How do you deal with hunger pangs?

pollard775

On the subject of tea and coffee though....who uses sweetners? There seem to be mixed views on this but to me it satisfies my sweet craving and I dont like the taste of tea without it, but I believe they can be bad for you.

And with regards to something like homemade soups...how do you go about logging the calories consumed on here when you're making your own and basically throwing loads of veg, stock cubes in etc?

I use Splenda as a sweetener, I haven't heard too much negative about it.
Whenever I make homemade soups I have to add total calories from each item added and then divide by total servings from your pot.

bisland

I agree with other posts. I have not had any true hunger pangs. Eat health low cal & often. I eat my meals and usually a mid AM and afternoon snack. Cheese stick, yogurt or a handfull of nuts work great. The protien keeps me satisfied. For false hunger (I am bored so let's eat) I go for a walk or find a hosehold task to do. By the time I am finished I am no longer craving eating.

davidmcgowan1987

It depends... if ive got a headache im prone to eating a whole dominoes medium (or even large!) which makes my headache go away 9 times out of ten, (though now ive got some sumatriptan, i can just swap a headache for nausea... which i guess is better?)

if i havent got a headache i just drink ice cold water until its time to eat or sometimes i just relish the pangs as a sign that im not overeating today and feel good about myself...

johicks

Hi, I'm a newbie too. I have tried so many things to stop myself from snacking when I start to feel peckish and drinking water only occasionally helps. Do you think you are actually hungry when you get these hunger pangs? Or just bored? I know that I tend to eat when I am bored, so finding something to keep yourself busy with might help. Chewing gum tends to fill your belly with air, and that doesn't do much more than make you feel horribly bloated. What I have started doing to help myself is to eat six small meals a day rather than 3 larger meals. This keeps you feeling fuller for longer and keeps your metabolism running. Make sure you have a good breakfast that is going to keep you feeling full for a few hours. have a reasonable sized lunch and a smaller dinner. In between these meals have a small healthy snack such as a piece of fruit, a hand full of nuts or a yoghurt. This should keep you feeling full and stop those hunger pangs hope this helps!!!

I agree!! This is how I eat. Eating balanced small portioned meals and snacks from 100-200 calories.

You can do it!! Listen to your body, if it's hungry feed it. If it's something else (boredom, emotions, stress) then do something else- get up and go for a walk or a stretch. Breath in deep through the nose and exhale out the nose.

velloxal

Replace your serving plates, bowls and cups to smaller size. Visually you will feel fuller and eat fewer calories.

When you hungry you should eat something small because when your body will go to starvation mode you will start store more fat.

When I am hungry I snack fresh fruits, nuts (handful only), raw carrots or celery, yoghurt, fruit smoothies, freshly squeezed fruit or vegetable juices, small chocolate bar but about 1 hour later I get in ever deeper starvation mode, so it's good to use it shortly before proper meal

I use brown sugar for years or honey to sweet my tea, coffee etc. etc.

You can create your own recipes, which you can use later for your food diary

neverstray

Ignore all advice about "listening to your body". Work towards that, but you have no idea right now how to listen to your body. Right now, you need to stick with a program, hungry or not hungry. It will take time to learn when you are actually hunry or not.

Try picking up hobbies. It's like when people stop smoking...they have all these rituals associated with smoking, and they have to immediately abolish the rituals otherwise, they slip back into the pattern. Change up what you do all the time. Make a new hobby. Don't sit in front of the TV. Do something else with your time. Pick up a new interest.

I find that when I am busy, I am rarely hungry. It's just when I sit down with nothing to do where all the sudden I'm completely starving to death. it's just in your head.

Fani2003

I keep Larabars around. They are vegan. A little high in cals (200 per bar) but they stop the 2 pm cravings I have.

SweetSammie

I eat. I really feel like if you are hungry, either you aren't eating enough cals, or you aren't using yours wisely. There is a lot of food and not many calories in a nice leafy salad...

LorinaLynn

If my guts are growling, I eat.

If I'm just bored, I do something.

lmelangley

You should join our hypothyroidism/hyperthyroidism group. If you're interested, click on the Groups link above and search for hypothyroidism.

As the others have said, if you're hungry, eat something on the smallish calorie side. Something with protein is especially good as you won't feel hungry again as quickly. Whole grains are also good. The thing to remember is that lots of people fail at weight loss because they deprive themselves. You just need to try to eat as healthy as possible and stay within your calories as much as possible.

Jbarbo01

How many calories are you eating? I have PCOS which poses similar challenges to weight loss and I eat 1600-1800 calories a day and rarely am I hungry enough to be uncomfortable and I still lose weight. You may simply not be eating enough, you can still lose weight and not be starving. If you are eating at least 1500 calories a day and are still pretty hungry, Id take a look at what youre eating. I find that lentil soup, fruit, eggs, organic beans, raw vegetables, and brown rice are foods that make me feel pretty satisfied throughout the day. If you stick to clean, high fiber foods you may notice that you feel fuller longer. If you eat highly processed foods like white bread, white pasta, corn flakes, etc. those foods wont make you feel full for long even in large quantities. What has helped me also is eating small meals throughout the day. It takes less food than you think to make you feel satisified so if you have a bowl of lentil soup for lunch and some carrots, have a snack about 2 or 3 hours later like whole grain crackers, cheese, and some grapes. Keep eating healthy foods like that every 3 hours or so and it may help.

