I can't do it! I can't live with hunger

joowelz · August 2019

Hello

I'm trying to lose 15 lbs to be the weight i was a few years ago and it's so frustrating.

((

It's hard to believe that standing in my way of being the weight i want to be is 250-500 calories per day of cereal, yogurt or an english muffin.

I can't stop eating.

Please let me explain.

My breakfasts and lunches are measured and healthy. For breakfast i have 85g of oatmeal with unsweetened almond milk, a handful of frozen blueberries and coffee with stevia and 2% milk.

For lunch i either have a whole wheat pita with 65g of light marble cheese OR a can of water-packed tuna and 1tbl of light mayo, plus some cucumber/radish/tomato pieces. Lunch is usually followed up with a piece of fruit like a Gala apple.

For dinner i usually have salmon or trout fillet or approx 70g of chicken with a veggie side and/or basmati brown rice side. Veggie sides might include roasted brussel sprouts with balsamic, a kale salad with oil/vinegar, red cabbage with sesame oil or romano beans or chick peas. I don't typically weigh my dinners.

I only drink water and coffee.

After dinner i still want to eat. Most days its because i am still hungry. Other days its because i'm bored and frustrated about work. So i usually have 2 cups of cheerios before bedtime or coconut greek yogurt with bran buds. Or an english muffin with cheese and honey. This is what kills me and blows the calorie budget.

I cant eat stay under 1700 calories. My intake is closer to 2100 calories.

It has been a looooong time that i've been seesawing like this. Like almost a year. I cant do it. I want to eat.

What can i do to turn my appetite off? At this point, I'll take pills if i need to.

PS i dont eat beef, pork or other meat from mammals.

PPS i jog fir 30 minutes, 3 times a week at a pace of 2.5 miles per half hour.

manderson27 · August 2019

What rate of loss per week did you enter? With so little to lose you should be on 0.5lbs per week.

What did you set your activity level as?

Are you eating back your excercise calories?

You should not be starving hungry on 1700 I am on 1350 -1500 and I only get mild hunger pangs now and again.

I find protein is particularly satiating for me, but then I eat meat so it is easy. Some find it is carbs that fill them up others find higher fats like butter and olive oil help.

If your diary is open then others can wade in and hopefully give you some advice.

ETA. Please don't take pills it is only 15 lbs pills are not needed to lose this and could be very dangerous.

1fitwong · August 2019

Was having a similar problem and currently finding a strategy that works for me. Most people on keto say they feel full so I’ve tried something similar. I noticed that when my main meals are keto-like (ex. salmon and avocado) I feel more satisfied. I will have a carb and drink plenty of water after a workout. Sometimes I will get hungry but it seems that keeping my blood sugar in balance also increases my “willpower”. Essentially even if I’m hungry, I can resist! When I’m not mindful about eating like that I have a hard time managing my cals so planning ahead helps to minimize that. Going to bed earlier can help too.

LyndaBSS · August 2019

Why do you choose not to weigh your dinner components? That's your biggest meal of the day.

TeaBea · August 2019

Protein, fiber, and fat are filling components but it's a different combination for everybody.

Cereal with milk does nothing for me. Greek yogurt (2%) with some berries and Fiber One sprinkles does the trick.

There are people that are satiated eating higher volume foods: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10563959/volume-eaters-thread/p1

Cutting just 250 calories from maintenance will result in 1/2 pound a week loss. 250 calories should not leave you hungry often. A smaller you is going to require somewhat fewer calories forever, so it's worth it to figure out what is filling for you.

whmscll · August 2019

I have some days where I am constantly hungry. So I keep eating, but I choose mindfully. I try to make sure I'm eating a mix of fat and protein along with carbs - if I eat all carbs I will still be hungry. I write off the day as a maintenance day and go back to my calorie limit (1300) the next day, with maybe a bit of extra cardio thrown in. I only had 15 pounds to lose (from 140 to 125 at 5’4”) and I am down to 123.8 (I dropped my goal to 122 to give me some wiggle room in maintenance). It took me just over 5 months to lose it.

