I am still hungry! GGRRRR!

So I'm back doing the primal thing and I'm not sure why I still feeling hungry after eating, what I think, is a reasonable amount. Breakfast of black coffee, half a grapefruit, handful of blue berries, two slices of bacon, an egg, I drive to base, workoutand head into work with a handful of pistachios. Lots of water consumption during this time period. Lunch is a HUGE baby romaine salad with sunflower seeds, mushrooms and lite greek dressing, macadamia nut crusted tilapia, steamed zucchini and brussel sprouts with lemon juice and cracked pepper. it is now 4pm and I woke up at 5am. Is this not enough? I am very ready for dinner. Any thoughts?

Replies

  • lys617
    lys617 Posts: 51 Member
    edited January 2015
    Try eating more protein and fat and honestly there are no rules to when you have to eat. If you are hungry eat, your body is telling you it's hungry. Listen to your body.
  • Yeah, my schedule is so different day to day that only breakfast is constant. MFP is telling me I need to consume 2300 calories to lose a pound a week (I do either cardio or strength training everyday which let's me eat more). Should I be using this as more of a guide or a doctrine?
  • homesweeths
    homesweeths Posts: 792 Member
    I don't think you're eating enough fat! Try adding coconut oil, bacon, Olive oil, avocados, that sort of thing. The lite Greek dressing sounds like bad news. "Lite" dressings often have added sugar for flavor, and any oil they use is probably not healthy oil.
  • homesweeths
    homesweeths Posts: 792 Member
    Yes, and I concur with more protein needed, too. Also cut back on carbs at breakfast. Two fruit servings is likely too much. Fat will keep you satiated, protein will help keep you going, especially if you are physically active. Also, if you're just starting out again, you may be burning carbs rather than fat. You may go thru a bout of carb flu before your body starts remembering how to burn fat for fuel.
  • homesweeths
    homesweeths Posts: 792 Member
    Oh! And black coffee can rev up your metabolism so that you burn thru your fuel faster and feel hungry, or even weak and shaky. Bulletproof coffee is a better choice.
  • punchgut
    punchgut Posts: 210 Member
    What everyone else said.

    I make my own salad dressings. Olive oil and vinegar for an easy one. The rest get more difficult.

    Throw in some meat. Get some grass fed cow or lamb. Really try and hit your protein goals. Then add on fat from there. Hell, eat a tablespoon of coconut oil with breakfast. Or don't count but just eat, and depending on what your workout is you might need more.
  • SteamClutch
    SteamClutch Posts: 433 Member
    it really depends on if you are hungry then you should eat. If you are doing strength training or heavy cardio then it is always recommended that you get some extra carbs in you to help restore your muscle tissue. If you under eat too much you can damage your muscles and run into fatigue due to your body eating its own tissue to feed itself. I do not count the calories I just go by the if you are hungry eat good food, eat darker veggies because with the exception Cauliflower they are the most nutrient dense and will provide you with what your body needs, supplement with item containing good fats Avocado, Olives, fatty cuts of meat and eggs (I eat 3 to 4 a day), I make my own green salsa every few weeks and drown my eggs in them to get me the fiber and the nutrients to go along with the protein. I am seldom hungry but if I am and dinner or lunch is a ways off I will grab a handful of nuts like Macadamias or walnuts they have fat and nutrients in them.
  • cindytw
    cindytw Posts: 1,027 Member
    I would definitely say you can stand to eat more, especially at breakfast! I would definitely be hungry on that! I eat 4 slices of bacon, and 3 eggs cooked in coconut oil for a bacon and egg breakfast. If you save the fruit for after your workout it will be absorbed into the muscles better and not cause as much hunger, and try doing one serving at a time. I love fish but I tend to eat it later on because it is so low calorie and fat that it will leave you hungry sooner. What about substituting something heartier and fattier like hamburgers, turkey burgers, pork, steak, roast beef, etc? I also say lose any commercial dressings. They are bad news, even organic ones are made of soybean or canola oil and a bunch of other things we don't want. When I got up at 5am, I definitely was ready for dinner at 4pm, and the longer you are up the more you may need a snack again. Hope that helps!
  • MiRatlhed
    MiRatlhed Posts: 168 Member
    Yep more fat and protein. I eat avocados raw with salt and pepper, if you like sardines those are awesome and pack a good punch of protein and good fats. I like a sardine can and a banana after my workouts. I only eat one serving of fruit during a meal. Also use coconut, olive, avocado oils for all your cooking or good grass fed butter.

