Waking up from hunger - foods that fill advice?

Pihjin

Hi everyone!

I'm 30 days in and dieting is beginning to annoy me!
I have a 1200 calories goal and work out 1 - 2 times weekly. I've been finding that lately I'm feeling less and less full and have even woken up from hunger two nights this week!

I wish I could eat more - getting work out calories isn't an option as I work on my feet all day so want to sit and rest at home! I do dance twice a week as a workout.

Does anyone have any advice? What foods can I eat that keep you full esp. in the evenings?
I'm feeling tired and run down this week though my carb/fat/protein ratios forthe week are almost spot on!

Thanks!

cacrat

Proteins, fibers, and fats help you feel satiated longer. Try some cottage cheese right before you go to bed. Since a bulk of cottage cheese proteins are the casein variety, as opposed to whey, the body digests them slower and may keep you feeling fuller in the morning.

If that doesn't work, eat more.

_persephone_

Seeing as you have an active job, perhaps you need to change your activity level to lightly active? This will give you more calories, which it sounds like you need...you shouldn't be waking from hunger, and it sounds like your low calorie intake is affecting your energy levels.

lefilsshaw

Sarah Lee makes 45 calorie bread. Even two pieces before bed with I Can't Believe it's not Butter spray is under 100 calories and it has a lot of whole grain and fiber so it should keep you satiated at night. I had the same problem! I'd wake up ravished and make poor food choiecs in the middle of the night.

redrover

How about some broccoli or almonds?

marcenepea

If you open your food diary we could know alittle more about what your eating. I agree with the other posts, waking up hungry at night shouldn't happen. I would look into your activity level and make sure you eat all of the calories you should. If you eat them from lots of healthy choices you should stay full longer.

elsinora

First up - I completely understand - I got the same!!! Protein keeps you fuller for longer and is a slower burner, so a protein rich meal helps. I personally found that soup really filled me too and stopped the middle of the night hunger pangs

saahild

Different proteins digest at different rates.

Casien (what 80% of protein in milk is), is a very slow digesting protein.

I take a milk protein based shake before bed, about 110kcal 24g of protein 2g of carbs and .4g of fat.

I wake up full-ish and if I take it in the am as breakfast I feel full till Lunch.

But I take it to stop muscle breakdown when I sleep and I'm trying to gain weight so YMMV

Pihjin

Sarah Lee makes 45 calorie bread. Even two pieces before bed with I Can't Believe it's not Butter spray is under 100 calories and it has a lot of whole grain and fiber so it should keep you satiated at night. I had the same problem! I'd wake up ravished and make poor food choiecs in the middle of the night.

Unfortunatly I live in Ireland and we don't have Sarah Lee bread but I'll see if we maybe have something similar.

If you open your food diary we could know alittle more about what your eating. I agree with the other posts, waking up hungry at night shouldn't happen.

My food diary should be public already - I know my friend's can see it anyway... let me go make sure. Sorry if it's not. I thought it was.

Thanks for you help everyone - I'll have to look into milk and cheese proteins later at night.

Pihjin

Just made my diary public - I hope that helps people.
I don't log my water in case anyone is curious.

jazzalea

what worked for me was a couple spoonfulls of peanut butter and a glass of milk.... gasp everyone settle down!!!!


When your body wants something bad enough to wake you up give it something that is dense and healthy.......remind yourself that it's going to take twenty minutes after you first eat and drink it for it to kick in.... This is your body responding to a deficit so don't panic, it's what you want, you just have to learn to manage it better......

you aren't off track, and it's not always going to be comfortable.... you have the rest of your life to figure this out.....I couldn't see your diary so I can't comment on your food choices but concentrate more on healthy choices, made from natural foods when ever possible and you will quickly find your body settling for far less quantity without your having to limit yourself, and you will learn to REALLY enjoy food and the control you have over it

Good luck !

ishallnotwant

Do you have your weight loss set to 2 pounds per week? You could always lower it to 1 pounds, or a half pound per week and it will give you more cals.

Pihjin

....I couldn't see your diary so I can't comment on your food choices but concentrate more on healthy choices, made from natural foods

My food diary should be viewable here now: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/Pihjin

Pihjin

Do you have your weight loss set to 2 pounds per week? You could always lower it to 1 pounds, or a half pound per week and it will give you more cals.

It's currently projecting that I "normally" would burn 1890 calories a day so eating 1200 now would project me to have a weight loss of 1.4pounds a week.

I must look to see if dropping that to 1 pound a week might help and give me a little more comfort room in terms of calories.

Taffyali

Do you have your weight loss set to 2 pounds per week? You could always lower it to 1 pounds, or a half pound per week and it will give you more cals.

It's currently projecting that I "normally" would burn 1890 calories a day so eating 1200 now would project me to have a weight loss of 1.4pounds a week.

I must look to see if dropping that to 1 pound a week might help and give me a little more comfort room in terms of calories.