frankiesgirlie · August 2019

I think you need to try different meal combos to find what satiates you as an individual.
I only eat fish as far as animal meat, but I do not find it filling at all. I’m literally hungry an hour later.
One thing that stuck out to me was that your meals sound tiny. At least to me. Im not advocating skipping meals if that’s something that doesn’t appeal to you are is contrary to your health status, but I find that eating my calories within a shorter window of time (2 meals instead of 3 let’s say) makes me feel fuller and more satisfied after a meal.

frankiesgirlie · August 2019

One other thing I thought of was putting egg whites in your oatmeal. My husband swears by it. It ups your protein with minimal calories and doesn’t change the taste.

cmriverside · August 2019

Two things jump out at me in your post.

1. Your protein intake early in the day is low. I'm guessing that unless you are having a lot of protein at dinner, this is part of your problem. Try getting each of your three meals to contain about 30g protein each and about 10g fiber in each meal.

2. Then, either leave yourself a small calorie amount for an after dinner treat, or delay your last meal until it's close to bedtime. If I eat my dinner and then have a small treat and go to bed within 2-3 hours, I'm good. If I try to stay up for more than 4 hours after dinner I'm going to be hungry. So get your meals planned, time-wise.

LAT1963 · August 2019

There's a few things I can see where you might be getting more calories than you intend. The salad dressing/added oils, for example. I'm guessing that in part the unweighed dinner is in the way.

How are you doing on 'macros'? Are you getting enough protein? It seems to me like you have a lot of whole grains and fruits but not much protein.

My personal experience is that my body doesn't seem to register 'full' by counting carbs or sugars. But it's very effective at feeling full when I eat fats. Maybe your body has the same quirk.

I am older, fatter, and less mobile than you due to orthopedic injuries that limit my ability to exercise, but have a similar calorie target because of my high starting weight; I've returned to mfp this week after a long absence, and my target is 1750 cals. I'm not having difficulty meeting that target and not feeling hungry, and I think it may be because I have skewed my macros to allow fats and reduce carbs, without going to the formal extremes of a 'low carb' diet.

Here's the framework a typical day for me; since you don't eat mammals you might substitute lox for the bacon.

breakfast--
2 large eggs (140cal)
2 trader joes apple-smoked uncured bacon (248 cals) (substitute same-calories of lox to avoid eating mammals?)
green tea (0 calories)
fresh fruit--50 to 100 cals depending on type and weight
(~490 cals)

lunch--
10 oz homemade miso soup--(you could substitute another soup here eg trader joe's ancient grains)
Hikari - Organic Dashi Miso (Bonito and Kelp Stock), 1 tbsp (33 cals)
water to dissolve miso (0 cals)
100g tofu (70 cal) (it is worth finding an Asian market that sells local-made tofu, if available)
3 g dried wakame seaweed (1 cal)
1 green onion, chopped (2 cal)
10g fresh shiitake mushroom (4 cal)
fresh fruit--50 to 100 cals
(~210 cals)

dinner--
mahi mahi filet (frozen from costco, ~180g) (140 cals) (you could use a different protein here)
trader joe's mango ginger chutney, 2 tbs (50 cals) (small amount of whatever enhances your protein)
microwaved veggies (~100-150 cals)
fresh fruit 50-100 cals
(~490)

snacks--1750-490-490-210 = 560 calories "discretional" to use for snacks or add to the basic skeleton of my meals. I tend to drink a cup of warm whole milk at bedtime, so thats 150 cals, leaving 410 calories discretional for all other meals, condiments and snacks. You could, for example, have a (45g when measured dry) portion of rice at dinner (about 170 cals), though this would bump up your carbs. You could also add a selected type and quantity of dressing to your vegetables, and/or choose a higher calorie lunch (btw I think your tuna lunch would work).

I didn't list the macros here but depending on the discretional choices this comes out about 10% high on sugars, 10-20% high on fats, 20%-30% low on carb targets, and between 20-24 on fiber.

