I am ALWAYS HUNGRY

mary190136

I am always hungry! Anyone have suggestions for really filling foods that are healthy? Or advice on why I'm so starving?

thanks!

Fozzi43

Protein, protein, oh and protein

kr1stadee

What are your calorie goals?
Up your fibre and protein.
Drink lots of water

Unknown

This content has been removed.

SoDamnHungry

Eat more protein, fiber, and up your calories from 1200 to 1300-1400 so you can actually have more food.

jr1985

Veggies... you can eat TONS of them for very few calories... BIG plate of veggies with a little cheese sauce to help them go down... yummy healthy dinner!

Bookchick887

I only saw one day of your diary, but I would say eat more 'real' food. Snacks aren't satisfying and you'll want to go looking for more. For instance a nice chicken breast with a salad and cooked vegetables for dinner A good breakfast of oatmeal or healthy egg dish. It can be tricky fitting food into 1200 cals a day but with practice it can be done.

Firefox7275

Protein, fibre, water and to a lesser extent fat fill you up. Base your day around nine servings of non starchy vegetables and low sugar fruits (whole not juice) in the full rainbow of colours which is a LOT of food, protein and fat little and often you should be full. Avoid sugar and white/ refined carbs, they cause your blood sugar to peak and trough making you more hungry - keep processed/ junky snacks to no more than 10% of daily calories, you are way over that at present - on Monday you had 600 calories of cookies and chocolate!

There is no way you can get all the nutrients you need for health in the other 700 calories you consumed. The day is also virtually vegan, if you want to eat like that you must research and make it balanced. I don't see dairy or a suitable vegetarian replacement, maybe one serving of bright/ dark coloured fruits and veggies. If you are deficient in nutrients your body can demand more food to try to make up the shortfall.

RHSheetz

Mary,

Couple of things that may help:

1. Drop the sugar from your diet. Sugar causes the Blood Sugar to spike, when it drops your body gets hungry to raise your blood sugar again.

2. Eat whole fruits instead of Juice. Fruit contains Fiber that helps to fill you up.

3. Increase your protien intake. If you do not eat meat, look at Low Fat/Non Fat Dairy as an option as well as bean / peanut butter and so on.

4. Look for foods that have less empty calories. The less processed foods you eat, the fewer calories are in a larger portion. Try Fruit and LOTS of Veggies.

5. Eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

You may also want to confirm your calorie level. Don't try for the 2 lbs a week, start with 1/2 pound and work your way up to 1 to 2 lbs as your body gets used to having less food.

PaytraB

Veggies... you can eat TONS of them for very few calories... BIG plate of veggies with a little cheese sauce to help them go down... yummy healthy dinner!

This. Add some veggies to everything: slices of tomato, cucumber, red peppers on sandwiches, raw carrots for snacking, a side salad at dinner, half a plate of veggies at dinner, chopped left-over veggies into a can of soup, etc. It'll fill you up.

krowanvil

I have found a protien powder (140 cals) mixed with unsweetened almond milk (30 cals for 8 oz) after breakfast helps with morning hunger.

McBully4

I heard people that only eat 1200 cals are never hungry and most people are quite satisfied. Rule of thumb is when you are hungry you should exercise.

Matt_Wild

You have a diet that contains a lot of simple-ish sugars (such as fruit juices, oreos etc) causing glucose crashes. Cut them out, expect less hunger.

maillemaker

You have a diet that contains a lot of simple-ish sugars (such as fruit juices, oreos etc) causing glucose crashes. Cut them out, expect less hunger.

This.

Low-carb diets help with hunger. It's still hard though, make no mistake. I keep waiting for a safe and effective appetite suppressant.

Chief_Rocka

5. Eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Right, because six 200 cal meals will leave you stuffed.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

You may need more calories. 1200 is as low as MFP will go. If you are truly hungry, you should eat. In general try to eat more good fats and protein.

WendyTerry420

You have a diet that contains a lot of simple-ish sugars (such as fruit juices, oreos etc) causing glucose crashes. Cut them out, expect less hunger.

This.

Low-carb diets help with hunger. It's still hard though, make no mistake. I keep waiting for a safe and effective appetite suppressant.

That depends on the person. If I don't have any carbs, it's like I didn't even eat. Carbs fill me up way better than protein, unless it's fatty protein, of course.

WendyTerry420

5. Eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Right, because six 200 cal meals will leave you stuffed.

:laugh:


Yeah, I would much rather have a nice 600 calorie meal than three 200 calorie snacks. Again, this one depends on the person.

drmerc

Eat more food, 1200 calories per day sucks

daj150

Mary,

Couple of things that may help:

1. Drop the sugar from your diet. Sugar causes the Blood Sugar to spike, when it drops your body gets hungry to raise your blood sugar again.

2. Eat whole fruits instead of Juice. Fruit contains Fiber that helps to fill you up.

3. Increase your protien intake. If you do not eat meat, look at Low Fat/Non Fat Dairy as an option as well as bean / peanut butter and so on.

4. Look for foods that have less empty calories. The less processed foods you eat, the fewer calories are in a larger portion. Try Fruit and LOTS of Veggies.

5. Eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

You may also want to confirm your calorie level. Don't try for the 2 lbs a week, start with 1/2 pound and work your way up to 1 to 2 lbs as your body gets used to having less food.

This is really good advice for trying to lose a lot of weight quickly. Although, I did the 2lbs per week for a couple of months @ 1200 calories, and I was fine. The key was focusing on protein and fiber-rich foods that were low in carbs (mainly sugars)...and also reduced my sodium a lot. If you are ambitious to lose a lot of weight fast and want to not sabotage your body after you go back to maintenance weight, you want to really focus on natural foods.

glitterjam

You would be amazed at how much drinking water really fends off the hunger pains/pangs. I drink 3-4 liters a day and it helps tremendously.

Side note: Never drink calories, except milk (if you're into that, that is.)

kls13la

As stated above, you may need to eat more. 1200 calories isn't much for most people.

You also have to learn to make the most of your calories. You can actually eat a lot on 1200 calories, if that is in fact the proper goal for you. Eating lots of snacks and cookies is not the way to do it. You only have one day of food logged, so I don't know if this is a normal eating day for you, but let's look at it:

400 calories in cookies
300 calories in hummus
170 calories in protein bar
22 calories in Hershey kiss
64 calories in juice
79 calories in veggies
60 calories in sour cream
158 calories in veggie protein crumbles

The cookie calories are a complete waste, and were 1/4 of your daily calories. If you can't live without a cookie each day, eat one, not four. For 400 calories you could have eaten a huge salad with chicken (or veggie protein crumbles if you are vegetarian), cheese, yogurt based dressing, crackers, and a ton of veggies. Very filling! Or any number of meals -- there are numerous cookbooks out there that feature good meals with 400 calories or less. Hummus is also good for you and great tasting, but fairly high in calories. You wasted 300 calories eating hummus yesterday -- that's nearly 1/4 of your daily calories! The juice calories are also a waste -- eat a piece of fruit instead. Your lunch appeared to consist of beets, cauliflower, and hummus. I'm not surprised that didn't keep you full -- it wouldn't have kept me full for more than 1/2 an hour! As some other folks noted above, definitely increase your protein.

This takes some trial and error and practice, but you will learn to make the most of every single calorie. In the end, you will be surprised at how much you can eat if you eliminate all the junk.

AmyRhubarb

Many on 1200 cals a day find it's not enough. Hunger, lack of energy, and eventually, slowed weight loss.

Run your numbers through this tools at this topic: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

It will help you calculate your BMR and TDEE and help you find a target number between those two. Most people find their BMR is higher than 1200 - I figure if I need more than 1200 while I'm comatose, I certainly need more than that while I'm up walking & talking, and exercising as well.

CJisinShape

I understand, diets can be hard. Well, I decided to push for more weight loss. I lost four pounds last week. And I wasn't hungry! What did I eat?

Homemade chicken soup with large chunks of vegetables and meat for most meals
Homemade Veggie sir-fry, pork stir-fry, chicken stir-fry, homemade chicken fajitas, bananas, oranges, decaf coffee, water
Homemade fried whole tilapia with large salad, salad sandwich with mayo, 1 slice salami.

If you notice, those are all restaurant-type entrees, but homemade, lots of veggies, very little processed food. All while making pancakes and bacon, quesadillas, pb&j, and the like for my family.

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

More fiber, more protein, less calorie dense stuff, less sugar. That's what worked for me. If you have trouble getting in protein like I did (I'm vegan so it can be hard) get protein powder. Instead of drinking it in a shake, make protein pancakes. I use two scoops of protein powder, 1/4 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water, 2tbsp PB2, and cinnamon and splenda to taste and cook it like a pancake. I put sugarfree strawberry preserves on them, and even after I do that the total ends up being 225 calories and 37g protein but it depends on what powder you use.

cajungirltx

I'm always hungry too. Thanks for posting this so I could read the comments. I bumped my calories up to 1360 a day!

puggleperson

bump

RHSheetz

5. Eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Right, because six 200 cal meals will leave you stuffed.

Hey Fire_Rock. Every little trick can help. It worked well for me, helped me never to have the "empty stomach" feeling.

daj150

More fiber, more protein, less calorie dense stuff, less sugar. That's what worked for me. If you have trouble getting in protein like I did (I'm vegan so it can be hard) get protein powder. Instead of drinking it in a shake, make protein pancakes. I use two scoops of protein powder, 1/4 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water, 2tbsp PB2, and cinnamon and splenda to taste and cook it like a pancake. I put sugarfree strawberry preserves on them, and even after I do that the total ends up being 225 calories and 37g protein but it depends on what powder you use.

Bump. These are great...although I have allergic reactions to non-dairy milk products,,,so I had to use milk...I am not vegan though.

Matt_Wild

You have a diet that contains a lot of simple-ish sugars (such as fruit juices, oreos etc) causing glucose crashes. Cut them out, expect less hunger.

This.

Low-carb diets help with hunger. It's still hard though, make no mistake. I keep waiting for a safe and effective appetite suppressant.

That depends on the person. If I don't have any carbs, it's like I didn't even eat. Carbs fill me up way better than protein, unless it's fatty protein, of course.

Unusual that.

Each to their own I guess.

jesspi68

Eat more food, 1200 calories per day sucks

QFT