    Man I gotta try that Bulletproof coffee I see everyone talking about!

  • belle10317
    belle10317 Posts: 5 Member
    Oh my gosh I have to eat SO much more protein than that! 3 eggs at breakfast and 6 ounces of chicken or steak or whatever for both lunch or dinner.
  • I don't think you're eating enough fat! Try adding coconut oil, bacon, Olive oil, avocados, that sort of thing. The lite Greek dressing sounds like bad news. "Lite" dressings often have added sugar for flavor, and any oil they use is probably not healthy oil.
    It says it's olive oil. Pretty much olive oil, vinegar of some sort, water, spices, salt, and xanthum gum if I recall correctly.
  • Yes, and I concur with more protein needed, too. Also cut back on carbs at breakfast. Two fruit servings is likely too much. Fat will keep you satiated, protein will help keep you going, especially if you are physically active. Also, if you're just starting out again, you may be burning carbs rather than fat. You may go thru a bout of carb flu before your body starts remembering how to burn fat for fuel.

    Is the carb flu accompanied by lots of trips to the bathroom.....? (lol, sorry for too much information)
  • punchgut wrote: »
    What everyone else said.

    I make my own salad dressings. Olive oil and vinegar for an easy one. The rest get more difficult.

    Throw in some meat. Get some grass fed cow or lamb. Really try and hit your protein goals. Then add on fat from there. Hell, eat a tablespoon of coconut oil with breakfast. Or don't count but just eat, and depending on what your workout is you might need more.

    yeah, I've been snoopin on your diary and picked up a few things. what is kefir?
  • it really depends on if you are hungry then you should eat. If you are doing strength training or heavy cardio then it is always recommended that you get some extra carbs in you to help restore your muscle tissue. If you under eat too much you can damage your muscles and run into fatigue due to your body eating its own tissue to feed itself. I do not count the calories I just go by the if you are hungry eat good food, eat darker veggies because with the exception Cauliflower they are the most nutrient dense and will provide you with what your body needs, supplement with item containing good fats Avocado, Olives, fatty cuts of meat and eggs (I eat 3 to 4 a day), I make my own green salsa every few weeks and drown my eggs in them to get me the fiber and the nutrients to go along with the protein. I am seldom hungry but if I am and dinner or lunch is a ways off I will grab a handful of nuts like Macadamias or walnuts they have fat and nutrients in them.

    salsa sounds like a good idea. Is your recipe something like tomatoes, red onion, lime juice, cilatnro, serrano chile, salt to taste?
  • cindytw wrote: »
    I would definitely say you can stand to eat more, especially at breakfast! I would definitely be hungry on that! I eat 4 slices of bacon, and 3 eggs cooked in coconut oil for a bacon and egg breakfast. If you save the fruit for after your workout it will be absorbed into the muscles better and not cause as much hunger, and try doing one serving at a time. I love fish but I tend to eat it later on because it is so low calorie and fat that it will leave you hungry sooner. What about substituting something heartier and fattier like hamburgers, turkey burgers, pork, steak, roast beef, etc? I also say lose any commercial dressings. They are bad news, even organic ones are made of soybean or canola oil and a bunch of other things we don't want. When I got up at 5am, I definitely was ready for dinner at 4pm, and the longer you are up the more you may need a snack again. Hope that helps!

