Satiety

katsheare
katsheare Posts: 1,025 Member
What methods have people used for determining what foods satiate? I get a little (okay, a LOT) jealous when I see people who know they just need to keep carbs down... or get a bit more fat.... or nail their protein..... or whatever to feel satisfied and full. My experience is so inconsistent as to make measuring (and isolating what does/does not work) a challenge to say the least.

I have tried low carb (for about 3 weeks, several years ago) and not only was it not liveable with my family, it didn't do the trick. Hitting protein doesn't seem to do anything particularly noticeable for me. Fats seem to make no difference. Some days I'm all the foodz hungry and some days I'm meh, not hungry at all; looking at my diary for those days (food and exercise both) nothing obvious pops out.

Strangely, the one thing that will sometimes make me feel not distractedly hungry is something warm to drink (it's not a hydration issue. I'm very well hydrated.) so I'll go through mugs and mugs and mugs of decaf tea and warm water. It doesn't satiate as such, but it's the closest thing I've found. (And only warm to drink. Cold doesn't do it at all. I can't drink hot :/)

So I'm just wondering what other users have done to pinpoint what works for them. Would be handy information to have in my back pocket.
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Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,879 Member
    Meal timing makes a difference for me. I also get about 100g protein and about 35g fiber daily on my 1900-2300 calories. That seems to be the sweet spot.

    Speaking of sweets, if I have something really sweet and especially if it's sweet and wheat - without it also having a good amount of protein/fat/fiber I will be hungrier. So I can have a protein, fruit and nuts smoothie, but not a Costco blueberry muffin - even though they have similar calories. The wheat/sugar combo seems to trigger me for some reason.

    As always, YMMV.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    I have to use a lot of trial and error. And for me it changes every few months so it's just a matter of figuring it out each time. Typically it's high protein but not always. Sometimes there is no pattern, I just go with the flow, other times I just ignore the hunger (provided I am getting enough calories of course). I keep my deficit moderate, I also do higher calorie days (refeeds), diet breaks, and never stay too lean too long.

    Some other things to consider:
    Are you eating enough? How large is your deficit? Are you taking diet breaks?
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,119 Member
    Experimentation. I'd set certain macro ratios for a week or two and keep an eye on cravings outside of meals.
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
    I learned through intentional changes. There was a point last year when I was doing fairly well at staying within my calories but I wanted to work on improving my macros. I started by increasing my fat to hit that minimum. Once I felt like that was working for me, I started working on increasing protein and later fiber. Of course increasing one macro meant decreasing others. What I noticed is that increasing protein and fiber, and the subsequent decrease in fat, meant that I was hungrier than when I had been eating more fat.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Meal timing makes a difference for me. I also get about 100g protein and about 35g fiber daily on my 1900-2300 calories. That seems to be the sweet spot.

    Speaking of sweets, if I have something really sweet and especially if it's sweet and wheat - without it also having a good amount of protein/fat/fiber I will be hungrier. So I can have a protein, fruit and nuts smoothie, but not a Costco blueberry muffin - even though they have similar calories. The wheat/sugar combo seems to trigger me for some reason.

    As always, YMMV.

    Yes, I found it helpful to think beyond just macros when focusing on satiety. I don't need to do low carbohydrate to feel satisfied, but snacking on just fruit doesn't fill me up at all. I can have a carby snack like popcorn and feel fine. If I eat just an apple, it makes me hungrier than I was before (fruit in the context of a full meal is just fine though).
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    I've always known.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,119 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I've always known.

    Smartypants :p
  • MaltedTea
    MaltedTea Posts: 6,286 Member
    Fiber is the answer to everything lol But really, checking in with a nutritionist for your individual case is best. Take notes on your feelings of fullness *before* consulting with them so you can have a discussion based on recent experience. What works for me? Volumetrics, fiber and strategic use of fats/oils
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,899 Member
    I agree with everyone that experimentation is the way to go.

    I also tend to find that things besides just macros are what matter for me. The main thing is meal timing -- once I get used to a set schedule I tend to be hungry (a little, not a crazy amount) at the time of my normal meals, and not usually between them. I like having a 3 meal schedule, and when I start snacking between my normal meals again (as I sometimes do during the December holidays) I find myself more likely to be hungry or thinking about food all day.

