Tips on curving hunger?

RavenLibra

gauge your hunger on a scale of 1-10... then try to keep it in the sweet spot between 4 and 6... if it gets too low a person is inclined to eat quickly... and eat more... keep it too high... (overfull) and obviously you are not "in control"... as other posters suggest... drink at least 10-12 ounces of water with each meal... eat at regular intervals...eat slowly... and eat your protein's first.. stay away from low value carbs... like white bread... and in fact limit the amount of bread you eat...stay away from packaged and processed.

Imagine that you are a steam engine... "good" food is coal.. and that is what a steam engine is designed to burn...BUT you can toss other things into that firebox... wood, paper, etc... the idea is to control the fire... so simple basic foods are coal... but things like candy, sweets, cookies, white breads, potato chips... all the junkie stuff... that stuff is like tissue paper... throw that into the fire box and "poof" it gives you a quick jolt... but then Nothing... keep your engine running on the right fuel and you will be just fine.

megzchica23

It is harder now. But just try to eat reasonable portioned meals with meat and veggies. And have healthy snacks like yogurt, fruits, nuts, and such. It gets easier after your body gets use to eating smaller meals or not snaking all the time. Now I have gone back to where it doesn't take a lot to fill me up anymore. So I end up realizing I need to actually add some more snacks in to get my calories some days.

kshama2001

diannethegeek wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

diannethegeek wrote: »

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.

1-5 are key for me.

On these hunger threads, I mostly see that people are hungry because of:

# 1 - calorie goals that are too aggressive
# 2 - not eating enough protein

Which is why I listed those as #s 1 & 2. If 6 & 7 don't apply to you, great! I'm.glad you found what works for you. But they apply to plenty of others and I've always tried to keep this list as generic and all-inclusive as I can.

Oh, I wasn't disputing your list, just highlighting my personal experience

Cortneyrenee04

Water! Like, a lot. It helps so much and makes you feel better, too.

lemurcat12

kshama2001 wrote: »

diannethegeek wrote: »

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.

1-5 are key for me.

On these hunger threads, I mostly see that people are hungry because of:

# 1 - calorie goals that are too aggressive
# 2 - not eating enough protein

Agree that 1 and 2 are common on MFP. 6-7 were key for me--I find that habit matters more than what I eat, but I already ate a decent amount of protein and vegetables, I suppose.