Hungry all the time

amummystale

I've only been tracking for a few days but I'm finding myself so hungry. Is it just my body getting used to the drop in calories or should I up it? I'm 5ft 3, don't have a very active lifestyle and I want to lose about 5 stone. MFP gave me 1,520 calories a day

deannalfisher

what did you set your rate of loss as? are you logging accurately?

amummystale

I set it at 1lb a week and am using barcodes and checking that it matches the packaging

nutmegoreo

Eating less will often trigger hunger signals. I find that last about a week. 1520 isn't too bad though. Maybe increase that for a couple days and then slowly cut back. I find that getting enough protein, fat, and fibre makes a big difference in how hungry I feel. Maybe look at what you are eating and see if you can make some adjustments that are sustainable for you.

quiksylver296

Like @nutmegoreo said, I'd work on incorporating more protein and/or fiber. That helps keep me full on lower calories.

Everyone is different, however, and you'll have to find your magic combination.

amummystale

Thanks, I'll have a look at what I'm eating and give it a week or so. I'll try and drink some more water between meals to see if that helps

amummystale

This might be a stupid question but what sort of things should I be having to get more protein and fibre? I feel like 75% of my diet is carbs most of the time and I get lost coming up with other ideas. I eat meat daily and I eat lots of eggs

teresadannar

For protein, eggs are really good I think. Do you like cottage cheese? I think it goes well with fruit or vegetables. I've substituted the starch (potato, rice, pasta) in my meals with cottage cheese.

ayshamc

Hi, Just a thought - do you drink a lot of diet soft drink? I was drinking LOADS (and have done for years) and was constantly hungry, I mean ridiculously hungry . I am at 3 weeks today with none and it has literally changed my life, my appetite is a whole different story.

amummystale

I think cottage cheese is ok, I never thought to use it as anything but a jacket potato filling. I haven't really drank any fizzy drinks since lockdown began

deannalfisher

amummystale wrote: »

This might be a stupid question but what sort of things should I be having to get more protein and fibre? I feel like 75% of my diet is carbs most of the time and I get lost coming up with other ideas. I eat meat daily and I eat lots of eggs

if you eat eggs consider adding an egg white substitute (whereas a plain egg is 50% fat/50% protein; egg whites are all protein) - it can help give you a boost

nutmegoreo

amummystale wrote: »

This might be a stupid question but what sort of things should I be having to get more protein and fibre? I feel like 75% of my diet is carbs most of the time and I get lost coming up with other ideas. I eat meat daily and I eat lots of eggs

For protein, I usually have meats, dairy products, eggs, egg whites, and protein powder (when needed - lately it's more needed than usual, because I'm trying to get by on limited grocery trips). I have been more carb heavy lately myself, with everything going on, I've been baking my own buns, tortilla wraps, and biscuits, and they are so hard to resist. Fibre is mostly fruits, veggies, and legumes.

ayshamc wrote: »

Hi, Just a thought - do you drink a lot of diet soft drink? I was drinking LOADS (and have done for years) and was constantly hungry, I mean ridiculously hungry . I am at 3 weeks today with none and it has literally changed my life, my appetite is a whole different story.

I know this is true for some people, but not for everyone. For me, I find it's a nice way to indulge a craving for a sweet flavour without adding a bunch of needless calories. This is important to highlight how different everyone can be.

quiksylver296

Another protein idea - my breakfast every morning is plain greek yogurt mixed with protein powder and some frozen berries (allowed to thaw). I mix up the flavors of powder and the type of berry to keep it interesting. I'll do chocolate with strawberries, lemon with raspberries, vanilla with mixed berries, etc. My current favorite is vanilla with a serving of light cherry pie filling, reminds me of cherry cheesecake!

My breakfast is approximately 50 grams of protein by itself. If I don't protein load my breakfast, I never meet my protein goal for the day.

ayshamc

Oh absolutley! Was just a thought - I was drinking way more than just indulging a craving, I was just super surprised how not having it has affected me, I had heard it might but didn't realise it would be as much as it has.

Whatever works for everyone

nutmegoreo

ayshamc wrote: »

Oh absolutley! Was just a thought - I was drinking way more than just indulging a craving, I was just super surprised how not having it has affected me, I had heard it might but didn't realise it would be as much as it has.

Whatever works for everyone

Definitely! It's worth looking at things from different angles to pick apart what might work.

teresadannar

quiksylver296 wrote: »

Another protein idea - my breakfast every morning is plain greek yogurt mixed with protein powder and some frozen berries (allowed to thaw). I mix up the flavors of powder and the type of berry to keep it interesting. I'll do chocolate with strawberries, lemon with raspberries, vanilla with mixed berries, etc. My current favorite is vanilla with a serving of light cherry pie filling, reminds me of cherry cheesecake!

My breakfast is approximately 50 grams of protein by itself. If I don't protein load my breakfast, I never meet my protein goal for the day.

This is a great idea! What's the average calorie count for this? It sounds like a great summer breakfast.

quiksylver296

teresadannar wrote: »

quiksylver296 wrote: »

Another protein idea - my breakfast every morning is plain greek yogurt mixed with protein powder and some frozen berries (allowed to thaw). I mix up the flavors of powder and the type of berry to keep it interesting. I'll do chocolate with strawberries, lemon with raspberries, vanilla with mixed berries, etc. My current favorite is vanilla with a serving of light cherry pie filling, reminds me of cherry cheesecake!

My breakfast is approximately 50 grams of protein by itself. If I don't protein load my breakfast, I never meet my protein goal for the day.

This is a great idea! What's the average calorie count for this? It sounds like a great summer breakfast.

With 170 grams of fat-free greek yogurt, about 30 grams of protein powder, and 70 grams of berries, around 350 calories.

