I Don't Feel Full After Eating and Drinking!

amandainstrangeland

Hey guys, I was just wondering if you could give me some ideas and support about what I’m going through. It feels like no matter what I’m eating, I’m not getting full. I ate THREE scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast for breakfast at around 7:30 am. By 10:00 am, I was HUNGRY AGAIN! This is madness! Eggs are filled with protein and whole wheat toast has fiber, so I figured it would keep me feeling full longer. NOPE! I would like to also include that I have drank three bottles of water after eating and it’s like the water doesn’t help me feel full either. Also, I am starting to feel ravenously hungry at night when it’s time for bed, or I wake up in the night and eat. This is really interfering with my life and my wish to lose weight. I don’t know what to do! Please help!

TavistockToad

what are your stats and how many cals are you eating per day?

there's a difference between being full and having eaten enough... you can have eaten enough without feeling stuffed.

SingingSingleTracker

amandainstrangeland wrote: »

Hey guys, I was just wondering if you could give me some ideas and support about what I’m going through. It feels like no matter what I’m eating, I’m not getting full. I ate THREE scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast for breakfast at around 7:30 am. By 10:00 am, I was HUNGRY AGAIN! This is madness! Eggs are filled with protein and whole wheat toast has fiber, so I figured it would keep me feeling full longer. NOPE! I would like to also include that I have drank three bottles of water after eating and it’s like the water doesn’t help me feel full either. Also, I am starting to feel ravenously hungry at night when it’s time for bed, or I wake up in the night and eat. This is really interfering with my life and my wish to lose weight. I don’t know what to do! Please help!

Coffee!

Gallowmere1984

Option 1: suffer through it.
Option 2: experiment and find foods that you find more filling that still meet caloric goals.
Option 3: nicotine gum.
Option 4: EC stack.

kenyonhaff

Is your weight loss goals per week too extreme? What is your goal per week? If it's too much, then your body can go into starvation mode.

Hunger also has a physical and mental component. I used to be bulimic, and I remember well that I felt mentally hungry, even though physically I could not have been. What I was craving was mental and spiritual "fullness". For me, distraction was a big key. The urge to eat usually lasts no more than 20 minutes or so. I found what worked best for me was to get out of the house (and food), go for a 30 minute walk, bike, garden, library, store--anywhere. The urge would pass.

DebSozo

I changed my macros to be LCHF. This blunted my appetite. YMMV

_sacar

Are you drinking a lot of water? I sometimes have a hard time distinguishing when my body wants food, and when it wants water. But having an appetite/cravings isn't the same as hunger either!

It could be any number of things. If you're really experiencing hunger, you might just drink a big glass of water & find something to do that will take your mind off it. The hunger will become less frequent as your body adapts.

ClosetBayesian

I mean the following as gently as possible:

Are you hungry, or just not-full? When you do eat, do you know / can you distinguish between satisfied and full?

That said, it's okay to get hungry between meals, provided you're not passing out from low blood sugar. If your blood sugar is legitimately low, eat a small snack.

How many calories per day are you eating, roughly?

abitofbliss

Honestly, I think it is a bit 'normal' to be hungry 2.5 hours after eating. I would suggest having a snack that will fit into your daily calorie goal and as others have mentioned - Drink more water. Same thing for your night time hunger - Try to fit a filling snack into your daily calorie goal. It's OK to eat..You'll lose weight if you have a calorie deficit.

Depending on where you are on your journey - you may just have to get used to being on lower calories for a couple of weeks....Just my experience.

quiksylver296

How tall are you? How much do you weigh? How many calories are you shooting for each day?

More information is needed to give a helpful answer.

DebSozo

If it is just cravings and not hunger, then if you push through them they tend to go away within an hour. It is unpleasant but if you divert yourself the feelings will pass.

CaraRahl

in order to be able to help you more we need more information from you. What's your height/current weight? What's your weight loss goal per week set to? What has MFP given you as a daily calorie goal? Do you log everything you put in your mouth? Do you weigh your solids on a food scale and only use measuring cups for liquids? Could you open your diary so that we can have a better idea what your days look like calorie-wise? How long have you been at this calorie goal? Basically, the more information we have to work with, the more accurate our advice can be for you

sijomial

Maybe you are one of the many people who find that eating breakfast at the traditional time just makes them more hungry. You could experiment by either skipping breakfast or eating it later so you don't have such a long wait until lunch.

