Will I ever feel satisfied?

brendacshiver
brendacshiver Posts: 12 Member
I've been on this "diabetes ride" since my diagnosis on Apr. 4. I have RADICALLY changed my diet, and upped the exercise. My glucose is pretty much getting under control. Here is my question, "Will I EVER feel satisfied and not deprived?" I'm keeping my calories under my goal, and all that...but I'm hungry ALL the time! Just feeling really depressed and alone.

Replies

  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,290 Member
    I admit to being sad sometimes when I see all the carbs that others are eating that I can't. But I don't completely deprive myself of treats. You CAN fit things in your day if you plan for them. I have cheesecake. frozen yogurt, candy, cookies.....but all in moderation. I could never eat completely clean for the rest of my life. As long as I can keep my BS under control, I can indulge to some extent. So DON'T make your weight loss plan become so deprivating that you feel depressed.....I suffer from depression and I know how it feels. Allow yourself some treats and plan accordingly. You can STILL enjoy some of the "forbidden foods" within limits. :)
  • kcaffee1
    kcaffee1 Posts: 759 Member
    Depending on what is triggering the feeling of hunger you could be:

    1) Short on calories. I know when I finally bit the bullet and started clamping down on my carbs, I found I was not getting enough fat and fiber to help the protein stick around for very long. If I had just eggs for breakfast, I was scavaging in the kitchen within a few hours for something, ANYTHING, to eat. However, if I paired the eggs with a smoothie, or other food, I would feel full at least until after my first class. Same with just nuts, or any other "pure" protein source. About the only thing that method didn't work for was salads. I could stuff myself with leafy veggies topped with cheese, avacado, baby shrimp, and dressing then be starving again a few hours later. (I think the leafy stuff compacted down quite a bit once it was chewed, so it took up a LOT less room in the tummy.)

    2) If you are just now switching over to a lower carb/ higher protein menu, especially if you are leaving behind the sugar laden foods, the hunger feeling should subside in as little as a few days, but as long as a month while your body switches metabolic gears away from the sugar addiction. In the mean time, the feeling of hunger is probably your body demanding a fuel source that you no longer want to include in your daily menu. I agree with Crochetluvr about not making any food taboo because of the rebound when you finally cave into the cravings. Delaying the satisfaction of those cravings, along with a very strict portion control will help ease them, and eventually MAY help get rid of them. Everyone is different in this regard. Some can quit the sugar addiction cold turkey, others have to wean out of it, and some get lucky with the addiction breaking on its own.

    3) What are you hungry FOR? (And, I'm not including sugar in this category.) As you switch your menu over to a more glucose control friendly menu, some of the carb sources you are eliminating may have vitamins and minerals that you are not getting enough of from other sources in your diet. If this is the case, then perhaps the reason you are hungry is because you are trying to find what ever you are short on. Generally, if you like a wide variety of foods, your hunger will have a "pull" towards a TYPE of food - and that "pull" is your body's way of telling you that you are short of something you can get from that category. (Example - if you are short betacaotine, you may feel hungry for carrots. If you are short some of the omega fatty acids, you may feel hungry for fatty/oily fish.) Some of this can be satisfied from daily multi vitamins, but if you are hungry for a certain type of food, listening to your body may help get things balanced a little quicker.

    Hope this helps.

    K
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
    Stick with it and be patient. We made radical changes in our house with my T2 diagnoses (2011). I can recall being hungry for a few months when I first started out. Eventually your body adjusts to eating less and the feeling of being hungry all the time goes away, at least it did for me.

    Don't be depressed, you're doing great. Keep it up. And you're certainly not alone, there's a large group of supportive people here that understand the difficulty of dealing with T2.
  • Defren
    Defren Posts: 216 Member
    If you are feeling deprived of the yummy carby food out there, I would advise you Google low carb (insert the food you crave). Quite often you can find what you want with a lower carb count. I eat under 25g of carbs a day, I don't feel deprived but I do sometimes wish I could have certain things. So far I have always been able to find a low carb alternative.

    Good luck, it's a doable diet with the help of all the low carb cooks on the www. :-)
  • claymic
    claymic Posts: 34 Member
    i know how you are feeling. sometimes i find myself pacing up and down wanting to eat but knowing i should not. also i have spent months binging and i am trying to stop that.

    still yesterday i had to go to the supermarket to pick up some stuff. being there and looking at all the food that i could not buy wound me up sooooo much. got back home and had a bit of a melt down. it is ridiculous because in the end it is just food.

    as Defren said try and find low carb versions of food you like. i buy low carb pasta and tortilla wraps. i can never stick to a food regime without bread and pasta....it is expensive but at least i get a feeling that i am not eating just meat and veg.