I Don't Feel Full After Eating and Drinking!

Hey guys, I was just wondering if you could give me some ideas and support about what I’m going through. It feels like no matter what I’m eating, I’m not getting full. I ate THREE scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast for breakfast at around 7:30 am. By 10:00 am, I was HUNGRY AGAIN! This is madness! Eggs are filled with protein and whole wheat toast has fiber, so I figured it would keep me feeling full longer. NOPE! I would like to also include that I have drank three bottles of water after eating and it’s like the water doesn’t help me feel full either. Also, I am starting to feel ravenously hungry at night when it’s time for bed, or I wake up in the night and eat. This is really interfering with my life and my wish to lose weight. I don’t know what to do! Please help! :'(
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Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    what are your stats and how many cals are you eating per day?

    there's a difference between being full and having eaten enough... you can have eaten enough without feeling stuffed.
  • SingingSingleTracker
    SingingSingleTracker Posts: 1,866 Member
    Hey guys, I was just wondering if you could give me some ideas and support about what I’m going through. It feels like no matter what I’m eating, I’m not getting full. I ate THREE scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast for breakfast at around 7:30 am. By 10:00 am, I was HUNGRY AGAIN! This is madness! Eggs are filled with protein and whole wheat toast has fiber, so I figured it would keep me feeling full longer. NOPE! I would like to also include that I have drank three bottles of water after eating and it’s like the water doesn’t help me feel full either. Also, I am starting to feel ravenously hungry at night when it’s time for bed, or I wake up in the night and eat. This is really interfering with my life and my wish to lose weight. I don’t know what to do! Please help! :'(

    Coffee!
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    Option 1: suffer through it.
    Option 2: experiment and find foods that you find more filling that still meet caloric goals.
    Option 3: nicotine gum.
    Option 4: EC stack.
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
    Is your weight loss goals per week too extreme? What is your goal per week? If it's too much, then your body can go into starvation mode.

    Hunger also has a physical and mental component. I used to be bulimic, and I remember well that I felt mentally hungry, even though physically I could not have been. What I was craving was mental and spiritual "fullness". For me, distraction was a big key. The urge to eat usually lasts no more than 20 minutes or so. I found what worked best for me was to get out of the house (and food), go for a 30 minute walk, bike, garden, library, store--anywhere. The urge would pass.
  • DebSozo
    DebSozo Posts: 2,578 Member
    I changed my macros to be LCHF. This blunted my appetite. YMMV
  • _sacar
    _sacar Posts: 80 Member
    edited November 2016
    Are you drinking a lot of water? I sometimes have a hard time distinguishing when my body wants food, and when it wants water. But having an appetite/cravings isn't the same as hunger either!

    It could be any number of things. If you're really experiencing hunger, you might just drink a big glass of water & find something to do that will take your mind off it. The hunger will become less frequent as your body adapts.
  • ClosetBayesian
    ClosetBayesian Posts: 836 Member
    I mean the following as gently as possible:

    Are you hungry, or just not-full? When you do eat, do you know / can you distinguish between satisfied and full?

    That said, it's okay to get hungry between meals, provided you're not passing out from low blood sugar. If your blood sugar is legitimately low, eat a small snack.

    How many calories per day are you eating, roughly?
  • abitofbliss
    abitofbliss Posts: 198 Member
    Honestly, I think it is a bit 'normal' to be hungry 2.5 hours after eating. I would suggest having a snack that will fit into your daily calorie goal and as others have mentioned - Drink more water. Same thing for your night time hunger - Try to fit a filling snack into your daily calorie goal. It's OK to eat..You'll lose weight if you have a calorie deficit.

    Depending on where you are on your journey - you may just have to get used to being on lower calories for a couple of weeks....Just my experience.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    How tall are you? How much do you weigh? How many calories are you shooting for each day?

    More information is needed to give a helpful answer.
  • DebSozo
    DebSozo Posts: 2,578 Member
    If it is just cravings and not hunger, then if you push through them they tend to go away within an hour. It is unpleasant but if you divert yourself the feelings will pass.
  • CaraRahl
    CaraRahl Posts: 72 Member
    in order to be able to help you more we need more information from you. What's your height/current weight? What's your weight loss goal per week set to? What has MFP given you as a daily calorie goal? Do you log everything you put in your mouth? Do you weigh your solids on a food scale and only use measuring cups for liquids? Could you open your diary so that we can have a better idea what your days look like calorie-wise? How long have you been at this calorie goal? Basically, the more information we have to work with, the more accurate our advice can be for you
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Maybe you are one of the many people who find that eating breakfast at the traditional time just makes them more hungry. You could experiment by either skipping breakfast or eating it later so you don't have such a long wait until lunch.

