Feel like I'm starving!

jessit72

I need some ideas on how to stay full.I gave myself 1400 calories to eat a day, plus I exercise one hour every night, but I always feel hungry. I know on some days my meals are a bit higher on the calorie side, so I've tried cutting down on those a bit to have extra room for some snacking, but I always feel so hungry. Any ideas anyone!?!

ems152

Soup soup soup! Soup is the dieters friend! I started nearly 4 weeks ago and have soup around 2-4 times a week. There are lots of really good soup recipies online or I have just got a soup cookery book. The soup fills your stomach up and keeps you fuller for longer. You can make really low calorie soups by just using veg or you can add protein as well e.g. chicken and veg soup.

bka8

You can burn a lot of calories in an hour! Are you eating all your exercise calories? Feed those muscles you're building!

khskr1

I'm on 1400 also. If I don't take in a minimum of 80g's of protein a day I will eat everything in sight! Make sure you are getting enough protein. It will keep you fuller longer.

cupcakecarnivore

Definitely more protein!

FaeFae

are you eating 3 large meals or 6 small meals? if you spread it out throughout the day you should be ok. Plus are you drinking enough water? You should be drinking at least 2 litres of water a day.

jessit72

I appreciate all the feedback! Also I guess one more question then, my diary always says I'm "over" my protein which is frustrating cause I'm hungry! But I do exercise nightly for an hour like I said, I just have a hard time eating afterwards even though I'm alloted those, because I feel like I just worked off the daily calories!

ems152

I go to the gym after work and then eat my dinner. You carry on burning calories after you exercise! It's fine as long as you aren't eating a big meal late at night otherwise you don't digest it!

janesmith1

I know *exactly* what you mean.

Here's my list of what I do:

1. Kosher Dill Pickles - like 0 calories. High in sodium but still, they CAN fill you up.

2. Popcorn - apparantly there's bags that are 100 cals ea you can buy. I make my own though at home with just a tinge of olive oil & I put taco seasoning on it. I use the top of the plastic thing to measure, it comes out to 2 cups popped (low flame), and it fills me up. About 150 cals, but you can have just 1 cup for 75 cals.

3. I drink 2 oz or 4 oz of Odwalla juices. I pretty much stay with B Monster & Superfoods, but you could drink either. 2 oz is 73 cals of B Monster, 2 oz of Superfoods is 62 cals.

4. I make my own tomato soup in the blender - I use chicken broth, roma tomato, 1 thin corn tortilla, cilantro, a garlic clove and a tinge of onion in it. Cals = 150.

My food diary is open in case you or anyone wants to look at it. The 1300 - 1400 range gets me to lose weight and I love it.

gch9v3z

I like to have snacks between my meals this helps me stick to healthier eating. Otherwise, I am starving by the next meal and grab anything and everything in front of me. I always keep fruit and veggies, apples, oranges, baby carrots and lemons or limes. If I get a craving for something sweet I'll grab a fruit. If I get a craving for something salty I grab some baby carrots and squeeze some lemon juice and add a touch of salt. The crunchiness from the carrots and salt help with the junk food cravings. I also use light ranch with the carrots. Hope this helps.

SoFancySoBlessed

I am on 1200 calories a day and I drink lots and lots of water and nuts are good too. Try switching up your meals that helped me with my food cravings when I first started my journey a few weeks ago!!! Good Luck!:happy:

emsmith217

My uncle gave me the tip to eat beef jerky. Very high in protein and more filling that other snacks. Higher in sodium tho, so watch that.

janesmith1

I am on 1200 calories a day and I drink lots and lots of water and nuts are good too. Try switching up your meals that helped me with my food cravings when I first started my journey a few weeks ago!!! Good Luck!:happy:

Have to disagree about nuts. Each nut is 30 cals. 10 nuts (about a handful) are about 300 cals. Love 'em but if I eat them (like I did the other day) I go WAY over....

jessit72

All of you guys are fantastic, thanks for all of the tips. I really like the lemon and salt on the carrot I'll have to try that.

