Hungry After Eating

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I have been eating clean for the past few months- avoiding processed foods and focusing on meats, fruits and vegetables.
Consistently, I have eaten a meal or a small meal and became hungry after eating. This is very different for me.

Normally I am starving before a meal. Now I am less hungry before a meal, I eat and enjoy but then get hungry 20-30 minutes after eating.

I am eating the same amount of calories consistently. I am losing weight; not fast but a about a pound a week.

Has this happened to anyone else?
Is this a good thing?

Replies

  • sobriquet84
    sobriquet84 Posts: 607 Member
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    could it be due to pms? pregnancy? sorry, those are always first questions.

    how much fat are you incorporating into your meals?
  • lilangel317
    lilangel317 Posts: 46 Member
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    I am having the same issues. I curious to see the answers.
  • imalexgirl
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    I had that initially. Once I started increasing my water, it happened less and less.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
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    Try drinking more water and see if it helps.
  • D3vAnge1
    D3vAnge1 Posts: 104 Member
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    From WLS pals, I've learned & developed the habit of not drinking 30 mins before, during, or up to 40 mins after a meal. See if that works for you. Theory is, drinking before meals promotes premature feelings of fullness. During, some fullness but most importantly, it flushes the food down faster allowing you to be able to consume more over all. Avoid drinking afterwards to avoid flushing the food down too fast & decreasing the feeling of satiety after meals.
  • fitwithin
    fitwithin Posts: 210 Member
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    It sounds like you are not eating enough. I always drink a protein drink or bar for breakfast and sometimes if I get one with too low of calories, I am starving shortly after. I started buying the higher calorie bar or shake and I stay full until lunch. You might need to add something mid morning or afternoon to help tie you over. I sometimes have dill pickles or celery to get me to lunch if I am hungry.
  • AmandaLou4319
    AmandaLou4319 Posts: 73 Member
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    I am confident that I am not pregant and its has actually happened so often that I hesistate to say it is PMS...

    I do not eat much fat. I try to keep it healthy fat, natural fat.
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
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    Do you have room to up calories a little bit? Maybe add a spring mix salad to your meals?

    Also, I'm a CPA too :)
    (I originally put a frown instead of a smiley face and considered leaving it a frown! haha)
  • LiliWray
    LiliWray Posts: 101 Member
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    From WLS pals, I've learned & developed the habit of not drinking 30 mins before, during, or up to 40 mins after a meal. See if that works for you. Theory is, drinking before meals promotes premature feelings of fullness. During, some fullness but most importantly, it flushes the food down faster allowing you to be able to consume more over all. Avoid drinking afterwards to avoid flushing the food down too fast & decreasing the feeling of satiety after meals.
    I have never heard this before, but now that I think about it, it makes so much sense. I have sort of the same "hungry" problem.
    I am going to try this. Thank you!
  • edge_dragoncaller
    edge_dragoncaller Posts: 826 Member
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    I have a couple questions and I'll give my reasons why I ask...

    1 - How much water are you drinking?
    2 - Are you eating up to your calorie target each day or are you coming in under?
    3 - How much exercise are you doing and are you eating up the "bonus" calories that come with the exercise?


    The Reasons why :
    1 & 2 & 3: drinking 8 cups of Water is a good way to boost your metabolism and can help burn fat, BUT if you have a revved up metabolism but are not eating the calories to keep up with it ( just a bit under to burn weight ) then your body will go into "save" mode because it thinks you are starving. This leads right into Question 3, because if you are not consuming your exercise calories, the same thing can happen.

    Example : 1500 Calories is your target and you exercise for 500 calories. That means that in a day, you should consume roughly 2000 calories. If you only eat 1500, then that huge deficit ( 25% is alot! )means that your body is going to think that food is scarce and it needs to store fat for you to survive off of incase food becomes even more scarce.

    The last thing is also with #3. Muscle is more condenced than fat. You may be replacing fat and size with lean muscle...and if that's the case this is still a good thing! If you're measurements are going down but the scale is not, this is GOOD.
  • sobriquet84
    sobriquet84 Posts: 607 Member
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    I am confident that I am not pregant and its has actually happened so often that I hesistate to say it is PMS...

    I do not eat much fat. I try to keep it healthy fat, natural fat.

    i hear you on keeping fats healthy fats, but fat is very important for satiety. maybe adding/increasing fat rich sources will help. if you don't adjust other areas, this will increase your cal intake, but that could simply be what you're needing too.

    i did like what someone said about keeping fluid volumes limited around meal time, as in, no more than 8 oz with a meal. that will help.
  • Kelley528
    Kelley528 Posts: 319 Member
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    Usually, its not enough water that makes you feel "hungry". If you are drinking enough water, maybe you are eating too fast or while doing other things which distracts you from the fact that you just ate.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    That will happen if you are eating a lot of processed carbs (high glycemic index) that causes an insulin spike. It is especially likely to happen if you are a bit insulin resistant because you've been overweight for a while or ate a lot of sugar/white flour/rice/fruit before you started eating clean or because your genes make you prone to it. Any diabetes in your family?

    Lots of clean foods like oranges, bananas, raisins have lots of sugar and can do that.
  • AmandaLou4319
    AmandaLou4319 Posts: 73 Member
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    No diabetes in my family.

    You bring up an excellent point. I use to eat high processed foods very often. Perhaps this is a transition I am going through?

    Per the other posts, I will increase my water intake.
  • dannyg772
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    Proteins will keep your hungries away. Try adding a little more protein into your diet. I specially like to add some protein into my breakfast. Like peanut butter or egg whites. Also, if you're incorporating simple starches into your daily calorie intake, you might want to change those with more complex starches. Like instead of white bread, choose whole grain bread. Instead of white rice, choose brown rice. Simple starches will send a rush of carbs into your system and then when they quickly reside, you get the feeling like you're hungry again.

    Check this link. It shows the glycemic index of various foods (from the South Beach diet). Choosing low glycemic index foods will help you from getting hungry soon after eating. And no, I'm not with the South Beach diet company. But I believe in the concept of glycemic indices.

    http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/glycemicfoodchart.htm