1 week into an increased calorie diet and I am STARVING!

Sararainmaker

Lean meats, Greek yogurts, and protein shake!

Grilled chicken breast is my staple. I eat it pretty much every day. Fish is good too, though I personally don't like the taste as much.

If you usually eat cereal for breakfast, try putting 1/2 scoop of protein powder in your cereal.

I am concerned about the protein powders... I am lactose intolerant and I think most of those powders are pretty high in lactose, aren't they?

NiciS72

Now that I have more info I can offer a few more bits of advice.

#1 get rid of the artificial sweetener it's detrimental to your weight loss and can cause a lot of hunger
#2 get rid of the simple carbs i.e. the oatmeal/rice on go with veggies that have protein instead
#3 you definitely could do with more protein below is a few examples of how to get 90+ grams a day for each meal

Breakfast:
3 eggs boiled or scrambled (no oil/milk) 21 grams+ Jimmy Dean turkey sausage crumbles 11g (1 serving)
or
Chobani 0% greek yogurt 23g for 8 oz. + berries

Lunch:
Chicken breast 4 oz-21g
Tuna-2.6 oz 18g (only 80 calories)
Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Meats 51grams (approx 6 slices) gives 9g of protein for only 50 calories

Dinner:
5.5 oz Petite Sirloin Steak 28 g
Lean hamburger patty 93/7 23g
Jennie O Hot Italian Turkey Sausage 17g
Jennie O Ground Turkey 93/7 4 oz-21g

Snacks:
Raw Almonds 28g svg=6g
100 Calorie Muscle Milk-15g (this is Gluten Free and Lactose free)

Sararainmaker

Btw, thank you all for your responses so far! I didn't expect so much support and assistance! You guys are the best ^_^

Sararainmaker

Now that I have more info I can offer a few more bits of advice.

#1 get rid of the artificial sweetener it's detrimental to your weight loss and can cause a lot of hunger
#2 get rid of the simple carbs i.e. the oatmeal/rice on go with veggies that have protein instead
#3 you definitely could do with more protein below is a few examples of how to get 90+ grams a day for each meal

Thanks for the suggestions! A few of these sound quite doable, even for my neophyte mind in the kitchen!! I also picked up a cookbook that might help me with a few of these in the future! A couple of questions though:

With the artificial sweetener, which is better, going with raw sugar/granulated sugar or the artificial sweetener. I am trying to wean myself off the desire for the sweet taste, but that takes some time, and I would love to know which I should be using.

With the simple carbs, I am not sure I understand what a simple carb is. Should I be looking more at potatoes instead of rice? and would eating plain rolled oats with dried berries and/or nuts still be considered simple carbs?

Thank You

starwhisperer

Rice is great, but go with brown instead of white.

BrewerGeorge

Good rule of thumb for simple carbs is white. Flour, sugar, white bread, potatoes, etc. I'm not sure I'd personally consider oatmeal a simple carb, especially the longer-cooking varieties like old-fashioned or steel cut.

For sweetener, try stevia like the new Truvia.

NiciS72

Stevia is best if you need sweet, I like Truvia. Next would be sugar. I would not recommend anything artificial as there are ALOT of studies about the adverse side effects. Just google aspartame, splenda etc. And you'll see the horrors. I just recently purged it out of my life totally. I feel much better and my insane cravings are less. I did it in stages though. I've replace diet pop with La Croix lime natural seltzer water and water with True Lemon Lemonade (it's 5 calories and sweetened with Stevia).

Good luck with the cravings.

Pandorian

whey protein might have lactose but there's other protein sources

Hempseed is usually very safe for those unable to tolerate nuts, gluten, lactose, and sugar.
Beans and legumes....

and if you're going to use Stevia get the plant extract yourself or grow it in your garden... truvia and purevia are no better than aspartame and splenda in the amount of processing in them see http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/180927-truvia-and-purevia-leave-it-on-the-grocery-store-shelf

Sararainmaker

Good rule of thumb for simple carbs is white. Flour, sugar, white bread, potatoes, etc. I'm not sure I'd personally consider oatmeal a simple carb, especially the longer-cooking varieties like old-fashioned or steel cut.

For sweetener, try stevia like the new Truvia.

Oooh. I have Truvia at the house! I should bring that to work with me so I can put that in my tea! So that doesn't count as an artificial sweetner? ^_^

Sararainmaker

whey protein might have lactose but there's other protein sources

Hempseed is usually very safe for those unable to tolerate nuts, gluten, lactose, and sugar.
Beans and legumes....

and if you're going to use Stevia get the plant extract yourself or grow it in your garden... truvia and purevia are no better than aspartame and splenda in the amount of processing in them see http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/180927-truvia-and-purevia-leave-it-on-the-grocery-store-shelf

Darnit! lol. so much for that idea!

trelm249

Here is a macro breakdown to work toward based on a 1500 calorie a day intake.