Your expectation of feeling full while in a calorie deficit to lose weight may also be optimistic - perhaps change your expectation to "not hungry" rather than full?

jemhh

Copying and pasting from your other thread:

How much are you eating in total and how are your meals usually spread out during the day. Meal timing doesn't matter for weight loss but different people feel better arranging meals in different ways and eating different quantities at different times.

My breakfast is usually something like 2-3 eggs plus 1-2 slices of toast plus 100-200 grams of fruit plus 8 oz of whole milk plus coffee. I also drink around 24 oz of water about an hour or so before that. If I ate just 3 eggs and toast I would be hungry too. Other people may read my breakfast list and think they'd get sick from eating that much. You really have to experiment and find what works for you.

Intentional_Me

sijomial wrote: »

Maybe you are one of the many people who find that eating breakfast at the traditional time just makes them more hungry. You could experiment by either skipping breakfast or eating it later so you don't have such a long wait until lunch.

Your expectation of feeling full while in a calorie deficit to lose weight may also be optimistic - perhaps change your expectation to "not hungry" rather than full?

I thought this too. For whatever reason if I eat breakfast I'm ravenous all day long .

quiksylver296

sijomial wrote: »

Maybe you are one of the many people who find that eating breakfast at the traditional time just makes them more hungry. You could experiment by either skipping breakfast or eating it later so you don't have such a long wait until lunch.

Your expectation of feeling full while in a calorie deficit to lose weight may also be optimistic - perhaps change your expectation to "not hungry" rather than full?

I do this. I'm not hungry until about 9:30 or 10:00, so I just don't eat breakfast until then. Then lunch around 1:00, snack around 3:00, dinner around 8:00.

Rebecca0224

Have you tried eating small meals more often? That is what I do because even if I eat a large meal I will be hungry two or three hours later and need atleast a snack

Lounmoun

amandainstrangeland wrote: »

Hey guys, I was just wondering if you could give me some ideas and support about what I’m going through. It feels like no matter what I’m eating, I’m not getting full. I ate THREE scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast for breakfast at around 7:30 am. By 10:00 am, I was HUNGRY AGAIN! This is madness! Eggs are filled with protein and whole wheat toast has fiber, so I figured it would keep me feeling full longer. NOPE! I would like to also include that I have drank three bottles of water after eating and it’s like the water doesn’t help me feel full either. Also, I am starting to feel ravenously hungry at night when it’s time for bed, or I wake up in the night and eat. This is really interfering with my life and my wish to lose weight. I don’t know what to do! Please help!

What is your calorie goal and how many calories are you eating?
What rate of loss are you going for? Your goal may be too agressive.
How much protein, fats and fiber are in your breakfast? You may need to play with the amounts to find what is satisfying.
Whole wheat toast isn't necessarily tons of fiber. You could add vegetables to your breakfast. You don't mention fats. That may be an area to increase. Maybe avocado on your toast. Some people really like that.
It is normal for me to be hungry every 3-5 hours. I don't find eggs as filling as a sandwich or cottage cheese for breakfast but I expect I will start getting hungry in that time period.
Plan a small morning snack for 9-10 AM. Maybe some fruit or vegetables.

trigden1991

Most people don't know what real hunger is! My tips would be coffee, lots of water and maybe try delaying breakfast till your 11:00 meal.

jlahorn

I have a similar problem - unless I eat more than my calorie goals permit, I am hungry pretty much constantly. I have been managing this for the last 3+ years by:

- eating plenty of protein, healthy fats, and fiber, of course
- spreading my calories out over the day. I rarely go more than 2.5 hours without eating something - apple, veggies, 10 almonds, etc.
- drinking coffee and tea
- chewing sugar-free gum
- taking vitamin supplements mid-morning. They make me slightly nauseated so they're a decent appetite suppressant.
- drinking some water with Optifiber mixed in at night before bed. Helps keep me from waking up starving in the middle of the night.

This still doesn't really fix my perma-hunger, but it does make it more-or-less manageable.

Hope some of these help.

Jruzer

If it's any consolation, I hardly ever feel full. In the words of Jeff Kay,

There's not a moment of the day or night when I couldn't eat a full meal. And that includes immediately after eating a full meal.

