Hunger pains

McRhi

day 6 on my clean diet and tonight I'm struggling with hunger pains! What's your advice to combat hunger pains other than eating more? Will they ease the longer I go with my healthy eating plan?

BWBTrish

i avoid them by eating every couple hours something and in the evening i eat a huge bowl of popcorn

Except for the first 2 weeks were i had 3 or 4 days of hungry, i wasn't really hungry at all.

nosebag1212

Intermittent Fasting

macgurlnet

Evaluate what you've been eating and see if you may need to switch things up a bit. Many people find carbs leave them feeling hungry, and protein and fat keep them fuller longer.

You may want to experiment with meal timing also. It doesn't matter for weight loss as a whole, but it may help with the hunger. I'll have breakfast around 6:45 or 7:30 on work days, fruit at 10, lunch at 11:30, snack around 2, then dinner at 5:30. I don't eat a whole lot in one go (usually 300 calories for the meals, 100 or so for the snacks), so it makes sense that I'll get hungry faster.

The hungry feeling WILL fade over time as well - I've heard it can be a couple weeks while your stomach and brain catch on that you're eating less.

~Lyssa

jennifershoo

Not eating clean.

diannethegeek

These are my really general tips for hunger:

1. Make sure that your calorie goals are actually set appropriately. Don't skip this step. A lot of people set goals that are too aggressive and then wonder why they're having a hard time. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

2. Look for foods higher in protein, fat, and fiber. These help us stay full and more satisfied longer. If you're using MFP's default settings, try to consider protein, fat, and fiber as minimums to reach every day rather than maximums to stay below.

3. Drink plenty of fluids. Some people really do confuse thirst and hunger.

4. Get plenty of rest. This includes sleeping enough and taking rest days from the exercise. Sometimes our bodies look for food when they're exhausted.

5. Play around with your meal timings. Some people do really well on 5-6 small meals a day and others feel like they want to gnaw their own arm off eating like that. Skipping breakfast, eating breakfast, 16:8 fasting, 6 small meals, 3 larger meals, snacks, no snacks, meal timing won't make a big difference to your weight loss, but it may help your hunger levels, mood, concentration, gym performance, etc. throughout the day. Don't be afraid to try a different way and see if it helps.

6. Wait it out. If you know you're eating enough and the other steps above aren't helping, you may just have to wait it out. Our bodies send out hunger signals partially out of habit. If you eat at a certain time every day your body will start to get hungry at that time. The good news is that these signals can be retrained to stop telling you to be hungry all the time. The bad news is that you may just have to be hungry for a little bit while that happens.

7. I also think it's important to remember that there's a habitual component to hunger. This goes along with point #6, but if you eat because you're bored or you're used to eating in front of the TV or in the car or whatever it is, then you can replace those habits with others that are better for you. Things like keeping water on hand to sip instead of snacking or picking up hobbies that keep your hands busy or that get you out of the house more can help out a little while you're retraining your hunger cues. You might need to pay attention to why you're eating/hungry or what you're feeling when you eat and try to replace food with other things, but it can be really beneficial over time.