30% protein - 112 grams; this will help with hunger issue, don't forget the vegetable (like nuts and legumes) sources are available to you as well as the meat and eggs.

45% carbs - 168 grams; leafy greens, tubers, legumes, fruits are your friends; grains not so much, do them in moderation.

25% fats - 42 grams; your cooking oils, nuts, avocados, and meats will provide much of this. You typically don't have to go out of your way to find it. But don't have a phobia either. It helps with energy levels when done right.

trelm249

Additionally if your diet is currently coming mostly from simple carbs (these are starches such as rice, grains which includes corn and hominey, white fless potatos, and anything made with flour more or less) you will get hungry quick and be prone to feeling lethargic throughout the day.

This has to do with an aspect of food referred to as its glycemic index. In a nutshell, the higher the GI the more insulin is dumped in the bloodstream to deal with the resulting blood sugar from the carbs. As a result hunger returns relatively quickly and energy levels tend to drop.

In those who have trouble maintaining stable blood sugar levels this can result in too much insulin which in turns causes the blood sugar levels to drop dramatically. This is a hypoglycemic episode that is sometimes characterized with light headedness, shakes, headaches, hunger, and lethargy.

BrewerGeorge

whey protein might have lactose but there's other protein sources

Hempseed is usually very safe for those unable to tolerate nuts, gluten, lactose, and sugar.
Beans and legumes....

and if you're going to use Stevia get the plant extract yourself or grow it in your garden... truvia and purevia are no better than aspartame and splenda in the amount of processing in them see http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/180927-truvia-and-purevia-leave-it-on-the-grocery-store-shelf

Darnit! lol. so much for that idea!

You've got to make your own decision on these things as there is a lot of hype floating around the 'net. Anything that says Coca Cola has been "poisoning us for years with HFCS" immediately loses a lot of credibility in my book.

cacraft

I drink water constantly and I find that helps a lot. (I should count the extra exercise running to the bathroom all day!).
I allow myself 14 almonds a day and save them until I'm really hungry - usually when I get home from work before dinner is prepared.
I went over a week without any weight loss. Then I eliminated fruit from my diet (except for my 1/4 cup blueberries with my morning oatmeal) and keep my sugar below 30g/day. Today the scales finally moved.

JohnSerra

Hi, I will not be much help to you I feel, but here goes. Drink lots of water, it really works. Then do 30 minutes of (fast) walking a day Monday to friday and do it at REGULAR times. this will give you extra calories and ups your metabolic rate (you won't think hungry so much). Hope it helps a bit. Keep going, John.

AdAstra47

whey protein might have lactose but there's other protein sources

Hempseed is usually very safe for those unable to tolerate nuts, gluten, lactose, and sugar.
Beans and legumes....

and if you're going to use Stevia get the plant extract yourself or grow it in your garden... truvia and purevia are no better than aspartame and splenda in the amount of processing in them see http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/180927-truvia-and-purevia-leave-it-on-the-grocery-store-shelf

Darnit! lol. so much for that idea!

As I understand it, there are many soy-based protein powders available, too. Also, don't count out whey-based protein powders. I'm pretty sure that the processing that they go through also removes the lactose... at any rate, the brand I use (Syntrax Nectar) is whey-based but also lactose-free.

Personally, my doctor has me eating at least 50g protein every 3 hrs. Minimum 350g per day. So I usually have all of my meals and snacks with at least one scoop of protein powder in my drink. Aside from that, lots of eggs, chicken, fish, pork, beef, almonds, peanuts, and higher-protein lower-carb veggies like spinach and mushrooms. My go-to snacks when I get the munchies are hard-boiled eggs and beef jerky. But like I said, I very rarely get hungry any more. Makes it very easy to resist temptations. :-)

Good luck to you!

Sararainmaker

I added some more protein into my diet today, including adding protein powder into my soy milk before I steamed it for my coffee today, and it seems to have helped. I am pretty sure with the way I have been eating the past 15 or so years that even trying to get to 100g of protein a day would probably make me sick! I set my goals a little under 100, and we'll see if I can manage that for a while. I just don't think such a drastic change in my intakes would be good, but a more gradual one will work for me! I'll adjust them when I can maintain this.

Again, thank you all for your support and advice!
I was much less hungry today.