Oh you usually notice it when you know you should be hungry because your energy levels are just dropping by the minute yet aren't, that's usually the first sign there's an issue with traffic control. At least as far as I'm concerned
I am wondering if you are referring to eating so many vegetables that you aren't getting enough other foods. The truth is, veggies have a pretty good protein/carb ratio - they just lack many calories, and therefore substantial amounts of protein. To me, veggies can make for a healthy compliment to any meal - but they simply aren't substantial enough, calorie wise, to
be the meal. Even salads need beans, salad dressing, meat, fruit, etc to have substantial calorie content.
I do well with a high protein diet, though. I just have to watch the red meat. It's important to mix meats and include lots of lean meats like chicken breasts, fish, etc. Lately, I've been adding vegetarian meals to my diet, as well.
Same with me. When "hunger level" hits, my blood sugar tends to plummet very quickly, so protein with some carbohydrates is much better for me snackwise. Though I prefer nuts and/or fruit to meat and/or veggies as a snack (and yet I often bypass both and go for delicious potato chips...)
Whenever possible, try to eat snacks with a mix of protein, fat, and carbs. They've been shown to give you the best metabolic boost for the longest period of time. Also, fat + protein leads to a high feeling of satiation.
My main obstacle when I need to lose a few pounds (and I'm pretty lucky, b/c I have a decent metabolism overall), is that willpower and standard diets don't really work for me. They just make me mad because I can't have what I want. Usually, in order to lose a few, I have to wait for my cravings to change, which does happen fairly regularly, or I have to be really stressed out and not want to eat much. I'm pretty good about trying to eat healthy-ish most of the time an about exercising. It's just the cutting out enough junk to lose weight instead of just maintain that I suck at.
One thing that can help is to try and see if there are any actions that 'trigger' a craving. Are you consistently doing something that makes you want that ICEE? You might have more success cutting out the trigger.
Got up insanely early this morning and did about 45 minutes of light exercise around the "village" (Springe, Germany). Of course add like 10 minutes of being distracted and gawking at buildings and 5 minutes of stretching/warm down. The air here is so nice and breezy and the land is vaguely hilly and it was a lot more fun to exercise without tons of pollution filling the lungs.
If I haven't already said something, I am impressed by the way you are not letting vacation be an excuse to not work out.