Another situation to consider is emotional hunger, for a long time I had a hard time recognizing what emotional hunger was to actual hunger. Emotional hunger can feel exactly like real hunger if you have emotional associations with food. It can take some time to distinguish, but emotional hunger is a craving. You want a certain kind of food. Real hunger is the feeling you would eat anything, you just need some food.

OSC_ESD

~ Perhaps try adding more protein to your meals ... it will make you feel fuller longer ... often the types of foods we consume cause us to experience hunger pangs very quickly after consumption. I would eat something like a hand full of nuts ( no more than a ¼ cup, some hands are bigger than others, lol ) .... but definitely eat !

Anybody who " deals " with hunger pangs ... eventually gives up ! It's no fun to be hungry all the time ... just find the right foods and eat a little something every 3 to 4 hours in a 18 hr span. If your not happy with your daily choices ... change it up ! Sooooo many healthy foods out there that are absolutely delicious !

A full tummy is a perfect way to fuel your machine ... how well you oil it is up to you !

Best of luck !

galilanee26

^^^This is great advice! I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid as well. Atomicpunk1974 is right, the hunger pangs are uncomfortable but push on through those days and it will get better. In addition to hot tea, etc., I drink a cup of Almond Breeze almond milk (original unsweetened) and add a packet of Stevia or 1 T. of Ovaltine Malt plus Stevia. It seems to take the edge off for me and it tastes good hot or cold. I've also found that a cheese stick helps me as well.

Good luck on your journey!

aldousmom

And with regards to something like homemade soups...how do you go about logging the calories consumed on here when you're making your own and basically throwing loads of veg, stock cubes in etc?

Thanks in advance

An easy soup recipe to follow is the Weight Watchers Fresh Vegetable Soup (its' all over the web)...the one with swiss chard in it. It has everything listed out, and you can enter the recipe itself right here on MFP to make entering 1, or even 2, servings at time more accurately. It's a very good soup, high in nutrition and if you add anything to it, you can just add it to your recipe it (edit it) on MFP to keep it accurate.
It's a good start and you can tweak flavors and ingredients over time to suit your personal tastes or nutritional needs.

palmerig88

Are you trying to eat healthier too? Like...did you give up something also, like fast food maybe? The first week I used this site I went to bed hungry every single night and I was painfully starving between meals. I don't experience that anymore and honestly have not gone to bed hungry since. I say it is because it is new. Give it a little time and don't cheat. Also, if I am slightly hungry before exercise, I forget about it and earn a ton of yummy calories and end up with a much more satisfying meal sometime later. So that is another idea that might work for you.

MissMormie

Due to my medication I'm constantly hungry at the moment. Just had a big dinner (ate more than my boyfriend) and still feel like I haven't eaten in days. Listening to my body will blow me up like a balloon (and probably at the same speed as well).

So I make sure to always have tomatoes around, you can eat loads of them and still not eat too much. As in a kilo for about 100 kcals. Also I eat a lot of low cal quark., about half a liter a day, for about 200 kcals. It has a load of proteins, and stuffs you. Also, nice for me, I can spend an hour slowly eating down half of it. That sortof kills my hunger.

Try and find out what works for you, is it eating high volume low cal stuff? Or just going through it for a few weeks.

TinkrBelz

I eat if I am hungry...I even eat when I am not hungry. But some days I am STARVING...so I feel that for some reason my body needs more calories, so I eat.

You said you are hypothyroid, Google Virgin Coconut Oil. I am also hypo and eat coconut oil. It has many benefits and one of them is thyroid function. I need to add that I have not had any blood work done since I have been eating it (5 months now) but I am excited to see if anything has changed. I am on Synthroid right now.

HeatherPH

Jillian Michaels posted this on her Facebook the other day, which seems pertinent to your question. I haven't tried it out, but it sounds like a good idea so I'm definitely going to give it a go!

"Here's a simple, silly, and yet extremely effective tip to keep you from over indulging. Sometimes when we are dieting our bodies go through periods of insatiable hunger. You know that feeling when no matter what you eat you are still hungry? It can be really frustrating. Try a fiber supplement like psyillium husk capsules. When you take these with a bunch of water the psyillium expands in your tummy helping to literally fill you up and curb appetite. Plus, it’s calorie free and helps to clear you out. Literally."

DonnaCW

Lots of good advice here! Look for foods to fill your day that will "fill you up".. Ones with fiber (white rice...whole grains, oatmeal). Then you won't be so hungry. Listen to your body, just don't overdo it. Zero foods such as veggies will also fill you up when you are hungry and don't want something that will add calories or fat. Nothing wrong with some green beans or broccoli as a snack!

gapskinny

Have to agree, try water even with a squeeze of lemon. Carrot sticks work well and other veggies and yoghurt too ! Choose a low fat probiotic yoghurt so you get an additional benefit from it.