Around 7-11pm I am dying of hunger, for hot food. A whole meal or two. I usually go to bed at 8-9, but I am used to eating a meal with 2-3 plates of food and going right to bed. I get that’s unhealthy so I’ve stopped, but sometimes I lie awake until 2-3am (when I laid down at 8-9!) because I am hungry (mentally)
How to overcome this?
I’ve tried taking NyQuil to expedite sleeping but I keep myself up being stubborn about eating.
I am trying to go 100% Huel so I don’t want to give in any go to any more late night fast food runs.
It sounds to me like maybe you jumped in to the deep end of the pool and now you are deciding to sink or swim. I am fairly certain the recommended method is to replace a meal at a time. I just did a week of replacing breakfast with 500 cals of Huel or lunch and an afternoon snack with 500 cals each. Next week I plan to alternate between one and two meals day. I have not had any issues with being hungry or wanting to eat because I am still eating a traditional dinner.
My suggestion would be to ease into it. If you are convinced that you have to go 100% on day one, then I think cravings are a side effect you are going to have to deal with. I know that in the hospital, if you aren’t allowed to eat before a procedure, sometimes they give you ice chips to chew on and simulate eating. You could try that.
Are you eating enough? If you are, then you might just need to break your dependence on bread & sugar. Like quitting cigarettes cold turkey takes 3 days, you’ll probably need 2-3 days of Huel to break the cycle of eating carbs because you’re eating carbs. You can do it. You do need to eat a proper amount of calories though, so be sure you have calculated that first. Then just power through knowing it gets easier each day.
Habits are hard to break. I used to have horrible insomnia and would get up every morning at 3, take a bath, and have a bowl of cereal…then it became a habit. It was difficult for me to break, even after I quit the job that caused the insomnia in the first place!
Maybe spread out your meals. Maybe have a full real meal at night. Maybe have a small Huel before bed.
New actions take 30 days to develop into a habit…so be patient, resolution might be right around the bend.
What you are describing is the toughest part of dieting, the good news is that eventually it will go away so stay focused.
I went through the same thing and desperately searched the web and pretty much everywhere to find tips or whatever could help. Here are some for the ones I found and helped me or discovered on my own.
Drink a bit of apple cider vinegar. Is not only healthy but will stop the hunger feeling for an hour or 2
Drink plenty of water
Go for a quick 10 minute run or any exercise. I have noticed that when I exercise I stop feeling hungry
Space out your meals as much as you can so at night you have some leverage
Eat fewer calories during the day so you can have a bigger meal at night
Those are the only 5 that work for me, they will not make you feel full but will help you cope for sure
Also avoid over the counter sleeping meds, all of them will actually make you feel hungry, they will also make you groggy the day after and slow your metabolism down big time…
I just tried adding a splash of ACV in the liquid before adding Huel. It definitely could use a little more sweetener to counter the vinegar, but the acidity does make the Huel “brighter” (perhaps I’ve watched too much Food Network that I describe food by acidity and brightness?)
There was also more apple flavor in the ACV than I expected. Maybe I will try some cinnamon other savories with ACV.