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MyFitnessPal Community

dealing with hunger

dblanke01

MFP has me on roughly 1300 calories and I am HUNGRY ALL THE TIME. I don't think I've stuck with the diet even one day because I end up binging. All I think about is food! And it's not like I'm starting out with junk either. I eat whole foods, mostly plant based, until I get so hungry I cave and binge. Then it's junk food all the way, because I've already cheated so why not just keep going. For example, today for lunch I had roasted brussel sprouts and cooked ground venison (no added oil to the meat). And cucumber. I had an apple later that was supposed to be my after school snack and I actually felt guilty about it because even 100-200 calories create a significant dent when you are eating so little. How do other people deal with the hunger, what are some high volume, low calorie meals that you enjoy?

Replies

SpikeTailTurtle

When I first started I had my goal set to lose 2lbs a week and I was always starving without exception. I woke up hungry and went to bed hungry. I changed my goals to 1lb a week and I stopped being hungry and was able to stick with it. What do your goals look like? If you are trying to lose 2lbs a week what's the rush?

PS: Also when I get hungry Special K has protien shakes that are under 200 cal and super filling and actually taste good.

Holly_Roman_Empire

How tall are you, and what's your current weight and goal weight? If you increase your calorie goal, you could probably adhere to it a bit better.

999tigger

Sounds as though you are going too severe. You cant maintain that level becayse you are always breaking it big time.
I have lots of soup and hot veg.
I also have exercise calories to fall back on. Are you exercising?

emdeesea

Set your goals to a half pound a week. It's slow but you won't feel like you're starving every day, and it's much easier to stick with.

cebreisch

First, while I log everything on MFP, I also belong to Weight Watchers, and convert the MFP information to WW points. WW gives you a little more on the calorie end. That way, MFP is my low-range, and WW is my high-range.

Second, you really need to increase your fiber intake. One thing I use to do that is Chocolite Protein bars. They have about 10 grams protein, about 10 grams fiber, they're about 100 calories, and are gluten/sugar free. They're available at www.healthsmartfoods.com and there are coupons available at www.retailmenot.com
I have about 1 or two of those a day as snacks. It's helped me immensely.

For lunch today I had two bowls of Olive Garden Pasta Fagiole soup. It was AWESOME. It has lots of beans for fiber, lots of celery, shredded carrots, ground meat for protein, tomatoes, little bit of pasta - only 130 calories a bowl. They say it's like an italian style chili. I imagine it's something that could be easily made at home in a crock pot. It was very filling.

For what it's worth....

Tobi1013

Just chiming in to agree with others...lower your weekly weight loss goal to give yourself a higher daily calorie goal. There is NO reason to torture yourself in the quest to lose weight. It really CAN be done in a way that you are not constantly hungry and reduced to bingeing each day. Feed your body on your terms, and your body will stop insisting on its own terms (and to be clear, the binges are your body screaming at you to feed it).

cwolfman13

My guess is that your goals are too aggressive. Is it annoying that I have to reduce some of the fun stuff I get to eat when I'm in maintenance? Sure...but I'm never starving. When I'm cutting I keep my calorie goals reasonable...I'm not in any hurry here and I also don't want my performance to overly suffer for lack of nutrition and energy.

If you're not exercising then start...and understand that exercise increases your calorie requirements, thus you eat more whilst accomplishing the same goals with more limited calorie intake and no exercise.

My biggest issue going into my second cut here is knocking off some bad habits I made whilst in maintenance..but like I said...never do I feel deprived and certainly never "starving."

silentKayak

Exactly. Change your calorie goal to something you can live with.

You need to avoid the "the day is ruined" mentality. Treat your budget as a target. It's no big deal to go over by a few calories, even a hundred or more. As long as you're below maintenance, you'll still lose. Maybe more slowly than you want, but there'll be progress. The junk food binges aren't improving your general health, your weight, or your relationship with food.

Another thing is, you could add in some gentle cardio. If your calorie allotment is so low, you probably have your lifestyle set to "sedentary". You can improve that easily. A brisk daily 30 minute walk would give you 100 or 150 more calories to work with. Low energy cardio is best if you struggle with hunger.

As for foods: avoid starches and sugars. They raise your insulin and make you hungry. Eat a lot of lean protein (chicken & fish) and a small amount of healthy fats. Veggies are satiating, and so is broth. Oil, meat, and starches like bread/rice/potatoes will blow out your budget really quickly. Fruit is good for satisfying cravings for sweet foods. Keep making smart swaps: trade yams for potatoes, popcorn for chips, chicken for beef, almond milk for cow's milk.

Slow and steady is the way to go. Feel free to friend me.

gothchiq

You are going to need some healthy fats added such as olive or coconut oil. Lack of them can make you feel as though you are starving to death.

dramaqueen45

zarckon wrote: »

Exactly. Change your calorie goal to something you can live with.

You need to avoid the "the day is ruined" mentality. Treat your budget as a target. It's no big deal to go over by a few calories, even a hundred or more. As long as you're below maintenance, you'll still lose. Maybe more slowly than you want, but there'll be progress. The junk food binges aren't improving your general health, your weight, or your relationship with food.

Another thing is, you could add in some gentle cardio. If your calorie allotment is so low, you probably have your lifestyle set to "sedentary". You can improve that easily. A brisk daily 30 minute walk would give you 100 or 150 more calories to work with. Low energy cardio is best if you struggle with hunger.

As for foods: avoid starches and sugars. They raise your insulin and make you hungry. Eat a lot of lean protein (chicken & fish) and a small amount of healthy fats. Veggies are satiating, and so is broth. Oil, meat, and starches like bread/rice/potatoes will blow out your budget really quickly. Fruit is good for satisfying cravings for sweet foods. Keep making smart swaps: trade yams for potatoes, popcorn for chips, chicken for beef, almond milk for cow's milk.

Slow and steady is the way to go. Feel free to friend me.

All of this!!