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

GaleHawkins · August 2019

joowelz wrote: »

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.

@joowelz for 40 years I could not live with hunger leading to a lifetime of yo-yoing weight leading to health issues and high levels of pain from perhaps my diet induced Ankylosing Spondylitis. On a hunch to avoid starting Enbrel injections in Nov 2014 I left off all foods containing added sugar and or any form of any grain Oct 2014. While I still eat 2000-3000 calories daily one side effect of my new Way Of Eating is I eat when hungry so I have not been hungry for 5 years now because if I am I eat even if it is 2 am. For the past 4 years I have maintained a 50 pound weight loss eating with this WOE the first year.

After years of eating a high carb high fat WOE with pain and driving hunger at the age of 68 I plan to stick with LCHF WOE based on my health and lab results being much improved after 40 years of decline in both areas.

I do not suggest this would work to manage your hunger as it did mine. It is just one old man's n=1 anecdotal results.

Best of success. Time may be on your side but being 63 with fast failing health time was against me so I had to go with my hunch. Thankfully 5 years ago following my hunch is giving be back hope of good health until the end.

LyndaBSS · August 2019

arungrover wrote: »

Having salad in dinner would also do the trick. But it needs to be a salad without dressing because dressing is evil, no matter what kind of dressing you put. Replace dressing with freshly squeezed lime, black pepper, pinch of salt.
I have been doing this for last 40 days and lost about 14lbs in total.

Salad dressing is not evil. If you prefer not to use it on your weight loss journey, that's fine. That's your choice.

TeaBea · August 2019

arungrover wrote: »

Having salad in dinner would also do the trick. But it needs to be a salad without dressing because dressing is evil, no matter what kind of dressing you put. Replace dressing with freshly squeezed lime, black pepper, pinch of salt.
I have been doing this for last 40 days and lost about 14lbs in total.

Throw away that 1980's diet book, it's full of nonsense.

Dietary fat is satiating for some and so necessary for many bodily functions. To tell people that dietary fat is evil is just bad information. True, some types of fat are better than others. A salad dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar....yum. Olive oil is one of the healthier fats. It's not like dressings are full of trans-fats.

2 pounds a week is only healthy weight loss for those with 75+ pounds to lose. Faster weight loss isn't better. Faster can mean a higher % of lean muscle loss, no thank you.

kshama2001 · August 2019

Another vote for:
1. More protein at breakfast and possible more protein at lunch (the tuna sounds good but how many calories and protein is the cheese?)
2. Weighing dinner
3. Setting your weekly weight loss goal to a half pound per week
4. Having Fiber as one of the things you track and making sure you hit that daily

lillykimberly8710 · August 2019

I know how you feel! I love food so much and have a hard time with calorie cutting.

I added nuts (usually almonds or walnuts) to my oatmeal and that really helped. Your body also needs a few extra calries during mentration, so maybe look to see if the times you are really hungry fall right before or during mentration. If so, give yourself a little grace and continue forward.

If you are going to snack before bed, add a little protien. I heard of a study that showed protien before bed helped stabilize blood sugar during the night.

Hannahwalksfar · August 2019

This is about 350kcal a pop and legit keeps me full for four to five hours. Steel cut oats, hemp seeds, a banana, almond milk and cacao beans with a bit of your chosen sweetener

staticsplit · August 2019

I do about 45g oatmeal in the morning with one scoop of protein powder in it, which immediately adds 25g protein. Plus usually some yoghurt and berries. That might keep you fuller longer.

You're also not eating that many calories early in the day, which is leaving you hungry and then more prone to eating more than you plan at night. You're also possibly mentally restricting, cutting out a lot of things and making them off-limits, which in my experience results in more food fixation/lack of satisfaction in existing meals and still needing a treat, like the above poster has said.

MercuryForce · August 2019

Anabirgite wrote: »

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.

Tracking has been a huge eye-opener for me. I've also been working with a nutritionist, and when I first started on this, I told her that I assumed I was doing okay on protein and fat, and my biggest nemesis was carbs. Turns out I was all wrong...carbs are mostly good, maybe a little high sometimes, but nothing too far out of the range I've set. But, I'm eating way too little protein and my fat is consistently higher than I'd like it to be.

The problem I run into is a lot of the good ways to up protein, like yogurt, cheese, eggs, etc also have fat...I'm trying to get what I need out of diet rather than going to something like protein powders, but I maybe just have to try them out.

AnnPT77 · August 2019

virginiajharris wrote: »

Anabirgite wrote: »

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.

Tracking has been a huge eye-opener for me. I've also been working with a nutritionist, and when I first started on this, I told her that I assumed I was doing okay on protein and fat, and my biggest nemesis was carbs. Turns out I was all wrong...carbs are mostly good, maybe a little high sometimes, but nothing too far out of the range I've set. But, I'm eating way too little protein and my fat is consistently higher than I'd like it to be.

