Hunger and sleep

I want to lose around 10% body weight for next season as I transition from TT to IM racing. I think this target is healthy and just about achievable, but a bit lower than I’ve been before. My problem is I cannot sleep when I’m even remotely hungry. Any advice on how to manage this?

Drink some water.

Meditate.

Mentally translate your hunger into thoughts of how fast & awesome you’re going to be after you lose the weight. What’s worse — lying in bed hungry or being slow on race day…and then kicking yourself because you didn’t go to bed hungry enough.

Gameify your hunger (hunger game??). Every minute of hunger = X pounds lost. How many pounds can you lose tonight? Try to beat your high score.

Eat something that is filling but not calorie dense. A big salad with some grilled chicken, maybe a bowl of oatmeal, whatever you like to eat but isn’t high calorie.

If you do it right that will fill your stomach and your body will tell you you’re full even though you’re still at a calorie deficit. You’ll get hungry again, but not for a couple of hours - and you should be sound asleep by then

I find a tablespoon of peanut butter is enough to quiet my stomach. It can be somewhat calorie dense (100 calories per tbsp depending on the brand) but work it into your dieting.

Try paying attention to what you eat during the day and what you do that keeps you from noticing your hunger (if you are). If you’re bored hungry at night maybe try switching up your nightly routine and do something to keep your mind from deciding it wants that pint of rocky road in the freezer. If you are genuinely hungry then change up how you eat and perhaps eat a little later or eat less in the morning and more at night. Everybody says don’t eat past 8 but if you’re going to suffer because you’re not sleeping well you’re going to have a harder time succeeding in your goals!

If i’m hungry, i drink lots of tea and coffee - Just the act of having something in my hand and putting it to my mouth seems to quell my hunger. My hunger pangs are more boredom rather than actual hunger.

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100g Greek no fat yogurt or 2 egg whites 15 - 30 minutes before bed. Stick with it after a week max you will get use to it (unless your calorie deficient is far too big i.e you are seriously under fuelled during the day.)

A manageable calorie deficient always wins over some crazy deficient that you can only maintain for a week or two. Anyway try the Greek Yogurt for a week, let your body adapt and see if that works.

100 calories of baked sweet potato go a long ways for fillings a stomach.

Eating disorders: the thread.

Focus on getting an abundance of high fiber, nutrient dense food and eat until you’re satiated. Fuel yourself to be able to train hard and get quality sleep and your weight will take care of itself.

Something that helps a lot of people is too increase the volume of certain meals, while keeping calories low. You can eat enormous amounts of salad with vegetables, grilled chicken, a small bit of olive oil, anchovies, chickpeas, etc. Wash it down with a liter of seltzer. You’ll be full while eating a lot less calories.