I ate 3,541 Calories Yesterday

mauiDave

Although I am new to this community, I have been counting calories and exercising regularly for several months.

I have been trying to eat less but it is very hard. I basically have two states, hungry and starving. I think I eat relatively clean but I am always hungry. I eat when I start to feel sick from lack of food but I always stop when I am still hungry. If I ate until I actually felt 'full' I could easily be at twice the number of calories.

Any suggestions on how to deal with the constant hunger? If I don't have enough food intake and go to bed hungry I can't sleep. I will have to get out of bed and basically need to have another meal until my body is happy. Eating, for example, an apple doesn't cut it.

mynameisdumbnuts

What are you eating? If you are eating a lot of processed foods such as potato chips or Pop Tarts, those calories are pretty much empty and won't leave you feeling satisfied.

What are you drinking? Sodas are also empty calories.

How much water do you drink? It's easy to mistake hunger for thirst.

How do you feel when you're hungry? Are you eating out of habit? Boredom? Stress? Anger? I reach for food when I'm stressed or upset. My body knows those emotions mean food is coming and start preparing for it, triggering feelings of hunger. Could this be happening to you?

Roobean33

Are you on medication? I know there are several meds out there that make you feel hungry all the time.

gillian_gail

More often than not (and my doctor told me this) we mistake Thirst for Hunger. Something to think about. It's been helping me a lot lately.

-Gillian

mem50

Took a peek at your diary. How much water do you drink? How about maybe a salad with that apple at night?

Fiber fills you up and takes a while to digest so you feel fuller longer.

simplexserenity

My trainer has told me countless times to drink at least two glasses of water before every meal so that feeling of intense
hunger goes away before I actually start eating. I have a BAD habit of forgetting to eat until I actually feel hungry..at that point everything in site sounds good. Have you tried this before?

After a while, the feeling of hunger should become more familiar than feeling full. I can't remember the last time I felt full or as if I ate too much. My mindset regarding food became "I'm eating to get the calories in, not to feel satisfied"..it's a mind game. I DO know what it's like to not be able to sleep because you're hungry..when that happens, I tend to have oatmeal with a banana and more water.

It sounds like your mind is set to reaching the feeling of having a "full" stomach. If you can find a way to focus on ANYTHING else other than the fact that you're hungry or food in general..it might help you out.

aallison85

You should be eating some of your exercise calories especially when you burn as many calories as you have today. Anyone would be starving after that many calories! Great work though! You are a rock star!

k2d4p

It sounds a little like a medical condition that you have. Or, depending on how much you work out, your body might need more calories. I know when I started losing and eating less, I was hungry all the time. I chewed gum and drank a lot of juice. Once my body got used to eating less it wasn't as hard, but it took a while. For me, I was hungry for about 3 or 4 weeks straight before my body adjusted.

funnygirl0940

are you mostly filling up on negative calorie foods?(read about it here: http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/negative-calorie-foods.html ) They take more calories to digest than they give you, an apple for example. try eating something that will stay with you. Experiment. Maybe you need 1400-1600 calories a day. especially if you're a man! You're probably burning off that too?

what's your height, current weight?

snowberries

Everyone who has replied already has great tips! I want to add that eating something warm like soup or oatmeal feels more filling than eating something like a salad or sandwich. Soups that are low calorie with plenty of veggies and protein are a great healthy choice. Several studies have been done showing that combining water with food (like in a soup) is the best way to keep your stomach full for the longest period of time. There are some great canned soups out there if you don't have time to make one yourself. Make sure to check the ingredients though- go for low sodium and organic if possible.

mauiDave

Thanks for all the suggestions! I drank 5 liters of water or about 1.32 gallons yesterday. I know that sounds like a lot but I also sweat a whole lot too. When I went to bed I weighed 2lbs more than in the morning. So, I am assuming my fluid intake is somewhat OK. I drank about 3.5 Liters so far today. I also don't take any medication.

