New here

J_Rod92

Hi, new here. My fitness journey has been up & down. I was in sports heavily in school, army after I graduated, and now back to civilian life for the last 7 years. I have not been able to stay consistent and my eating is out of control. When I try to cut back on calories I feel I am craving and starving so it makes it really difficult to keep at it. Is there anything out there to curb cravings/hunger? I drink 8-10 cups of water a day. I drink black coffee every so often. Should I try raw veggies and fruits when having these hunger pains? My goal weight is 175 and I am currently at 213. Looking for community to help me accountable. Thanks!

JBanx256

When you cut back on calories (and then experience cravings etc), how aggressively are you cutting back? Are we talking a couple hundred calories/day, or 500 calories/day, or....??? You may just need a smaller deficit.

Raw veggies and fruits are good but aren't "free" in the sense of being zero cal. If they fit into your calorie budget in whatever quantity and help squash your snacky cravings, go for it.

Some people find a higher protein diet to be more satiating; some people find higher fat to be more satiating etc, so there's kind of a trial-and-error process to go through to find out what works best for you. There's also the concept of "volume eating" which is basically foods that literally have a lot of volume, for relatively few calories. There's a volume eaters thread on here somewhere; I'm sure if you do a quick search you can find it. For me personally, a lot of cravings/hunger tend to happen when I'm bored or not fully engaged with whatever it is that I'm doing. Chewing gum and drinking flavored water (i.e. Mio) help me some; if I'm at home sometimes just brushing my teeth helps (when my mouth is all minty-fresh, it's harder to want foods/flavors that are going to clash with that).