Advice On Dealing With Hunger?

In addition, make sure your deficit isn't too aggressive. Did you choose 2 lbs per week? How much weight do you have to lose? Are you eating back some of your exercise calories?

How hungry are we talking here? You shouldn't necessarily need to be "full" all day but you shouldn't be getting too hungry either. When you're too hungry it can be hard to make sensible choices and getting too hungry a lot can lead to just getting fed up with the restriction and eating everything. And that can be the start of a nasty binge-restrict cycle.

The Hunger Scale is a decent way to rationalise your hunger levels. If you find yourself around a 1 or a 2 regularly then you'll need to look at eating more and losing more slowly.

Finding foods with higher volume for lower calories can be helpful (if you're sure your calorie goal isn't too aggressive), or messing about with macros to see if you do better with higher protein or fats. I personally need as much volume as possible to feel my best so I eat a lot of vegetables and include protein in every meal. It's a learning curve to find what kind of food you do best on.

I agree with others about drinking water and making sure your deficit isn't too aggressive...also agree with eating back some of your exercise calories, at least when you feel hungry that day.

For me meal timing and size is hugely important. I like a small breakfast and larger lunch and dinner and I don't eat in the evening. I don't snack. If I do smaller meals and snacks instead, I never quite feel satisfied/full, and I think about food constantly.

I know people who are totally opposite of this and feel most satisfied eating 6-8 mini meals each day. Or people who like 1-2 very large meals and kind of "fast" for long periods but find that works for them. Play with these until you figure out what works best for you.

hunterstump2 wrote: »

So I'm curious here... My hunger sparks and I eat, for example I would eat a chicken breast and some greens. ABout a half hour later though I'm hungry again, or I'm still hungry after I eat. What are some things I can try to keep me fuller longer?

Some people find that adding fat to their meals helps them stay fuller longer. Others swear that adding fiber helps them. Some people say that adding more protein to every meal helps them more. You’ll have to experiment and find out what’s right for you.

Sometimes the beginning of a weight loss period is a big adjustment, and it takes a few weeks to mentally and physically get you and your body used to smaller portions.
You might stop feeling so hungry after a few weeks of adjusting

But If you’re experiencing constant hunger an hour every after meal, day in and day out, more than a month into your weight loss plan, you might want to reevaluate whether your deficit is too aggressive.

Is it really hunger ? Are you very active?

If you are tired or thirsty then the brain sends signals that get confused with hunger. So make sure you are in bed 8 hours a night. And drinking heaps of water.

If you are very active then you can genuinely burn through food fast but burning through a chicken breast in half hour is ott rapid.

Hunger is in the stomach. Quite often people feel and hear their intestines gurgling and mistake it for hunger. Have a look online and location of organs in body and consider where your hunger is coming from.

Do you have a medical condition such asdiabetes or pcos or depression? Medical conditions can make you feel like you need to eat or hunger.

There's a big difference between hunger and appetite and sleeping well, hydrating, eating fibre fat and protein with every meal, should help.

From what I've read here very few people stick to 1200 a day. That's pretty low. Especially if you exercise.

Go well.

Pre plan your entire day so at night you have that snack you love to look forward to. I do this with cookies and ice cream. I save 200 calories a night for a treat and it fits my goals. Also remember that your deficit to lose weight is probably 1000 (2lbs/week) - 250 (.5lbs/week) cals. If you go over by 100, you’ll still lose weight albeit a little slower.

gallicinvasion wrote: »

hunterstump2 wrote: »

So I'm curious here... My hunger sparks and I eat, for example I would eat a chicken breast and some greens. ABout a half hour later though I'm hungry again, or I'm still hungry after I eat. What are some things I can try to keep me fuller longer?

Some people find that adding fat to their meals helps them stay fuller longer. Others swear that adding fiber helps them. Some people say that adding more protein to every meal helps them more. You’ll have to experiment and find out what’s right for you.

Sometimes the beginning of a weight loss period is a big adjustment, and it takes a few weeks to mentally and physically get you and your body used to smaller portions.
You might stop feeling so hungry after a few weeks of adjusting

But If you’re experiencing constant hunger an hour every after meal, day in and day out, more than a month into your weight loss plan, you might want to reevaluate whether your deficit is too aggressive.

Thanks for the advice!

I find that chewing gum helps me when I'm hungry and looking for a snack.