    Thanks Cindy. Thank you to all who have taken a moment out of their day to help me.
  • MiRatlhed wrote: »
    Yep more fat and protein. I eat avocados raw with salt and pepper, if you like sardines those are awesome and pack a good punch of protein and good fats. I like a sardine can and a banana after my workouts. I only eat one serving of fruit during a meal. Also use coconut, olive, avocado oils for all your cooking or good grass fed butter.

    Man I gotta try that Bulletproof coffee I see everyone talking about!

    Guhh. I have never been huge on packaged fish. Sadines, tuna, salmon, mackerel, herring.... I would love to get over it just for health's sake. I'll make an effort to try again. What does your ol' lady think about the breath afterwards?
  • belle10317 wrote: »
    Oh my gosh I have to eat SO much more protein than that! 3 eggs at breakfast and 6 ounces of chicken or steak or whatever for both lunch or dinner.

    oh wow. Ok. and is this for weight maintenance or weight loss? Thank you again to all who responded. It's a true blessing to have support.
  • josephine_x
    josephine_x Posts: 90 Member
    One of the ingredients in your lite dressing is spices, just an idea but MSG is often called "spices" to hide it, that can make you hungry after you've eaten
  • One of the ingredients in your lite dressing is spices, just an idea but MSG is often called "spices" to hide it, that can make you hungry after you've eaten

    yeah, that does sound a bit vague. It's like a a bag of beef jerky with the following Ingredients: food, food-like food, natural flavors. 2% or less of the following: more food. Consumer Allergy Warning: contains food. Processed in a facility where other food is made.
  • SteamClutch
    SteamClutch Posts: 433 Member
    russ8780 wrote: »
    it really depends on if you are hungry then you should eat. If you are doing strength training or heavy cardio then it is always recommended that you get some extra carbs in you to help restore your muscle tissue. If you under eat too much you can damage your muscles and run into fatigue due to your body eating its own tissue to feed itself. I do not count the calories I just go by the if you are hungry eat good food, eat darker veggies because with the exception Cauliflower they are the most nutrient dense and will provide you with what your body needs, supplement with item containing good fats Avocado, Olives, fatty cuts of meat and eggs (I eat 3 to 4 a day), I make my own green salsa every few weeks and drown my eggs in them to get me the fiber and the nutrients to go along with the protein. I am seldom hungry but if I am and dinner or lunch is a ways off I will grab a handful of nuts like Macadamias or walnuts they have fat and nutrients in them.

    salsa sounds like a good idea. Is your recipe something like tomatoes, red onion, lime juice, cilatnro, serrano chile, salt to taste?

  • SteamClutch
    SteamClutch Posts: 433 Member
    Pretty much any kind of salsa will work I make a green salsa with tomatillas and serrano peppers a touch of apple cider vinegar and onion salt and pepper etc.
  • punchgut
    punchgut Posts: 210 Member
    russ8780 wrote: »
    punchgut wrote: »
    What everyone else said.

    I make my own salad dressings. Olive oil and vinegar for an easy one. The rest get more difficult.

    Throw in some meat. Get some grass fed cow or lamb. Really try and hit your protein goals. Then add on fat from there. Hell, eat a tablespoon of coconut oil with breakfast. Or don't count but just eat, and depending on what your workout is you might need more.

    yeah, I've been snoopin on your diary and picked up a few things. what is kefir?

    Hey russ8780 -- A couple of things: 1) When eating higher fat and lower carbohydrate, you will initially shed a lot of water weight, and go pee a lot. When you eat higher on the carbohydrate scale your body has to retain more water. It is tied up in the insulin response and how fat storage works. Long biochemical story. 2) Kefir is a fermented (usually) dairy product. You can purchase at most health stores or you can make your own by picking up kefir grains. If you can find an active WAPF group in your area they will usually have access to this and raw milk if you are doing dairy. Right now, I've switched to making my kefir out of coconut milk because I'm starting to limit my dairy intake. Kefir, unlike yogurt, is a super dose of probiotics. Yogurt might measure in the 100k units of bacteria, whereas a little bit of kefir will measure in the 100's of millions units of bacteria. Yogurt is one strain, kefir is 60-200 different strains. It is one of the best probiotic sources and only good source from dairy that can help reestablish a healthy gut microbiome. Other sources are fermented vegetables and finding farm fresh vegetables from a source you trust to eat without washing. If you can find or produce carrots yourself and eat them straight from the ground with a little dirt on them, that's a good thing; but be careful here. One farmer not using a good source of fertilizer (poop) can cause a lot of problems (listeria, e-coli, etc.).

