Eating All the Calories and Still Hungry

Cedura

This week a wellness program started at work. It requires us to eat a minimum of 3 fruit and 4 vegetable servings. We also can have no sugared beverages and should avoid high sugar food and high fat foods.
So I am logging foods again.
I ditched my Sausage Egg Cheese Biscuit sandwich from the gas station in favor of fruit and granola bars for breakfast. I ditched my pasta bowl lunch for chicken and salad. I ditched my chik fil a dinner in favor of "other" foods. I am struggling with the dinner thing still....

But I am ALWAYS hungry. Even though I am eating all my calories every day, and actually eating MORE food for lunch than I was, I feel starved. My stomach is always reminding me how empty it feels.

Do you all have any advice or tips? How can I stop thinking about how many minutes I need to wait until I can feed the pig again?
I already am spreading my foods out- granola at 8am, grapes at 11, lunch at 12:30, yogurt at 3:30, dinner at 6, snack at 8. But I am still super hungry 45 minutes after I ate.


My diary is public. I would love any and all advice for consideration so I can survive this 8 week wellness program, and get my weight loss off to a great start!

CurlyCockney

One of the best things (IMO) about logging is being able to see the macro breakdown of a meal. Can you look and see if you've eaten meals that make you feel more full? I know that meals with higher proteins and fats keep me satisfied for longer, and maybe you can identify which macro balance helps you too.

DelilahCat0212

Granola bars can be high in sugar. I'd try throwing in some protein for breakfast.

Cedura

I should specify I am using the Protein granola bars like Luna and Kashi for breakfast.

DaddieCat

Eat some protein. That would be one problem here. Protein will help to make you feel fuller longer. So will fat. Is there any reason why you are supposed to limit fats? Fats are not bad for you and as a matter of fact, quite the opposite.

TeaBea

Protein, fat, and fiber are filling. Some people stay full on lean protein and fiber, other people need fats with each meal (this is me). You may need to experiment a little to find what fits you.

Overall calorie count. Make sure your weekly weight loss goal is not too aggressive. An aggressive goal = low daily calories. Find something you can live with.

How are your protein and fat macros? Are you reaching those goals?

For breakfast I like Greek yogurt sprinkled with chopped nuts & Fiber One cereal. This gives me lots of protein, some fat & some fiber. Eggs are great - protein & fat. Maybe cook up some egg patties (freeze them) and use these for egg and cheese English muffins. Look for some high fiber muffins. Homemade frozen breakfast burritos might be another option.

I took a look at a few diary days. Try to up your fiber intake....gradually. Whole fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans, legumes.

Fiber intake for women should be in the neighborhood of 25 grams.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/fiber-how-much-do-you-need

http://www.webmd.com/diet/fiber-health-benefits-15/default.htm

kshama2001

Sounds like you are not eating the right macros to fill you up. See https://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/fuller/understanding-satiety-feeling-full-after-a-meal.html

Which meals in particular do not satisfy you? For example, were you ravenous after the Kroger Brand - Xtreme Trail Mix Bar or Simple Truth Energy Bar - Chocolate Fudge Brownie, but not after the Think Thin - Lemon Delight High Protein Bar, which has a better mix of protein and carbs IMO?

Grapes wouldn't do anything for me. I need fat and protein with fruit in order to feel full.

Similarly, your Yocrunch - Strawberry Yogurt doesn't have enough protein per carbs to keep me full.

Instead of eating 1,050 calories of pizza, try having half that with a high volume, low calorie food like salad. (Careful of the salad dressing.)

jemhh

Yes, eat more protein. Normally I look at people's diaries and see they've cut fat way down but you're eating around 100 grams a day. I'm not a low fat person but I would suggest trying to cut down on fat grams and upping your protein in its place. The salad dressing and pizza and fried cheese wedges and movie popcorn are high in fat. You don't have to cut that stuff out but they are things that you could cut back on, considering you seem to eat them every day. You're eating around 2000+ calories per day. There's no reason to feel hungry eating at that level.

Francl27

Random thoughts -

Totally stumped about the logic behind going from a filling sausage egg muffin to a granolar bar in the morning if you're going to blow 800+ calories on pizza or cinnamon rolls.
I'd be starving with a granolar bar and fruit for breakfast.
I see a lot of 'cup' entries that are probably not accurate.
What's 'Italian cheese' and most cheeses are 100 calories or more an ounce.
Ditch the yogurt and go for Greek yogurt instead for more protein (and it's more filling)
Stop wasting 260 calories on salad dressing. Go for lower calorie dressing and increase the veggies.
Eat more protein (130g for 2200 calories)
I love pizza but 1000 calories of pizza is probably not the best choice
Cinnamon roll every day plus 300 calories of random granola (including the one in yogurt, I assume) = not a good use of your calories.

