1. Hungry because I’m bored – usually at home at night when I’m just watching tv or at work on a slow day. In these situations, I’m not usually actually hungry and just need to trick my mind..for me it’s hard candy or a sucker. If I’m at home, I try to just get my butt off the couch and DO something…there is usually something that always needs to be picked up or cleaned!

2. Actual hunger for me tends to be a rumbling in the stomach. I prefer to get to this stage, not because I enjoy feeling like I could eat a table, but because I know then that I’m REALLY hungry and not just fooling myself into getting food! Once in awhile, I wake up in the morning with a hunger that is so extreme I feel as though I may throw up. In these instances, I usually drink a glass of milk or juice, instead of grabbing a granola bar or a full on breakfast. It holds me over till later when I have my cereal!

As far as when does it stop? My rule of thumb is to stop eating when you think you would go back for seconds, or when you think you’ve hardly eaten anything, there isn’t any possible way you could be full. Don’t eat till you get the full sensation because it’s too late then, you’ve already probably overeaten. It’s amazing how if you start eating small porportions, your body will adjust. Will you get hungry at 3PM?? Probably, but grab a glass of water (with Crystal Light for me) and move on with your day. Your body with thank you for it later!

Good Luck!

I eat when my stomach gets pains of being empty. I don’t know how to describe it. It feels like…it’s not rumbling..but just empty and sloshing around. It hurts. Then I get cranky. Like, the cutest animal or baby could go die and I wouldn’t care just as long as I got some food in my stomach. If I go for a really long time I feel headachy and tired but that rarely happens.
Most of the time I’m on a schedule and I eat just because it’s TIME to eat. This way I don’t get hungry later or something and I’m off my schedule. Being on an eating schedule works pretty good for me
Lately I’ve been drinking more water and cut out a LOT of my pop and fast food. I’m down 20lbs, which I’m happy about. I’ve found that drinking pop doesn’t quench my thirst anymore and I crave water. Sometimes I’ll crave pop but lately, and especially after I was sick for a month, water has been the only thing that makes me feel refreshed. It’s just a habit now. But the biggest thing is your state of mind. You can try to force yourself to accept a habit when you don’t want to..but it’s not going to work. You’re going to have to WANT it for yourself, to really believe in it. It’s the only way I’ve lost weight. I got tired of the baggage I gained in Iowa and so I’m losing most of it. It was making me sick in assorted ways So it’s one step at a time. I think you’re doing great with your bike riding. I know you tried a lot of diets in the past but it seems like you’re really sticking to this one I hope it’s making you feel good

1: Fasting, especially over several days, is a great way to sort of re-orient your body as to what it really needs and when. The first day is the worst, and it’s both downhill and uphill from there. The cravings lessen, the mental need lessens, but as the physical need starts to show through, it can be very painful, and interesting. (Keeping in mind my faith, it helps very much to have something to focus on when the hunger pangs start hitting in earnest.) After a few days, you’ll start to be able to sort out the surface hunger (“I’m bored” and “My mouth wants something to do”) from the real hunger.
A side-effect of a good fast is an incredible sharpening of the mind. Yes, it can drive you crazy if you let it, but once you get into the rhythm of how your body is going to behave, and find the right techniques to deal with those behaviors, the mind is like a scalpel. The biggest thing I struggle with here, is dizziness. When I fast, I make it a point to get some small amount of protein every day, and use small hard candies or mints to keep my blood sugar from crashing completely. I try to keep the use of such things to a minimum though.

2: Restrain your diet for a while. High exercise, lots of water, and exercise-appropriate foods (protein, carbs, not a lot of sugars, little or no refined or processed foods). At Philmont, now half a life time ago, we subsisted largely on peanut butter and crackers. Small meals for big guys, hiking through the mountains. But it taught our bodies “Here’s what you get, work with it.” After that, it took a while before we got back into our old eating habits.

3: Gum and water are your friends. Something to chew on, put your mouth to work. Beef jerky, while salty and not horribly healthy, works very well, too. Satisfies the mouths desire for flavor and something to do.