fighting hunger

I have the same problem - I have been having success with eating at least every two hours - something around 100 or less calories. My mind says oh hold out a bit longer your 2 hours is almost up - it is usually 1.5 hours before the hunger comes in. Now after I eat I may still be hungry but after a bit it settles down. It takes a bit for your body to get used to this but I have been successful lately with this approach.

lots and lots of water will keep you feeling full, and snack on low calorie stuff like vegetables in between meals. Carrot are my favorite. After a few days you'll get used to it and wont be hungry. weight loss pills also help keep your cravings down. My net cals for the day is 550 and i have no issues with hunger as long as i drink LOTS OF WATER.

OP, ignore whatever this guy - if he's netting 550 calories, he is not reliable for advice.

Ok - now to your actual question. You're trying to lose less than 10 lbs, so you shouldn't be eating at a huge deficit - make sure you're actually eating enough. (check out this link for help with that: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy )

Next, if you're sure you're actually eating enough, make sure you're getting enough protein and healthy fats. Both of these are essential for your health, and they will keep you feeling full for longer.

All of this.

Meal timing is irrelevant. I eat near bedtime all the time (pretty much every day) and I'm definitely not a body builder.

Same here.

i never recommended anyone net 550 a day, im just saying thats what ive been doing for the last 4 weeks and haven't been hungry at all becuase i snack and drink alot of water. i eat back all my workout calories which is usually 600 or so. so have around 1200 sometimes more. people with less will power would binge and thats why its frowned uppon, but not I. i set a goal to do this for 4 weeks and once i finish this last week up im increasing to 1500 net. i did it because people were saying that you cant do it without starving yourself, and you just gain it all back as soon as you stopped (just like on here). well in another 4 week, ill re-post that ive lost even more body fat im sure. my goal was 20lbs in 4 weeks and im sure ill make that in a few fore days. along with 3% body fat. gave myself weekends to have around 1200-1700 net cals.
i also disagree on snacking before bed. i usually have a smoothie with 40 grams of protein before bed.
people go on 3500 cal/day deficits ALL the time. this is what happens when your hiking all day, you burn 6-7000 cals per day, and guess what? they are still alive even after 6 months of non stop hiking.

i never recommended anyone net 550 a day, im just saying thats what ive been doing for the last 4 weeks and haven't been hungry at all becuase i snack and drink alot of water. i eat back all my workout calories which is usually 600 or so. so have around 1200 sometimes more. people with less will power would binge and thats why its frowned uppon, but not I. i set a goal to do this for 4 weeks and once i finish this last week up im increasing to 1500 net. i did it because people were saying that you cant do it without starving yourself, and you just gain it all back as soon as you stopped (just like on here). well in another 4 week, ill re-post that ive lost even more body fat im sure. my goal was 20lbs in 4 weeks and im sure ill make that in a few fore days. along with 3% body fat. gave myself weekends to have around 1200-1700 net cals.
i also disagree on snacking before bed. i usually have a smoothie with 40 grams of protein before bed.
people go on 3500 cal/day deficits ALL the time. this is what happens when your hiking all day, you burn 6-7000 cals per day, and guess what? they are still alive even after 6 months of non stop hiking.

they don't do that every day though! That might happen once every month or so for SOME ppl.

I try to do something to keep busy until my hunger goes away. In my opinion, snacking in between meals is a bad idea. It teaches your body that its going to get outside food and doesn't burn the fat it already has. Just fight back that hunger and stick to your goal.

I think you definitely quoted traditional thinking. So like if you eat, your metabolism shifts to deal w/ the new food and leaves its already consumed fuel idol during the interim.

latest thinking is that burning calories isn't linked to eating. ie - burning calories is an all day affair, and your meal times don't effect it.

thinking a couple years ago was similar, but it said that you should eat more frequent meals to keep your blood sugar levels stable (and so that you don't accidentally end up over-snacking).

I think bottom line, on either extreme (from the fast and famine crew that don't eat except during a small 2 hour window ever 36 hours....all the way past the frequent snackers to the extremely weird people who use medical doctors to keep an "IV" slow drip of liquid nutrients flowing into their systems while not otherwise eating....) it will work as long as your total calories in vs calories out is on track.

I think that we should do whatever works for us personally....and that will change. Right now sometimes I snack if I need to, but do it cleanly w/in my allocated numbers....othertimes I'll have a big meal ......and if I get hungry I'll have some coffee or diet soda to get me by...

they don't do that every day though! That might happen once every month or so for SOME ppl.

some do it 6 moths straight, every day (Thru hikers on the PCT or AT). im doing a few 3 day ones here shortly and then a 2 week one in 2 months.

i never recommended anyone net 550 a day, im just saying thats what ive been doing for the last 4 weeks and haven't been hungry at all becuase i snack and drink alot of water. i eat back all my workout calories which is usually 600 or so. so have around 1200 sometimes more. people with less will power would binge and thats why its frowned uppon, but not I. i set a goal to do this for 4 weeks and once i finish this last week up im increasing to 1500 net. i did it because people were saying that you cant do it without starving yourself, and you just gain it all back as soon as you stopped (just like on here). well in another 4 week, ill re-post that ive lost even more body fat im sure. my goal was 20lbs in 4 weeks and im sure ill make that in a few fore days. along with 3% body fat. gave myself weekends to have around 1200-1700 net cals.
i also disagree on snacking before bed. i usually have a smoothie with 40 grams of protein before bed.
people go on 3500 cal/day deficits ALL the time. this is what happens when your hiking all day, you burn 6-7000 cals per day, and guess what? they are still alive even after 6 months of non stop hiking.

What snack's can you snack on all day long and keep under 550 calories? Let's take for example 30 calories in a pickle spear. If you have one pickle spear every half hour in 8 hours you have consumed 480 calories with a lot of daylight left. I'm also real curious about your protein smoothie, I'll bet it alone has 500 or 1,000 calories. Hikers, the military and other highly active people never have huge calorie deficits. Look at the calorie content in the military MRE's each has 3,000 calories, they eat 3 or 4 each day. Freeze dried backpacking entrees such as Mountain House Beef Stroganoff has 625 calories per pack (a backpacker will eat 3 or 4 each day + protein bars and supplements in their water). I used to work in the Rockies on a crew and we would routinely eat 10,000+ calories every day, and still lose weight when in the field (could explain why I've gained weight working behind a desk).

Bottom line this guy is full of it. Don't regularly eat less than 1,200 calories. Yes, being obese is unhealthy but starving yourself is even more unhealthy.

Add me : )

I too find this hard especially during my "danger time zone" which is after 7pm unit bed time. I eat the Atkins bars or I also home make a lot of low carb snacks. You can not believe the snacks you can find on line at a site called Pinterest.com
I also combat this with water and keeping busy.. but not watching t.v. I make sure I am using my hands. Hope this helps.