KanCrav

slice up a bunch of veggies and keep them ready to grab from the refrigorator. This way if you want to grab something and eat it, its not going to be bad for you. Also try to spice it up with some greek yogart or vinegar or some homemade dressing. The same things over and over can get boring so keep as many healthy things laying around as possible. If you get all the junk out of your house then you will have a hard time eating bad things. I had to get rid of so much stuff!!! BUt now when I want to snack I have no choice but to grab something healthy or not eat anything. Def eat if you are hungry though, dont starve yourself. Your body knows how much it needs and if its not getting enough calories it will start storing them... DONT WANT THAT!~!~! I also feel like when I started eating smaller meals I was always hungry, but then I just got used to it, almost like my stomach shrunk? Whatever happened, it worked!... just stick with it, snack all day, just be smart with it!~!

jessit72

Oh my goodness I just browsed through some of your food journals for ideas, and I think I see my key problem, high calories snacks, and not filling meals... mhm

khskr1

Change your protein levels by going back to goals and hitting custom. MFP uses the miminum averages (that a female should intake). Up it to 30%-40%. See if that helps. just make sure your proteins are good proteins!

LuckyLeprechaun

I am on 1200 calories a day and I drink lots and lots of water and nuts are good too. Try switching up your meals that helped me with my food cravings when I first started my journey a few weeks ago!!! Good Luck!:happy:

Have to disagree about nuts. Each nut is 30 cals. 10 nuts (about a handful) are about 300 cals. Love 'em but if I eat them (like I did the other day) I go WAY over....

NO. This is not true. I don't know where you got the idea that nuts are bad, or contain that many calories, but that is not true. Even the highest (calorically) nut (macadamias) are 200 per ounce. almonds are much lower, and nuts are full of the good fats that you need. Nuts, olive oil, avocadoes, these are the fats that you want.

grey_stars

I am on 1200 cals. I jog everyday and that usually takes me to around 1400 cals. I have 2 tricks to help with staying full.

1. Water. Drink heaps and when you feel hungry just drink another glass. If you get a bit bored add ice cubes, lemon, mint leaves or some chlorophyll which also helps your body cleanse itself

2. Salad. Add a salad to every main meal. I even do this for breakfast. Either:

1 slice of wholemeal toast with a poached egg topped with a salad salsa or
1 slice of wholemeal toast with beans and topped with salad salsa

You're plate will look so full. It will take longer to eat and you will stay fuller for longer.

Salad Salsa:
Fresh corn cut off the cob
Tomato diced
1/8th Red onon diced
1/2 an avocado diced
baby spinach leaves/rocket/kale

This makes a small bowl that is about 100 calories. I only have half for breakfast and half with lettuce and tuna/poached chicken for lunch. Tastes delicious and you are getting some good fats from the avocado.

Lisa__Michelle

1) Are you eating your exercise calories halfway back? If you don't eat at least 1/2 of them back your body will be getting less calories then it should and be in starvation mode.

2) In the very beginning I was hungry ALL THE TIME (even 20 minutes after eating a meal). It was because I had stretched my stomach out so far from eating huge portions that I had to give my stomach time to shrink because I was now eating smaller portions. It stopped after about 2-3 weeks. It will go away with time once your stomach gets used to a healthier portion size and not being stretched at every meal.

miznel80

I love grapefruits! If you peel it and then peel each slice, it'll give you time to feel the hunger go away. They are 100 cals each.

pbonaccorsi

I pound down fiber. Whole grains, wheat germ, ground flax seed in almost everything I make from soups to casseroles. i find fiber fills me up and stays with me longer than empty carbs. hang in there.

crystal_sapphire

Soup soup soup! Soup is the dieters friend! I started nearly 4 weeks ago and have soup around 2-4 times a week. There are lots of really good soup recipies online or I have just got a soup cookery book. The soup fills your stomach up and keeps you fuller for longer. You can make really low calorie soups by just using veg or you can add protein as well e.g. chicken and veg soup.

I agree with soup. Soup and protein.

I make the soup from the cabbage soup diet. I think the diet itself is wonky, but the soup recipe is yummy, full of fibre, lower in calories, and is generally filling.

Lean protein at each meal and snack will help.

readytoshredlbs

These are all good ideas. My first question to you is...Are you using a recovery drink after your exercise? This is very important for recovery and insuring your muscles dont cramp up. because I live a pretty active life style, I have to set my watch to go off every 3hours to remind me to eat something small...Usually a protein bar, or a piece of fruit...

