Satiety

gremloBBPT

I noticed from observation. A poster mentioned earlier that as a kid he noticed cereal didn't fill him up, and I had the same experience. For me, that included oatmeal. Oatmeal doesn't keep me full for long unless I add protein and/or fat to it--then it's great. But I didn't start doing that until I was cooking my own meals.

What matters a lot for me is what I eat first in the day. If it's high carb (especially if it's high sugar) without a lot of protein, I'm pretty much hungry all day. If I make my first meal high protein and/or high fat and low'ish carb, then I have a smaller appetite all day.

High carb (and low-fiber) snacks do nothing to satiate me, so I avoid ever eating them w/o also having protein or fat. Even some carbs with a decent amount of fiber, like an apple, can screw me up bc I'm apparently sensitive to that much sugar. So I always eat an apple with some cheese or nuts. Fats are filling for me.

If I get in too much protein for me in one meal or spread out over the course of the day, it satiates me too much, actually. There's a certain upper limit where my appetite shuts down completely and the thought of food makes me sick. I avoid that because I like to eat. But I've sometimes accidentally overdosed on protein and experienced that.

vivo1972

For me it was cutting out foods specially made for weight loss (apart from protein shakes meal replacements - I use those for nutrition boosts now and then).

Increased these as brain satisfiers..

Really nice bakery bread /wholegrain/seeded/rye/whatever but is has to taste like bread
Butter - tastes yummy and satifies on fresh bread with a brew of coffee/tea.
Stewed fruit - raw fruit just sits in my fridge rotting.
A pudding every day - yaaaay. Made by me.
A stoneground one person pizza from the shop - only 600 calories for that "cor I had proper pizza" feeling.
Boiled eggs.
Porridge, I've just discovered MOMA seeded and it's lush. Really filling.

Stopped eating pasta completely as I can eat a bucketful and never feel full.

gothchiq

This is super individual. Experiment and take notes. For me, avoiding simple carbs and loading up on vegetables works, provided I also get enough protein. Drinking things has no effect on my hunger perception.

ElizabethKalmbach

I meal plan and use a day planner, so I just took notes on how I felt and did a 1-5 rating system on how full I felt over the course of the day. The 1-5 helped me flip through things QUICKLY and look for patterns. The notes helped me notice things like I'm more or less hungry based on TOM.

In the end, *meal timing* ended up being the kicker for me. If I eat breakfast, I'm hungrier all day than if I skip it and just eat lunch and dinner. Once my insulin gets going, it goes and goes and goes until bed. So the closer to bed time I start eating, the less I eat.

Maybe don't just observe the macros themselves, but other things that stand out to you about that day.

yirara

Carbs for me: bread, rice, pasta, couscous, potatoes, etc. Fats leave me hungry.

kshama2001

sijomial wrote: »

The thing that struck me when I did 5:2 fasting and had to be creative with 600 cals on fasting days was that high taste food, visually appealing and with interesting textures satiated me far more than the maybe more mainstream thinking of this macro or that macro.

Intense flavours like lime, chilli, ginger, onion etc. made a tiny calorie allowance feel like a lot more. Sushi was a regular (but small) lunch on fasting days and the wasabi, soy and ginger really hit the spot. A lot of satiety for few calories.

In terms of normal eating then at a macro view starchy carbs tend to satisfy me a lot more than protein (especially meat) or fats on a calorie basis. Don't forget fibre for satiety - in various "top ten" lists high bulk foods feature a lot but all three macros are often evenly represented.

Yes, spicy, bulky foods that take a lot of chewing fill me quite well.

I have to work to finish @ 400 calorie meals like Thai Beef Salad and Stir Fried Green Beans with Pork and Oyster Sauce (both with about a half cup of rice.)

Rice is the starchy carb that fills me the best for the smallest amount when compared to potatoes and especially flour products like bread or pasta - I can eat a ton of those.

kshama2001

katsheare wrote: »

Thank you all so much for the replies! There is plenty of food for thought in here (pun fully intended), and I've got some baby thoughts that I'll be exploring over the coming months. This really was the breadth of observation I was hoping for

Another thing of note is that for women with menstrual cycles, appetite can go up when we ovulate as well as premenstrually. I eat at maintenance for a few days before my period comes and tend to naturally want to exercise more around ovulation, so I am getting more exercise calories those days.

kshama2001

katsheare wrote: »

What methods have people used for determining what foods satiate? I get a little (okay, a LOT) jealous when I see people who know they just need to keep carbs down... or get a bit more fat.... or nail their protein..... or whatever to feel satisfied and full. My experience is so inconsistent as to make measuring (and isolating what does/does not work) a challenge to say the least.

I have tried low carb (for about 3 weeks, several years ago) and not only was it not liveable with my family, it didn't do the trick. Hitting protein doesn't seem to do anything particularly noticeable for me. Fats seem to make no difference. Some days I'm all the foodz hungry and some days I'm meh, not hungry at all; looking at my diary for those days (food and exercise both) nothing obvious pops out.

Strangely, the one thing that will sometimes make me feel not distractedly hungry is something warm to drink (it's not a hydration issue. I'm very well hydrated.) so I'll go through mugs and mugs and mugs of decaf tea and warm water. It doesn't satiate as such, but it's the closest thing I've found. (And only warm to drink. Cold doesn't do it at all. I can't drink hot )

So I'm just wondering what other users have done to pinpoint what works for them. Would be handy information to have in my back pocket.

What's your goal weight?

I know you said you already considered protein, but looking at your diary that's what jumped out to me - I see your breakfasts tend to be very high in carbs in relation to protein and on the days I looked you were not hitting your protein goal, and some days you were way under for protein.

jhanleybrown

Everything above but for what it's worth avocados really work for me. Caloric so you need to track but I have avocado toast for breakfast every day not because I'm a hipster but because it's super filling for cal cost.

But healthy fat, fiber + protein is the general prescription.

Lastly, abstaining from alcohol also works for me. I have one drink and then I'll eat a 4th meal before bed. Consistently. And I'm ravenous. Hunger pangs spike for me what its worth. I love wine so it's a bummer. I still drink but a lot less frequently. But alcohol = hunger pangs. I've compensated by getting *really* nice wine which I really enjoy. But you would never open it for one glass on a random weeknight. So if you drink on occasion, cutting alcohol may help hunger pangs.

I'm 80% to goal if that's relevant but appears to be working.

Diatonic12

@capgordon2774

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4539357/

This was the tip from another member here. It's made a big difference for me.

Noreenmarie1234

For me it's volume.

J72FIT

sardelsa wrote: »

I have to use a lot of trial and error.

^^^This...

4Phoenix

@Diatonic12 Yes, I agree with the article you cited. This is my lifestyle and I'm very rarely hungry reaching satiety daily.

HeidiCooksSupper

Not only does it take trial and error but it can change over time. You really have to listen to your own body and brain and what they are telling you. You can also work to figure out what can take your mind off wanting to eat. For some folks, brushing their teeth will do it, others drink hot tea, try and bunch of things and see what works.

You are unlikely to be able to make instantaneous choices to get it right. You will need to stop and think about how something made you feel a couple days ago. You can also notice when you head to bed. For example, did knitting or reading a book or avoiding the food network help you not eat in the evening? Did watching food shows with food commercials make you hungry when you knew you had had a full day's food already? Does booting up a "time sink" like cake decorating videos on youtube drive you into the kitchen or kill time such that you don't notice you aren't eating?