You could try my typical day (modified to be no-mammals) for a day and see if this low-carb 'high' fat approach works to keep you full but on-target. The big difference from what you are doing is that the above diet has a low grain content. For my metabolism, grains are too many calories for any benefit they give; if I need to up my fiber I reach for beans (more protein less carb).

PS: I have read but not personally tested that for some people yogurt can cause them to have a plateau and not lose weight. You'd have to experiment to find out if that applies to you or not. For me, if I want yogurt I eat yogurt and if it causes a temporary plateau I don't worry about it.

chris_in_cal · August 2019

joowelz wrote: »

I cant do it. I want to eat.

I follow a similar plan but mine is working so far, I usually am at or below 1700.

A couple of small difference and a big one.

I have more dairy fat than you. I use half and half in my coffee. I pretty much despise salmon, avocado, and tuna (the orthorexia triumvirate) so I have cheese with lunch. Overall for food I would say I have more fat and less grains than you.

Here is the biggie, I call it my all alcohol plan. After my healthy breakfast, some coffee during rhe workday, a pretty big lunch, then after work I exercise...after that I only drink alcohol.

I have consumed 1500 calories, I have worked, I have exercised, it is 6:30 or 7:00 pm. I pour a glass of something then sit and watch the sunset for :30 mins and relax and drink the drink....it is getting toward 8:30. I am relaxed, and just sort of let the day wind down.

I think having higher fat, and also some evening alcohol and relaxation, I just don't get all wound-up and have the urges I used to have at night.

It is kind of an alcohol-infused Intermittent Fasting type of a plan.

It has been working well for about three months. Trend weight is right, no binges or urges, blood work from the doctor just came in yesterday much improved.

Your issues are correctable...keep trying to figure out what works for you. Try stuff.

BarbaraHelen2013 · August 2019

frankiesgirlie wrote: »

I think you need to try different meal combos to find what satiates you as an individual.
I only eat fish as far as animal meat, but I do not find it filling at all. I’m literally hungry an hour later.
One thing that stuck out to me was that your meals sound tiny. At least to me. Im not advocating skipping meals if that’s something that doesn’t appeal to you are is contrary to your health status, but I find that eating my calories within a shorter window of time (2 meals instead of 3 let’s say) makes me feel fuller and more satisfied after a meal.

Isn’t it funny what different people’s perspectives are! I looked at the description of the meals and thought both breakfast and lunch sounded quite big and dinner sounded oddly small. Which was making me think that was why the OP was still hungry after dinner and therefore prone to heavy snacking.

85g of oatmeal is just over twice the recommended portion size, as far I’m aware. Also 65g cheese is a pretty big portion, a more normal serving would be 25-30g surely?

Then just 70g of chicken at dinner? That’s a really small piece of chicken isn’t it? 100-125g would be more what I imagine to be reasonable, though I don’t eat meat, so perhaps I’m wrong on that one. Although I guess if the dinner quantities aren’t measured brown rice could be accounting for quite a chunk of calories.

I just wonder if maybe loading the days intake the other way around...smaller meals earlier then the lions share of the calorie allowance at dinner might not help to curb the urge to fill up on cereal in the evening?

JBanx256 · August 2019

On 1700 calories, you really "shouldn't" be getting that hungry. I'm well below that and am a LOT more active than you are and have yet to gnaw my own arm off or anything.

As others have pointed out, your protein is a bit skewed and a better distribution of that may help. Also, there are a lot of swaps you can make that will cut calories but potentially be more filling, such as making "doughtein" to use instead of pitas or English muffins (also a sneaky way to get an extra 10g of protein while cutting calories by a ton), throwing together some meals using riced cauliflower (IMO it's pretty barf-tastic plain, but if you cook your veggies and chicken in spices and/or low-cal sauces, it does pretty well as a stir fry), or shiritaki noodles.

However, you absolutely need to weigh ALL your meals, not just breakfast & lunch. Dinner is obviously your largest meal and you're adding oil etc...that kind of stuff adds up quickly.

cmriverside · August 2019

cmriverside wrote: »

Two things jump out at me in your post.