VintageFeline

There's not much fat in that breakfast either, so you could put a bit of butter on the toast. And add volume with some veggies, mushrooms and spinach and onion perhaps? Very little calorie impact.

And then of course all the other suggestions! My one or two mugs of coffee fill my breakfast hunger gap pretty well.

kristen6350

I think it's quite normal to be hungry after 3.5hrs. Or it is in my world. I try and eat light every 2-3hrs so I'm never hungry.

Also, just a tip, something to think about, if I have ANY grain, carb, etc for breakfast I'm hungry earlier than if I just had eggs and bacon. When I started I had oatmeal, but I found I was ravenous and not for heathly things way earlier than if I just ate straight fat/protein. It's something I noticed about me.

Noreenmarie1234

I always get hungry 2-3hours after eating. That is why I cannot eat breakfast or else I am ravenous throughout the day.

courtneyfabulous

It's pretty normal - I eat every 2 or 3 hours because I'm eating small low calorie meals and that's just the eating schedule that works for me. Have breakfast at 7:30, eat a protein bar at 10:00, then have lunch at noon. Stop stressing and eat lower calorie meals and more snacks- done.

hollyrayburn

Yeah, I'd eat breakfast later. I ate right when I got to work at 0700. Protein filled Greek yogurt and some beef jerky (weird combo but I need to reach protein goals. I normally eat at 1130 for lunch. By 0920, I thought the clock had stopped moving lol.

caroldownie58

Hi I too used to feel that no matter what I ate I never felt satisfied. I am having 1500 calories a day and I try to use them wisely. I started by eating small meals but often in order for me to feel satisfied. I use my calories like currency. Try eating smaller portions but more often. I also think that bread doesn't help to fill you up. LOOK at other foods with same calories. Remember it's normal to feel hungry. Prior to starting this process I never really knew what hunger felt like as I never stopped eating long enough to know. I hope this helps you xx

kschwab0203

If I eat breakfast any earlier than 10:00am I am miserable. Eating too early in the day will send me into this vicious cycle of constantly feeling hungry and stressing over the fact that my next meal isn't coming soon enough.

I eat a small breakfast at about 10-10:30 then have my lunch at about 12-12:30. This is just what works for me.

courtneyfabulous

caroldownie58 wrote: »

Hi I too used to feel that no matter what I ate I never felt satisfied. I am having 1500 calories a day and I try to use them wisely. I started by eating small meals but often in order for me to feel satisfied. I use my calories like currency. Try eating smaller portions but more often. I also think that bread doesn't help to fill you up. LOOK at other foods with same calories. Remember it's normal to feel hungry. Prior to starting this process I never really knew what hunger felt like as I never stopped eating long enough to know. I hope this helps you xx

Yes- all of this!

And yeah bread NEVER makes me feel full, even whole grain seedy type breads.

doittoitgirl

I am one of those people who just totally zonk out if I try to go 5 hours between eating. So I try to plan my meals in advance and leave enough room for some healthy snacks in between breakfast/lunch and lunch/dinner. I eat breakast at 7am, get out of class at 10am and have a snack. Eat lunch at 12, have my snack at 2:30pm before my afternoon class starts and then I eat dinner at 530ish and this seems to work for me. I usually try to have something with some fiber or protein like carrots and pb and it will tide me over. But honestly, trying to cut back calories, I usually feel hungry all the time for the first few weeks after I start to reduce. I just up my water and tea intake and remind myself it will pass soon.

ogtmama

amandainstrangeland wrote: »

Hey guys, I was just wondering if you could give me some ideas and support about what I’m going through. It feels like no matter what I’m eating, I’m not getting full. I ate THREE scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast for breakfast at around 7:30 am. By 10:00 am, I was HUNGRY AGAIN! This is madness! Eggs are filled with protein and whole wheat toast has fiber, so I figured it would keep me feeling full longer. NOPE! I would like to also include that I have drank three bottles of water after eating and it’s like the water doesn’t help me feel full either. Also, I am starting to feel ravenously hungry at night when it’s time for bed, or I wake up in the night and eat. This is really interfering with my life and my wish to lose weight. I don’t know what to do! Please help!

I would switch out one of the eggs for avocado or cheese...you're skipping fat and fats are a huge part of the satiety equation for a lot of people.