The problem I run into is a lot of the good ways to up protein, like yogurt, cheese, eggs, etc also have fat...I'm trying to get what I need out of diet rather than going to something like protein powders, but I maybe just have to try them out.

Yogurt (among other things) comes in a nonfat version; Greek nonfat yogurt is quite high in protein for no fat, and can be used in many contexts as a sour cream or mayo alternative, seasoned for a salad dressing, or combined with peanut butter powder and frozen fruit for a cold snack, among other things.

For other relatively lower fat sources of protein, this thread is a gem:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10247171/carbs-and-fats-are-cheap-heres-a-guide-to-getting-your-proteins-worth-fiber-also

I have no trouble getting plenty of protein (100g+ daily) as an ovo-lacto vegetarian without protein powder, protein bars, or fake meat**, and my difficult is usually making sure I get enough fat.

** Nothing wrong with protein powder, protein bars or fake meat, I just don't personally find them sufficiently tasty or satisfying enough to spend calories on.

Strudders67 · August 2019

My regular breakfast consists of 150g plain unsweetened soya yoghurt, 21g (which is half a serving) of a cereal/muesli/nuts/seeds mix that I make up myself plus some fruit - approx 50g blueberries or 100g kiwi fruit /strawberries. I also have a hard-boiled medium-sized egg. Today's breakfast was 280 calories, 16g protein and 21g carbs.

I couldn't be bothered to make a salad up last night, so lunch was 140g of jollof rice and 98g cooked chicken which I took out the freezer this morning. The rice bumped the numbers up, but that logged as 320 cals, 30g protein and 31g carbs. I also had a packet of lentil crisp snacks.

Dinner was a lot of stir-fried vegetables and 139g raw chicken breast which, including the 6g of oil to cook it in and half a tsp of Chinese spices, came to 353 cals, 39g protein and 22g carbs.

I've also had a few cups of tea, with milk.

I'm at 89g protein, 8g of saturated fat and 89g carbs for the day and I'm quite full at this point, but am about to go and have a mini babybel cheese because I'm still under 1100 cals and need to get up to my allocated 1200. I could have had a chocolate cake bar, in the office, but I decided at the time that I really didn't need it.

OP, as pretty much everyone has said - up your protein as you'll almost certainly feel so much better for it. Maybe, for a few days, weigh and log your dinners as well; you may be surprised at how many calories are in your rice and dressings. I mostly cook a pot of rice then bag it up in 100g portions to freeze; I find that's just enough to add to whatever stir-fry or curry I'm having, but is not too heavy on my calorie count. I tend to have a lot of veg instead, as they're lower cal whilst having bulk to fill me up. Also, could you switch out your lunch pita and have a bigger portion of salad instead? That would probably give you more calories for a bigger piece of chicken at dinner and also more tuna or cheese at lunch.

cheryldumais · August 2019

I lost quite a bit of weight on MFP and the one lesson I learned that has continued to come back over and over as I maintain is the importance of balancing my macros. The mix seems to be different for everyone but I am another one who has to keep carbs a bit lower and protein a bit higher. The other part is how important fiber is. If I stop eating veggies or raise my refined carbs too high I am ravenous all day long. As soon as I cut back the refined carbs and increase my veggies (yes I know they are carbs too) then I do better. Anything highly refined or in the grain family seems to make it harder for me to maintain. I can have some but I can't allow refined carbs to be a major part of my diet. You will have to experiment to find your own balance but once you get there it makes a huge difference.

TheRealSlim_Shelly · August 2019

Without reading all the replies two things came to mind: 1. You really do need to and should, log your dinner calories. It’s the only way to get an accurate starting point to receive more help. 2. You are not choosing foods that give you the most bang for your buck. Meaning there are more foods out there that are way more satiating than your breakfast and lunch (I too would be starving by dinner and probably blow calories). You also aren’t incorporating any or many low calories foods you can eat in high volume (ie more fruits and vegetables dispersed throughout the day).

To be honest I was shocked when you said you had 1700 calories to net because all your food sounded less than one of my 1200 calorie days (without exercise).

I would definitely re-evaluate your food choices but absolutely start weighing your dinners- at least meal plan it for 2 weeks so you know what you’re eating. You could honestly be undereating and this is why you are ravenous.

Let us know your updates.

MercuryForce · August 2019

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Yogurt (among other things) comes in a nonfat version

Just because it comes in a no fat version doesn't mean I'm going to eat it. I'm pretty staunchly against no and low fat version of things that are supposed to have fat. That said, I do eat the 2% fat version of Fage instead of the 5% version.

