Always hungry and no willpower..

Yes I can relate to that. For me, a high protein/fat/fiber diet is the most satisfying.
If you open your diary we could comment better for you.
Do you weigh your food on a scale? Do you log diligently? Those are very important habits to see what works best for you. Don't be discouraged, what you are experiencing is nothing unusual. But dieting doesn't have to make you crazy, you can get a productive pattern going for yourself.

These are my really general tips for hunger:

1. Make sure that your calorie goals are actually set appropriately. Don't skip this step. A lot of people set goals that are too aggressive and then wonder why they're having a hard time. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

2. Look for foods higher in protein, fat, and fiber. These help us stay full and more satisfied longer. If you're using MFP's default settings, try to consider protein, fat, and fiber as minimums to reach every day rather than maximums to stay below.

3. Drink plenty of fluids. Some people really do confuse thirst and hunger.

4. Get plenty of rest. This includes sleeping enough and taking rest days from the exercise. Sometimes our bodies look for food when they're exhausted.

5. Play around with your meal timings. Some people do really well on 5-6 small meals a day and others feel like they want to gnaw their own arm off eating like that. Skipping breakfast, eating breakfast, 16:8 fasting, 6 small meals, 3 larger meals, snacks, no snacks, meal timing won't make a big difference to your weight loss, but it may help your hunger levels, mood, concentration, gym performance, etc. throughout the day. Don't be afraid to try a different way and see if it helps.

6. Wait it out. If you know you're eating enough and the other steps above aren't helping, you may just have to wait it out. Our bodies send out hunger signals partially out of habit. If you eat at a certain time every day your body will start to get hungry at that time. The good news is that these signals can be retrained to stop telling you to be hungry all the time. The bad news is that you may just have to be hungry for a little bit while that happens.

7. I also think it's important to remember that there's a habitual component to hunger. This goes along with point #6, but if you eat because you're bored or you're used to eating in front of the TV or in the car or whatever it is, then you can replace those habits with others that are better for you. Things like keeping water on hand to sip instead of snacking or picking up hobbies that keep your hands busy or that get you out of the house more can help out a little while you're retraining your hunger cues. You might need to pay attention to why you're eating/hungry or what you're feeling when you eat and try to replace food with other things, but it can be really beneficial over time.

diannethegeek wrote: »

These are my really general tips for hunger:

1. Make sure that your calorie goals are actually set appropriately. Don't skip this step. A lot of people set goals that are too aggressive and then wonder why they're having a hard time. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

2. Look for foods higher in protein, fat, and fiber. These help us stay full and more satisfied longer. If you're using MFP's default settings, try to consider protein, fat, and fiber as minimums to reach every day rather than maximums to stay below.

3. Drink plenty of fluids. Some people really do confuse thirst and hunger.

4. Get plenty of rest. This includes sleeping enough and taking rest days from the exercise. Sometimes our bodies look for food when they're exhausted.

5. Play around with your meal timings. Some people do really well on 5-6 small meals a day and others feel like they want to gnaw their own arm off eating like that. Skipping breakfast, eating breakfast, 16:8 fasting, 6 small meals, 3 larger meals, snacks, no snacks, meal timing won't make a big difference to your weight loss, but it may help your hunger levels, mood, concentration, gym performance, etc. throughout the day. Don't be afraid to try a different way and see if it helps.

6. Wait it out. If you know you're eating enough and the other steps above aren't helping, you may just have to wait it out. Our bodies send out hunger signals partially out of habit. If you eat at a certain time every day your body will start to get hungry at that time. The good news is that these signals can be retrained to stop telling you to be hungry all the time. The bad news is that you may just have to be hungry for a little bit while that happens.

7. I also think it's important to remember that there's a habitual component to hunger. This goes along with point #6, but if you eat because you're bored or you're used to eating in front of the TV or in the car or whatever it is, then you can replace those habits with others that are better for you. Things like keeping water on hand to sip instead of snacking or picking up hobbies that keep your hands busy or that get you out of the house more can help out a little while you're retraining your hunger cues. You might need to pay attention to why you're eating/hungry or what you're feeling when you eat and try to replace food with other things, but it can be really beneficial over time.

