Natural appetite suppressants?

cleotherio

I find that unsweetened green tea or mint tea kills my appetite. They even make me slightly nauseous sometimes. Which is odd, because I know that mint is supposed to have the opposite effect.

Nessiechickie

protein powder does a pretty good job at killing my hunger.

amberdust

oolong tea

n0ob

Alatariel75

I drink a lot of lemongrass and ginger tea, not because it is an appetite suppressant, just because I like it. I do find, however, that I get a lot less snacky when I've been drinking that all day rather than anything else.

kingscrown

Artificial sweetners really drove a lot of my cravings. I've been off them one full year now. Eat things with lots of fiber. Whole grains, fruit, big yummy salads.

Itzli

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/NU00195

JaimieAG

I also quit smoking in December. I feel your pain.

Munch foods like popcorn & protein heavy foods helped in the beginning but my calorie intake started ticking up (I'm a wuss & I swear I have a moderately addictive personality & a bad habit of swapping one addiction for another).

Remedy one: Slice a whole lemon up and drop it to the bottom of your prettiest glass. Pour ice & cold water over it. Sip on that all day. When you run out just refill water over the same lemon. Throughout the day the lemon breaks down and the taste gets stronger. Which is convienient because the cravings typically get stronger throughout the day. I've also tried it with limes & grapefruit for variety. Using a wine glass worked nice because you feel like you're getting a unique (& sort of bad) treat.... rather than just a plain ol glass of water. With the lemon at the bottom when the glass started to sweat it looked really fancy & appealing. It literally screamed "drink me!" Couldn't get away with a wine glass at work so I used a really nice looking clear water bottle & a straw. The straw was all munched up by the end of the day & I used the restroom 100 times but it got me through. haha. Again... I'm a wuss.

Remedy two: the herbal store had these minty toothpicks that are supposed to be good for weightloss (something tree... tea leaf tree oil... or something). I initially bought them for weightloss but never used them. I pulled them out again when I quit smoking. They were a lifesaver that first week. Just something flavorful to munch on. Helped in traffic.

Remedy three: this worked mostly in the evenings. But teas with calming properties helped. Sleepytime teas. That sort of thing. For something more hardy I'd also heat up broth with a few veggies. You know that soup you get at the Japanese restaurant with the chives floating on the top? It's sort of a pain to make but you can find recipes online and its super low calorie. Also a good use of veggies you need to clean out before they wilt.

Best of luck. It gets easier.

MoreBean13

Running.

upgetupgetup

I also quit smoking in December. I feel your pain.

Munch foods like popcorn & protein heavy foods helped in the beginning but my calorie intake started ticking up (I'm a wuss & I swear I have a moderately addictive personality & a bad habit of swapping one addiction for another).

Remedy one: Slice a whole lemon up and drop it to the bottom of your prettiest glass. Pour ice & cold water over it. Sip on that all day. When you run out just refill water over the same lemon. Throughout the day the lemon breaks down and the taste gets stronger. Which is convienient because the cravings typically get stronger throughout the day. I've also tried it with limes & grapefruit for variety. Using a wine glass worked nice because you feel like you're getting a unique (& sort of bad) treat.... rather than just a plain ol glass of water. With the lemon at the bottom when the glass started to sweat it looked really fancy & appealing. It literally screamed "drink me!" Couldn't get away with a wine glass at work so I used a really nice looking clear water bottle & a straw. The straw was all munched up by the end of the day & I used the restroom 100 times but it got me through. haha. Again... I'm a wuss.

Remedy two: the herbal store had these minty toothpicks that are supposed to be good for weightloss (something tree... tea leaf tree oil... or something). I initially bought them for weightloss but never used them. I pulled them out again when I quit smoking. They were a lifesaver that first week. Just something flavorful to munch on. Helped in traffic.

Remedy three: this worked mostly in the evenings. But teas with calming properties helped. Sleepytime teas. That sort of thing. For something more hardy I'd also heat up broth with a few veggies. You know that soup you get at the Japanese restaurant with the chives floating on the top? It's sort of a pain to make but you can find recipes online and its super low calorie. Also a good use of veggies you need to clean out before they wilt.

