My wife and I are new to diet/excersise and MFP

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chadterror804
chadterror804 Posts: 7
in Introduce Yourself
Hello all! My wife and I are on our 4th OFFICIAL day of diet and exercise and keeping track with MFP. I didnt even know there was a forum until today. We are doing good so far from what I can tell. We are sticking with our MFP recommended cals and we have been walking around the neighborhood for about 20-30 minutes a night since monday. We both feel better about ourselves already! The one thing we are having trouble with is getting hungry between meals. We make sure we eat a nice breakfast with plenty of portein and fiber (i usually eat a bowl of raisin nut bran w/ 1% milk and 1/2 cup of cottage cheese or a banana) and I am ok until lunch. Its the lunch-dinner stretch that we are seeming to suffer at. We will eat a snack (almonds for me, fruit or a fiberone protein bar for her) but still the hunger is there :(. I drink water like crazy all day at work so that helps a little but by the time I get home I am STARVING and want to obliterate everything in the kitchen. Luckily I havent done that yet and I hope I wont. Anyway, THATS MY INTRODUCTION. Nice to meet everyone!

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  • Mr_Steve_V
    Mr_Steve_V Posts: 21
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    I try and stay away from those snack bars. Being about 2 months into this, I still have times where I am hungry, but I have fruit as much as possible. Its just a matter of spacing out your intake as evenly as possible. Are you logging your walking in the excersise?
  • chadterror804
    chadterror804 Posts: 7
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    Any particular reason to stay away from the snack bars? they seem pretty harmless. Yes we are logging our walks daily.
  • JennChamb
    JennChamb Posts: 55
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    I like Quest Protein bars for snacks. They have 20g protein and only 1g sugar. Most snack bars are high in sugar.
    Anyway, welcome!
  • amyk225
    amyk225 Posts: 154
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    I have either protein shakes or a banana between meals which usually keep me going,i eat at least 6 times a day or id be starved,good luck with it all:):)
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
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    I eat a snack each day around three pm. I allot 150 calories for my snack. Otherwise I inhale the kitchen when I get home.
  • Lalasharni
    Lalasharni Posts: 353 Member
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    Rather than drinking all water, go for hot drinks. I find that they have more satisfaction and trick your stomach.
    You are only a few days in, and your system is not used to being what it sees as deprived. I guess that you and your lady are used to eating a lot more than you do now and it will take time for your stomach and your brain to acclimatise to that lessening of bulk in it, so it may well be a little painful at first, but STICK WITH IT.
    Try a distration when you get home - go walk for half an hour, get a hot drink - something savoury like beef bouillon - get a recipe from the WWW and keep a pitcher full in the fridge - heat some in the microwave and sip it slowly. The savoury taste will satisfy better than water and within a month the "starving" feeling will pass.
    I messaged you to add me if you'd like - we can all use friends on here but its a wonderful place and your cyber friends will keep you going, even when the going gets tough.
  • meeper123
    meeper123 Posts: 3,347 Member
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    i like snacks but not processed food but baby steps dont go crazy or ou will burn out you have to be real and make changes you can stick with :)
  • nkyjennifer
    nkyjennifer Posts: 135 Member
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    I find that I do best if I have a couple of small snacks in the afternoons. Maybe an apple in the early part of the afternoon and some fresh veggie juice, nuts, or cheese later in the afternoon. Feeling like I'm being deprived is the fastest way to send me on a binge!

    Another thing to consider is maybe making salads up ahead of time (do some Googling on salad in a jar) so that you can have a salad as soon as you get home. Sometimes I eat mine while I'm making the rest of our dinner!
  • auntiebabs
    auntiebabs Posts: 1,754 Member
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    Any particular reason to stay away from the snack bars? they seem pretty harmless. Yes we are logging our walks daily.

    They are usually loaded with multiple types of sugar. Both sugar AND artificial sweeteners increase your appetite.
    (I found if I have a diet soda I can't stay in my calorie range)
  • RadioactivePirate
    RadioactivePirate Posts: 212
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    It's better to accommodate your body than constantly fight against it. If you're hungry right after work, plan an after-work snack into your day. Better yet, plan it for slightly earlier so you don't get to that "STARVING NOW MUST EAT EVERYTHING!" phase at all.

