Hungrier when eating healthier?

honeylissabee

I have a problem with counting calories and eating the right foods. Last week, I cleaned up my diet significantly from where it was before. I increased how much I was cooking and decreased my processed/packaged foods (limiting them to Chobani Champions Tubes, plain Chobani with honey, and Bumblebee Tuna Sensations.

Breakfast was either the plain yogurt with honey, berries, and possibly chia and/or flax. If I didn't have the yogurt, I typically had 2 eggs, kale, spinach, and some fruit.

Lunch and dinners both consisted of chicken or fish with some kind of vegetable. Sometimes, sweet potatoes would be included as well. I always included olive and coconut oils in my meals as well.

Even eating 1,500-1,900+ calories, I was still physically hungry. Yet, I had days where I barely hit 1,200 eating more processed foods a couple weeks ago (Quorn and Simply Smart chicken nuggets, Macaroni and Cheese, etc). My workout routine HAS changed, but my calorie burn hasn't increased by much (if at all) and my intake definitely has gone up, so I'm not sure I can blame my new workout routine for my increased hunger.

The TOM theory is also out.

I've always found I need to eat more often and I get hungrier when I eat better-for-me foods. I can increase my portions and calories, but for some reason, I am STILL hungier. I always thought whole foods were supposed to be better and more filling, but I have yet to see evidence that's even close to being true.

brandon_2A

It took a few weeks but once I got an eating plan in place that I could stick with I rarely find myself hungry. I actually feel like I'm constantly eating, haha. I can always hold at or below my calories but sodium has been a killer for me. I hate to cook so I'm big on pre-packaged/processed stuff which tends to have a lot.

Cinloykko

i have the same problem and would like to know.
ive eaten better and healthier the last few weeks and ive only felt more and more unsatisfied and hungry. thats a bummer!

trud72

ok no TOM what about ovulation too?

also fill up on more veggies you aint gonna fat on veggies right!

MandyPhoe

Hiya Honeylissabee!

Great to hear that you are giving your diet a spring cleaning. I am the biggest food fiend and I GUARANTEE you that you are not alone. I was like that too when I decided to go for more 'healthy' food. I felt hungry, unfulfilled. However, I stuck to it and I don't feel like that so much anymore. That said, when I crave a treat every so often, I give in. Whether it is a small piece of cake or chocolate, I still go for it.

I recently started juicing for breakfast and for the first week, I felt that it wasn't enough. Week two, I felt a lot better. That said, my skin got better as well. All I can say, keep at it and see how it works out for you.

janimei

The only way this bread/pasta-lover has been able to eat fewer calories without many carbs has been to increase my fat intake. I'd like to avoid this approach, but it's the only one I've found to work for me. Avocados, eggs, and regular-fat cheese keep me from eating over my calorie limit on many days.

waipepe

Prob just craving certain things. Sugar and Sodium. give it a few weeks and the cravings will be gone:) Just stick with your new lifestyle changes

Cynnie20012

I think it takes a few weeks for every individual (and for each person it's, again, a different amount of TIME) to get your body adjust to new eating habits.

Shocking facts: it takes (only) 48 h without salt to have your body adjust and crave it much less. BUT it takes 3 MONTHS (!!!) to put sugar aside. Sugar is very addictive, almost like drugs or nicotine. I stopped consuming any refined sugars in June and by now I am really unmoved when I see cookies, cakes, chocolate. I even sometimes prepare hot chocolate, pancakes or cakes for my fiancee (who loves it too much) and i don't eat any of it. It feels perfectly normal by now.

You can do it.!! Just hold on and try to make one small step at a time (no drastic immediate changes on all levels)!

Perhaps some people have it just harder. As a teen i was adding 3 teaspoons to my tea, and I was drinking tea 8 times a day! No one told me how unhealthy that was.. Can you imagine that it just took 1 short documentary on local news that i stopped adding ANY sugar to my tea? I didn't need it, it was just a stupid habit. The moment I realized it's unhealthy, my brain adjusted very quicky. I think i haven't added a spoon of sugar to my tea ever since i was 12.

lauren3101

It's quite hard to tell if there's any room for anything to help you feel fuller, as your diary is all quick added calories so we have no idea of your macros.

Your food intake should be adjusted to what works for you. For example, I save most of my calories for the evening because that's when I want to eat. Try saving some calories for snacks, if that helps, or skipping breakfast and having a bigger lunch, if that works for you. Experiment and keep your protein and fats high. There is no need to feel hungry.

Siegel15

Prob just craving certain things. Sugar and Sodium. give it a few weeks and the cravings will be gone:) Just stick with your new lifestyle changes

^^^^^
this

I found that eating clean, NO SWEETS, I cut the salt, ate NOTHING processed, all good solid nutritionally dense foods,
My appetite dropped dramatically. Even with the exercise program I have of power walking with heavy hands 80-100 minutes, 6 days a week. I am sure the honey is not helping. If I ate any sweets, I would begin to be ravenous again.

AbsoluteNG

The word healthy is subjective and means something different to everyone. Breakfast is known to make people more hungry throughout the day and I suspect it is doing the same thing to you. What is the use of eating breakfast if all it does is make you hungry? That's a terrible way to go about your day and you'll probably just end up eating more food than you want or even realize. Also, looking at what you're eating for breakfast really doesn't seem "healthy" to me with all that sugar and empty calories from the yogurt. Do away with sugar, even if it comes from fruits to see if that helps. If it doesn't change, just skip breakfast.

Kellllog

I agree.
I've found that if I have a protein shake instead of food for breakfast I'm much less hungry in general. If I eat breakfast - even a big and much higher calorie breakfast I'm really really hungry by midday.

SJVZEE

I've found the total opposite to be true for me-I now eat lots of veggies and fruit, whole grains, beans etc and these foods are very filling, without being very calorie dense. Because of this I'm naturally eating less calories now and changing to this way of eating has caused me to go back into weight loss mode, even though I'm in maintenance and losing more weight is not something I really want happening anymore. I'm currently working on upping my consumption of nuts and seeds, to try and get the weight loss to stop

honeylissabee

I gave intermittent fasting a try once, and I ended up caving too soon. I just feel that it leads me to binging. Perhaps it may be for me some day, but not at this moment. If I skip breakfast, I become famished and am more likely to pig out on junk food.

The extreme hunger was a week after TOM and that's typically when I'm the LEAST hungry.

I have been tracking on Sparkpeople because I do like having the steady goal from day to day rather than a fluctuating goal based on my fitness activity. However, I have been quick adding entries because I love the weekly progress view on MFP.

I do love tracking on here, and I do love seeing how many calories I earn with MFP, but I also don't like my ranges fluctuating throughout the day.