    Your expectation of feeling full while in a calorie deficit to lose weight may also be optimistic - perhaps change your expectation to "not hungry" rather than full?
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Copying and pasting from your other thread:

    How much are you eating in total and how are your meals usually spread out during the day. Meal timing doesn't matter for weight loss but different people feel better arranging meals in different ways and eating different quantities at different times.

    My breakfast is usually something like 2-3 eggs plus 1-2 slices of toast plus 100-200 grams of fruit plus 8 oz of whole milk plus coffee. I also drink around 24 oz of water about an hour or so before that. If I ate just 3 eggs and toast I would be hungry too. Other people may read my breakfast list and think they'd get sick from eating that much. You really have to experiment and find what works for you.
  • Intentional_Me
    Intentional_Me Posts: 336 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    Maybe you are one of the many people who find that eating breakfast at the traditional time just makes them more hungry. You could experiment by either skipping breakfast or eating it later so you don't have such a long wait until lunch.

    Your expectation of feeling full while in a calorie deficit to lose weight may also be optimistic - perhaps change your expectation to "not hungry" rather than full?

    I thought this too. For whatever reason if I eat breakfast I'm ravenous all day long .
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    Maybe you are one of the many people who find that eating breakfast at the traditional time just makes them more hungry. You could experiment by either skipping breakfast or eating it later so you don't have such a long wait until lunch.

    Your expectation of feeling full while in a calorie deficit to lose weight may also be optimistic - perhaps change your expectation to "not hungry" rather than full?

    I do this. I'm not hungry until about 9:30 or 10:00, so I just don't eat breakfast until then. Then lunch around 1:00, snack around 3:00, dinner around 8:00.
  • Rebecca0224
    Rebecca0224 Posts: 810 Member
    Have you tried eating small meals more often? That is what I do because even if I eat a large meal I will be hungry two or three hours later and need atleast a snack
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    Hey guys, I was just wondering if you could give me some ideas and support about what I’m going through. It feels like no matter what I’m eating, I’m not getting full. I ate THREE scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast for breakfast at around 7:30 am. By 10:00 am, I was HUNGRY AGAIN! This is madness! Eggs are filled with protein and whole wheat toast has fiber, so I figured it would keep me feeling full longer. NOPE! I would like to also include that I have drank three bottles of water after eating and it’s like the water doesn’t help me feel full either. Also, I am starting to feel ravenously hungry at night when it’s time for bed, or I wake up in the night and eat. This is really interfering with my life and my wish to lose weight. I don’t know what to do! Please help! :'(

    What is your calorie goal and how many calories are you eating?
    What rate of loss are you going for? Your goal may be too agressive.
    How much protein, fats and fiber are in your breakfast? You may need to play with the amounts to find what is satisfying.
    Whole wheat toast isn't necessarily tons of fiber. You could add vegetables to your breakfast. You don't mention fats. That may be an area to increase. Maybe avocado on your toast. Some people really like that.
    It is normal for me to be hungry every 3-5 hours. I don't find eggs as filling as a sandwich or cottage cheese for breakfast but I expect I will start getting hungry in that time period.
    Plan a small morning snack for 9-10 AM. Maybe some fruit or vegetables.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    Most people don't know what real hunger is! My tips would be coffee, lots of water and maybe try delaying breakfast till your 11:00 meal.
  • jlahorn
    jlahorn Posts: 377 Member
    I have a similar problem - unless I eat more than my calorie goals permit, I am hungry pretty much constantly. I have been managing this for the last 3+ years by:

    - eating plenty of protein, healthy fats, and fiber, of course
    - spreading my calories out over the day. I rarely go more than 2.5 hours without eating something - apple, veggies, 10 almonds, etc.
    - drinking coffee and tea
    - chewing sugar-free gum
    - taking vitamin supplements mid-morning. They make me slightly nauseated so they're a decent appetite suppressant.
    - drinking some water with Optifiber mixed in at night before bed. Helps keep me from waking up starving in the middle of the night.

    This still doesn't really fix my perma-hunger, but it does make it more-or-less manageable.

