How do you get food off your mind? Appetite curbers

onmyown70
onmyown70 Posts: 233 Member
edited November 8 in Health and Weight Loss
I have a huge appetite and rarely feel full, I could if I let myself, eat all day starting from as soon as I get up. So how do any of you curb your appetites? My husband baffles me, he has lunch and is full up. I have lunch (today a potato fritta and a chocolate dessert) and I came home craving more food. I feel sleepy and just want chocolate- I'm not premenstrual, I have no explanation for it. I'm just a scoffer and I rarely feel "full" I can get to a point where my stomach hurts (not healthy I know and I know I need help with this) but it's that "I feel full feeling" that doesn't exist for me. I don't recignise it. Do any of you feel the same way? How do you combat it?

Replies

  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    a couple of glasses of cold water and then doing something (cleaning or reading or jumping jacks or anything to get your mind distracted) can work wonders to curb your appetite
  • FitFroglet
    FitFroglet Posts: 219 Member
    If I'm having an 'I want to eat all the foods' day, exercise really helps curb my appetite.
  • Kylandme
    Kylandme Posts: 42 Member
    im the same way sometimes... I find eating higher protein foods help... like greek yogurts, almonds, chicken etc :)
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    For me, the earlier I eat in the day, the more I want to eat, therefore I wait until 9:30 or 10:00 for my first meal. Also, as stated above, more protein helps to keep me sated longer.
  • Garfy117
    Garfy117 Posts: 30 Member
    I know exactly how you feel - I never feel full, even when my stomach is distended like a python digesting a wildebeest! I have mixed success dealing with it - most days I manage by eating large volumes of low calorie food and doing lots of cardio, but that's not an ideal solution. I think Dave's suggestion of water and distraction are probably the best idea.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    Eat more protein. If I ate potato with some chocolate for a meal, I would be starving the rest of the day, too. Protein is very filling.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    Eat more protein. If I ate potato with some chocolate for a meal, I would be starving the rest of the day, too. Protein is very filling.

    I agree. Protein, fiber and water-rich foods (fruit, veg, soups) help a lot.

    There are books on how to re-learn intuitive eating and recognizing true hunger signals. Intermittent fasting can also help you explore true hunger feelings and fullness feelings.

    Also, if you stop eating to over-stuffed for a while you may stop wanting to. It takes some discipline at first but then it becomes a preference.

    Good luck!

  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    Go do something else.
  • court_fritch26
    court_fritch26 Posts: 297 Member
    water, water, water, and cinnamon gum works for me
  • Lasmartchika
    Lasmartchika Posts: 3,440 Member
    Maybe the amount of calories you consume daily is too low. You don't need to starve yourself to lose weight. Read this page to see how that's possible.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/3817-eat-more-2-weigh-less
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    Your lunch was extremely carb-heavy. I'd guess that the rest of your meals are carb-heavy.

    Either you are not eating enough calories or your carb:protein:fat ratios are not ideal for you.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    People are different. You have to lean to manage your calories bette and put more thought into what you get for them. Hunger is the one thing I try and avoid, so I eat lots of fruit and veg plus complex carbs and that prevents me from feeling im really deprived. If you eat lots of processed food you stand the chance it will not be as filling for an equivalent amount of calories, hence you will feel hungry. the danger is you then find it a struggle to keep your deficit intact and eventually get miserable, quit or binge out.

    Experiment and find a way that works for you. More protein, fibre and fat might work as it dos for many. You are looking for something thats workable. Open your diary if you wnat people to suggest alternatives and it might be obvious.
  • Abby2205
    Abby2205 Posts: 253 Member
    If you are thinking about food all the time, then tweaking your ratios and trying other foods isn't going to help because you will still be thinking about food all the time. You sound like rationally you know you are getting enough to eat, but you are using eating or thinking about eating as a default hobby/leisure activity/something to do when your mind isn't otherwise occupied. So maybe take up new hobbies, and change up your routines.
    Although if you are looking for a food alternative, I find that drinking hot, naturally sweet tea (I like green tea with mint, or some fruity herbal teas) works better than any glass of cold water or low calorie snack. There's something about the slightly sweet slightly acidic hot liquid that does it.
  • otherowl
    otherowl Posts: 9
    I'll probably catch flack, but I was the same way until I started following a ketogenic diet. The only time I wasn't hungry was while I was eating and a couple hours after the meal. I had resigned myself to the thought that I'm going to spend 50% of my waking hours hungry to achieve and maintain a lower body weight. I have almost every marker of metabolic syndrome and although my blood sugars test normal I probably have a problem with insulin and even extremely complex carbs like those found in non-starchy veggies screw my blood sugar levels up.
  • MamaP47
    MamaP47 Posts: 94 Member
    edited November 2014
    I hide all of the bad yummy food. Make sure I have low-calorie, but healthy snacks laying around. And I drink a lot of water. If I get too hungry, I grab a protein shake and then I hit the gym. It serves as a distraction for me and I love hanging out in the spa and sauna after a long workout
  • onmyown70
    onmyown70 Posts: 233 Member
    Useg
    999tigger wrote: »
    People are different. You have to lean to manage your calories bette and put more thought into what you get for them. Hunger is the one thing I try and avoid, so I eat lots of fruit and veg plus complex carbs and that prevents me from feeling im really deprived. If you eat lots of processed food you stand the chance it will not be as filling for an equivalent amount of calories, hence you will feel hungry. the danger is you then find it a struggle to keep your deficit intact and eventually get miserable, quit or binge out.

