Does anyone else still need a large amount of food?

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Francl27
Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm really curious about this... I've seen several times people mention things like 'I just have a kids meal at McDonald's and I'm full for hours' and all I can think of is 'WTF?'. Quite sure I'd be starving after 2 hours if I only had a kids meal...

For example, at lunch I had 6oz of ground beef (95%), a whole zucchini (large, 330g), 2/3 cup (130g) of rice with veggies, a couple hazelnuts covered with dark chocolate, and 10oz of coffee... 500 calories total. I expect to be full until 4pm, maybe... and that was a LOT of food.

Is it just me? Ok, some days I'm hungrier than others, but still, I can't imagine a small sandwich and an apple would fill me up enough as a meal...

Replies

  • nobel99
    nobel99 Posts: 62 Member
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    My stomach is too acustomed to McD's to be full from it anymore. I can eat a Big Mac meal no problem and still want dessert (sundae) although I resist cuz I just "think" I'm still hungry and I'm not. McD's is a weakness of mine. A Happy Meal is on occasion, a meal for me...when I "need a little something" or I have the big craving for fries...I find that the Happy Meal satisfies in that case. I make sure the rest of the day is more reasonable (better choices of foods) cuz we all know McD's is not terribly good for us. I drink TONS of water to try and counteract all the salt from the (most yummy) fries.....
    I believe in most cases we eat a lot cuz we're eating the wrong foods. Some days I really want and actually do...eat everything in sight. I have an issue with eating too fast too....my brain is way behind my mouth....I have to concentrate on eating slower so my brain has time to tell me I'm full. Your lunch example is yummy....it actually seems like more than 500 calories. I'm not debating that though....just commenting on the yummy factor. How much water do you drink a day? I only ever drink water (when I eat at McD's I drink Diet Coke) so I pretty much always have room for the minimum 8 cups/day. Every day, every meal is different for me too...some mornings, Im good with a homemade smoothie, other mornings, I want eggs/toast. The protein/eggs seem to make me feel fuller 'til lunch whereas the smoothie doesn't...I usually have a protein bar or something mid morning.
    I read people's diaries every day and wonder how they can be satisfied on what they've documented too...and other times, I think..."wow, they ate all that"???? Different strokes for different folks :)
  • BenjaminMFP88
    BenjaminMFP88 Posts: 660 Member
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    I'm a 26yo dude, and I'm pretty sure i'm never full :/ I typically eat about 3500 cals for maintenance, and wish I could double it!
  • nicsflyingcircus
    nicsflyingcircus Posts: 2,567 Member
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    I'm really curious about this... I've seen several times people mention things like 'I just have a kids meal at McDonald's and I'm full for hours' and all I can think of is 'WTF?'. Quite sure I'd be starving after 2 hours if I only had a kids meal...

    For example, at lunch I had 6oz of ground beef (95%), a whole zucchini (large, 330g), 2/3 cup (130g) of rice with veggies, a couple hazelnuts covered with dark chocolate, and 10oz of coffee... 500 calories total. I expect to be full until 4pm, maybe... and that was a LOT of food.

    Is it just me? Ok, some days I'm hungrier than others, but still, I can't imagine a small sandwich and an apple would fill me up enough as a meal...

    My lunch was 500 calories as well, but I don't eat breakfast. It had 26g carbs(3 fiber), 21g fat and 51g protein and I will be full for a looooooong time (from experience). I can eat a happy meal, and be full, but I will be starving again shortly, because there's just not enough protein in it for me, even if I go milk over other drink options.

    My dinner is usually smaller, consisting more 300-400 cal and I am fine with that. I'm not strict on it, but I have noticed that I rather naturally fall into an IF pattern of 16-8 with the vast majority of my eating (most days) falling between noon (or later) and 8-9pm.
  • Veil5577
    Veil5577 Posts: 868 Member
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    Since I started eating one meal a day, my stomach has significantly shrunk, and now I struggle to get in 1200 calories in a meal.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    My stomach is too acustomed to McD's to be full from it anymore. I can eat a Big Mac meal no problem and still want dessert (sundae) although I resist cuz I just "think" I'm still hungry and I'm not. McD's is a weakness of mine. A Happy Meal is on occasion, a meal for me...when I "need a little something" or I have the big craving for fries...I find that the Happy Meal satisfies in that case. I make sure the rest of the day is more reasonable (better choices of foods) cuz we all know McD's is not terribly good for us. I drink TONS of water to try and counteract all the salt from the (most yummy) fries.....
    I believe in most cases we eat a lot cuz we're eating the wrong foods. Some days I really want and actually do...eat everything in sight. I have an issue with eating too fast too....my brain is way behind my mouth....I have to concentrate on eating slower so my brain has time to tell me I'm full. Your lunch example is yummy....it actually seems like more than 500 calories. I'm not debating that though....just commenting on the yummy factor. How much water do you drink a day? I only ever drink water (when I eat at McD's I drink Diet Coke) so I pretty much always have room for the minimum 8 cups/day. Every day, every meal is different for me too...some mornings, Im good with a homemade smoothie, other mornings, I want eggs/toast. The protein/eggs seem to make me feel fuller 'til lunch whereas the smoothie doesn't...I usually have a protein bar or something mid morning.
    I read people's diaries every day and wonder how they can be satisfied on what they've documented too...and other times, I think..."wow, they ate all that"???? Different strokes for different folks :)

    My lunch really was 500 calories (well, assuming MFP's numbers for 330g of zucchini are accurate). I drink my 8 cups of water a day (with tea and/or coffee in there too). Breakfast is another example too... I see people post what makes them 'full until lunch' and I just shrug my head! The only breakfast that keeps me full from 7am to noon is oatmeal with nut butter (which is amusing considering it really doesn't have that much protein), but even that doesn't cut it on those days when I'm just so hungry. Eggs are a joke, and oatmeal with anything else than nut butter is a joke too... hungry 2 hours later.

    I almost never feel 'full' though. I mean, I'll feel 'not hungry', but to really feel full I have to eat a huge amount.

    IF would never work for me, I'm typically hungrier in the morning and have my last (lighter) meal by 6pm (so I 'fast' for 12-13 hours until breakfast, and that's plenty for me, I'm typically starving by 8am).
  • jazzie_red
    jazzie_red Posts: 180 Member
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    I am hungry ALL. THE. TIME. I am sure it is just boredom and all that kind of "hungry" when you're not stuff.

    But yeah, a kids meal would leave me hungry.

    I did only eat 1100 calories yestday and was hungry most of the night. I don't know how people do that from day to day.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,021 Member
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    I do today........probably around 4000 with booster rockets ready.
  • ValGogo
    ValGogo Posts: 2,168 Member
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    I don't need it. I just like it.
  • jenifr818
    jenifr818 Posts: 805 Member
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    Yeah. I feel like I'm always hungry and never get enough. I get to work @ 7, and by 9 I'm hungry. Eat lunch somewhere between 11 and 12, hungry again by 2:30-3. I don't think I'm eating THAT bad (try to balance carbs/protein/fat relatively well), but I just never seem to get enough. Sometimes I see low-cal diaries and get hungry just looking at them.
  • AgentOrangeJuice
    AgentOrangeJuice Posts: 1,069 Member
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    I eat breakfast at 6am, which consists of 3 eggs, 1 cup of broccoli, 1 cup of grape tomatoes, 1/2 an onion, 1 cup of mushrooms and 1 oz of feta cheese, then 2 hours later I eat 3 oz of dried apricots, a banana and an orange, at 10:30am I eat lunch, which consists of 1 cup of a complex carbohydrate, a salad and 4 oz of protein. I eat a lot of food in the beginning of my day, but then i'm fine until dinner around 5:30-6:30
  • flumi_f
    flumi_f Posts: 1,888 Member
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    You're not alone! My meals are similar to yours. I fill my plates and myself up with LOTS of veggies. It's the portions of high cal foods that I keep in check. A small sandwich would just get me hungrier than not eating anything.

    Actually one of the reasons I do a form of IF. I do a partial fast two days a week. On those days I skip breakfast, have a 150 cal lunch and a 350 cal dinner. It is easier for me to not eat for as long as possible on those two days. As soon as I start eating....I get hungry. So at lunch time on a maintainance day (having eaten breakfast), I am often hungrier at lunch time than on my fast days. Go figure.
  • DjinnMarie
    DjinnMarie Posts: 1,297 Member
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    I eat way more now than I ever did when i was overweight.
  • JMlifts602
    JMlifts602 Posts: 7
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    I love love love food. I have been known to out eat a 6 foot 350 lb man & honestly I can say it is all about the quality of the food. A kids meal from McDonalds wouldn't put a dent in my hunger, I'd still be hungry right after eating it, but give me a HUGE salad with a ton of veggies, chicken, low fat cheese & some light dressing & I am full for quite a while. I guess it just depends.
  • Shalaurise
    Shalaurise Posts: 707 Member
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    Last time I wasn't hungry.... I think I gained weight that day. I find that I am VERY used to America's idea of portion sizes and eating something in a healthier quantity leaves me feeling hungry every time. I don't want 4 ounces of meat, I want 8-12! I don't want one small roll, I want 3.

    Keeping up eating a deficit has been nearly impossible the longer I try to do it. I like broccoli and all... but not so much that it is all I want for a meal so that I can eat enough to feel full (for at least a short time) and still be maintaining my deficit.
  • dswolverine
    dswolverine Posts: 246 Member
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    I'm ALWAYS hungry. I can't imagine many meals that would keep me full for 4+ hours that's 'reasonable' calorie-wise. I have found a few things that do satiate for longer (hard boiled eggs, reduced fat cheese, quest bars), but I usually eat at least every 1-2 hours. People who are satiated for "hours" eating egg whites??? Lucky- I'm full for about twelve seconds
  • ANNAvsANNA
    ANNAvsANNA Posts: 58 Member
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    nope....a happy meal would have the opposite effect on me. It would just make me hungrier than i was before
  • fittyinthemaking
    fittyinthemaking Posts: 126 Member
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    i ate 9 mc-chicken nuggets the other day and classed that as a snack, i could easy eat 3 big macs and still have room for a mcflurry :drinker:
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
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    i ate 9 mc-chicken nuggets the other day and classed that as a snack, i could easy eat 3 big macs and still have room for a mcflurry :drinker:

    Nice.
    my lunch is usually about 700. Dinner is usually 1300. I'm full afterwards. no breakfast cuz I like the to feel full at bedtime.
  • jmt08c
    jmt08c Posts: 343 Member
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    To put it simply, yes. I'd rather eat eat eat and then burn it off. It's been working so far!

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