Hungry all the time

MantisSword
MantisSword Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi Guys! So I just started. Like day two just started.

My calorie intake has been cut drastically (needed to be!). Because of this, I'm doing smaller portions, choosing better options. However, I find myself constantly hungry which makes it hard to concentrate at work or just in general. I'm careful not to gorge myself at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, making sure I'm still hungry when I'm finished. I allow myself a handful of grapes for a morning snack and afternoon.

My thing: what are some good ways to overcome the constant hunger? Or do I just need to wait till my stomach shrinks and get used to the smaller portions?

Thanks!

Replies

  • nstock
    nstock Posts: 135 Member
    I find I get quite hungry too, especially if you are working out too. I find that eating overnight oats for breakfast keeps me full for a long time. I try to have some form of protein in each meal to keep me fuller, and I definitely snack throughout the day. The snacks are small but they help me get from meal to meal.
  • pander101
    pander101 Posts: 677 Member
    Adding more protein will help. Some fat might too. But it takes some getting used to. Try drinking more water as well.
  • Zuza_eM
    Zuza_eM Posts: 2
    you need to drink much more water :) when you'll be hungry just drink one or two cubs of water :) try to cheat your stomach :) and you need to tell your brain that you are not hungry :D i do that all the time. it works:)
  • PrimroseFlower
    PrimroseFlower Posts: 110 Member
    Here's what keeps me full: - and first of all a lot of sugar or processed foods make me HUNGRY!
    1. sweet potato halves
    2. eggs - boiled
    3. cans of tuna and whole wheat crackers
    4. brown rice
    5. apples
    6. bananas
    7. carrots

    Sometimes I eat what gives me the "full factor" for a long time even if it's not my favorite bc I hate being hungry. :drinker:
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    My general tips for hunger:

    1. Make sure your calorie goals are actually set appropriately. Way too many people cut down to drastic calorie levels who don't need to and their body is trying to tell them something important. Don't skip this step.

    2. Look for foods higher in protein, fat, and fiber. These help us stay full and more satisfied longer.

    3. Drink plenty of fluids. Some people really do confuse thirst and hunger.

    4. Get plenty of rest. Sometimes our bodies look for food when they're exhausted.

    5. Play around with your meal timings. Some people do really well on 5-6 small meals a day and others feel like they want to gnaw their own arm off eating like that. Skipping breakfast, eating breakfast, 16:8 fasting, 6 small meals, 3 larger meals, snacks, no snacks, meal timing won't make a big difference to your weight loss, but it may help your hunger levels, mood, concentration, gym performance, etc. throughout the day. Don't be afraid to try a different way and see if it helps.

    6. Wait it out. If you know you're eating enough and the other steps above aren't helping, you may just have to wait it out. Our bodies send out hunger signals partially out of habit. If you eat at a certain time every day your body will start to get hungry at that time. The good news is that these signals can be retrained to stop telling you to be hungry all the time. The bad news is that you may just have to wait it out and be hungry for a little bit while that happens.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    Dianne's advice is useful. I'll just add a couple points:

    (1) It does get better as you get accustomed to eating less. The tipping point for me was in the 4th week.

    (2) Unless you have a problem with sodium, dill pickles are a filling, low-calorie snack.
  • angelexperiment
    angelexperiment Posts: 1,917 Member
    Breakfast should be your biggest meal around 400 cal. Try eating eggs with some veggies or a protein with a fat. Try avoiding too many carbs as they make you hungry quickly again. Like have 2 cups of spinach or romaine and mixed greens then on top have two eggs and sausage or just 1 chicken thigh portion. Then have a cup of coffee with one tablspoon coconut oil and a packet of stevia. For snack have one cup greek yogurt plain with your own fruit added ( thats a fat and protein) lunch have tuna on salad 2 cups salad or like a huge salad with all kinds of veggies and 1 can tuna w mayo(fat) add in some curry or toasted sesame and ginger oil on top (fat) this will stuff you tryst me but its not many cals like 2 or 300 have a snack of (which I don't think you will want) shredded carrots and raisins all this chewing will make you full then for dinner a salmon burger cooked in coconut oil on a bed of romaine or mix salad with ginger and toasted sesame oil and sundried tomato and chili flakes. Around 2 or 300 cals and then if you need a snack have fruit like a large apple or a banana and 2 tbsp pb (fat) just ideas to incorporate more fats and protein in and vegetables are pretty unlimited bc they dont have alot of calories.
  • alska
    alska Posts: 300 Member
    Try to stick with clean n simple foods ... sorry i don't know another word for it lol Like half of baked chicken breast n a huge salad or steamed veggies ... Not processed kinds like (chicken nuggets and kraft mac n cheese) as they are high in calories n small in portion... and leave you hungry!!

