Any tips of foods you reccomend?

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jen31889
jen31889 Posts: 121
in Health and Weight Loss
MFP has put me on a 1200 calorie a day plan. I am always hungry because of it. I am looking for foods that might help me feel more filled. I am a super picky eater, so it is rather difficult. Any advice or tips would be great!

I'm also concerned that with me being hungry now, how will I contend when I start working out. So far, all I've done is change my eating habits.

- I tend to live on carbs and dairy and like very few vegetables. (very bad, I know)

- I've recently starting drinking soy milk and I like it.

-I don't eat meat, though I've wanted to try a soy burger.

- I used to eat a ton of margarine, which I have now substituted with a soy based, fewer calorie spread. It is very difficult to
spread though.

- I find that I have a kinda oral fixation. I love eating just to eat. I enjoy snacking on things even though I'm not hungry. I need something very low calorie to help me with this. I've been eating grapes which are very high in sugar.

-I've been drinking nutritional shakes for breakfast, but they aren't doing anything for my hunger. oddly enough a flavored water hunger suppressant works better for me which doesn't make sense if they have equal amounts of protein.

Replies

  • jrueckert
    jrueckert Posts: 355 Member
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    I am on a 1460 calorie plan and I've found that drinking at least 8 glasses of water keeps the hunger down. When I start to feel a little hungry, I'll have a light snack and a full bottle of water. It fills me up and I haven't been starving at all since I started 2 weeks ago.
  • Charlie001
    Charlie001 Posts: 354
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    peanut butter.
  • Valqis
    Valqis Posts: 1,016 Member
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    What type of water hunger suppressant are you using? you need to eat a breakfast of some sort, even if it is a bowl of cereal and soy milk
  • erin6026
    erin6026 Posts: 117 Member
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    Basically "whole" foods will keep you full the longest, since they're packed with fiber and protein.

    Foods that keep me full:
    cottage cheese
    oatmeal
    bananas
    shredded wheat
    black beans (I will mix these with tomato, corn, black olives and avocado - my "salsa salad")
    avocado!
    meat (or you could try veggie burgers)
    veggies :)
    carrots + hummus dip

    I get the snacking thing, and for a long time I chose low-cal microwave popcorn, granola bars, etc. The problem with these is that they're empty calories. There's nothing in that "food" so your body is full again in 15 min. So the calories are a waste!

    I agree with the water comment. If you have a big ol' glass of water with every mini-meal, you'll probably stay full a lot longer (and eat less)
  • Jbonar
    Jbonar Posts: 29 Member
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    1 option is to change your loss rate goal. If you are at or near a healthy weight, try changing to a loss of 1/2lb per week. This will give you a few more calories to eat.
    Secondly, when you workout, eat those calories that you earn. Sounds counterproductive, but it works. You have to treat your body like a car. If you don't keep it fueled, it will not run.
  • Setof2Keys
    Setof2Keys Posts: 681 Member
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    Begin exercising, you will get a credit for the calories you burn. Also, you should consider more protein like hard boiled eggs or google high protein foods. Good luck. You may want to reevaluate your calories amount. That seems extremely low and you don't want to put your body into starvation survival mode, or you wont lose a thing. See is your health insurance will pay for Nutrionist. They will help you sort through all of these questions. :)
  • jen31889
    jen31889 Posts: 121
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    What type of water hunger suppressant are you using? you need to eat a breakfast of some sort, even if it is a bowl of cereal and soy milk

    I don't have any right now, but I think it's a store brand of Crystal Light that works for me. And does a nutritional shake not count as breakfast? I might have to try cereal instead of a nutrition shake. The shakes taste so yummy though.
  • ccgisme
    ccgisme Posts: 239 Member
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    Sounds like you've identified some areas to focus on. Drinking water, chewing sugar free gum, etc. might help with the oral stuff you mentioned.

    Veggies usually have fewer calories than proteins. Consider adding shredded carrots to meat loaf or turkey burgers, mix cauliflower with potatoes if you eat mashed potatoes, etc. There's a book out there about hiding veggies in common foods. It's targeted to mom's with kids who are fussy eaters, but there's no reason we can't fool ourselves! :laugh:

    Protein has the same number of calories per gram as carbohydrate and will keep you fuller longer - takes longer to turn chicken into sugar than sugar into sugar :wink: Don't be afraid of healthy fats. Nut butters and avocado are great. So are small portions of tuna and salmon.

    I'd second the recommendations that you evaluate your weekly weight loss goal and to do more exercise to get more calories. Eat your exercise calories! You've already set your calorie deficit for the week. No need to deprive yourself! :wink:

    Good luck!
  • OGFleabag
    OGFleabag Posts: 137 Member
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    almonds help me. 100 calorie pack almonds, and not wolfing them down. I eat fast and my brain doesn't get the message for a while. I have had to learn to just slow down.
  • Irie_chick67
    Irie_chick67 Posts: 15
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    I'm on a 1330 plan. I thought, no way! But, I'm not hungry.

    Here's something to think about. Low fat, low sugar & high fiber. It works!
    Make a list of the foods you like, foods you might try and foods that you say "No, way! I don't like that".
    Then mix and match them. You may not like a mixed greens salad, but starting out with a small amount mixed into an iceberg salad, might work.

    I started to mix different variety of cold cereals together, because the "healthy" low sugar ( 10 grams or less) & high fiber ( 7grams or more), wasn't working for me. Now, I have a container with 3 kinds mixed together, Kashi, Uncle Sam & Raisin Bran Clusters. The raisin brand has the most sugar of the 3.

    I found Brown Rice Chips of which I can have 30 chips and add a single serving of hummus.

    If you don't eat meat, you need to find a good source of protein. Edamames/Soy products, Lentils, beans and dairy.

    Try a sugar free gum. Lots of different flavors to choose from.
  • jimrogers
    jimrogers Posts: 23 Member
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    1 option is to change your loss rate goal. If you are at or near a healthy weight, try changing to a loss of 1/2lb per week. This will give you a few more calories to eat.
    Secondly, when you workout, eat those calories that you earn. Sounds counterproductive, but it works. You have to treat your body like a car. If you don't keep it fueled, it will not run.

    Good Advice.

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