now this week I am trying to do better. I clean houses for a living and I get a lot of workout there but is not the same.
Hi Kelly,
You know, I haven’t been able to find a comparable dressing at the local grocery stores. I will definitely keep my eye out for one and let you know if I find it. Most are ginger/sesame like you mentioned or super peanutty which the TJ’s one is not.
I have not checked Whole Foods or anything like that so that might be another option.
I should try to re-create it ~ that’s an idea 😀
You definitely need to plan a long weekend to make a trip to Trader Joe’s and take the TJ’s Grocery List I created with you and a cooler 😉
Small world….Christy actually works at the same company as I do.
I wish I could help more. Great question.
Thanks for asking,
Danica
Hi Renee,
They actually have that with the Starbuck’s Rewards program. You get a FREE drink every 15 purchases. I still think it should be like every 7th 🙂
Have a great day,
Danica
Hi Denise,
First congrats on the loss to date – that is AWESOME!!! You should definitely be proud of that ~ it’s down, it’s in the right direction and it is that much closer to your goal. Slow and steady definitely wins the race and you are “above average” at the high end of the weekly Weight Loss Range. They say the average weight loss is around .5 – 2 lbs a week.
I think that everyone is different and you should adjust your points+ per meal/snack based on your body. For example, I am ALWAYS starving in the morning and a total breakfast person so I will spend a higher number on breakfast than I do for lunch or dinner. I also LOVE eating every 3-4 hours so I do not get “starved” and I plan for this in my day. I have friends who cannot really eat breakfast so they go smaller and just have fruit/yogurt.
If you are not a snacker, then, you could divide it up between your 3 meals….you really just have to think about what works best for you individually because there really is no one size fits all formula.
As a general guideline in the Weight Watcher Getting Started Book they break down the points+ per meal as follows for 29 points+
B – 5 pp
L – 8 pp
D – 11 pp
s – 2 pp
s – 3 pp
I think that is a pretty good guide. I personally have between 5-10 points for breakfast depending on how hungry I am. I am not a night time snacker so my snacks are usually mid morning and/or in the afternoon. If you are a night time snacker, then, plan for it and save some points+ for that.
Since you burn calories all day long, don’t be afraid to eat your activity points+ and/or your WPA if your body is telling you it is hungry. Sometimes not eating enough can actually stall your loss.
Another thing that I really focus on first when using my points+ is meeting my daily healthy guidelines. I like to check off my dairy, healthy oils fruits/veggies and I often reach for fruit/veggies for a snack over something that cost points+ so I can spread my points+ throughout the day. That being said, I include fruit and/or veggies at every meal along with a protein source (could be cheese, yogurt, nuts, etc) as I find it helps things stay with me longer. I try to stay away from “empty calories” as I know I will still be hungry after and they tend to use up your points+ quickly. I do still have my treats, but, plan for it in my day.
If you map out your day before you eat it, I find that is the easiest way to make sure I fit it all in and stay within my daily points+ target.
Hope that helps a bit – Good luck and keep me posted on how it goes.
Danica
I used to do WW and my pts were at 21… did they change the pts w/ the new program? I might try it out again thru my work.
Hi Susan,
Yes the daily points target changed along with the calculation of the points values when Weight Watchers launched their new program in November 2010. I f you are interested in doing Weight Watchers, I highly recommend the new program – it’s awesome!
Danica