Minisiming Appetite

robynj88

Hey everyone!

I've been using MFP for a while now and am seeing gradual weight loss, nothing too extreme which is fine. I suffer from PCOS so losing weight is hard enough for me as it is and I try and stick to a low GI diet as much as I can. My main problem seems to be that I'm having trouble shrinking my portion sizes. I come from a big-plate family so am used to eating quite a large amount of food per meal and I'm hoping you guys can give me some tips on how to reduce my appetite so that I can feel fuller quicker and don't gorge myself too much on, albeit healthier than before, foods!

My food diary is open to my friends so if you have some constructive ideas (no fad diets please) feel free to friend me and take a look at what I'm eating and see if I can change anything to help with this problem.

Short of purposefully contracting some kind of tummy bug where I can't eat for a week I've not got a lot of (sensible) ideas!!

Thanks in advance for your help!

ChrisRS87

I take a 4 oz bag of almonds with me to work everyday, I munch on those during the morning and mid afternoon. They are filled with healthy fats, and because I'm trying to reduce carbs the healthy fats help control cravings.

As far as meals go, I only eat half of my lunch, and the other half I save for dinner. If you go out, ask the server to bag half of it to go, it'll help portion your meals better.

Also, drinking water constantly and chewing gum are other ways to control cravings. Feel free to check my diary if you like.

robynj88

I take a 4 oz bag of almonds with me to work everyday, I munch on those during the morning and mid afternoon. They are filled with healthy fats, and because I'm trying to reduce carbs the healthy fats help control cravings.

I've had a look at your diary and as sensible as that advice sounds, 4oz of almonds is around 700 calories, and I'm only having 1340 a day (without exercise). I'd have no space for any actual lunch!

I do try and get my 8 glasses of water in a day. Hadn't thought about the chewing gum but would be rather concerned that I'd eventually end up with a stomach ulcer from constantly chewing.

Are there any types of food you think I should avoid or methods of actually cutting down portion sizes without still feeling hungry afterwards? I've unfortunately not got the kind of job where I can pick at snacks during the day so grazing as such isn't much of an option :-(

Jerry945

I haven't tried it but I hear lemon juice in a glass of water before helps you eat less

eriemer

Salad, Salad, Salad. I didn't look at your diary but add a large leafy salad to every meal with fat free dressing or 1 tsp balsalmic (or other) vinegar/1 tsp very good expensive flavored olive oil (only about 40-50 calories)

Pack in the non starchy foods and fruits. Lean meat and fish. Berries, apples, citrus.

I found I'm able to eat a lot more volume for less calories if I load up on all those things, plus I feel more full.

The less carbs I eat, the better I actually feel. Also I found adding a protien supplement (bars, shakes, etc) esp. in the morning keep me from binging later.

Good Luck with your weight loss!

robynj88

Thanks!

I'm starting to think the whole salad for lunch with a protein shake thing would be a good idea. i've often made a salad for my lunch but found myself getting hungry again around 4pm and then eating too much for dinner.

Breakfast is hard too as I used to hate eating anything at all in the morning, and although I manage it now it always seems to be carb-loaded (bagels, brown toast etc). Perhaps a protein shake is the way to go.

Can anyone recommend a good protein shake, available in the UK, that has less than 5g of sugar per 100g?

caraiselite

i eat low carb and don't really have an appetite on most days.
ketosis does wonders.

Brizoeller

Feel free to take a look at my diary. I eat a few more calories than you do on a daily basis, but any ideas are good right! I feel like i eat a good amount but am usually full. One of my favorite dinners is a piece of tilapia, a grain such as quinoa or a sweet potato, and a veggie such as steamed broccoli or peas. The quinoa is 170 calories but it is so filling and a large portion. I have other ideas if you need them

DeTaart

Yep, totally agree with eriemer - salad and volume! You don't actually need to cut down on the the physical size of your dinner - just what's in it. Eat a very large salad with lots of water-heavy vegetables (iceberg lettuce, spinach, celery, cucumber, tomatoes, radishes, peppers) with your meal. Have twice as much salad as you usually would in a serving. Or three times as much! Use a super light dressing (just a squirt of lemon/vinegar/mustard) and you can be still working on this massive salad when the rest of your family have finished their meals.

I'd avoid very calorie dense snacks alone, because 20 almonds isn't going to satisfy your desire for a lot of food (even though nutritionally speaking they're great). So have ten almonds, half an apple and 2 celery sticks instead. More food!

nxd10

A couple thing that help me a lot:

Have soup (like chicken broth) as an appetizer. It will make you feel full before you start to eat - think Chinese restaurants.

Put little nibblies on the table to keep from taking seconds. So have a bowl of radishes or cashes or celery or carrots on the table. Those go on the your plate with your food and you eat them between bites of the other stuff. Then you also grab them instead of the second pork chop or helping of potatoes.

Eat twice as many green veggies as you usually do, just a tiny bit of any starch (potates, rice), and a normal meat portion. Plate is still full. It takes you a long time to eat. Fewer calories.

Drink a glass of skim milk as an appetizer.

Eat something high protein (nuts, a couple spoons of yoghurt) half hour before dinner to fill you up.

Drink water.

If I eat a good high protein breakfast and a decent lunch I ate half as much at dinner and am way less hungry all day.

---

I also just eat 3 cashews or almonds or or something tasty and low cal every time I'm hungry. My folk theory is that I'm training my body to know it's not starving and I'll feed it when its hungry. My scientific mind says I'm raising my blood sugar and keeping it in that range where it isn't hungry and isn't so high I'm secreting a lot of insulin.

Whatever - it works. My appetite has gone from huge to tiny. I'm almost never hungry when I shouldn't be and I ate way less at meals.

cartrat

i eat low carb and don't really have an appetite on most days.
ketosis does wonders.

bam.

in the mornings, i eat eggs--yolk and all--with some bacon or some kind of meat with tea or coffee and that keeps me held over very well. sometimes i'm not even hungry until like 7 hours later. try having lots of protein during lunch and of course keep yourself hydrated and by the time dinner rolls around, you wouldn't want to eat so much.

wrensong27

I have only recently joined and started trying to get healthy. I have found that eating small frequent meals is really working for me. In fact. yesterday I missed lunch due to my son's dr appt an I was starved for the rest of the day, ate too much at supper (managed to get in a workout so that I didn't go over my calories). For the rest of the evening, I just felt like I hadn't eaten all day.

If it is possible try eating something like fruit or cottage cheese, in between your meals and see if that helps

amatiq

Ideas for low calorie filling foods- beans, lentils, popcorn, cucumbers, celery, skim milk, black coffee (also an appetite suppresant). Boiled eggs are a good snack with protien and little fat. Try breaking your meals into "courses" with lots of volume for the first courses-bean or lentil soup, boiled eggs, cucumbers and celery, chicken broth.
Also, coffee works wonders to suppress some of my cravings for more food, as does simply taking a short walk or a tiny mini-workout. If I've tried drinking water, tried waiting till later, and I'm still really hungry, I usually just add another walk or cardio session in and eat something. Better not to get into "gorging hunger" stage.

robynj88

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

I've ordered myself some protein shakes to get starting with, and I love the snacking on boiled eggs idea. I love boiled eggs!!