  • homesweeths
    homesweeths Posts: 792 Member
    russ8780 wrote: »
    Yes, and I concur with more protein needed, too. Also cut back on carbs at breakfast. Two fruit servings is likely too much. Fat will keep you satiated, protein will help keep you going, especially if you are physically active. Also, if you're just starting out again, you may be burning carbs rather than fat. You may go thru a bout of carb flu before your body starts remembering how to burn fat for fuel.

    Is the carb flu accompanied by lots of trips to the bathroom.....? (lol, sorry for too much information)

    To my understanding, (don't remember completely because it's been a long time), "carb flu" is something a lot of people go through when they cut out high-carb starches and sugars (grains, legumes, white potatoes for those of us on the autoimmune protocol, "gluten free" products that are high in carbs). You feel just awful. You can barely get out of bed, drag yourself through the day, even ache all over.

    I think the explanation is that you're starving your body of the fuel it's used to running on (carbs), and it takes time for your body to switch over to burning fats instead. And then, suddenly, one day you wake up feeling refreshed and full of energy -- your body has made the switch.

    I used to have to eat every two hours or I'd get woozy. That was when my body was burning carbs for fuel. You burn through carbs quickly -- they don't stay with you. Fat-adapted, I can eat and then be fine for more than 24 hours, though I don't make a practice of it. No light-headedness, not even hunger.
  • punchgut wrote: »
    russ8780 wrote: »
    punchgut wrote: »
    What everyone else said.

    I make my own salad dressings. Olive oil and vinegar for an easy one. The rest get more difficult.

    Throw in some meat. Get some grass fed cow or lamb. Really try and hit your protein goals. Then add on fat from there. Hell, eat a tablespoon of coconut oil with breakfast. Or don't count but just eat, and depending on what your workout is you might need more.

    yeah, I've been snoopin on your diary and picked up a few things. what is kefir?

    Hey russ8780 -- A couple of things: 1) When eating higher fat and lower carbohydrate, you will initially shed a lot of water weight, and go pee a lot. When you eat higher on the carbohydrate scale your body has to retain more water. It is tied up in the insulin response and how fat storage works. Long biochemical story. 2) Kefir is a fermented (usually) dairy product. You can purchase at most health stores or you can make your own by picking up kefir grains. If you can find an active WAPF group in your area they will usually have access to this and raw milk if you are doing dairy. Right now, I've switched to making my kefir out of coconut milk because I'm starting to limit my dairy intake. Kefir, unlike yogurt, is a super dose of probiotics. Yogurt might measure in the 100k units of bacteria, whereas a little bit of kefir will measure in the 100's of millions units of bacteria. Yogurt is one strain, kefir is 60-200 different strains. It is one of the best probiotic sources and only good source from dairy that can help reestablish a healthy gut microbiome. Other sources are fermented vegetables and finding farm fresh vegetables from a source you trust to eat without washing. If you can find or produce carrots yourself and eat them straight from the ground with a little dirt on them, that's a good thing; but be careful here. One farmer not using a good source of fertilizer (poop) can cause a lot of problems (listeria, e-coli, etc.).

    Wow. I had never heard of kefir. Are kefir grains sort of on the bad list for primal/paleo (just because you call them "grains")? I know I could google all of this, but we do that too much these days. Also, have you met the goals you intended by going primal? And can you see my diary? I could use some tips. I try to barcode scan what I can, but most items are homemade. Thanks, Punch
    -Russ
  • russ8780 wrote: »
    Yes, and I concur with more protein needed, too. Also cut back on carbs at breakfast. Two fruit servings is likely too much. Fat will keep you satiated, protein will help keep you going, especially if you are physically active. Also, if you're just starting out again, you may be burning carbs rather than fat. You may go thru a bout of carb flu before your body starts remembering how to burn fat for fuel.