    sip on water n hot tea (unsweetened) ... that of course have no calories.

    feel free to add me ... i have an open dairy ... but i do eat pizza somettime .. which is my evil downfall lol it's so high in calories n i can't eat only one!! ugh
  • mlyn627
    mlyn627 Posts: 104 Member
    I felt the same way on day 2 I was ready to quit because I was so hungry. I had to adjust my weekly weight loss goal, that bumped up my calories to a level that is totally doable now. Don't get me wrong I still have times when I feel hungry but it's getting less and less often and that is one of the best feelings ever!

    Don't give up adjust and overcome!
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    My general tips for hunger:

    1. Make sure your calorie goals are actually set appropriately. Way too many people cut down to drastic calorie levels who don't need to and their body is trying to tell them something important. Don't skip this step.

    2. Look for foods higher in protein, fat, and fiber. These help us stay full and more satisfied longer.

    3. Drink plenty of fluids. Some people really do confuse thirst and hunger.

    4. Get plenty of rest. Sometimes our bodies look for food when they're exhausted.

    5. Play around with your meal timings. Some people do really well on 5-6 small meals a day and others feel like they want to gnaw their own arm off eating like that. Skipping breakfast, eating breakfast, 16:8 fasting, 6 small meals, 3 larger meals, snacks, no snacks, meal timing won't make a big difference to your weight loss, but it may help your hunger levels, mood, concentration, gym performance, etc. throughout the day. Don't be afraid to try a different way and see if it helps.

    6. Wait it out. If you know you're eating enough and the other steps above aren't helping, you may just have to wait it out. Our bodies send out hunger signals partially out of habit. If you eat at a certain time every day your body will start to get hungry at that time. The good news is that these signals can be retrained to stop telling you to be hungry all the time. The bad news is that you may just have to wait it out and be hungry for a little bit while that happens.

    ^^^ All of this.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
    I snack on an apple mid-morning and cheese or tree nuts in the afternoon. I always snack between my meals and couldn't live without it and I eat a huge 1000 breakfast too.
  • SLHysell
    SLHysell Posts: 247 Member
    I have two emergency foods I eat when I'm really hungry.
    1) Hershey's Bliss dark chocolates. 35 calories each. Just pop one in my mouth and let it slowly dissolve. Never chew. It really staves off the hunger.
    2) Unsalted Peanuts. High calories, but not if you only eat 6 or 8. Eat them one at a time and really savor the experience. I'm amazed at how much it helps. And...you get a little protein.

    No matter what you snack on, I think eating it ridiculously slowly makes a huge impact on you perception of hunger. ~Scott
  • awesomedjmcvey
    awesomedjmcvey Posts: 50 Member
    I eat alot of Broccoli florets and carotts throughout the day. Low calories and very handy!
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    Breakfast should be your biggest meal around 400 cal. Try eating eggs with some veggies or a protein with a fat. Try avoiding too many carbs as they make you hungry quickly again. Like have 2 cups of spinach or romaine and mixed greens then on top have two eggs and sausage or just 1 chicken thigh portion. Then have a cup of coffee with one tablspoon coconut oil and a packet of stevia. For snack have one cup greek yogurt plain with your own fruit added ( thats a fat and protein) lunch have tuna on salad 2 cups salad or like a huge salad with all kinds of veggies and 1 can tuna w mayo(fat) add in some curry or toasted sesame and ginger oil on top (fat) this will stuff you tryst me but its not many cals like 2 or 300 have a snack of (which I don't think you will want) shredded carrots and raisins all this chewing will make you full then for dinner a salmon burger cooked in coconut oil on a bed of romaine or mix salad with ginger and toasted sesame oil and sundried tomato and chili flakes. Around 2 or 300 cals and then if you need a snack have fruit like a large apple or a banana and 2 tbsp pb (fat) just ideas to incorporate more fats and protein in and vegetables are pretty unlimited bc they dont have alot of calories.

    Since breakfast actually leaves some people feeling hungrier throughout the day, I would hesitate to set a large breakfast as a hard and fast rule to handle hunger. It's not necessary for weight loss. It certainly helps some people manage their hunger throughout the day, but it has the opposite effect on others.