1. Your protein intake early in the day is low. I'm guessing that unless you are having a lot of protein at dinner, this is part of your problem. Try getting each of your three meals to contain about 30g protein each and about 10g fiber in each meal.

2. Then, either leave yourself a small calorie amount for an after dinner treat, or delay your last meal until it's close to bedtime. If I eat my dinner and then have a small treat and go to bed within 2-3 hours, I'm good. If I try to stay up for more than 4 hours after dinner I'm going to be hungry. So get your meals planned, time-wise.

^^Yes, I'm quoting myself

I wanted to add that I lost my last 15 pounds over a period of 9 MONTHS. There were many Many days I couldn't stick to even my small 250 calorie per day deficit.

It is difficult @joowelz. You may be logging incorrectly, you may have your goals set incorrectly - no way to know based on the info you gave.

But even when I was a pro at logging food and exercise, using a digital scale on every bite and making 13 out of 14 meals per week from scratch myself - it is a struggle.

Maybe look around in the Maintaining weight forum, and you'll see it's hard at the end. Hunger is a real thing and Diet Fatigue sets in.

Have you done any Refeeds or diet breaks lately? Take a look at the first couple pages of this thread:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

Then just keep going. It will happen in time.

LAT1963 · August 2019

Chris--about the alcohol--glad that's working for you. make sure you set hard limits as to how much alcohol so it doesn't creep up over time and start having negative effects (addiction, liver damage, etc). Be aware that having alcohol close to bedtime can disrupt your normal sleep cycles, so you might want to put a time-limit on when you can have your last drink. Sounds like you stop at 8:30 which is probably a wise decision on that front.

I'm guessing you already designed it this way but without explicitly saying so it's not obvious to folk who want to try your way.

also--this is sooo true: "Your issues are correctable...keep trying to figure out what works for you. Try stuff."

Duck_Puddle · August 2019

Your meals don’t have a lot of food. Except the 85g of oatmeal. 70g of chicken is a really small amount. A pita with 1 oz cheese or a can of tuna wouldn’t work for me. Both together would be closer (but maybe not). And there’s not a whole lot of protein happening overall.

I would be ravenous eating what you’re eating. But I’m also satisfied with volume and fiber. Others find protein/fats/etc to be more satiating.

Experiment with other foods. Try things out. I don’t typically eat much in the way of breads/cereals because they have more calories than I’m willing to spend on something that doesn’t fill me up.

Also consider swapping so your larger meals are at the end of the day (unless you’re hungry early too). That might help some.

Basically- try different foods, try different combinations of foods, try different timings of foods.

I eat about 1600 a day on average and run 5 days a week (and lift too). I don’t do hungry.

And do weigh everything. Calories count the same at all times of day. Which is great because then it doesn’t matter when you eat-but it makes all those dinners with all those oils and things count just as much as the oatmeal and the pita.

LAT1963 · August 2019

PS: if you add more fats to your diet to feel full, do it by choosing foods with a higher intrinsic fat content (eg: salmon> water packed tuna) rather than adding more oils or dressings.

chris_in_cal · August 2019

LAT1963 wrote: »

set hard limits as to how much alcohol so it doesn't creep up

I implied this but didn't write it, get your scale out for pouring your alcohol, and don't go over your daily calorie goal.

Anabirgite · August 2019

Before starting MFP I really thought was eating a lot of protein, as I started to track I discovered I was eating roughly 45 grams and as a fairly active female age 54 I was seriously undereating protein. I increased my protein, was more full...I often now have a protein or chocolate collagen smoothy(I am 54 am very concerned about wrinkles and my skin) at night now for dessert - very satisfying and filling. I also make dinners that are low cal and high volume- I made ratatouille this week, I roast a variety of vegatables most nights and then have for breakfast or lunch with and egg or 2 if I am not having a rainbow smoothie with 1 fruit or vegetable of each color. I add 1 cup of egg whites to my smoothies. Just a few suggestions...hope they help,

frankiesgirlie · August 2019

BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »

frankiesgirlie wrote: »

I think you need to try different meal combos to find what satiates you as an individual.
I only eat fish as far as animal meat, but I do not find it filling at all. I’m literally hungry an hour later.
One thing that stuck out to me was that your meals sound tiny. At least to me. Im not advocating skipping meals if that’s something that doesn’t appeal to you are is contrary to your health status, but I find that eating my calories within a shorter window of time (2 meals instead of 3 let’s say) makes me feel fuller and more satisfied after a meal.

