Protein and staying full longer

FaatSara

Hi there. While i'm not new to MFP, I am not well versed on the forums.

A little background, I am overweight. Not so much so that I am in trouble, but I would like to drop 50 pounds. I lost a ton of weight a couple of years ago by eating less and counting calories. My best friend had a gastric bypass, and we lived together so we ate together. I followed what her nutritionist said and I lost about 40 pounds. I didn't do much. I ate smaller portions, and focused on a lot of lean meats and healthier choices. Then, a year and a half ago, I moved to a different state and met someone and put on about 25 pounds out of pure happiness and comfort. However, my fiance was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes so we have changed what we keep around and how we eat. She has been following the Keto way of eating, and she has drastically reduced her a1c, blood sugar, cholesterol, etc. She has also lost about 20 pounds. I was eating the same and lost 0 pounds. We exercise a lot. Hiking, swimming, walking, etc. At least 5 times a week. So, I decided to allow some more carbs in to my life and I lost 11 pounds pretty fast. Due to celiac, I don't eat much in the way of pastas or breads, but i've allowed myself gf crackers and pastas every now and then.

Now, on to my issue.... staying full longer! My issue is that I become hungry and I can not make that go away until I eat something. For instance, I woke up this morning and made myself a protein shake. I used my protein powder, bone broth powder, MCT oil powder, a banana, almond milk and coffee. It was great and it filled me up fast. But, two hours later I am starving. All together, I had 400 calories, 39g carbs, 10g fat and 40g protein. Is this simply not enough? I ended up having two hard boiled eggs and feel fine now, but I don't want to rely on having to snack throughout the day just to stay full. I try to limit my dairy as it bloats me. Any suggestions would be great.

This shake isnt a daily thing. Sometimes I eat a full breakfast of meat and eggs. Sometimes I skip it because I'm not hungry. My body needs to make up its damn mind.

sweetiebeedie

Intermittent fasting is what worked for me and constantly being hungry. It’s not for everyone and takes a few weeks to adjust to, but you should look it up and consider giving it a go.

mbaker566

it's not just about protien. i need a good balance of protien and fat like string cheese or siggi yogurt, but nut butters work too. some people feel fiber helps (it just makes me need to poop)

pinuplove

Many people do not derive lasting satisfaction from liquid calories like smoothies, regardless of the calorie and protein content. Also, it's normal to get slightly hungry between meals if you aren't snacking. I'm fairly able to ignore it, but not everyone can (or should, particularly with blood sugar issues). If you need to snack, just build it into your day.

I also have hungry days/weeks influenced by where I am in my menstrual cycle. Again, very normal (but annoying!)

flagrantavidity

Couple of questions: do you drink your shake quickly or drink it over time? How much volume is in your shake?

My general shake includes
Kale: 80g
Banana: 130g
Strawberry: 150g
Oats: 1/3 cup
Greek Yogurt 0%: 1/3 cup
Chia: 1 Tsp
Avocado: 15gram
PB Fit: 2 Tbsp
Almond Milk: 1 cup

Comes out to 400-500 calories and fills up a blender bottle. It comes out very thick and almost chewy. I eat this over the entire morning, usually until an hour before lunch. (I start work at 7am). So I am consuming it very slowly.

Maybe try getting more volume into your shake and drinking it more slowly. Make sure they have good amounts of fat and protein to help keep you satiated. I know oats don’t have gluten themselves but because of contamination they are not gluten friendly - I don’t know if there is a gluten friendly brand. But it does give it much more volume.

My 2 cents.

rj0150684

I’ve found that protein and fiber, together, is what works best for me. I’ve been having a protein bar with 16g fiber, a couple hard boiled eggs, a piece of fruit and a cup of coffee for breakfast. I subbed out protein powder for the bar and it’s made a big difference in terms of how hungry I get.