I ate a little less today (so far) but here is what I ate yesterday. No processed foods or anything:

Orowheat - Double Fiber Whole Grain Bread, 5 slice (Had toast in morning and two PB sand. later in the day)
Kirkland Organic Peanut Butter - Peanut Butter, 72 g
Gatorade - Lemon-Lime, 64 oz
Kelloggs - Crispix Cereal, 4 cup
Rice Dream - Rice Milk - Original (Canadian), 1 1/2 cup
Homemade - Chicken Breast Grilled, 6 oz(170g)
Kirkland Signature- Costco) - Cut Green Beans With Sea Salt, 1 3/4 cup
Generic - Large Fuji Apple, 1 apple(198 g)
Mahi Mahi Grilled Fish Taco, 2 taco
Homemade - Mexican Rice, 2 cup
Kirkland - Blueberries, 175 grams
Daisy - Low Fat Cottage Cheese, 1/2 cup


Am I missing something?

poeticpurl

If you are hungry and burning so many calories I think you need more fuel.
I have certain snack foods that stay with me longer or will curb my hungryness longer than others. For me about 4-7 almonds or some pumpkin seeds. Protien foods or whole grains also keep me fuller longer.

Best Luck

mauiDave

Great suggestions! To summarize:
- Stay away from empty calories that don't fill you up
- Why are you eating? Boredom? Habit? Stress? Just really hungry?
- Medication could possibly make you hungry
- Do you mistake thirst for hunger?

Tips:

- Drink two glasses of water before every meal so feelings of intense hunger goes away
- It could take 3 to 4 weeks for body to adjust to eating less
- Eventually the feeling of hunger should feel more familiar than feeling full
- Fiber fills you up and takes awhile to digest
- Try oatmeal with a banana and H2O
- Something warm like soup or Oatmeal will feel more filling that a salad or sandwich
- Proteins and whole foods could keep you fuller longer
- Studies have shown that combining water with food (like soup) is the best way to keep your stomach full for the longest duration
- How many negative calorie foods are you eating?

BoresEasily

Fat also keeps you feeling fuller longer, healthy fats are great for that.

As for the person that mentioned negative calorie foods there are no foods that are negative calories. There are foods that are very low in calories such as cucumbers and the like but they are not negative calories, nor are they 0 calories.

schnarfo

I eat when I start to feel sick from lack of food but I always stop when I am still hungry. If I ate until I actually felt 'full' I could easily be at twice the number of calories.

This is where your going wrong in my opinion. Dont wait until you feel sick from hunger. Plan your meals and split them into either 3 meals and 2 snacks or something else that might work for you e.g. 5 small meals. Make sure theres plenty of protein in your diet this will help you stay feel fuller for longer. If you wait until your body is screaming for food you will over eat! The trick is to just keep yourself topped up and feeling satisfied not full.

izobel

I took a look at your profile and exercise log. I think you probably need that many calories. I also cycle for at least 2 hours at a go and it does make me really hungry. If you do need to lose 20lbs of course you will need to reduce a bit but I often eat 3,000-plus calories. I've only been cycling a few months but have run for 20 years (slowly!) and I do find I get hungry while cycling if I'm out for 2-3 hours. Running on the other hand really curbs my appetite, but when I run for more than about 75 minutes I am ravenous the next day. I strongly recommend running for weight control. I read recently a quote by some famous runner - "I have never not felt better after a run than before", and I can't think of a time when I felt bad after a run either. Cycling is a buzz while you're doing it, running gives you a buzz when you finish.

Sorry digressing ... but I pushed myself on an 18km hike with over 1,000m ascent yesterday and I'm over 3,500 calories today. Had better go and log the damage ...

Good luck and sorry for the digression!

Manda_H

dont wait until you are sooooo hungry. pick 6 times a day and you eat smaller meals. i eat less when i do this as it keeps my blood sugar more stable