I'm SO hungry!

Heck- Have a bigger lunch. I HAVE to have a little protein at breakfast AND lunch. MUST MUST or I freak out!! :grumble:

I try to eat lunch just a little later in the afternoon (like 1pm instead of 12) and to always eat just a little something every 3-4 hours. More than that and I tend to lose it.

My only other twp tricks (because I'm usually emotionally or head "hungry") sugar free gum & hot tea. Works every time.

You can do it!! Take it one hour at a time!

All I can think of is that your body is craving these things because its missing something. Eat your carbs in the form of whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, whole grain bread, etc. instead of trying to skip it altogether. Then when you're craving sweets try the fruit (or choc covered fruit haha!). Make sure you're getting your vitamins and minerals and good luck!

I'm a sucker for salty snacks but my new favorite is baby carrots with ranch. That or air popped popcorn really hit the "snacking" spot!

I have a few suggestions. Make sure you are getting enough fiber as well as protein, and eat food, not shakes. I know some people can drink protein shakes, etc., but I need real FOOD! Keep eating snacks, that's great, but I'd stay away from any kind of crackers, chips, etc. They make me hungrier, too. Even if I'm eating mini rice cakes or something, I buy them only in single-serving packages, because they make me want to eat too many. Also, when you snack, try eating a protein with whatever fruit you are eating. There is a chemical in apples that can actually make you feel hungrier. Pairing apples with nuts or a little peanut butter seems to help. Drinking a lot of water helps me not feel as hungry as well. I usually drink way more than the recommended 8 8 oz. glasses per day.

Do whatever you can to help yourself not get too hungry, because hunger cravings can make you binge. I've lost over 20 pounds so far, and I rarely feel overly hungry. Good luck, and don't give up!

I actually went to counseling over this!

We need to learn to differentiate between honest-to-goodness hunger (haven't eaten for over 4 hours, my stomach is growling and kind of hurting, maybe I'm even shaking from low blood sugar) and DESIRE. Oh yeah. Desire. I DESIRE everything all the time, but I'm rarely really hungry ('cause I NEVER wait THAT long to eat).

For what it's worth, my counselor actually had me fast one day just to prove to myself that I wouldn't die of starvation, and so that I could really experience what actual hunger feels like.

Then the other big thing that has really been helpful to me is to CONGRATULATE myself for EVERY positive step I take. Did I exercise? Pat myself on the back. Did I pass up a third helping? Hey, congratulate yourself--you know you wanted it. Positive reinforcement is much more helpful than negative.

I would cut out the shake and eat more smaller meals throughout the day. I try to eat 6 small meals a day. That helps. It doesn't seem to bother me as much if I eat half portions of a meal because I know I can eat the rest of it 3 hours later. Then I'm not starving at my next meal.

Oh and one more thing...you need a balance. You should have protein, carb and fat in every meal.

I definitely feel you man. I frigging love to eat. Like really really LOVE it. Particuarly pizza and other carb and fat filled deliciousness. Today was day 50 for me on this site though, and I find that I am not really having many problems staying under my calories these days. Granted, I have 400 more calories to play with than you do, so that helps.

I found that the best thing to do for me was to slowly but surely wean myself off of the bad things. For example, I eat subway for luch a lot. The food is good, the calories are easy to account for, and it's convenient. I always used to get cookies with my meal though, and that was an additional 240 or so calories I couldn't afford, so first I dropped one cookie, then got rid of both. Same with lattes on my way to work and so on.

Looking at your food diary, (which is awsome by the way- very healthy stuff), I would say try switching out the meal replacement drink with some yogurt and a couple of string cheeses. You'll get about the same amount of calories and actually have the satisfaction of EATING something, rather than just having a drink. Plus, I find when I eat a string cheese or two in the morning they really tide me over for much of the day.

Another thing I did is to alter my diary into chunks of time, rather than meals and snacks. Granted its all semantics, but it helps me to just listen to my body and eat when I need to rather than feeling compelled to eat a formalized "meal" at breakfast lunch and dinner time.

Anyway, good luck with getting the hunger monster under control. Add me if you like for motivational purposes. :-)

this is exactly what i would suggest! - eating whole grains not only is better than just eating white rice/white bread/white pasta - but it is a filling food so you will feel full longer and not be starving. for example, if i eat 1/2 cup of quinoa (a grain kind of like brown rice) and an artichoke i feel full for about 3-4 hours. its also only about 190 calories!!!
you should also be eating about every 3-4 hours or 5 times a day. this will help you keep from crashing during the day and it will also boost your metabolism which is a good thing lol if you want to lose weight.
when you want something sweet eat fruit, even though some fruit can carry alot of calories - it is a filling food so you are much better off using more calories for a banana or a large peach than less calories for 1 piece of chocolate because you will feel full and much more satisfied for longer!