What to eat to cope with incredible hunger?

Beef jerky is my go to. 40 calories a serving.

Review your diary (and your memory) and look for patterns that involve the days where you're more hungry. Some things to think about:

• Enough sleep? Good sleep quality, or no?
• Macros different that day (especially protein/fat, which many people find satiating), or the day before?
• More or less fiber that day, or the day before?
• More carbs or sugar (they make some people crave-y)?
• Did you do extra exercise or get extra activity that day or the day before?
• How has your hydration been from water, other beverages, or water-containing foods?
• Is there something different in the timing of your eating (calories, or macros), such as more/less that morning, the previous night, etc.?
• More/less stress than usual?
• More or fewer calories than usual the day before?
• Later or earlier eating the night before?
• etc.

If you can find a pattern, you can make a change. If you don't immediately see a pattern, consider experimenting with some of those variables to see if it makes a difference. Perhaps making some notes (in the notes section of your MFP diary) about issues like sleep quality or stress, or time of day for each meal if that varies, might help you identify patterns as you go forward.

Greek yogurt works for me too with crushed walnuts and a little honey or jam. Oatmeal satisfies me too, I add mashed banana as sugar only makes me more hungry.

wortn wrote: »

biggsterjackster wrote: »

On days like this I eat a lot of eggs throughout the day.

I love eggs, but scared of all the cholesterol.

Funny thing, my cholesterol is really good. Just had a blood check done.

I find that high-fiber really helps. Enjoying my fats, which are satiating. Protein with a little carb. Avocado is a fantastic choice if you have the calories (and not allergic) because it contains so much fiber and has that satiating fat. Personally, if I start my day with "Nature's Path - Flax Plus Raisin Bran", there is so much fiber in that meal that I cruise all day like I'm not even dieting.

Good ideas about distracting yourself in case it's boredom and waiting it out a little. Some days are just harder than others.

Apples!!!!

Liquids first, eat slowly. After at least 20 minutes or more have a single serve meal then have some more water.

I’m going to assume that you are eating enough to meet your BMR and that you aren’t dieting so hard that you are truly physically hungry. If you are, then ease up on your dieting and take it a little slower with a smaller deficit.
If not, then I found it useful to make a little flow chart for myself to look at what was causing my hunger. I explored my own personal mental and physical hunger types and triggers for those.
Triggers;

• See it
• Smell it
• Feeling cold
• Emotional (happy/sad/stressed)
• Hedonic Memory (knowing it tastes good/cravings)
• Cultural (not wasting food, accepting food to be polite, specific events you relate to food)

I also looked up information about the difference between your stomach growling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stomach_rumble, so it sounds noisy around 2 hours after you’ve eaten as there is no food to dampen the noise that it makes all the time. This is different from hunger pangs that kick in 12 to 24 hours after the last time you ate. A single hunger contraction lasts about 30 seconds, and pangs continue for around 30 to 45 minutes, then hunger subsides for another 30 to 150 minutes.
By thinking about it this way I was able to separate when I actually needed a 200 cal snack to stop REAL hunger pangs and when it was my tummy rumbling or I just could smell food cooking etc.

Honestly, if you have eaten enough calories and still hungry, I'd do something else. Clean the house, go for a walk, go to the library, etc. PPs have good suggestions of satiating foods, but if you are "hungry" out of boredom or comfort or whatever (I get this way a lot!) it's best to redirect yourself.