Remember anything with Fiber in it will also help you stay fuller longer. So if you know you will not be able to eat for a few hours then you may want something high in fiber to help you get through that time...

With all of that said, if you are exercising then you probably need more calorie (the right calories) intake. You need to feed your muscles...

Remember one more thing...1 pund of fat = 1 pound of muscle, but muscle takes up less space. So if you are eating right and exercising you may not be loosing weight at the speed you would like, but you will be buildng musle so it is the inches you want to watch. Make sure you take measurments, this will be more of a tell tale of your progress then just weight.

Good luck in your journey!

corsayre8

I forced myself to start waking up earlier and getting my gym time in first thing. First, I'm never hungry when I wake up, so would never watt breakfast. Now I do it right after my workout, and helps set the tone for the day. Second it means I'm going to sleep earlier, so I'm not just hanging around the house at night, watching tv and wanting to snack.

janesmith1

I am on 1200 calories a day and I drink lots and lots of water and nuts are good too. Try switching up your meals that helped me with my food cravings when I first started my journey a few weeks ago!!! Good Luck!:happy:

Have to disagree about nuts. Each nut is 30 cals. 10 nuts (about a handful) are about 300 cals. Love 'em but if I eat them (like I did the other day) I go WAY over....

NO. This is not true. I don't know where you got the idea that nuts are bad, or contain that many calories, but that is not true. Even the highest (calorically) nut (macadamias) are 200 per ounce. almonds are much lower, and nuts are full of the good fats that you need. Nuts, olive oil, avocadoes, these are the fats that you want.

I didn't say nuts are bad for you, but let's go and find out how many calories are in nuts shall we?



1 oz of nuts (see link)

http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ciq-handful-nuts.shtml

ALMONDS - 160 cals

CASHEWS - 160 cals

MACADAMIA - 200 cals

PEANUTS - 170 cals

PISTACHIOS - 160 cals

WALNUTS - 190 cals


So just a handful of nuts, IMHO, has a very high caloric count compared to other foods. However, as always, do what you want to do.......

noltes2

Make sure you have protein at every meal.

Eggs or turkey bacon with breakfast
Chicken or tuna with lunch
Beef, fish or chicken for dinner...

Yogurt and protein bars in between. I had 8 oz of chicken with baby greens for lunch yesterday and it kept me full for FIVE HOURS! Woohoo! It was awesome - didn't even think about food for that long! If your vegetarian try soy, dairy or other high protein items.

dwarfer22

I am on 1200 calories a day and I drink lots and lots of water and nuts are good too. Try switching up your meals that helped me with my food cravings when I first started my journey a few weeks ago!!! Good Luck!:happy:

Have to disagree about nuts. Each nut is 30 cals. 10 nuts (about a handful) are about 300 cals. Love 'em but if I eat them (like I did the other day) I go WAY over....

I don't know what type of nuts you are eating but they must be deep fried. 1 oz of almonds is 170 cals. Really only half an ounce should curb your hunger for a bit. 2oz of nuts at 300 cals plus is way high in fat and really not a good option.

Pandorian

Have to chime in on the nuts!

If you're using them appropriately, ie portion controlled (I buy a 1kg bag of almonds and take an ounce for snacks some days) the bag goes a long way. 35 days of snacks from that one bag. AND my snack is 160 calories. So my snack costs me $0.31 show me a chocolate bar that has 160 calories and costs under $0.50 and tastes good.

If you're snacking on nuts in place of a high calorie low value "processed food" item then go to town, just watch amounts.

ummommyme

I find if i'm hungry or craving sweets i grab a single serving of applesause-not sweetened. I just buy the store brand and for some reason that little applesauce is extremely filling and tastes sweet with only fifty calories. I should try to remember that for myself sometimes, i've had a lot of chocolate today. Please eat your allotted calories for the day including exercise ones. Your body will get into starvation mode and that isn't helpful. I should make more soup it sounds like:) Good luck!:happy:

leomentlines

My uncle gave me the tip to eat beef jerky. Very high in protein and more filling that other snacks. Higher in sodium tho, so watch that.

I second this. I eat vegan jerky and its both low cal, and helps me get more protein into my diet.. Love the stuff!