So... More veggies, 2/3 servings of fruit, weigh your food instead of guessing, more protein. Try to meet your fiber goal... you're way too low. Fiber makes you full. Go for a good mix of protein, fat, and fiber for all your meals AND snacks (ok, pick two of those).

Some ideas...

Egg and fruit for breakfast with an English muffin or something
More veggies in your salad at lunch, with low fat dressing - or a low carb wrap with meat/cheese and a side salad
Snacks - I'd only have one a day, personally, but make it some Greek yogurt and fruit or cheese and fruit
Dinner - protein and veggies (frozen veggies are easy!) plus a small potato (got to weigh it, most 'medium' potatoes are closer to 150 calories FYI)

kshama2001

Cedura wrote: »

I should specify I am using the Protein granola bars like Luna and Kashi for breakfast.

With only 6 g of protein, that Kashi bar is not a protein bar.



I eat those. I carry them with me when I'm hiking. They are a snack, not a meal.

kshama2001

Another vote for more fiber. Double what you're currently getting. Preferably via whole foods rather than fiber bars.

CalorieCountChocula

Cedura wrote: »

I should specify I am using the Protein granola bars like Luna and Kashi for breakfast.

The common ratio that seems to get thrown around for something being "high protein" is 10 to 1. As in if your bar has 200 calories it should have 20 grams of protein. This isn't a firm "rule" of course but I bring it up only because protein is a "thing" right now. It's the new "low carb." It's like every item you see is advertising it has protein by slapping it on the front of the label. If something has 200 calories and 5g of protein it's not even beating the amount of protein 200 calories of broccoli would have (just an example, I don't know the values of the items you mentioned). The broccoli would probably even have more volume and keep you fuller longer. No chocolate through of course.

EDIT: My "protein" bar I had for breakfast is a good example of this. 190 calories, 10g of protein. Protein is literally part of the name of the product even though that's not really THAT much protein.

kimny72

OP, I'm a little confused. You say you are supposed to eat low-fat and low-sugar. But looking at your diary for the last week and you are eating pretty high fat and high sugar. And the foods you say you ditched aren't foods I would think would be high fat or high sugar. Honestly, I would be stuffed if I was eating what you are logging, so I'm afraid I can't help you there. But I wanted to say, if you are trying to lower the fat and sugar in your diet, you shouldn't be eating breakfast bars, pizza, and YoCrunch yogurt every day. There's nothing wrong with those foods in general, but they're counter-productive for what you said your goals were.

Queenmunchy

More protein and fiber. I'm assuming you're grabbing bars or sandwiches in the morning because of time. If the gas station breakfast filled you up, it's not hard to make breakfast sandwiches ahead of time that would shave off a few calories, but still keep you satisfied.

I don't eat a lot of salad, but I do eat a lot of soup, chili, stew, curry, and stuffed vegetables. Maybe you should take a look at some healthy food blogs (Skinnytaste.com is very popular, but there are many more) and see if there are a few things that look tasty to you. If you have no plan and no easy ingredients or quick meals at your disposal, it's much more appealing to just say F-it and order some pizza and cinnamon buns.

Cedura

I will try adding boiled egg to my breakfast meal to see if that helps going into next week.

I know the pizza has to go. It is too high in carbs and bad fat.


"Protein will help to make you feel fuller longer. So will fat. Is there any reason why you are supposed to limit fats? Fats are not bad for you and as a matter of fact, quite the opposite."

I do not know why the program wants us to avoid high fat foods. I decided to avoid high fat foods that involve deep frying or breaded pan fried things. But I plan on adding nuts to my list of snacks next week. I do wish the program had given better guidelines on the fat. This is the only guidelines they gave u in the program.

GsKiki

Find foods that keep you most full. Typically it's fibers + protein/carbs or all equally. Try one day each and see how it works.

kellis777

Try oatmeal in the morning instead of the granola bar. You can add in fruit (blueberries would be great!) to your oats to fulfill your 1/2 cup requirement for the day. I promise, oats will keep you FULL! You can even add in a a scoop of protein powder to your oats to give it some flavor. That will help hold you over too.

Queenmunchy

Cedura wrote: »

I know the pizza has to go. It is too high in carbs and bad fat.

One of the quickest meals I make for my family when we're rushed is individual pita/tortilla/flatbread pizza. I just make sure the bread is 80-110 calories, use my homemade marinara, part skim mozz and toppings. One whole pizza is like 300 calories - the pita is the one most like a traditional crust.