Isn’t it funny what different people’s perspectives are! I looked at the description of the meals and thought both breakfast and lunch sounded quite big and dinner sounded oddly small. Which was making me think that was why the OP was still hungry after dinner and therefore prone to heavy snacking.

85g of oatmeal is just over twice the recommended portion size, as far I’m aware. Also 65g cheese is a pretty big portion, a more normal serving would be 25-30g surely?

Then just 70g of chicken at dinner? That’s a really small piece of chicken isn’t it? 100-125g would be more what I imagine to be reasonable, though I don’t eat meat, so perhaps I’m wrong on that one. Although I guess if the dinner quantities aren’t measured brown rice could be accounting for quite a chunk of calories.

I just wonder if maybe loading the days intake the other way around...smaller meals earlier then the lions share of the calorie allowance at dinner might not help to curb the urge to fill up on cereal in the evening?

Maybe I misspoke. Dinner sounded tiny. That’s probably where my focus was because that is my first true meal of the day. But, I think we have the same idea for OP. Maybe saving more calories for dinner. As a lifelong intermittent faster (hate that term because it sounds so “Trendy”) I never understood eating more food during the day when you are busy and active, and then struggling at night with hunger. Since that is your body’s calm down time, it makes sense to me that you’d be looking for food and why not save calories for that.

kimondo666 · August 2019

Try cottage cheese after dinner if ya steal hungry. Lean one, its like 110-120kcal for 100gram, it has lot of protein so could satiate your hunger.

brenn24179 · August 2019

i dont eat after 6 oclock. I limit my carbs 100 gr or less. This works for me and I drink tea or water at night. Low carb works for me, I dont do keto, too restrictive for me. Find what works for you. I dont want to be hungry either and this works for me, lots of protein.

Lillymoo01 · August 2019

If it were me I'd first be looking at adding more protein and volume.
85 grams oatmeal is a large serving. Reduce that to 50 grams at most and add egg whites and greek yoghurt to it. I personally would find it much more filling.
For lunch I would half the amount of cheese and add in double, if not more, of the amount of salad.
For dinner I'd aim for closer to 100 grams of protein, rather than the 70 you are having.

If I go too low on protein, my hunger levels always go up.

rheddmobile · August 2019

What jumps out at me is the 85 g of oatmeal. I eat 80g (dry) of steel cut oats over five days. I add apples and nuts to it and cook it with milk, and 80g makes a huge Tupperware container of oatmeal. Then I also notice there’s very little protein or fat.

1700 calories is actually a lot to play around with - for me that’s an enormous breakfast of oatmeal, cottage cheese, toppings, and almond butter (500 calories), a 500 calorie lunch, say spaghetti, meatballs, spinach, and a salad with dressing, and 500 calorie dinner, let’s say two chicken thighs, black eyed peas, and veggies, and 200 calorie snack/dessert. Add in 400 or so exercise calories, which means an hour of moderate exercise daily, and you shouldn’t find yourself limited to a tiny piece of chicken. Not sure what’s up but this sounds like a math problem.

Late night snacking is best fixed by saving a couple of hundred calories and eating something modest that satisfies you. Depending, that may be a small piece of dark chocolate (sweet craving), pickles or sliced radishes (crunchy craving), big green salad with vinegar based dressing (volume craving), Greek yogurt with berries (creamy craving), tuna or cottage cheese (protein craving), a few nuts or a slice of cheese (fat craving). Figure out what makes you satisfied and eat it!

grubb1019 · August 2019

I keep my carbs around 50 and I eat 1200 to 1300 calories a day. If I go crazy on the carbs I am hungry. Also, I only eat two meals a day at around noon and around 5, sometimes with a very small snack in between. If I eat early in the day I am hungry again earlier and end up over eating by the end of the day.

LAT1963 · August 2019

Lots of people seem to have the same problem as I do with carbs making them hungry.

Wow there's so much good advice in this thread I hope everyone reads all the posts.

Thanks to the OP for starting the thread.

corinasue1143 · August 2019

@joowelz are you weighing your oatmeal dry or cooked?

JJGottaLoseIt · August 2019

Hello, at the risk of being redundant, as you have gotten quite a few replies which I have not read, I first want to say I totally get the whole not wanting to spend the rest of your life feeling hungry thing! Our hunger tells us to eat, not relax and read a book. Some of us do not have proper working hunger systems, and some of us are not healthy at super low weights; I am unable to know what category you may fall into. It does not sound like you eat much at all, so cutting food intake does not seem to be the answer. You mentioned you exercise 3 times a week for 30 minutes; while this is good, it does not seem great. I think here in Canada it is recommended to exercise 4 or 3 or 4 times a week for at least 30 minutes as the bare minimum. If you somehow found a way to exercise more, this would allow you to have your late evening snacks, or even better possibly, eat bigger meals earlier in the day. I would think carefully before taking the pill route, as I am sure you know they can be dangerous and or have unwanted side-effects. At least you recognize that at times you eat out of frustration from work, which is something you can hopefully work on. Who knows Joo, there is also a chance that your weight loss goals may not be ideal or realistic. I definitely hope you can find a healthy way to achieve your goals. One more thing: have you considered finding food so low in calories-like celery-that you can almost eat as much as you want? Take care.

chloehamilton1401 · August 2019

do you have any idea of your calorie intake pre diet? Fitness pal tells me to eat 1500 calories but I decide to track a few days eating how i normally would and I was eating anything between 2300-3000 calories . So now I try and aim for around 1800 calories and I am still losing weight .

Another thing that has helped is upping my protein throughout the day ( i try and hit at least 70 ideally 100 grams ) .

I love eating in the evening . And it is often when i have snapped and eaten treats in the past. So I have found that skipping breakfast/having a small breakie and adding a treat after dinner instead helps alot. I dont really enjoy breakfast and I am not overly hungry in the morning . the sooner i start eating the more i think about food for the rest of the day haha . So I have a banana and coffee for breakfast if I feel like it then have a big lunch at 12 or 1 . i always make room for a sweet treat at the end of the day !

If you are already quite small you dont need a big deficit . Just a small negative will make a difference for a few pounds . I find that in the past when I have cut calories too low I end up ruining it because I am tired and hungry during the day . It makes me lazy so I move around less and dont get anywhere ( I dont mean workouts I mean regular cleaning , fidgeting , walking type movement ) . Your body finds ways to compensate and hold on the your current weight .

Another thing you could try , depending on how fit you already are ... is eating at maintenance for a couple months and adding in some resistance training . If you put on muscle you will be able to eat more food and look "toned" . Dont trust the scale if you do this though , stick to measuring tape . You can do a simple bodyweight workout at home , like fitness blender or a simple routine of pushups , pull ups (or negative pull ups ) , squats , triceps dips and planks 3x a week. Beginners put on muscle really fast !!

joowelz · August 2019

corinasue1143 wrote: »

@joowelz are you weighing your oatmeal dry or cooked?

Hi there - i weigh the oatmeal dry at 85g. I'm surprised by everyone's reaction to that because i find its a good portion for me. It satiates for 2-3 hours.

Btw i am 5'6, 173 lbs and big boned for a girl.

Machka9 · August 2019

joowelz wrote: »

PPS i jog fir 30 minutes, 3 times a week at a pace of 2.5 miles per half hour.

What do you do the other 4 days a week? If "nothing", maybe try walking, cycling, swimming, strength training, etc. A 1 hour walk can burn 200 calories.

I can't do it! I can't live with hunger

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