    Hope some of these help.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    There's not much fat in that breakfast either, so you could put a bit of butter on the toast. And add volume with some veggies, mushrooms and spinach and onion perhaps? Very little calorie impact.

    And then of course all the other suggestions! My one or two mugs of coffee fill my breakfast hunger gap pretty well.
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
    I think it's quite normal to be hungry after 3.5hrs. Or it is in my world. I try and eat light every 2-3hrs so I'm never hungry.

    Also, just a tip, something to think about, if I have ANY grain, carb, etc for breakfast I'm hungry earlier than if I just had eggs and bacon. When I started I had oatmeal, but I found I was ravenous and not for heathly things way earlier than if I just ate straight fat/protein. It's something I noticed about me.
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,492 Member
    I always get hungry 2-3hours after eating. That is why I cannot eat breakfast or else I am ravenous throughout the day.
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    It's pretty normal - I eat every 2 or 3 hours because I'm eating small low calorie meals and that's just the eating schedule that works for me. Have breakfast at 7:30, eat a protein bar at 10:00, then have lunch at noon. Stop stressing and eat lower calorie meals and more snacks- done.
  • hollyrayburn
    hollyrayburn Posts: 905 Member
    Yeah, I'd eat breakfast later. I ate right when I got to work at 0700. Protein filled Greek yogurt and some beef jerky (weird combo but I need to reach protein goals. I normally eat at 1130 for lunch. By 0920, I thought the clock had stopped moving lol.
  • caroldownie58
    caroldownie58 Posts: 23 Member
    Hi I too used to feel that no matter what I ate I never felt satisfied. I am having 1500 calories a day and I try to use them wisely. I started by eating small meals but often in order for me to feel satisfied. I use my calories like currency. Try eating smaller portions but more often. I also think that bread doesn't help to fill you up. LOOK at other foods with same calories. Remember it's normal to feel hungry. Prior to starting this process I never really knew what hunger felt like as I never stopped eating long enough to know. I hope this helps you xx
  • kschwab0203
    kschwab0203 Posts: 610 Member
    If I eat breakfast any earlier than 10:00am I am miserable. Eating too early in the day will send me into this vicious cycle of constantly feeling hungry and stressing over the fact that my next meal isn't coming soon enough.

    I eat a small breakfast at about 10-10:30 then have my lunch at about 12-12:30. This is just what works for me.
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    Hi I too used to feel that no matter what I ate I never felt satisfied. I am having 1500 calories a day and I try to use them wisely. I started by eating small meals but often in order for me to feel satisfied. I use my calories like currency. Try eating smaller portions but more often. I also think that bread doesn't help to fill you up. LOOK at other foods with same calories. Remember it's normal to feel hungry. Prior to starting this process I never really knew what hunger felt like as I never stopped eating long enough to know. I hope this helps you xx

    Yes- all of this!

    And yeah bread NEVER makes me feel full, even whole grain seedy type breads.
  • doittoitgirl
    doittoitgirl Posts: 157 Member
    I am one of those people who just totally zonk out if I try to go 5 hours between eating. So I try to plan my meals in advance and leave enough room for some healthy snacks in between breakfast/lunch and lunch/dinner. I eat breakast at 7am, get out of class at 10am and have a snack. Eat lunch at 12, have my snack at 2:30pm before my afternoon class starts and then I eat dinner at 530ish and this seems to work for me. I usually try to have something with some fiber or protein like carrots and pb and it will tide me over. But honestly, trying to cut back calories, I usually feel hungry all the time for the first few weeks after I start to reduce. I just up my water and tea intake and remind myself it will pass soon.
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
    Hey guys, I was just wondering if you could give me some ideas and support about what I’m going through. It feels like no matter what I’m eating, I’m not getting full. I ate THREE scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast for breakfast at around 7:30 am. By 10:00 am, I was HUNGRY AGAIN! This is madness! Eggs are filled with protein and whole wheat toast has fiber, so I figured it would keep me feeling full longer. NOPE! I would like to also include that I have drank three bottles of water after eating and it’s like the water doesn’t help me feel full either. Also, I am starting to feel ravenously hungry at night when it’s time for bed, or I wake up in the night and eat. This is really interfering with my life and my wish to lose weight. I don’t know what to do! Please help! :'(

    I would switch out one of the eggs for avocado or cheese...you're skipping fat and fats are a huge part of the satiety equation for a lot of people.