NovusDies

One of the easiest ways I know of to increase protein is to mix additional egg whites in with your eggs. You get 5 grams of protein for only 25 calories. To add more fiber I add vegetables to my eggs as well. My ratio of eggs to vegetables would make the dish more properly named vegetables with eggs. Spinach, onion, bell pepper, and riced cauliflower are very common ingredients for me.

Protein, fiber, and volume do the most for me. I add low calorie items to just about everything to bulk up the volume.

amummystale

Thanks everyone for the help. I'll finish off today as planned (mostly due to needing to do a shop) then tomorrow I'll try swapping the ratios of foods around and make sure I drink lots of water

nutmegoreo

amummystale wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the help. I'll finish off today as planned (mostly due to needing to do a shop) then tomorrow I'll try swapping the ratios of foods around and make sure I drink lots of water

You might need to adjust things a few times before you get it just right, but keep playing with it. You'll get there, as long as you don't give up!

mlrtri

ayshamc wrote: »

Hi, Just a thought - do you drink a lot of diet soft drink? I was drinking LOADS (and have done for years) and was constantly hungry, I mean ridiculously hungry . I am at 3 weeks today with none and it has literally changed my life, my appetite is a whole different story.

I am so glad you said that. I thought it was all in my head. I used to always have a Diet Soda with me and sipped on it all day long. I gave it up and found that I am less hungry. Snacking used to be a big problem for me and since giving up Diet Coke I rarely have the desire to snack.

MostlyWater

Too much protein bothers my stomach big time. How old are you? We need less calories as we ago. Also, maybe you are mistaking hunger for thirst.

To be honest, you can expect some hunger pains as you lose weight. Keep good snacks around like celery and carrots, to help.

amummystale

I'm almost 28. I actually managed to get a delivery slot on my food shop so I managed to let lots of healthy snacks and I'm going to try and find some distractions for when I'm feeling hungry after food

eryn0x

you'll adjust quickly. just hang in there.

amusedmonkey

How active are you? Is it feasible for you to increase your activity level? If you find a sustainable way to do that it can help a lot: the more active you are the more you get to eat.

PAV8888

Here's a few "low(er) calorie meal options" that I use from time to time:

50g whole egg goes with up to 100g of egg white. If you're desperate for calories and willing to compromise, I've pushed it up to 50-150.

apples are filling to me bananas are not. many people are the exact opposite. some find neither or both filling. For me... it's apples. Eating an apple about 20-30 minutes before a meal allowed me to make that meal smaller.

an apple can easily get cubed into a 650g tub of 0% yoplait source with sucralose. add about 10-15g of all bran bud cereal... and you're pretty full for a bit... not terrible protein. Not terrible calories.

oatmeal / creamed wheat can be done both sweet or savoury. you could even use an egg or egg white mixed in. For sweat LIQUID sucralose (I had to resort to third party from amazon) truly has no calories. packaged splenda still have a FEW calories.

0% greek yogurt, or 0% skyr can pretty much go ANYWHERE. Potatoes? check. On top of fruit? check. In oatmeal? check. in soups? check. Different brands are either slightly less sweat and suitable for such uses or more sweat and better suited to eat by themselves, or to serve as a thickener for the aforementioned fairly runny 0% yoplait. or to eat as a dessert with maybe some cocoa powder and some fruit! Heck you could even mix in canned pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie, just the plain pumpkin) and pumpkin spice or cinnamon!

jello refrigerated puddings at about 60 cal can also go into a tub of yoplait! or you can add 5 to 8g of all bran buds on top.

You can also make the "no fat no sugar" jello puddings but instead of using 500ml of skim milk you could use a couple of cups of unsweetened vanilla cashew milk... and maybe 12.5g or so (45 to 50 Calories worth) of fat free powdered milk

There exists no frozen dinner or canned soup or instant noodle soup bowl that doesn't get an infusion of 240 to 500g of vegetables when served/prepared (some veg have a lot more calories than others).

Onion / garlic makes things heavier... i.e. you feel more full after eating things that contain the,

Why waste calories on flavourless cheese? Use LESS of STRONGER flavoured cheese!

Have you looked at the calories and macros of a 450g tub of tomatoes, some onions, cucumbers or pickles including hot pickles if you like hot stuff, and one of the flavoured mini cans of tuna (the sub 120 Cal for a tin ones?)

Hey: you may enjoy all of this (yeah right), or you may be running away in dismay.
Doesn't matter.

Experimenting with figuring out what satiates you for fewer calories is what half the fun of eating at a deficit AND logging is all about... the other half is watching the whole process work to lose weight!

amummystale

Thank you everyone for your tips 🥰 I've actually eaten less than I have the last week or so but feel more full

nutmegoreo

Yay! Just make sure you're still getting enough calories. I'm glad you feel fuller.

deannalfisher

eryn0x wrote: »

you'll adjust quickly. just hang in there.

but why does it need to be painful - someone much smarter than me captured it perfectly - he/she who eats the most and still loses weight is the winner

jejizzle

Cut out anything sugary or sweet, and limit how many starchy carbs you take in in a sitting. The sweetest thing you eat should be some fruit (not fruit juice) or a couple squares of as dark as you can stand chocolate. The more sweets you eat the harder it is to transition to healthy foods. You'll continue to have cravings and feel hungrier if you keep sweets in your regular diet. Sweets and starchy carbs bounce your blood sugar/insulin all over which makes you hungry as hell. Right now, bag up all the junk and candy and throw it outside. Don't bring anymore in. Give it a couple weeks and your body should start adjusting to having a steady energy source instead of yoyo-ing all day. The less sweet food you eat, the less you'll miss it.