Always Hungry!

Sass_ee_mom

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to curb my appetite. I eat things with protein and things that are suppose to keep you full longer but nothing works. I am belly grumbling all the time. I drink lots of water as well. Would protein shakes help? I have heard they are good for you and I have heard they are bad. I don't know what to do to stop being hungry. Please, any information would be appreciated. :happy:

ShunkyDave

I would recommend beans and/or lentils. And then high fiber things -- vegetables. Make sure you're not eating sugars, or anything white -- bread, potatos, cereals, flour, pasta, etc.

And personally, I'm discovering a virtuous circle -- the more I exercise, the less hungry I am.

ahight28

I drink the Special K protein shakes, they seem to help curb my appetite. And the chocolate ones taste really good! You could give them a try and see if they work for you. I also drink lots of water and that helps too.... Maybe you are just eating meals that are fulfilling, try peanut butter, yogurt, tuna fish....those things usually seem to fill me up.

JaneOAnderson

How long have you been dieting? Because I've been with MFP for a month now and have lost 10 lbs. But the first two weeks, I was much hungrier than I am now. I think my stomach has shrunk.
I eat smaller regular meals with a lot of healthy snacks in between. Fruit, veggies, roast soy nuts without salt. And occasionally I treat myself to a McDonald's Happy meal with a diet Coke and a side salad with Newman's Own light Italian dressing--just to feel like I still can! I, of course, fit it into my daily food plan, so I'm not really cheating--it just feels like it.

emmascott

Hi there,

You could open your diary up for us to have a look at and we could whether we could help with what you are already eating & what you could add in??

Emma
xxx

ps. I was always hungry before I got to grips with this. I mean always hungry. Dont get me wrong, I still cannot think about anything other than food, but I dont think Im anywhere near as hungry any more.

pugfan101

I'm battling the same problem, I am dealing with hunger and sugar cravings. One thing I'm finding that is helping me is eating foods with lots of fiber, a good snack is nuts they are very healthy. I have also found that fiber one bars are helping me with the sweet and the full. I have also taken up walking, if I walk when I'm hungry, as strange as it sounds it seems to decrease the nagging hungry feeling. I am diabetic and was in real trouble with my blood sugar levels. but making the fiber changes and watching my carbs carefully has brought my blood sugar into a manageable range in two weeks. Its hard but it's working. Beware though, changing to a high fiber diet, will cause gas temporarily, so if you can do it slowly you will have less trouble. I didn't have that option. Good Luck and I hope this helps. PS. in the tracking area of the food diary you can add carbs and fiber, I found that very helpful

audbbgirl

High fiber I believe helps as well. And if you eat small meals through out the day can help too. I used to eat like 6 times a day.
I would usually have a light breakfast, a protien bar or almonds for the next meal, a salad or pita with hummus for lunch, then another protien bar or fruit or something for the next one and then a light dinner.
It did help a lot. And it is supposed to boost your metabolism. I heard your body goes to starvation mode like 3 hours after you eat so this helps. You are basically eating every 3 hours.
I lost a lot of weight doing that last summer. I just have not had the money to buy the protien bars lately or the almonds.
I swear eating healthy is so expensive.

bigmang

I can only tell you what works for me, eat well in the morning and through the day, no need to snack in the evening...
Breakfast at home 7am, breakfast at work 10am, lunch at work 12.30pm, fruit at 3pm, dinner at 6pm occaisional treats if I deserve them but generally not hungry even after excercise.

katekrise

Small meals with lots of snacking seems to work best for me. A 200-300 cal meal with 200 cals of snacking seems to work out. Lots of high fiber meals too (ex. oatmeal for breakfast).

It's amazing how much you can eat of veggies. A cup of a vegetable really is about 50 cals.

blessedbirdie

Personally I have had the same problem. Always hungry and bowels were noisy. For me I tried some good old fashioned sauerkraut and some dill pickles. They can be low in calories and they did curb my appetite.

I read it online somewhere and it does work for me. Of course full of sodium so watch that and don't eat a ton but within 2 days my appetite was back down for me. I think it is the same concept as drinking apple cider vinegar for weight loss.

Just sharing what worked for me.
Down 58 lbs. Got 60 to go.
To better health,
blessedbirdie

Dafrog

not all belly rumble sounds are from hunger. i use to think every time my belly rumbled i was hungry. google stomach growling when not hungry. if you are like me, i never knew what true hunger felt like because i never allowed myself to be hungry always eating/snacking. I try to plan my day out in advance, which really helps keep me stay on track.

audbbgirl

Another thing. Stay away from diet soda!! I found out that they make me crave sugar even more.