    I also find that volume helps some (I like the look of a plate with a good bit of volume bulked up with vegetables), and because I only eat meals normally they all do have a mix of macros. I used to be convinced that protein made a big difference, but when I started experimenting I found that a lower protein breakfast (so long as it had some cals and volume and mine also always have some fiber) did not cause me to be hungry before lunch, and similarly a lower protein lunch doesn't seem to make that big a difference (lower in this case doesn't mean almost none, however). As it happens I normally do try to have both protein and vegetables in all meals, as I find it easier to hit my goals that way, but I find that macros aren't as significant as I used to think.

    If I had something that was just white flour, like a bagel, I do think I would be hungry again quite soon, however, whatever the cals.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
    What is your protein target on g/kg?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I've always known.

    Smartypants :p

    For reals though...I've been eating my whole life and I know what my "stick to your ribs" foods are. Even when I was a kid I didn't really like eating breakfast cereal because I knew I would be hungry later at school and have a crappy morning until lunch time. My mom usually made me a serving of oatmeal and a fried egg, which I still eat a lot of the time for breakfast.
  • Sylphadora
    Sylphadora Posts: 75 Member
    For me it's a combination of low carb and high fat. Fat is satiating. I couldn't do low carb if I weren't doing high fat. I've been doing zero carb for long now and I'm usually never hungry. I'm so glad I found a way of eating that makes me feel this way because I hate being hungry. I have a past of binge eating disorder and I used feeling a wee bit peckish as an excuse to binge
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
    Macros make a big difference for me but that's not all that matters. I don't eat foods that are easy to overeat by thousands of calories on a regular basis. I don't snack. I also don't eat until I'm physically hungry.

    If I eat when I'm not really hungry I don't feel especially satisfied or satiated and there's always the feeling that I can eat more. If I allow myself to get hungry before eating it's very clear when I'm full, satisfied and done eating.

    I also let my calories fluctuate. Instead of trying to keep them the same each day I eat to my appetite. Eating "fun" food on the days I wasn't hungry to reach my calorie goal and then trying to restrict my calories on hungry days by filling up on lean protein, low calorie vegetable and water/coffee was not sustainable for me.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,011 Member
    I haven't explored my own satiety 'rules' but I've noticed some peculiarities:
    - when eating bread, my stomach is like a bottomless pit, I could just keep on eating (and it's proper bread from a bakery, whole grain etc)
    - but 2 grilled cheese sandwiches (with the equivalent of 4 slices of bread, 2 slices of ham and 2 slices of cheese) really fill me up, sometimes I can't even finish them.

    Something magical happens when I eat warm cheese?
    Sometimes satiety really is a weird beast!
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,045 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    ... I keep my deficit moderate, I also do higher calorie days (refeeds), diet breaks, and never stay too lean too long...

    Great comment. Wondering if you can say more about what "too lean for too long" means to you. I do notice I'm hungrier (less deficit tolerant) when I'm most lean.
  • sulwen314
    sulwen314 Posts: 21 Member
    Left to my own devices, I'll snack all day long and never eat anything resembling a proper meal. I could literally never stop snacking. When I switched to eating actual meals, which I would define as larger portions of prepared food that include some significant amount of protein, I noticed a huge change. Instead of constantly grazing, I eat two or three times a day and feel satisfied. Some of this is probably mental, but I haven't had the urge to go back to snacking like I did before, so I'm calling it a win. When I feel like I've fallen off the wagon, I make sure I have a plan to get my "square meals" in for the next few days, and that helps me get back on track.
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 6,448 Member
    I upped protein recently and it's helped. High fiber and a lot of vegetables helps too, I'm a volume eater. Meals later in the day and closer together has been beneficial. I've been eating slower without distractions and that's helped a lot when feeling full. If I start thinking about what else I can eat when still eating I stop myself, focus on food, then flip through a few magazines to distract myself from the urge to eat until it passes.
  • safisana
    safisana Posts: 12 Member
    Fat + protein + fiber, so that I'm getting each of the macronutrients at each meal. For example, full-fat Greek yogurt and blueberries for breakfast sticks with me a long time.

    I think any time you'd abstaining from one of the macronutrients, your body is inevitably going to detect that something's missing and make you hungry.
  • Cassandraw3
    Cassandraw3 Posts: 1,214 Member
    Like others have said, just through trial and error I found out what was satiating for me.

    As far as changes in appetite, mine cycles with my monthly cycle as a female.