Broil one side until browned, turn over and put sauce, cheese and toppings, then broil until cheese is melted. Takes under 10 mins.

Warchortle

But egg white delight breakfast sandwiches... are so good.

stealthq

Francl27 wrote: »

Random thoughts -

Totally stumped about the logic behind going from a filling sausage egg muffin to a granolar bar in the morning if you're going to blow 800+ calories on pizza or cinnamon rolls.
I'd be starving with a granolar bar and fruit for breakfast.
I see a lot of 'cup' entries that are probably not accurate.
What's 'Italian cheese' and most cheeses are 100 calories or more an ounce.
Ditch the yogurt and go for Greek yogurt instead for more protein (and it's more filling)
Stop wasting 260 calories on salad dressing. Go for lower calorie dressing and increase the veggies.
Eat more protein (130g for 2200 calories)
I love pizza but 1000 calories of pizza is probably not the best choice
Cinnamon roll every day plus 300 calories of random granola (including the one in yogurt, I assume) = not a good use of your calories.

So... More veggies, 2/3 servings of fruit, weigh your food instead of guessing, more protein. Try to meet your fiber goal... you're way too low. Fiber makes you full. Go for a good mix of protein, fat, and fiber for all your meals AND snacks (ok, pick two of those).

Some ideas...

Egg and fruit for breakfast with an English muffin or something
More veggies in your salad at lunch, with low fat dressing - or a low carb wrap with meat/cheese and a side salad
Snacks - I'd only have one a day, personally, but make it some Greek yogurt and fruit or cheese and fruit
Dinner - protein and veggies (frozen veggies are easy!) plus a small potato (got to weigh it, most 'medium' potatoes are closer to 150 calories FYI)

That was my thought, too, whether or not OP was going to have pizza and cinnamon rolls later. There is no way that a granola bar of any type would satisfy me like a sausage and egg muffin. I'd have to eat at least three of them to get close.

OP, there are some good suggestions for changes up-thread, but ultimately you need to experiment to figure out what works for you. Satiety is an individual thing.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say that if your previous food choices were satisfying to you, why not take a look at those and make some MINOR adjustments to get closer to this wellness program's requirements. See if that works. If it does, then tweak further.

eussoob

Try more whole foods, and less processed. You can eat a whole lot of fruits and vegetables instead of a granola bar. I agree with limiting fat, but you need fat, so only limit it so far. Good fats are great, fats from sausage and cheese probably not so much. If you like Avocados eat 1/2 on any salad. Add garbanzo beans to any salad or lentils for protein. Roast some veggies in the oven. I made cauliflower the other day and put garlic, onions, turmeric, a little soy sauce, and ginger on it. It's amazing and you can eat a lot. I used 2 TBSP of oil for a whole tray. Make some soup.. you can add lentils and lot of veggies, potatoes, and lots of seasoning. You will be full.

Francl27

Cedura wrote: »

I will try adding boiled egg to my breakfast meal to see if that helps going into next week.

I know the pizza has to go. It is too high in carbs and bad fat.


"Protein will help to make you feel fuller longer. So will fat. Is there any reason why you are supposed to limit fats? Fats are not bad for you and as a matter of fact, quite the opposite."

I do not know why the program wants us to avoid high fat foods. I decided to avoid high fat foods that involve deep frying or breaded pan fried things. But I plan on adding nuts to my list of snacks next week. I do wish the program had given better guidelines on the fat. This is the only guidelines they gave u in the program.

It makes sense to avoid high fat foods because they are typically a lot of calories. Doesn't mean you can't have them, but yeah... limit them. I honestly have fried food maybe once every other month, and it's typically a donut...

And that program seemed ok until I read that they count fruit juice as a fruit serving... for me it goes in the 'high sugar' category and you're much better off eating the whole fruit (but I see you haven't been drinking juice, so good for you). And 3 servings of fruit would be too much for me, honestly. And you're eating grapes, which really are not the most filling choice - go for berries, apples, or an orange instead.


I got to add though - are you trying to lose weight? Because it seems to be a maintenance plan anyway, not a weight loss plan.

sheermomentum

Some thoughts on today's menu:

Spreading out your foods across the day and eating only 100 or 200 calories at the time may not be for you. 140 calories at 8 am did not fill you up, so you stayed hungry. 62 calories at 11 did nothing to fill up your already hungry stomach. By the time lunch rolled around you were probably so hungry that you wanted to eat alot more, but you stayed with your plan, which is good, but it still didn't fill you up. Perhaps bigger meals and fewer snacks would be more satisfying.