BeccaN

I highly reccomend either high fiber snack bars or Fiber One muffins. They do what naturally does but they make me feel full longer to where I am eating an appropriate amount of calories each day and not feeling all grumbly inside. hope my suggestion helps!

ctaylor25

Carry around a sandwich bag with mix vegetables or fruits as a snack to have in between meals...

jjjghoffert

How often are you eating? I think that having snacks in between each meal helps. It has helped me. I have cottage cheese with pineapples, a handful of almonds, low fat string cheese. I some times even have my dinner salad in the afternoon if I'm really hungry and I'm afraid that I'm going to blow it.

reikichris

I drink mate and green teas when I am hungry. That usually works for me. If not, I have a piece of baby bell light. Those little cheeses are remarkably filling.

I have also noticed that if I have an apple, that will fill me up and keep me satisfied for a long time. (From what I have read, this has something to do with pectin which regulates blood sugar).

fifigisby

how strange, i find the more i exercise the less i eat too! fi x x

23sdlsdfoi98

Well theres the obvious eating smaller meals more often, that way your tummy always has food in it. As well as combining foods with high fiber, protein and fats at every sitting. But if you're already doing this, what I do if I have hunger pangs that just won't go away are as follows:

1) decaffeinated green tea and/or diet caffeine free soda
2) drink a bottle of water and chew on ice cubes
3) chew gum and/or suck on a sugar free candy

polrwht07

Go with 5-6 smaller meals in a day. I do that and drink lots of water in between. I eat a lean protein, and a carb at every meal, and add a vegetable or fruit at my big meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) I'm never hungry.

Sass_ee_mom

THANK YOU everyone for all the help. I think I am missing a lot of knowledge on eating healthy because there was a lot of information I did not know. I will open my food diary so those of you who want to view it can, I didn't realize it was not available. I do drink lots of water and I know exercising will help with my hunger but I am still trying to get myself in the habit of exercising. Work in progress! I probably think I eat 6 meals a day but now that I really have thought about it, I think I was fooling myself. I didn't know drinking diet soda caused cravings so that will be on top of my list of things to stop. Eating healthy is expensive but it is something we all need to do. I know for me, there is a lot of health problems that run in my family and I do not want to be one of them! Thanks again everyone I will be utilizing everyone's advice from now on. :bigsmile:

JaredTheGeek

High protein needs to be balanced with fiber. Spinach is good as are other leafy greens. You may also want to eat smaller and more frequent meals to satiate you throughout the day. For some its hard but ha handful of Almonds may be all you need.

dabomb5198

I eat 5 or 6 small meals a day. I was always hungry when I ate 3 meals a day but by eating more often (same amount of calories) i feel much more satisifed.

izzys1mom

As a single mom I know that eating healthy can be expensive, but I try to find good sales. I have cut out the processed food and stopped all diet soda drinking. I have NO hunger issues (in fact sometimes have to force myself to eat) however I noticed in your food diary you are eating a lot of bread (white) and a lot of processed foods. Whole grains, beans, fruit, and veggies will fill you up so much more and be much more satisfying. If you are having trouble coming up with ideas (I did) check out sparkpeople.com they have a great recipe section and my daughter and I are having a great time fixing new things but also trying to make them even healthier. Hope this helps....best of luck!

kwardklinck

I eat raw carrots. It's low calorie, tasty, and crunchy.

Angierae75

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to curb my appetite. I eat things with protein and things that are suppose to keep you full longer but nothing works. I am belly grumbling all the time. I drink lots of water as well. Would protein shakes help? I have heard they are good for you and I have heard they are bad. I don't know what to do to stop being hungry. Please, any information would be appreciated. :happy:

First, I would ditch the Wonderbread. Even the "whole wheat white" would be better if you aren't used to whole wheat bread. It's just fluffy and while it has a lot of calories it isn't very satisfying, long term.

One of my favorite breakfasts are the Quaker Oats "high fiber" instant oatmeal packets. They are only 180 calories or so, but will keep me full for hours.

Snacking on raw veggies (even with some fat-free ranch to dip it in) can be an easy low-calorie snack.

Also, you have to look at what you're spending your calories on. 300 calories for two slices of texas toast could go towards a LOT more food - a wedge of Laughing Cow Cheese on 7 Triscuits would only be 155 calories. About 16 baby carrots with two tablespoons of fat free ranch would only be 60-70 calories. Your body is going to burn through that toast quickly, but if you ate a couple of sticks of string cheese that would only be 120 calories.

I hope this was helpful!

Bryce58

I try to walk for up to an hour each day. Having done that, I can essentially eat what I crave (within limits) and not feel hungry. If I don't exercise during a day, I find I need to carefully watch what I eat and can feel deprived/hungry.