    I mean it takes a long time to lose weight. You have to make it as pleasant for yourself as possible so you can keep going.
  • Daresie
    Daresie Posts: 41 Member
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    How great the two of you are working together on this!!

    Are you eating back your exercise calories? Although walking for 20-30 minutes won't burn a lot of calories, it does get you some.

    Are you checking your macros? That is the split of protein/carbs/fat for the day. Proteins will help to stave off hunger much better than carbs. For me, that means real protein such as peanut butter or chicken, rather than a protein supplement in a smoothie or a protein bar. But some people prefer those.

    I also get really hungry in the afternoons. Staying active helps me to avoid "boredom snacks" or even "routine snacks". But if I am truly hungry, peanut butter on a good whole grain bread, popcorn (I use a microwave kind that is very light on the butter/salt) - 200-ish calories for a whole bag! A boiled egg, etc.

    Good luck on reaching your goals, and just keep at it when it gets hard!
  • webebeer
    webebeer Posts: 81
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    My husband and I are on this journey also. We started in Jan. he has lost 25 and I have lost 16. We are older so I think it will take us longer to lose. We get hungry also however we have gotten rid of all dangerous food... so we snack on low calorie things like carrot sticks, celery, cucumbers with low cal dressing, fruit and veggies. Dinner is usually lean meat chicken or pork with a big helping of veggies. We had to buy a scale because we have always eaten big, now we know what an appropriate piece of meat looks like. Slowly we are getting use to this and it is working. We walk and are on our second round of Jillian Michale's 30 day shred, we struggle through it, hate it, then feel better when done. It is great to have each other to be accountable too. What I have learned is it takes a little while to log and learn what you can eat more of and still stay under your count and what to stay away from.. high calorie less filling foods. I wish you both a successful journey on this life change path...
  • LindaEmrys
    LindaEmrys Posts: 73 Member
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    Welcome! I really hope MFP can help you reach your goals!

    I don't have any bars at all, it's still processed food and no matter how ''healthy'' they are, they don't satisfy me at all. Try some fruit (not apples, those are empty calories and will leave you even hungrier an hour after eating them), or how about cherry tomatoes, cucumber or paprika? You can eat plenty of those considering they contain very few calories.

    OK, this should make sense: you're hungry for a reason. If your stomach growls, eat. If you feel dizzy because a lack of energy, eat. Dieting is good, but don't starve yourself, you won't maintain your diet that way either. It also increases your cravings and hunger pangs.

    One last thing which worked for me: don't pay any heed to MPF's calorie recommendation, it's often too low. Calculate your BMR and subtract about 10%/15%/20% (depends on how fast you want to lose), that should work a lot better for you and your stomach. If you don't, your metabolism will slow down after a while due to too few calories. Thus you won't lose weight without quite some effort. You'll have a moment when you realize that dieting is not just eating healthy and working out for a few months, just to go back to bad habits after that. It really is a lifestyle change, and although that sounds scary (to me it did) it'll all be worth it in the end.

    Ugh, sorry for the rambling. This is what I wish someone would have told me when I started, haha!

    Good luck!
  • chadterror804
    chadterror804 Posts: 7
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    I am on quite a few forums for different hobbies/interests and I can say by far, this is the most friendly and helpful forum I am part of! thanks everyone!
  • angmarie28
    angmarie28 Posts: 2,811 Member
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    make sure your eating enough, I started at 1200 cals a day, and failed because I was so sick of feeling hungry all the time, so I started back up, did my whole TDEE and BMR and decided 1700 plus exercice calories worked for me, I am finding it alot easier to stick with because I never feel stuffed but I always feel satisfied. also, water does not help me at all with feeling satisfied, but coffee does, so I drink it all day lol, only a full pot all together
  • pigeonman123
    pigeonman123 Posts: 6
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    Space out your snacking between meals.Eating small snacks more often helps your blood sugar stay consistent and stops what bicycle riders call "boinking". Its that jumpy shaky feeling you get when you get hungry and want to eat like a crazy person. I like dill pickles, 2 or 3 whole pickles will fill you up and give you 0 (YES ZERO) calories. Fiber helps you keep the full feeling longer also. Bran cereals and oatmeal for snacks.

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