Hungry after eating?

Wow. Just read an interesting article in WSJ (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123966898930315491.html) about why eating a big meal might make you hungry sooner or even more hungry than if you had eaten a "better" meal. I've always wondered why I am sooo hungry in the morning if I've eaten a particularly splurgeful (I know that's not a word!) meal the night before, especially if I've eaten that meal later than I normally eat. I'm not usually hungry when I wake up. In fact, I can wait about two to three hours after waking up before I'm hungry enough to want to eat. But if I've eaten a meal at about 9 pm and that meal is particularly high in fat and/or sugar, I am indeed ravenous when I awaken. That has always been a mystery to me. I mean, if I've eaten lots of calories at 9 pm, I shouldn't be hungry at 6 am. When I eat a "normal" meal at 7 pm, I wake up without hunger. Huh. Interesting.
The controversey about which makes you feel full longer--fiber, protein, fat--isn't going to be solved any time soon. Volumetrics is based on the fiber theory-eat lots of low calorie high fiber/high water foods and you will stay full longer. I try that all the time. Initially I am full but not "satisfied". I want more food. Not from hunger in the gut but because I want something else. Do you understand? I'm not sure how to describe the feeling except to say that I may be "full" but not satisfied.
High protein has been favored the last few years as a way of increasing the length of satiety. That's the premise for the high protein water drinks. Same issue. Doesn't work for me in the long term. Fat? We used to teach that because fat is digested more slowly it will increase satiety. Nope. That doesn't work for me either. In fact, eating a particularly high fat meal makes me "hungry" for more. Whether that's psychological hunger or physical hunger, I'm not so sure. But when I go wild with fat (fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy all in one meal), it's hard to stop me for the rest of the day.
So, still looking for the perfect combination of foods--the magic bullet.

Hunger, fullness and quantity

Another breakthrough-I shared a hamburger yesterday. A hamburger! Who doesn't eat an entire hamburger by herself? I decided if I was still hungry, I'd order another one. Half a burger and a shared green salad and I was satisfied. Until this morning! How could that be? And it wasn't a huge burger. More the size you would make at home-not a puny McD's burger. I'm shocked. Of course, I wanted more. Very flavorful meat. Cooked perfectly. Juicy. But again it was my mouth that wanted more. Not my tummy. So I resisted the tempation to overindulge. I exited quickly before the waiter came by to offer me more food. "Did you save room for dessert?". My least favorite question in the world. Save room. Is the waiter an idiot?
This morning I was thinking about being hungry. I was hungry at the time. It occurred to me that it probably doesn't matter how hungry you are when you sit down to eat, if you are mindful and intuitive you should be satisfied with about the same amount of food whether you are "starving" or just hungry. The fullness feeling would first be in the stomach. Since that would most probably be close to empty if you were truly hungry then the same amount of food should signal a fullness feeling regardless of how many hours it's been since the last meal. I don't know if this is scientifically valid but it makes sense to me.
So if I should be satisfied with about the same quantity of food regardless of the degree of hunger, then why do I eat so much when I'm very hungry? Because I'm not paying attention to how I feel. I'm focused on how hungry I WAS and not how hungry I still AM.
Even other metabolic changes that signal hunger/satiety like blood sugar should signal satiety after eating a mixed meal whether the meal is huge or normal. I think. I'm going to have to do some research to be sure but this is making sense to me.
Now if only I can use this to my advantage.....