    Is the carb flu accompanied by lots of trips to the bathroom.....? (lol, sorry for too much information)

    To my understanding, (don't remember completely because it's been a long time), "carb flu" is something a lot of people go through when they cut out high-carb starches and sugars (grains, legumes, white potatoes for those of us on the autoimmune protocol, "gluten free" products that are high in carbs). You feel just awful. You can barely get out of bed, drag yourself through the day, even ache all over.

    I think the explanation is that you're starving your body of the fuel it's used to running on (carbs), and it takes time for your body to switch over to burning fats instead. And then, suddenly, one day you wake up feeling refreshed and full of energy -- your body has made the switch.

    I used to have to eat every two hours or I'd get woozy. That was when my body was burning carbs for fuel. You burn through carbs quickly -- they don't stay with you. Fat-adapted, I can eat and then be fine for more than 24 hours, though I don't make a practice of it. No light-headedness, not even hunger.

    I did not know about this and did not experience it at all. I feel for those who are so dependent on carbs that they withdrawal. I have become quite regular though (not sure why they call it that because this is an abnormal number of bathroom breaks). I'm wondering if it is the massive amounts of veggies sort of eroding at the build up lining my GI.
    I also feel a bit woozy if I don't have something to nibble on every few hours or so. When I get up in the morning I am famished!!! The first thing I do is turn on the skillet and cook a couple eggs. I moved the fruit to after my workouts as well. I forget who recommended this, but i'm giving it a try. Thanks, homesweeths
  • homesweeths
    homesweeths Posts: 792 Member
    Because of our dairy allergies, we make water kefir. The "grains" look a little like grains of rice, but there's no grain involved, it's all looks. The grains are actually symbiotes of yeast and bacteria that work together to digest sugar and minerals and give off probiotics, vitamins, and carbonation (and a little alcohol). Pretty cool. Start with sugar water and kefir grains, and a day or two later nearly all the sugar is gone and you have this incredible probiotic fizzy drink.
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
    More fat. Skip the "lite" products. That's a pretty small breakfast too. More eggs and bacon. Listen to your body, which is easy to do if you are eating healthy foods and not too much sugar/carbs. Eat what your body needs, not the tiny portions that you learned were "enough" in the past.

    If you are NEEDING to eat so frequently you might benefit from a lower carb/sugar lifestyle as already mentioned.
  • punchgut
    punchgut Posts: 210 Member
    [/quote]

    Wow. I had never heard of kefir. Are kefir grains sort of on the bad list for primal/paleo (just because you call them "grains")? I know I could google all of this, but we do that too much these days. Also, have you met the goals you intended by going primal? And can you see my diary? I could use some tips. I try to barcode scan what I can, but most items are homemade. Thanks, Punch
    -Russ[/quote]

    Russ-

    Kefir is high on the approved list of primal/paleo. In the primal world, if you're going to consume dairy make it grass fed raw dairy with a preference for fermented dairy. The term "grains" when talking about kefir grains has to do with their appearance. They contain no grass seeds or the like. Kefir grains look similar to cottage cheese or the tops of cauliflower, but they are a collection of symbiotic bacteria and yeast inside a protective polysaccharide shell. When I make dairy kefir that is fully thumbs up primal, and the coconut kefir would be fully acceptable in the paleo world. Even the paleo world is warming up to fermented dairy, if you can tolerate dairy, due to the many health benefits.

    I'll try to fit in your diary soon.

  • MiRatlhed
    MiRatlhed Posts: 168 Member
    russ8780 wrote: »
    Guhh. I have never been huge on packaged fish. Sadines, tuna, salmon, mackerel, herring.... I would love to get over it just for health's sake. I'll make an effort to try again. What does your ol' lady think about the breath afterwards?

    Oh trust me I brush before bedtime........haha