I try to eat regularly with snacks to keep my energy up if I have a very long day.
When I am very busy I don’t notice I am hungry. After about 6 hours without food, I start to suffer from low blood sugar (nausea, shaking, dizziness, headache) and I have to eat something quickly or I faint. I usually carry small, non-messy, easily-eaten snacks (nuts, dried fruit, energy bars) in my bag for this. To avoid getting to the point of the shakes, I try to eat small amounts regularly, but I hate eating when I don’t feel hungry.
Low blood sugar sometimes wakes me up in the night, strangely enough. Not sure why as your body should be able to go 8 hours without food while you sleep, surely?
Being hungry, knowing I am hungry, and not being able to eat really makes me hangry. I cannot concentrate on anything and I am very irritable until I have some food in me and then I am fine again.
I’ve always suffered with this, but it has changed over the years. Initially, like you, I’d feel dizzy & shivery but nowadays I more often feel utterly miserable, cold or downright angry! I’ve caught sight of myself in a shop window on my way to buy snacks & I thought that I looked quite scary 🙂
I have protein shakes when I’m doing lots of fitness training & I find that they’re a good option if I know that I won’t be able to eat properly for some time.
Thanks for the tip Anita!