How do you cope with "hanger" while trying to lose weight?

I like your analogy on the hungry anger... A lot of people here on MFP deal with this differently and have a lot of different things to say on this..

I do and have dealt with this. For example, I exercise a good bit and I had to learn how to eat right in order to keep with the way I exercise.

1) You listen to the hunger pangs and try to identity true hunger or maybe your are thirsty. I try to drink water and see if the pang goes a away. 90% of the time I just needed to drink.

2) I drink a lot of water through out the day. Almost half a gallon a day. But you can (I do) over drink water and retain a lot because of exercise so drink modestly.

3) Eat something calorie dense like veggies (carrots, celery - with a dip or no dip) and see if you can subside some hunger with filling up on this.

4) If after all of this, you may need to entertain the idea your body is needing you to refuel with some calories with a protein snack or small meal..

Listen to your body (true hunger) and feed it when needed. You have to evaluate your relationship to food as well (are you eating for true hunger, emotional eating), etc..

You may need to adjust your daily calories if you are truly not getting enough nutrition and remember it takes true discipline to not eat the way your used to if you REALLY WANT to loose weight and make a life style change, then you will start to learn to work around the hunger -- IT DOES GO A WAY in about three to four weeks on a new diet/new way of eating.

Start here and see if you can find some tips:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

I eat a high fat diet between 1300-1600 cal. Rarely have hunger pains and never hanger...which is why I do it. I HATE feeling hungry.

Maybe your weight loss goal is too aggressive.

I try never to be hungry. I eat three meals and 2-3 snacks. I eat in a way that I don't feel either hungry,or that icky sour stomach low blood sugar thing. I eat enough. When I was losing, I ate enough. Maybe I lost more slowly, but I was happy and comfortable. THAT was key for me.

queenliz99 wrote: »

Maybe your weight loss goal is too aggressive.

one_fit_cookie wrote: »

How I deal with being hangry: I eat more food and become more active.

Both of these. If you're feeling hangry on a consistent basis and not once in a while, you need to re-evaluate your goals. Eat more and exercise more.

Chew everyone's head off. Win.

Truthfully - when I keep my carbs down (I'm not paleo or keto or anything like that - not I judge anyone who chooses that) but when I keep the refined stuff to a minimum and eat things like a big salad with chicken and egg for lunch, it helps. I eat greek yogurt as a snack. Fruits do nothing for me. I incorporate them into my diet, but to snack on an apple does nothing for my hunger. I find protein and as someone else said, a healthy amount of fat, keeps hunger at bay. Also, plenty of sleep (with an infant - that may be tough ) At night, I do go to bed early because I tend to make better food choices the next day and it keeps me out of the kitchen eating my kids' oreos.

Exercise lifts a foul mood. It also lets you eat more.

If you're always hungry when losing weight... you're doing it wrong. I mean yes, it happens to me, but it's typically hormonal hunger, and then I pretty much have to eat or I'm going to throw up/pass out, otherwise I'm almost never hungry (although if anything, it's worse now that I'm pretty much at my goal weight, than it was when I was losing).

So... eat less carbs (go for fiber when you eat them), more protein, more fats, a lot of veggies, and exercise so you can eat more.

TavistockToad wrote: »

pink_mint wrote: »

(Hanger = hungry anger)

It looks like the only way I can be successful at weight loss, at this time anyway, is to eat within a range that leaves me in a foul mood at all times. Do others experience this? How do you deal with it? Do you get used to it?

I don't like feeling irritable all the time, but if I eat enough to feel ok I can't lose any of these at least 30 lbs I need to lose.

figure out how to eat as much as you can and still lose weight, even if its only sloooooooooooow.

That's how you do it...

You shouldn't be hungry all the time...losing weight doesn't have to be painful. I would also suggest eating more satiating foods...get plenty of protein and a fair amount of dietary fat and high fiber carbs.

This is what works for me: drinking a lot of water, herbal tea, coffee. Playing a pind with protein/ fat/ carb ratios (40-30-30 works best for me). Stacking my calories for those times of day when I have less emotional reserve - for example I eat less yen distracted at work to save calories for dinner/ nighttime snacking. If I'm not at least a little bit hungry I know I'm not in a deficit because I don't lose weight. However if I am pretty hungry (but not losing it) right before linch, dinner and when I wake up in the am, then I know I will lose weight. I also find that lots of small meals and snacks don't work for me. Each leaves me u satisfied and wanting more whereas if I wait and experience a bit of hunger I can have a larger more satisfying meal later.

In summary, it's a learning process. Play around with calorie goals, macros and meal timing and you will find out what works for you. Don't look at this time period of eating and being hungry and not losin weight as failure. You are learning important things that will eventually get you to your goal as long as you don't give up

find ways to make your meals more satisfying (higher fat, protein and high fiber carbs as someone else said) and experiment a bit. Find ways to incorporate food you like. if you're not enjoying your journey you'll be looking for the end point, going back to old ways and re-gaining weight. Experiment til you find ways and means of keeping within cals that you enjoy