I never feel 'full'

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  • CMNVA
    CMNVA Posts: 733 Member
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    I've been doing this for 4 months now. I never feel full either and I've accepted that. Some things make me feel more satisfied than others and these are usually high volume foods that also contain protein (think a big bowl of crunchy salad with chicken on top). That's the closest I get to feeling full. Soft foods such as eggs never give me a full feeling but I am not starving either.

    Over the holidays I stepped off my eating plan and, yeah, for the first time in months, I got that full feeling. Unfortunately, it takes about a 1,000 calorie meal to get me feeling full.
  • isabellapanzica9387
    isabellapanzica9387 Posts: 68 Member
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    Try picking at a bowl of low calories snacks throughout the day. For example making a plain bowl of popcorn and eat a few whenever you feel hungery. Some times I use a cup of dry cerial or a counted out amount of m&ms. The trick is to eat them one at a time and chew slowly. By doing this I end up being able to eat most of the day and not go over my calorie limit since popcorn and one cup of dry cerial is low on calories.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    sbrandt37 wrote: »
    I read a book on this topic called "Mindless Eating" that I found really helpful. One of the things it says (and proves) is that feeling full is highly subjective, and that it is healthier to aim for feeling "not hungry".

    Recognizing the difference between feeling hungry and craving food is also important. I often crave food when I am not hungry. When that happens now, I drink a zero-calorie drink instead of eating something.

    When I am genuinely hungry between meals, I snack now, which makes it easier to eat mindfully at mealtime.

    This is pretty similar to what I was going to say.

    OP, I wonder if you just need to adjust what "feel satisfied" means to you. That stuffed feeling is not necessary, and you also don't need to feel like you couldn't eat more. My signals were messed up when I started and so I decided how much I should eat in a day and stuck with it and found even when my eye was off and it looked like just a little (and I could have eaten more), I'd be perfectly content with less. Bulking meals out with vegetables also helped me, and until I got used to not snacking having some raw veg if I really wanted to eat something.

    That said, you mention snacking a lot and that (grazing, basically) has never worked for me and contributes to me not feeling satisfied. I am much better off with 3 larger meals. But you should experiment with what works for you.

    Trying to start by relying on signals to tell you how much to eat often doesn't work, though, even if you can fix it so it does later. I instead had an idea in my mind of how much to eat, how much I would eat at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then logged throughout the day, and found I was satisfied.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    If you are not feeling full then play with the amounts of protein, fats and fiber you consume. If you think you get enough protein maybe you need more fats. Also when you have eaten an appropriate portion stop eating, drink a glass of water and wait 20 minutes to see if you are really still hungry or not.

    I prelog for my day every morning and it helps me meet my goals better.
  • TigerLily100
    TigerLily100 Posts: 81 Member
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    I had this problem. I got into the habit of eating until I feel stuffed, so eating until my hunger had gone left me feeling unsatisfied with my food and I'd be straight in the cupboard stuffing my face with cookies etc until I felt my normal stuffed. Few years of eating like this has left me 50% over my healthy weight.

    I changed once I admitted I was just plain old greedy!
    I changed to a smaller dinner plate and made a conscious effort to stop eating once I was no longer hungry, rather than stopping when I felt full.

    It definitely changed my eating habits, and I lost half of the weight just over a year ago.....slowly put what I'd lost back on over the next year but that's another storie based around way too much chocolate!
    I never regained the habit of eating until I was stuffed though thankfully.

    Sometimes you just have to stick with it and accept the hunger until you adjust both physically and mentally, but it's definitely worth checking your macros in case you're out and it's adding to the problem.





  • Trish1c
    Trish1c Posts: 549 Member
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    Mindful, slow eating is required. Good self talk helps. You see the plate of food before you that is properly portioned control & before you start eating, you say to yourself you will be full when the meal is over.

    Planning small, filling, low calorie snacks, that you can eat during the day. I found I did better on 5 meals -- breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner.
  • H_Ock12
    H_Ock12 Posts: 1,152 Member
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    I like to eat a lot of food in one sitting, which is where intermittent fasting comes in handy for me....I eat one large meal each day and sometimes a small one, depending on my activity level. I can get all my needed calories in at once, or during a four - six hour span and then I'm done for the day.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    Pre-log your day and only eat what you log. Set your goal to lose 1# per week to give yourself some wiggle room.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    I'm never full or satisfied either. You have to get use to it.
    Increasing fiber helps a little.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    When i feel full and happily stuffed is when i know I've eaten too much. Stopping eating when no longer hungry or just satisfied is still a foreign concept for me, and one that i have to constantly work at.
  • Traveler120
    Traveler120 Posts: 712 Member
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    tarynopolis wrote: »
    ... I find when I'm eating a meal, I never feel satisfied. It normally gets to the point that I eat until it hurts and I don't know how to fix this. ........
    How do you "eat until it hurts" but at the same time are not full? Sounds like you're getting so full that it hurts. You're getting past the point of fullness and cramming more and more in. The way to fix it is to stop doing that.
  • OhMsDiva
    OhMsDiva Posts: 1,073 Member
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    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    Learn to accept hunger? There's nothing wrong with feeling hungry - you don't need to be full 24/7.

    I have found eating more mindfully helps a lot, I no longer eat in the car on the run, or when I'm in a rush - I sit down properly, take time and enjoy my food. I choose foods for volume so I get big meals and eat less often - continuous grazing or small meals makes me hungry a lot.

    That part
  • OhMsDiva
    OhMsDiva Posts: 1,073 Member
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    I eat tic tacs or chew gum
  • quartknee11
    quartknee11 Posts: 141 Member
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    I just started tracking again and I notice that after falling off the wagon, the first few days that I get back on are tough. I'm always hungry! I have a few suggestions for you.

    Start eating later in the day around 11 or 12. Fight that hunger before then by keeping a strong mind and staying busy. Drink loads of water. Drink a diet soda (the bubbles fill me up). Chew on gum.

    As for mindlessly snacking - I have a rule that I don't eat something unless I track it first to make sure I'm not eating too many calories. Maybe you could try that? Get into that habit it will help.
  • Reaverie
    Reaverie Posts: 405 Member
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    I only feel that way at night. I have issues with forcing myself to eat before 3pm. Then when I do, I over do it. Trying to train myself to eat on a more regular basis so I wont feel starved by the time my system kicks in and rudely reminds me we need subsistence to function.
  • ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken
    ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken Posts: 1,530 Member
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    Yes, I also had this very problem. It was so hard because logically I knew I wasn't actually hungry but my body just did NOT get the message. I eventually discovered that carbs were at the root of this problem for me. I did not eliminate carbs entirely, but I did lower them a great deal. Maybe it would help you.
  • Kullerva
    Kullerva Posts: 1,114 Member
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    I had this problem for a long time (check out my diary--food volume is hugely important with me). Logging in advance does help. I'd also like the plug the book "Brain over Binge," which can help with this problem whether or not you suffer from emotional eating (been there) or are just trying to stop/prevent overeating. Once I got a handle on why I always felt so hungry, I learned to get past it. You aren't doomed to be hungry forever. (Your stomach will shrink...eventually. :) )

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