Hunger Help? :(

shella_bella
shella_bella Posts: 180
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm trying to eat around 1600 cals a day. That is my TDEE set at moderate - 20%. The only exercise I'm doing involves being a nanny to two toddlers (mainly walking, "swimming" - not really swimming when you're doing it with 2 kids, cleaning). No matter what I eat I am hungry 2-3 hours later. A small snack every couple hours doesn't help. Drinking 3 glasses of water first thing doesn't help. I have just started not eating breakfast until 10-11am, when I am absolutely starving, cause I have an easier time feeling hungry before I have ate anything. 5/7 days I eat oatmeal with skim milk for breakfast. Normally, I would have a snack of fruit or nuts in between breakfast and lunch, but now I have lunch at 1pm which is usually a large salad with some veggies, 6-8oz chicken breast & a little dressing. I'll snack on fruit or veggies in between lunch & dinner.

The problem I'm really having is that at some point between lunch & dinner and dinner & bed, I start getting hungry. But it's probably moreso just from cravings. I always get cravings for chocolate/sweet things and I always cave. Thus, I usually end up going over my calorie intake.

Suggestions? And none of this eat more protein/fiber because I do my best to eat as much as my calorie intake will allow me during the day. I try to leave 6-700 calories open for dinner as I have no control over what I eat for dinner.

If anyone wants to write me a fantastic meal plan that will keep me full all day & stop cravings/binges, feel free! :)

Thanks lovelies

Replies

  • cecpetzzz
    cecpetzzz Posts: 4
    Hi Shella!
    I have the same problem. The last time I was successful losing weight, I was doing the BFL plan where you eat 6 small meals a day which really worked. But the key is "small" and my meals were growing as I went along, and so did I!

    What I've been doing now since tracking my food on Myfitnesspal, is to cut up veggies (cucumber, radishes, red and green peppers) and have them handy for when I get hungry. It is VERY low in calories and fills me up. I also started buying v8 juice. I am sure there are other good low calorie vegetable juices out there too.

    My breakfast HAS to be chocolate or I will crave it all day. So to get my chocolate fix, I buy locarb chocolate nutrition bars. THere are alot of good ones out there. Just be careful of the ingredients. Don't buy the ones with maltitiol or sugar alcohols because they cause bloated, gas and stomach upset.
    NUGO is a great brand and all their bars are delish.

    Good luck ;-)
  • tishka11
    tishka11 Posts: 76
    Some of the things that ive found helpful in the past were drinking black coffee or a tea like green tea. The warmth especially helps you to feel full and it has essentially no calories...and if you want it to be a bit sweetner use a natural sweetner like stevia which again has pretty much no calories
    I also used to suck on hydralyte ice blocks because they would only have about 4 calories per ice block and it felt like a lolly ice block but wasnt...plus they were really good after the gym because they help rehydrate you
    I think one of the hardest things is also the mental side of it...as in, i dont feel hungry when im flat out busy and my mind is preoccupied but once i notice im hungry its realy hard to get rid of that feeling and not think im going to starve to death

    I know you didnt want peple to say it but high protein and fibre things really will fill u up....when i have a protein shake i feel like i dont want to eat anything for about 8 hrs!

    Hope thats helps slightly at least
  • shella_bella
    shella_bella Posts: 180
    Some of the things that ive found helpful in the past were drinking black coffee or a tea like green tea. The warmth especially helps you to feel full and it has essentially no calories...and if you want it to be a bit sweetner use a natural sweetner like stevia which again has pretty much no calories
    I also used to suck on hydralyte ice blocks because they would only have about 4 calories per ice block and it felt like a lolly ice block but wasnt...plus they were really good after the gym because they help rehydrate you
    I think one of the hardest things is also the mental side of it...as in, i dont feel hungry when im flat out busy and my mind is preoccupied but once i notice im hungry its realy hard to get rid of that feeling and not think im going to starve to death

    I know you didnt want peple to say it but high protein and fibre things really will fill u up....when i have a protein shake i feel like i dont want to eat anything for about 8 hrs!

    Forgot to mention I do drink a lot of tea with skim milk as well.. I wish protein shakes made me feel full for that long. I was doing 2 scoops protein powder with milk & fruit. Decided the high calories were not worth it as I still was ready to eat a meal a couple hours later.
  • ChrissieP80
    ChrissieP80 Posts: 112 Member
    Hi there,

    If you open your diary it will be easier for people to give you food advice.
    Also I wonder if you have accurately calculated your TDEE? I'm a mum of one toddler and I can only imagine that two would be...well...twice the fun. ;-)
    Also have you just started with a lower calorie diet? The first few days you do feel a bit hungry as your body has to get used to it.
  • td718
    td718 Posts: 3
    I have found that a skim mozzarella cheese stick or fat free cottage cheese 1/4 cup and baby bell peppers help those cravings. Frozen berries or grapes help my sweet tooth. Apples are good for hunger pains on the run. I agree with the other post about tea, but I find for me if I change it up to different flavored teas it helps too. Especially things with citrus because it stimulates the salivary gland production and gets those tastebuds busy.