Great advice here. *high fives*

I would suggest 24g of protein minimum per meal to help ease post meal hunger and reduce your sugar intake if you are consuming more than 48 grams per day. Finally, eat all the vegetables you can and drink lots of water. Hope that helps!

I love eating apples and celery with a tablespoon of almond butter. The hardest thing for me is to stay motivated after a couple of days. I blow it all the time. But all we can do is try!

Just joined but GREAT advice and encouragement!!!!

I also suggest getting the junk food out of the house I get the munchies at night too but it's pretty hard to go crazy and overboard when your kitchen and pantry are stocked with veggies and healthy items! I know that if I had a box of cookies or a bag of Doritos..they would be staring at me and tempting me and I would be having way more than one serving - so I just keep those things out of my house!

Why do you give up and eat junk food? Why not give up and eat healthy food? Or a little of both?

It seems like you may be making it too difficult by making your food choices too strict or cutting calories too far. If you really want a lifestyle change, think about how you want to (and realistically will) eat for the rest of your life. If you like junk food, then allow room for it now and then.

Even if your goal is to never eat junk food then I'd suggest cutting down a little at a time. It's easier than cold turkey.

I'm going to be so honest with you. I don't know how overweight you are, but I was VERY overweight when I began my journey. 315 lbs, and 130-160 was the recommended range by my doctor. The heavier you are and the longer you've been heavy, the harder it is to conquer appetite and re-gain a healthy relationship with food. Over time you can build up a resistance to the hormone your body uses to signal that it's full, meaning that you never, ever really feel full until you rehabilitate it. For me, this went away after about 4 months or so, but the first few months are excruciating.
For me, I was not used to feeling physiological hunger and it felt like torture the first few times I was feeling it. I felt like I was dying. I got headaches, shakes, fatigue, mood swings, aches and pains, you name it. Not everyone gets this- but some do, and that was starting out at 2200 calories/day. My body did NOT like breaking its addiction to certain foods, caffeine, and sugar. I was totally addicted to foods I later discovered I had an allergy to. (For example, I couldn't give up cheese and it was responsible for tons of calories daily. I also LOVED milk. But, I had acid reflux and IBS (or so I thought). Finally a doc tested me for lactose intolerance, and what do you know? I stopped dairy and immediately felt better and lost weight.) Sometimes the foods our bodies react badly to are the ones we're kind of addicted to.
For me, I also had to conquer a mental barrier. Few people recognize that binge eating disorder is a real thing and it's a real monster. People don't tend to treat food addiction like a real addiction either and just poor a really bad stigma on people who are overweight. No one ever looks at a big person and sees it as a disease for some as real as alcohol or drug abuse, but it can be. This was the hardest part. I wasn't always hungry, but my head was. Getting a handle on the addiction to eating, finding other coping mechanisms and hobbies instead of eating, and finding other ways to feel happy outside of eating were tough for me.

Some people will give you really simple advice, like "watch your sugar because if you spike your blood glucose, you'll crash after and feel ravenous when it drops back down." It's good advice. If you're like me though, the advice has to be more real than that. The battle may be in your head, and your body might be in full-scale rebellion against losing weight, but the first weeks/months are the hardest. I spent nights crying on the floor in front of the fridge in full crisis mode because I wanted to eat (mentally needed to eat) and had to battle myself. The struggle is real. For me, a doctor prescribed an appetite suppressant to get me through the really hard months. That might help, and don't be ashamed to ask your doctor for help. If they're one of the many who shrug it off and tell you that pill won't help, only working harder will, get a new doctor. If you don't have insurance or a GP, you can find a weight loss clinic in your area that has flat fees.

If none of this applied to you- forgive me for the super long post. I just have to say it sometimes because I think there are some people who this does apply to and I always hope they'll see it and know it's totally ok for it to be harder for them than everyone else makes it seem.