I will check out that thread a little more though. It looks like it has a lot of helpful tips. Thanks :-)

lgfrie · August 2019

cuteangelkitten wrote: »

lgfrie wrote: »

cuteangelkitten wrote: »

My best advice is to stop counting calories and actually eat until you are satisfied. All this calorie counting is clearly making you upset. Also I recommend throwing out your scale. Food and weight seem to be causing you much distress. As animals, we are not meant to count calories. We are meant to eat natural whole foods until we are satisfied and drink water. We also are meant to walk/ move throughout the day. Eating natural to satisfaction, drinking water, and staying lightly active through the day is the way to live You will never have to worry about the scale, or feeling hungry ever again

It's hard to see how stopping calorie counting would fit with using a web site that is all about calorie counting LOL

If I ate until I was satisfied, I would weigh 1,000 pounds. I am never satisfied. I can always ram one more Nutty Butty down my gullet, whether I'm hungry or not. That is obese person behavior. The obese can learn to control our urges; we can learn new and better habits that mostly prevent it from happening; and maybe some day some of us can completely overcome it; but the potential to revert to old habits and bad behaviors will always be there. That is why 80 % of all successful diets are followed by all of the weight being regained, often very quickly. It is not a mystery. Different month or year, but same person. First and foremost, "know thyself". Fat people cannot just "eat until satisfied".

Thin people can eat until they're satisfied and then stop. If everyone could do that, there wouldn't be an MFP or a diet industry. This is what calorie measurement and logging and quotas are for -- to give necessary tools to people who need tools.

Funny enough, I don't count calories at all My diary is blank lol never put anything in it. This is my social media outlet centered on health Maybe the reason you aren't satisfied is because you are eating the wrong things? People 100 years ago didn't have the processed foods we have now. The key is to go back to eating our native diets and walk around more. There wasn't any calorie counting back then and all this occupation about weight and calories isn't healthy and can become obsessive quickly.

You're 16 and don't have an overeating problem. I think that's great. When I was 16, I weighed 170 pounds at 5'11', and used to eat salads for lunch and bicycle 110 miles in a day for exercise. Good times, good times. When I turned 40, I weighed 330 pounds.

Everything you're saying is true ... for someone without bad habits, middle age paunch, or an eating disorder. For obese people, "eat whole, unprocessed foods until you're not hungry anymore" is not a realistic solution.

You might be surprised just how healthy many of us eat. We are not lacking knowledge. We are lacking the discipline to not buy a quart of Baskin & Robbins Nutty Coconut ice cream, cover it in chocolate syrup, and eat the entire thing for no reason whatsoever. Whether already hungry or stuffed. That variable -- hunger level -- does not matter to an obese person. Obese people do not eat primarily because they are hungry, so they can't stop eating as a result of not being hungry.

On the other hand, many, many obese people are willing and able to measure, count and log calories, stick to a plan, and lose weight. That's why calories are such a great tool for the obese.

LAT1963 · August 2019

"We are lacking the discipline to not buy a quart of Baskin & Robbins Nutty Coconut ice cream, cover it in chocolate syrup, and eat the entire thing for no reason whatsoever. "

Igfre--That may be your issue, but it's not the issue for everyone.

angelkit-- Some of us calibrated how much to eat when we were more active and then our life situations changed so that we had to cut down our activity (for some--work, for me--an injury resulting in permanent debility). So now with the habit of eating like an active person, over a period of years we've eaten 50 or 100 or some other comparatively small amount of calories more than we expended, and the weight crept up on us.

In addition once you are working, depending on your role, you will find there are semi-obligatory work lunches at restaurants where it is hard to know how many calories you are eating. You may think you're eating light by ordering a salad but it actually has 1200 calories because of the dressing. Stealth calories.

Lastly in my case I think there is some contribution from package size. I've lived alone nearly all my adult life and almost everything comes packaged for at least a family of 2, often a family of 4. It tends to encourage over-eating to avoid having to throw something out because it was left-over and went bad, or because you don't want to eat the same thing 4 days in a row if you eat one portion per day.

Lillymoo01 · August 2019

I'd so love to be 16 years old again. It was at that age where I knew everything. Weird how the older I get, the more I come to realise how much I don't know!

LAT1963 · August 2019

Lillymoo01 wrote: »

I'd so love to be 16 years old again. It was at that age where I knew everything. Weird how the older I get, the more I come to realise how much I don't know!

you've obviously forgotten how awful it is to deal with your peers as a teenager.

Annie_01 · August 2019

It seems as if angelkitten is no longer with us.

mystgrl28 · August 2019

I've found coffee to help with hunger pangs. Black is best, but I have mine with semi-skimmed milk and 2 sweeteners (37cals) and that suppresses my hunger for a few hours. Decaf works as well.

kshama2001 · August 2019

Back on topic - I find mild-moderate exercise to be a mild appetite suppressant. I make it a priority to be active every day, especially on my lunch break during the work week.

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

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