    Experiment and find a way that works for you. More protein, fibre and fat might work as it dos for many. You are looking for something thats workable. Open your diary if you wnat people to suggest alternatives and it might be obvious.

    Really useful comments guys thank you. I keep toying with the idea of ketogenic bit wonder if I'm just food obsessed and need to get my mind enjoying other activities more- unfortunately, I love food, all food. I definitely suspect having breakfast makes me hungrier. If I just have a milky coffee I find my appetite is lower then again, I quite often have dark chocolate for breakfast- yes I know that's awful but it's 90 percent cocoa and just because my child wakes up so early I crave caffeine first thing. However, I remember beig at my heaviest, years ago, when j would have a bowl of bran flakes for breakfast every day (I was getting up at 5 am then though).

    I'm sure it is emotional but it's useful to get feedback to hear how other cope. I definitely think the loading up on veggie thing should be a good plan, but I don't crave veggies during the day- and oddly I rarely binge/overeat in the evening (when I know lots of others do). I generally eat quote healthily in my evening meal, fish, veggies, sweet potato and a full fat plain yogurt with berries is fairly typical. It's just the rest of the day I can honestly say I want carbs...

    Not being around the food helps (as suggested by another poster, but at weekends that's tough as I'm not the only one in my house and I don't have entire control of the pantry/fridge?.

    What I do know is, I doubt I would overeat if there were only protein and veggies on offer....

    It's hard to know if I just have a hige appwtote or it's my blood glucose triggering binges. Quite often my wanting to eat all day does follow a bad nights sleep or in premenstrual but even so, others must cope!
    The warm drink helps too- thanks to the previous poster.

    I actually rarely feel true hunger ...
  • nosebag1212
    nosebag1212 Posts: 621 Member
    intermittent fasting, caffeine, water, diet soda, sugar free gum, fibrous veggies, psyllium husks

    all effective tools that help with controlling appetite
  • mumma2boyz
    mumma2boyz Posts: 109 Member
    I guess we all would need a little bit more information on your nutritional routines to really understand why you might feel hungry all the time. In my life, I have eaten 1 of 2 ways: clean and perfect (6-7 small meals a day) and horrible (1-2 giant meals a day separated by coffee coffee coffee). When I eat clean, 6-7 small meals a day - i am almost never hungry. In fact, 1/2 the time i am eating when i'm not hungry it all. But it's been 2 hours and it's time! Also, be sure you are eating foods rich with nutrients. If you eat an apple with almonds you will feel satisfied much longer than eating one of those prepackaged 100 calorie carb snacks.
  • socalkay
    socalkay Posts: 746 Member
    onmyown70 wrote: »
    I have lunch (today a potato fritta and a chocolate dessert) and I came home craving more food. I feel sleepy and just want chocolate- I'm not premenstrual, I have no explanation for it.

    The explanation is that a high-carb, high sugar meal causes high blood sugar levels which, in turn, cause high insulin release from the liver. The overload of insulin eventually leaves you feeling tired and hungry.

    Eat high protein, low carb meals and keep processed/added sugars to a minimum if you are feeling hungry all the time. There's nothing wrong with a treat now and again and, really, we all need it if this is going to work in the long run but if you are having trouble with control and hunger, do some reading about the blood sugar/insulin cycle and learn how to eat in a way that helps you succeed. The Glycemic Index is a way of scoring foods to make it easy to select foods that will help you avoid the insulin surge and crash that leaves you feeling hungry and tired.

    http://www.gisymbol.com/healthy-weight/

    http://www.gisymbol.com/about/frequently-asked-questions/

    Drink more water and I find sugarless gum helps me get past random thoughts of sweets.

  • bulbadoof
    bulbadoof Posts: 1,058 Member
    I do things that I can't eat while I'm doing.

    can't eat while singing, can't eat while drawing, can't eat while playing fighting games.
  • marjikaparji
    marjikaparji Posts: 49 Member
    I've had soooo much water and I've had a decent amount of food today at least comparably in my calorie counter. But I'm craving junk food sooo bad and really just want the craving to stop. Any suggestions.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories