why am I always hungry?

It did take me a few weeks of exercising a lot to gain more calories so I could eat more before eventually I realized i was full without eating all of my exercise calories, and sometimes full on days w/ no exercise, and eating no extra calories.

That said, I looked at about a week of your diary & it does seem very carb-heavy/ protein low. Are you a vegetarian? If you don't eat meat, you need to find other foods that are higher in protein to help keep you full.

Some people say you adjust to it after a while. Personally, I've been on MFP for almost 6 months now, and I still feel like I could wreak havoc on an all-you-can-eat buffet at any given moment. I 've tried eating high-protein foods and drinking water to curb my hunger, but it doesn't help. Hopefully you'll be one of thoe ones that adjust to it as time goes on. If not, you're going to have to learn willpower (I know, it sucks). Find something else to do to take your mind off the hunger, or use a 0-cal or low-cal drink mix to help taste cravings.

Also, make the most of the calories you have available. A decent-sized bowl of strawberries will cost you about 50 calories, while a serving of potato chips will cost you about 150, and the strawberries are more filling. I was watching Hungry Girl on Food Network the other day and she showed some pretty interesting calorie comparisons like that. They may be on the website if you want to check it out. My final piece of advice would be to treat yourself on occasion so you don't go crazy and binge. I have one or two unhealthy snacks a night (chips, cookies, etc.) but I limit myself to the serving size on the package, or less. If you don't want to do that every day, try once a week or so. Knowing that you aren't being totally deprived will usually keep you from munching down on a whole bag of chips or a dozen cookies. Feel free to friend me if you'd like. Good luck!

I found that cheese and deli meat keep me fuller than bread and other stuff. The protein is more complex and harder to digest than simple carbohydrates.

That said, yes, I am hungry often. It took me a while to learn how to ignore it. I chew gum, drink water or get up and walk around. I've been using this website since February and I'm not nearly so hungry all the time anymore. I think I just had to learn how not to want to eat all the time (If that's even a viable sentence? Sorry for the grammatical confusion)

I would suggest that if you are having a hard time with hunger (as I did) try to work more exercise into your day, even just walking. That gave me an extra 200-400 calories a day to safely snack. And when you do snack, I recommend carrots and hummus, apples, cheese and deli meat. The carrots and hummus especially because your jaw gets tired after the second carrot.

I wish you luck! Remember to keep posting if you find you are struggling with it. Support is free and plentiful around here.

my favorite cookies are 9g for 15 cookies. If I'm going to eat sugar I want to enjoy a treat!!!

What cookies are those??? I want to check 'em out!

Hi I joined recently too as you already know...I will share few things that seem to be helping me out:
1) starting my day with 1 glass of water
2) 15-30 mins later a glass of green tea (warm water and green tea dip with half lemon juice)...on the days I skip green tea I feel I am having more cravings than the ones on which I did drink it.
3) I am trying to include either a raw cucumber, tomato, carrot (carrots are dense in fiber and help a lot to fill tummy up). I dash them with some lemon juice and I am refraining from adding salt on salads now to keep it in check. I usually slice them up really thin so i have to work(chew) more and longer to eat them up. If I have sprouted beans or cottage cheese at hand I throw in a hand full *edit 2 tbsps or so * (in this case I chop them up in small pieces and shred the cottage cheese over them for some different texture) I am trying to play around with the way i chop/slice them and plate them up just to make it fun to eat and have something different texture wise. Today I ate carrots and cucumber sliced up separately and 2 tbsp pomegranate over cubed cottage cheese. I substitute 1 roti (i usually ate 2 per meal) with these salads. They are helping me keep full.
4) I try to have yogurt rather than milk. I take say 1/2 cup yogurt and smooth it out with another 1/3 to 1/2 cup water. There you go...It will be more full filling.
5) I am noticing the less carbs I eat the less craving I feel.
6) Drinking a glass of water say 10 mins before your meal also helps.
7) Try not to eat while watching TV , comp or reading a book as brain gets slow to register that you have eaten and there will be more craving still.

Don't give up and hang in there! I totally understand the part about emotional eating. Make your self aware that you are in control and let no emotional triggers take it away from you. (I know easier said than done...but we have to toughen up some or the other day if we want to turn our lives around )

Totally agree with what everyone else is saying on here. I have a few other suggestions if you fix the protein intake issues and still aren't losing:

1 - Get your thyroid checked. An under active thyroid can cause weight gain

2 - check your birth control. I used to be on the Marina and was constantly hungry no matter what. Came off of hormonal contraceptives and the appetite diminished.

3 - Lifestyle - Are you stressed? Stress will make you hold onto weight and being unhappy can effect your will power when it comes to making the right choices.

Lastly. Your body needs nutrients. If you're eating a diet high in calories but low in nutrients then it makes sense that your body may keep telling you to eat in the hope that it will receive some of the nutrients it's after. Try the apple test. When you're hungry grab an apple. If you don't want it then it's probably an emotional issue causing you to turn to fod.

Good luck!