Over the course of the day, you had an awful lot of sugar. 55 of the 87 grams of carbs that you logged were sugars. If you're looking to reduce sugar (which is not a goal I necessary think you need), then you might want to reconsider choices like grapes and this particular type of yogurt. (gram for gram, grapes have a bit more sugar and bit less fiber than some other fruits like apples or oranges. Again, not knocking the grapes. Love the grapes.) But for just a few more calories you could have a boiled egg instead of the grapes, and get your protein and fat up for the morning.

Instead of 260 calories worth of salad dressing, I'd either use less or switch to a lower calorie variety, and add alot more vegetables to that salad, and (like others said) more chicken. More fiber, more complex carbs, and lots of volume to fill you up. What you'd be sacrificing is some of the fat, but I think you're proportion of fat would still be pretty good - especially if you add that egg earlier in the day.

swheeler0602

Try making smoothies in the morning with fruits and vegetables and adding fiber. Fruits: any type but I encourage bananas as one of the fruits for the potassium but you can add anything you like. I love to put Kale in my smoothies but many also use spinach. But to get that fiber to make me feel "full" (not stuffed) I add flaxseed or chia seeds. You could also add protein powders to them.

You can prepare them weekly and freeze them individually (I put them in snack size ziplock bags) so you only have to throw them in the blender and add your liquid (yogurt, coconut/almond milk, coconut water, etc). When you do this you don't have to add ice cubes which can water it down. So making a smoothie in the morning may seem like it takes time but preparing them once a week really makes it easy.

If you use a tart fruit, I add some type of sweetener like a small amount of agave nectar which is 1 1/2 times sweeter than sugar so you can use less.

All of this will allow you to get fruits and vegetables as well as feel full. This will also help you feel energized for the day.

Also drink lots of water (no sugary drinks) throughout the day. This will help you to feel fuller.

Cedura

Thanks so much for all these tips! I knew I shouldn't feel this hungry so I must be doing something wrong. It seems I cut some of the wrong things and also added things that weren't helpful.

I will add the egg in the morning, and also try to revisit my salad choices for lunch. I haven't quite figured dinner out yet- its usually whatever the roommates have lying around the house- but I need to find time in my day to change that too!

Hopefully with some new changes next week this will be more manageable and I will feel better about it all too.

auntstephie321

I've found that starting my day with fat and protein fills me up for hours. If I start with a granola bar i'll feel hungry very soon after. I used to try to save as many calories as I could till the end of the day so I could eat a big dinner and not go over. what I found when I did that was I would be so hungry by the time I got home that I would raid the fridge well before dinner, then I'd have to eat a small dinner or I'd go over. I felt like I was starving all the time. now that I spread it out more and eat enough fat and protein early I rarely feel hungry and can keep my calories in check easily.

MommyMeggo

I start my day with complex carbs and protein. Im full for hours. I eat plenty of eggs and greek yogurt as snacks. Ground turkey taco salads w/ spinach for lunches, or mexican meatloaf I got from WW recipe. Avacodos/guac for some good fats.
Also think outside of the box for breakfast. Have some lean steak and an egg.

curlyslim

I have found ever since I began working out more frequently, I seem to be hungry sooo much more than when i wasn't as active and could survive fine on about 1400 cals. Now, I easily surpass possibly 2000-25000. I am maintaining my weight too.

And I know this goes against the grain of myfitnesspal, but I stopped counting calories and listened to my body a bit more. Concentrate on eating good wholesome foods. It's perfectly fine to be consuming full fat products, and eating lots of protein and carbs from healthy sources.

fishshark

i really need a combo of protein and fat to make me feel full.. i can't focus on one or the other.

DoneWorking

Fiber and protein are your friends. Also, try drinking two 8 oz. glasses of water about 20 - 30 minutes before you eat, seems to help me feel a little less hungry when I sit down to eat.

shaumom

Based on what I've read (and some of what my doctors have discussed with me, some of the reasons you can feel hungry are:
1. Your metabolism is fast enough that the calculations for how many calories you need are too low for what you ACTUALLy need. This one is pretty easy to see because if you are eating at maintenance level, feel hungry, AND start to lose weight, it's a sign that your estimated calories are too low.

2. You need more of some marco-nutrient like protein, fat, carbs, etc... (like many have mentioned). What YOU need is going to be individual for your body, though.

3. You need more of a micro-nutrient, like vitamins or minerals. The body can make you feel hungry - trying to get you to eat more - when you need more of a vitamin or mineral, too.

Maybe at first, see if you are low in anything, and try to correct that, see if it helps?