    Getting your mind off of it though is key. I have my worst time when I get home from work and am fixing dinner. I could eat a whole cow by myself in one sitting. But I just have a "don't cheat, it's not worth it" mantra in my head. I also try to distract myself with putting on an interesting tv show while cooking (NOT A FOOD SHOW!:). A magnet on my fridge says "fridge pickers wear big knickers"...anything that works.

    Actually, the fact that you are hungry every few hours is a good sign that your metabolism is getting faster. It is good to give it something to work on, albeit small and satisfying (or as satisfying as you can).
    Good luck.
  • ellen_v
    ellen_v Posts: 33
    I'm always hungry as well and I eat about 1600-1900 a day (not really trying to lose weight though) sometimes a lot over. It's not just psychological either, my stomach is full-on rumbling right now and it kind of hurts. It's not yet 11am and I've had porridge at 7, a clementine at 9 half a sandwich at 10.15. I'm trying to save my other 1.5 sandwiches for at least 1. I drink a lot of green tea and I've heard that can make you hungry. I've had 2 cups of green tea and a 500ml bottle of water so far. I don't even know what it feels like to feel full anymore. The other week I had a full large dominos pizza to myself and I had to take a little break about half way but I didn't even feel that full!
  • shella_bella
    shella_bella Posts: 180
    I have been on mfp since november, but up until 3 days ago I hadn't tracked my food for 2 weeks as my family was here visiting and we were eating out a lot, so an open diary doesn't really show much. Also my diary just got all messed up because I deleted 2 of the sections so it's not going to make much sense if you look back on it. I've been dealing with this problem the entire time I've been on mfp. Was doing P90x ( which I've postponed due to no time from schoolwork) I was eating 1800 cals at that point & still going over probably 3-4 days a week.
  • vorgas
    vorgas Posts: 741 Member
    Eating small meals can backfire. When you eat it affects the amount of ghrelin/leptin in your body and can actually lead to making you feel hungry more often. These two hormones help regulate the feelings of hunger.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghrelin
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptin

    Smaller meals over time can help to reduce the size of your stomach (assuming you don't stretch it out with lots of liquids), so gradually it will take less food to make you feel full, and there are lots of benefits in terms of metabolism. But if you're really fighting hunger, you may want to try mixing up the size of your meals.
    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/health/22real.html?_r=0

    There are also many low/no calorie fillers, such as Shirataki noodles that can be used to help you feel fuller without adding significant calorie counts.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirataki_noodles

    There are also some tricks to controlling the cravings, some of which you seem to know already.
    http://www.naturalnews.com/003550_appetite_control_food_cravings.html
  • vwpiper
    vwpiper Posts: 29 Member
    I may step on some toes here. BUT, I have never had good luck with oatmeal. It is "supposed' to stick with you. However, I am always hungry an hour later. I have the best luck with eggs. I love how you can take a couple or 3 egg whites and one whole egg and scramble them to make the BEST omelet or scrambled eggs ever.

    Dang. Now I'm getting hungry. :wink:
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
    You have less than 20 pounds to lose... so anything you should be trying to lose should be set at pound or less per week.

    That being said, trying eating more calorie dense foods(IE nuts, full fat cheeses, milk, etc) those will give you the most bang for your calorie goal, but have you not eating as much through out the day and may even help keep you fuller longer.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    Have you considered Intermittent Fasting? There are a few different methods, and it might be worth experimenting to see if that works for you.
  • Kellyeee2013
    Kellyeee2013 Posts: 221
    I was doing 1200 cals a day and was like always hungry and then adjusted it to 1563 (according to the TDEE stuff rather than MFP) and I feel much better. Are you perhaps doing more activity a day than you are making note of? You can add me as a friend and look at my diaries if you would like. But, I eat things like eggs, peanut butter, protein shakes, and more meat. Protein makes a huge difference in feeling full longer. I aim for low cal foods so that I can eat more such as fruits and veggies, skimmed milk, low fat yogurt, low fat and low cal anything haha. Before bed I will have something small just so I do not feel hungry and fall asleep... last night it was half of a banana and a few sips of skimmed milk.
  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
    I agree on the eggs for breakfast, I'd never get full on oats, whereas a couple of eggs, some smoked salmon and spinach keeps me going :). I snack on meat too, I find it fills me up more, some chicken or ham or something is good.
  • shella_bella
    shella_bella Posts: 180
    Have you considered Intermittent Fasting? There are a few different methods, and it might be worth experimenting to see if that works for you.

    This. Yes, part of the reason I've started delaying my breakfast. I plan on jumping into it soon

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