I'm always HUNGRY

mebena81 · June 2016

I work out 3 to 4 days a week. I get so hungry at night mostly and I have no will power.: (

reannaaliza · June 2016

I have the same problem with getting hungry and night and losing control!! Right now I'm aiming to go to bed earlier so that I'm not awake during the time this usually happens. Another thing I do to curb hunger at night is drink tea! That with a glass of water seems to fill me up and do the trick

mebena81 · June 2016

I'm glad to know I'm not alone lol! That's a good idea. I will try this. Thanks for responding

diannethegeek · June 2016

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.

mebena81 · June 2016

Those are awesome tips. Thank you

12Sarah2015 · June 2016

Google low Gi foods

tulips_and_tea · June 2016

Great suggestions already given. First step, are you actually hungry? Or do you eat at night due to habit and/or boredom? IF you are truly hungry then try the tips given above.

Marycycles · June 2016

I recommend more exercise and yes eat all those extra calories. I also recommend not wasting them on junk food that doesn't fill you up. Nobody can maintain a lifestyle that is going to leave you hungry every night.

mickey2942 · June 2016

Hard boiled eggs. They are always in my fridge. If I am starving hungry, I pop one, with a large glass of water. An egg is the perfect portion, protein, fat, no carbs, quick and easy, and endlessly versatile, have it with Siracha, or mustard, or dill, zatar...and it is very satisfying.

ThickJoker · June 2016

I've been calorie counting for 100+ days now..
I've lost 45 lbs....

I'm still always hungry... I kinda just accepted I'll never not be hungry honestly...
Nothing makes me NOT "hungry"... more water I'm still hungry but now I know I need to pee in 4 minutes.

Changing what and when I eat, I'm still hungry due to the amount I ate.
I've always got that just subtle stomach is gonna low key growl any second feeling.

I just try to ignore it best I can.

It's not like I'm under-intaking myself, if anything I'm usually off and over by a little... I'm just still hungry.

heroldj04 · June 2016

Have you ever looked into a High carb low fat vegan diet? Everyone is afraid of carbs and I was there too. But in reality, fat stays fat and carbs are energy to fuel your brain and body. They satisfy and calm your hunger. Maybe try eating healthy night snacks such as dried fruits- then you could work downward to not eating night snacks! My main meals are made up of rice, beans, lentils, veggies etc. It fills me up so much and they're mostly high in protein! Don't give up (:

jlahorn · June 2016

@diannethegeek's tips are all excellent, and have all helped me with my hunger issues. Even after implementing pretty much all of them, I was still waking up in the middle of the night starving until I added:

8) drink 4 oz of water with water-soluble fiber like Benefiber or Optifiber before bed. For me, that's just enough water that I don't have to get up in the middle of the night to pee

Now I sleep through the night and don't even wake up that hungry.

I also find that multivitamins make me slightly nauseated, so I'll take those sometimes when I'm hungry and the nausea makes the hunger go away. Depending on your priorities, this may or may not be an approach that other people want to try

cariduttry · June 2016

@ThickJoker i am the same way...i could NEVER not eat. i'm always some shade of hungry. i drink tons of water and it really does help, but yeah, still hungry.

peckish i can (have learned to) deal with; han*gry i cannot. for me, it's all about preventing han*gry.

Wicked_Seraph · June 2016

mebena81 wrote: »

I work out 3 to 4 days a week. I get so hungry at night mostly and I have no will power.: (

How aggressive is your calorie goal? If you're used to eating 3000+ calories a day, it may not be a good idea to immediately set your calorie goal to 1200cal/day right off the bat.

@diannethegeek gave some excellent advice, OP - please be sure to read her post.

From personal experience, upping my fluid intake is super helpful. Whereas I used to always assume I was hungry... nowadays I realize that I'm probably a bit thirsty since I'm now accustomed to drinking all the time.

I skip breakfast and either have a very small lunch, or none. I bank all my calories on dinner, and enjoy a large, awesome portion that fits my calories. I find that I'm never hungry in the morning and my hunger around lunch is generally minimal and easily ignored. If you're eating several small meals a day, it may be worth seeing if alternating your eating schedule helps.

Part of what I found difficult was mental/emotional hunger. I was accustomed to eating at certain times, or needing to keep my mouth engaged if I was doing something otherwise stationary, like watching TV, playing a video game, etc. Chewing gum and drinking water are excellent substitutes for those times that you may feel compelled to eat out of boredom or just needing something to do.

If you gotta snack, pick low-cal, filling snacks. I'm very partial to flavored rice cakes, popcorn, pickles, etc.

happygalah · June 2016

Sometimes it's mental rather than really being hungry. I retrained my brain first by telling myself it's OK to feel hungry then by deliberately skipping a meal once in awhile to evaluate the emotions I was feeling. I learned that I would be OK and wasn't going to starve not to constantly have something in my mouth. I learned to soothe my emotions in other ways. Just something to think about.

illyich · June 2016

Protein & Fiber. Get 30g of fiber in your day and 30% cals from protein and that can fix a lot. I'm a black hole for food but after switching to this I sometimes dread lunchtime because I'm just not hungry.

mebena81 · June 2016

Wow! These are ALL AWESOME tips. Thanks everyone for responding. I've been trying the benefiber in water and tea at night. Also waiting 20 mins after eating to decide if I'm really hungry again. I think it's all mental for me. It's self satisfaction eating. Im a work in progress. I WON'T give up. Thanks again!

mrsgoss · June 2016

So glad I stumbled on this thread! Great tips for me as I struggle with this as well and just getting into the swings of things into my second week.

dykask · June 2016

A couple years ago when I dropped about 13kg, hunger was a major issue. I tried all the tips I could find, nothing really worked and I just suffered. Finally, I sort of gave up on the calorie deficit and focused more on building lean body mass. I kept my meals about the same, I just added snacks and sometimes deserts to not be hungry. My most common snack was peanuts.

Anyway I'm back to dropping now and mainly I just dropped the snacks and deserts. I'm slightly hungry but it isn't anything like before. I've also made some changes to my workout to push up the calories consumed but it isn't killing me this time. Also things that didn't work before are working now, like drinking a black coffee.

I'm not recommending plateauing for 2 years like I did. However maybe ease off the deficit a bit and focus more on other aspects might help. In my case, working out suppresses hunger for a while. Maybe the fact I can workout harder now helps. I'm not completely sure. I'm just happy I'm don't have the horrible hunger anymore. It is also possible that the consistent workouts have helped my body responded better.

My weight is dropping slowly now, but I'm really happy because I'm seeing a slow increase in my lean body weight and my body fat is dropping. This is what I was trying to do a few years ago. I guess my body is just finally ready to do it.

dykask · June 2016

happygalah wrote: »

Sometimes it's mental rather than really being hungry. I retrained my brain first by telling myself it's OK to feel hungry then by deliberately skipping a meal once in awhile to evaluate the emotions I was feeling. I learned that I would be OK and wasn't going to starve not to constantly have something in my mouth. I learned to soothe my emotions in other ways. Just something to think about.

Wow! You are really tough!

mickey2942 · June 2016

That is true. I am hungry. I am eating a lot less food than I used to eat. That is the way it is. I am in training, to accept feeling hunger, and feeling lighter. I no longer have that stuffed feeling. No more 2nd, and 3rd helpings, and go back for midnight snacks.

I can eat as much celery, spinach, and hard boiled eggs...as much as I want...I always have those foods available. Five stalks of celery, my mouth craving is over. I put all kinds of crazy seasoning on celery, that satisfies my "taste" hunger. The other day I had cinnamon and Splenda celery! Very cool.

I'm always HUNGRY

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