Who else is hungry ALL THE TIME?

leanjogreen18 wrote: »

Eating more often during the day was a disaster for me personally.

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Me too! I was even more hungry because I was never satisfied by actually having a meal. Probably a mental thing but tiny snacks all day was so unfulfilling it just made everything worse.

I disagree with those who say you "should" be hungry while losing weight - at least not if we're talking major-league life-altering hungry, as you seem to be. I grant that the first couple of weeks can involve adaptation, but after that things ought to become pretty manageable.

Mid-thread here, you sound like you have a good plan: Eat more home-cooked foods - more nutritious, higher volume, lower calorie - and manage the weekends more in line with your goals. Good stuff!

I'd also like to suggest you step back (conceptually) from the "many small meals" idea. It may be a good idea for you, and it's definitely worth a try.

Here's the thing: Calories in < Calories Out works for pretty much everyone, to lose weight. But satiation - avoiding hunger - seems to be very individualized. There are lots of variations that work for at least some people, but no one solution works for everyone. Think of it as involving two major variables: Timing, and composition of eating.

Timing: Multiple small meals works for some. At the other extreme, one-big-meal-daily intermittent fasting works best for others. There are innumerable variations in between. Some people need a big breakfast; others skip breakfast. Some do better with even-calorie meals through the day; some eat lightly at breakfast/lunch but have a heavy dinner and/or a bedtime snack. There are lots of other possible variations in number, size, and time of day for meals/snacks. You can even vary your calories on different days of the week (bigger deficit weekdays, smaller weekends; 5:2 intermittent fasting - lots of variation possible there, too).

Composition: While always working within a healthy range, what you eat also matters for satiation, but again there are huge individual differences. Some people find protein filling, some find fat filling. Some need complex carbs (whole grains, whole potatoes, and the like) to feel full, while others find that eating carbs makes them crave more carbs. Some people need high volume low-cal foods to feel full (these are usually high-fiber veggies). Some people need combinations of the above.

Obviously, you need certain minimums of protein, fat, fiber, and fruit/veggies (for micronutrients) to be eating most healthfully, but you have some wiggle room, possibly even at a calorie deficit, that lets you emphasize some more than others and still keep things nutritious.

So: It sounds like you're considering trying the "many small meals/snacks" option. That's great. Try it for a few days, and if it works for you, stick with it. But if you find it isn't effective, try another variation (in timing or composition) for a few days, and see if it's better. Rinse'n'repeat, until you find what works best for you.

Through this, diary review is a powerful tool, assuming you log your food. At first, look at your diary every couple of days. Look for foods that "cost" a lot of calories, but didn't give you enough satiation, nutrition or tastiness for those calories. Reduce/eliminate those foods, and replace them with something else you enjoy, that better meets your goals. Over time, this will evolve your eating in a more satisfying, nutritious direction.

Look for patterns in what precedes bouts of hunger. Are there trigger foods? Lesser amounts of some nutrient or food before bouts of hunger? Etc.

During diary review, also consider other factors that affect hunger/satiation: Did you get enough restful sleep? Did you experience an unusually high amount of stress? Were you bored? Did your exercise type or volume differ? How much water or equivalent did you drink? Etc. Either eating changes, or other behavior strategies (hobbies, bedtimes, exercise, etc.) can help manage these.

For me, I learned that I needed a very solid breakfast with plenty of protein, then protein through the day, plus a decent volume of high-volume low-calorie foods (one of my faves is whole plates of raw veggies like cucumber, jicama, kohlrabi, carrots, celery, celeriac, and others). Lack of sleep, for me, is a craving/over-eating trigger.

Your specifics will differ. But - I predict - once you figure things out, you can manage to be rarely very hungry, unless it's almost time for the next meal. And, in the rare case where hunger strikes at a different time, you'll know what snack works best to tide you over, and keep your calorie deficit reasonably intact.

Good luck!