That's a big deficit hun - I would definitely recommend reducing your target weight loss to either 0.5lb per week or 1lb per week which will then give you some more calories to play with. Whether you eat them all every day is up to you but at the moment you do not seem to be taking on enough cals.

Hope this helps.

Pihjin

That's a big deficit hun - I would definitely recommend reducing your target weight loss to either 0.5lb per week or 1lb per week which will then give you some more calories to play with. Whether you eat them all every day is up to you but at the moment you do not seem to be taking on enough cals.

Hope this helps.

Oooo dropping to a target loss of 1 pound a week gives me an extra 190 calories a day to work with a day.
I think I'll go with that.

Man - 190 calories more - I feel like it's Christmas!

Taffyali

That's a big deficit hun - I would definitely recommend reducing your target weight loss to either 0.5lb per week or 1lb per week which will then give you some more calories to play with. Whether you eat them all every day is up to you but at the moment you do not seem to be taking on enough cals.

Hope this helps.

Oooo dropping to a target loss of 1 pound a week gives me an extra 190 calories a day to work with a day.
I think I'll go with that.

Man - 190 calories more - I feel like it's Christmas!

Lol x

I've just done the same myself! I'm hoping that I might join the club "eat more to lose more"! There are lots of threads on here about it!

I have just lost 27lbs on Slimming World but have hit a brick wall - it seems I may not have been eating enough (under 1200 cals some days) so I am hoping that by increasing to 1400 cals per day and stepping up the exercise, this may help to kick start the weight loss again.

Good luck!

themedalist

I agree with the other posters. I don't think you are eating enough given you are pretty active at work. I've found I needed to find the "sweet spot" for losing weight of being a little hungry occasionally during the day, but not ravenous, and definitely not hungry at night. I almost always have a snack before bed because I can't sleep if I'm hungry.

As other people have suggested, protein, fiber, and good fats will keep you fuller longer. I have a tablespoon of peanut butter on a high fiber English muffin almost every night. An apple also has a fair amount of fiber. Air popped popcorn, too, is a great source of fiber (I just learned you can make popcorn in the microwave just in a brown paper lunch bag...so excited about that!). A glass of milk would be a good addition sometimes too.

Good luck and keep trying until you find what works for you. You shouldn't be hungry overnight.

spectralmoon

I did what I -think- you just did, as far as upping my calorie intake and lowering my loss-per-week standard on here, and I'm happily losing just as much as before, with some wiggle room if I end up on a weight plateau further down the line. Admittedly the 1200 was pushing it a bit, especially with my Vitamin Waters throughout the day.

realsolarina

Personally, after having looked at your diary, I'd be cutting back on cereals and bread and bumping up your fats and proteins. I know it's anathema to some on here, but my own long and bitter experience with dieting is that the sort of carbs you find in breakfast cereals and bread play hell with your blood sugar and consequently with your hunger.

I lost a lot of weight doing low carb but found the ultra strict regime I followed too hard now I'm married. However, when low carbing (not Atkins, btw) I never felt hungry - the fats and proteins you get in meat, fish etc plus the filling effect of fibrous green and coloured veg just don't seem to allow it. I'm doing a modified version now, with some carbs, but nowhere near the amount targeted by MFP

I think you have to tinker about until you find what works for you

OMGLeigh

Drinking a shake made with casein protein in the evenings has greatly improved my mornings. I don't have it right before bed, but around "dessert" time. If I don't drink one I wake up very hungry and have to start my day off immediately with food. If I make a shake I don't have hunger pains and don't feel rushed to eat.
The only downside to the powder, at least for me, is that it is clumpier than whey protein.

Pihjin

Drinking a shake made with casein protein in the evenings has greatly improved my mornings. I don't have it right before bed, but around "dessert" time. If I don't drink one I wake up very hungry and have to start my day off immediately with food. If I make a shake I don't have hunger pains and don't feel rushed to eat.
The only downside to the powder, at least for me, is that it is clumpier than whey protein.

I've been thinking a lot about protein powders recently. I must see what is available near me. I want to get something fairly natural.

rileysowner

Hi everyone!

I'm 30 days in and dieting is beginning to annoy me!
I have a 1200 calories goal and work out 1 - 2 times weekly. I've been finding that lately I'm feeling less and less full and have even woken up from hunger two nights this week!

I wish I could eat more - getting work out calories isn't an option as I work on my feet all day so want to sit and rest at home! I do dance twice a week as a workout.

Does anyone have any advice? What foods can I eat that keep you full esp. in the evenings?
I'm feeling tired and run down this week though my carb/fat/protein ratios forthe week are almost spot on!

Thanks!

With the amount you say you have yet to lose according to your ticker, 1200 calories seems way too low. Do you have your weight loss goal set at 2 pounds per week? If you do that is very aggressive. Usually that is only achievable by people who are obese. Some good guidelines are found in the quote from another thread here in the message area,

Also - you should not net below your BMR.

Here is a chart that suggests what your weekly weight loss goal should be depending on how much you have to lose.
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.


1 lb a week is 500 calories less per day. So .5 would be 250 less, 2lbs would be 1000 less, etc.