    Also, without knowing the OP's calorie goals, there's no way to tell if 400 calories would actually make breakfast their largest meal of the day. If they're on, say, 2500 calories a day (I don't know their stats, this is a number picked out of the air), that might be too little for them for breakfast (if they choose to eat breakfast at all, of course).
  • A_Dabauer
    A_Dabauer Posts: 212 Member
    I love the advice that DianetheGeek posted! Good solid advice.

    One thing from looking at her profile though is Diabetes runs in her family, as well since she's always been over weight I might look into Insulin Resistance as contributing factor? If that's the case carbs can really turn on the "hangry." So by watching the type of cabs and timing of those carbs might help as well.
  • moonjumper
    moonjumper Posts: 1 Member
    They recommend that you drink half your weight in ounces of water. I know it gets discouraging. I also know you can feel hungry but sometimes that is thirst. I hope you do not get discouraged. Make sure you have not done any drastic changes in diet so that you get the proper amount of protein and fats. Depending on what you want to weigh say 160lbs. You can eat under 1600 calories a day and still continue to lose weight. I wish you much luck.
  • triinityz
    triinityz Posts: 146 Member
    For me, it was detoxing off all the carbs... I've found that what I thought was hunger before was really my body screaming at me and trying to detox from all the crap I was putting in it, or begging me to shovel more food in, depending on how you look at it. I'm sure some of it is psychological too. Can’t see your diary to see what/how you are eating, but I’d recommend tons of water and low cal snacks (like veggies) where you feel like you are getting more quantity, but better quality and not damaging your diet.
  • alska
    alska Posts: 300 Member
    I eat two breakfasts sort of. I'll eat an egg n cheese english muffin sandwich (homemade - 262 which inclues my coffee calories) then i workout an hour and a half or two ... then I eat my second breakfast .. like cereal or coco wheats, oatmeal or something that is around the same amount of calories or less. If I get up too late n there isn't enough time in between my second n lunch then i'll just eat a banana.

    Breakfast should be your biggest meal around 400 cal. Try eating eggs with some veggies or a protein with a fat. Try avoiding too many carbs as they make you hungry quickly again. Like have 2 cups of spinach or romaine and mixed greens then on top have two eggs and sausage or just 1 chicken thigh portion. Then have a cup of coffee with one tablspoon coconut oil and a packet of stevia. For snack have one cup greek yogurt plain with your own fruit added ( thats a fat and protein) lunch have tuna on salad 2 cups salad or like a huge salad with all kinds of veggies and 1 can tuna w mayo(fat) add in some curry or toasted sesame and ginger oil on top (fat) this will stuff you tryst me but its not many cals like 2 or 300 have a snack of (which I don't think you will want) shredded carrots and raisins all this chewing will make you full then for dinner a salmon burger cooked in coconut oil on a bed of romaine or mix salad with ginger and toasted sesame oil and sundried tomato and chili flakes. Around 2 or 300 cals and then if you need a snack have fruit like a large apple or a banana and 2 tbsp pb (fat) just ideas to incorporate more fats and protein in and vegetables are pretty unlimited bc they dont have alot of calories.
  • MantisSword
    MantisSword Posts: 6
    WOW everyone! Thank you for all the great advice and different angles!

    It's only day 3 but I've changed up my eating schedule a bit as well as what I eat. I usually do oatmeal for breakfast and was always hungry. Today I mixed it up and didn't start feeling hungry till 11:45! I also switched from iced coffee to hot tea with some milk. Made me feel full instantly!

    I think I just need to change things up so I don't get bored. Also, my breakfast came to just over 300 cals and was super delicious.

    I think trinityz nailed it on the head. I. LOVE. CARBS. All I ate pretty much (pizza is.. oh man, I'd have it every day if I could) and even though it's only been for a few days, my body has not been liking the switch (rather, at least it THINKS it doesn't). However, I've already noticed a huge change in my cravings(if it's all psychological, I don't care, I'll take it.) I don't like most veggies and reach for the worst when I snack. Yesterday I went shopping after work with a grumbling stomach (terrible idea, I know) and I couldn't stand the idea of pizza rolls, fruit snacks, the like. I took the opportunity and loaded up on fresh veggies and fruit. On the way home, I destroyed almost 3 mini cucumbers before switching to carrots.

    It's all psychological I'm sure; a body doesn't change within a couple days. But I'm riding the wave until my body catches up with brain! I'm hoping to finally acquire a natural taste for the good stuff, not the processed crap I'm so used to eating.

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