Best of luck. It gets easier.

Jaime, thank you, these are really great! I love the lemon in water idea, and how you've aestheticized it

I could deal with the soup (you mean miso? I love it, but haven't had it in a while) too, and, excellent use for veg

Thank you for your support, and good luck to you in your maintenance of nonsmokingness!

upgetupgetup

Running.

I agree, and it's great for the lucky who can do it. Unfortunately, I wasn't born to run, unlike Bruce Springsteen

upgetupgetup

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/NU00195

Thank you for the straight up reminder!

upgetupgetup

I drink a lot of lemongrass and ginger tea, not because it is an appetite suppressant, just because I like it. I do find, however, that I get a lot less snacky when I've been drinking that all day rather than anything else.

I like this too

upgetupgetup

Artificial sweetners really drove a lot of my cravings. I've been off them one full year now. Eat things with lots of fiber. Whole grains, fruit, big yummy salads.

Good for you! I'm working on the fiber I'm more prone to savoury treats than sweet, not sure that helps, lol.

dr3w_s

I would suggest drinking water or brush your teeth, you won't feel much like eating after you brushed your teeth

calibriintx

Food. Water.

upgetupgetup

Food. Water.

Thanks, yeah, got those down.

Update: chicken broth with lemon juice is frickin amazing. I had organic stuff, which turned out to be a good idea, since it has fat in it:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21736801

^ study says: chicken broth with MSG: helps reduce feeling of hunger; does not affect intake in later meals. chicken broth with fat: DOES reduces intake in later meals, by a little bit.

neandermagnon

Skip breakfast. It will suck for a couple days, but will do the trick long term

Might try this, actually, I know it does work... feels horrible, though

I find the opposite, i.e. skipping breakfast = ravenously hungry later = more likely to overeat

natural appetite suppressant = tea, although IMO if you're that hungry you probably need to eat more protein, or more calories. In some cases it may mean you're eating too many refined carbs as you can get into a cycle of blood sugar spikes and crashes and the crashes can cause you to feel really hungry even if you've had all the calories your body needs. A little hunger is to be expected if you're eating at a deficit, but ravenous hunger is generally a sign that you're doing something wrong. So I'm going to second everyone who said food is the best appetite suppressant. Protein especially.

AlongCame_Molly

Water!

upgetupgetup

Skip breakfast. It will suck for a couple days, but will do the trick long term

Might try this, actually, I know it does work... feels horrible, though

I find the opposite, i.e. skipping breakfast = ravenously hungry later = more likely to overeat

natural appetite suppressant = tea, although IMO if you're that hungry you probably need to eat more protein, or more calories. In some cases it may mean you're eating too many refined carbs as you can get into a cycle of blood sugar spikes and crashes and the crashes can cause you to feel really hungry even if you've had all the calories your body needs. A little hunger is to be expected if you're eating at a deficit, but ravenous hunger is generally a sign that you're doing something wrong. So I'm going to second everyone who said food is the best appetite suppressant. Protein especially.

I agree with most of this in theory. Except, here's the kind of day I might have lately. Loads of protein. Still hungry:

Breakfast: 2-3 eggs, 1 piece good rye bread, greek yogurt, tomatoes, coffee.
Lunch: tuna sandwich (rye bread); salad, soup.
Dinner: 7-8 oz steak (grilled, occasionally fried in butter), 1 piece rye bread, 3 cups spinach.
THEN: 4 slices lean turkey with mustard & a slice of low fat havarti on 1 piece rye.
AND: 1/3 cup oatmeal with 5 prunes.
AND: a banana and a cup of milk.
AND: 2 tbspn hummous and 1 sliced red pepper.
AND: 2-3 slices lean ham and rye bread.
AND: a bowl of granola cereal (no sugar) and 2% milk. (Or maybe a cookie, I admit it, I made some cookies.)

I've just opened my diary, if anyone is bored ****less and has nothing better to do than have a poke in there. Wednesday and Thursday are incomplete, I ate ****tons more, just gave up.