Newbie with hunger problems

I've found that taking is water doesn't do a whole lot for me personally on the hunger front. It's like it works for a little while and then my stomach gets kinda mad at me. For whatever reason I do need to eat pretty regularly or else my tummy and my brain just defect on me in concert.

I started buying better ingredients and staying away from sugar as much as possible (I like an occasional sugary, creamy adult drink or piece of something I baked), increasing fat and "real food" intake, cooking for myself 95% of the time, and getting regular exercise. These are the things that have been keeping feeling satisfied as I cut down on fast food and pre-processed stuff.

I find protein and fibre keeps me feeling satiated. I also limit carbs to about 50 g per sitting. I find if I eat a lot of carbs it makes my blood glucose spike, causing an insulin spike, so that a couple of hours later it leaves my blood sugar low. This causes renewed carb cravings.

Just moved here from DailyBurn (gone off it), so I only have a day of diary on this site.

There is so much broccoli in my diet at the moment, its the only vegetable I can stand. It doesn't seem to keep me full for long though, must be the lack of fat. Whats a good choice for filling foods? I've heard nuts are good? They seem very calorific though, which puts me off.

I'll try shifting my meals about so I eat something closer to bed time, that sounds like a good idea.

Thanks so far guys

Broccoli's a bit depressing, and extraordinarily low calorie. Which makes it good I guess... but not going to satisfy all on its own.

you can sliver carrots really fine and put them in a red curry. Barely notice them that way, and they're the right colour! I have found slivered carrots in a stir fry are actually really nice, and in a satay are even better, you can eat heaps of them.

(Really thin slivered, using a tool.)

Other than that, the sauces you use for stir fry really help with satiety and maybe can cover the flavour of disliked foods. I'm sure I'm not supposed to mention it but MSG fills you up. it makes things more 'beefy' and that's why things like soy sauce help out.

A child will reject a food 10 times before he likes it. Try every food you hate ten times, and see if this changes your point of view. Humans very much want consistency, and habit, and familiarity. New things are mostly rejected: so try the 10 x test.

I'm eating more rice than I have in teh past: I've always limited my intake to 1/2 cup or less, but nowadays I'm going crazy and having a whole cup if I need it. it's not all that high calorie really.

I do avoid bread. Too many calories for the result. I could eat half a loaf of bread and still want more: so I avoid it completely. Weetbix are helping because they fill me up without too many calories. Lots of fibre.

for me it's getting my body into a routine that it's used to, so that my stomach doesn't send out hunger pangs till 'that' time of day. My stomach goes like an alarm clock nowadays, which is good.

Oh mate I feel your pain!!! I try and do what amwbox suggested. I have the most trouble late at night so I make sure there's lots of healthy options. Also, if its not in the house then I cant eat it... so I don't buy food/snacks with high numbers. A friend suggested green tea to suppress appetite but I've not yet tried it. Throughout the day I generally eat pretty light so I have numbers left over. Numbers, numbers.... bloody numbers.. Lol

For me eating more protein helps keep the hunger away longer.

But also remind yourself that it's not a bad thing to feel hungry. It's NOT ok to starve yourself, but there is going to be a period of adjustment for your body to get used to smaller, proper portions.

If you find you're hungry more often maybe eat 5 small meals a day- that way you're always eating something AND your stomach will start to shrink getting used to only small amounts of food at a time. <- that's what I did and now I can't eat large portions of anything.

When you feel hungry, tell yourself that a good feeling of fat getting burned off. Once your body gets used to less every day, it should get easier.

For me, coffee also helps me in-between meals. I take it with no sugar, with only a splash of 2% milk.

Sometimes I snack on celery and carrots in between meals along with that coffee. I make a dip out of 1-2tbs light sour cream, a shake of Ms. Dash, and a little salt and pepper. Makes things manageable without adding many calories.