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.
katsheare
Member Posts: 1,073 Member
Member Posts: 1,073 Member
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Now that I have a general idea of what works, if I have a day when I do feel a lot hungrier than normal and I don't know why, I'll see if I can figure out the trend.
Warm liquids also work to cube my appetite, but if you're having to rely on them a lot, I would first make sure your calorie goal is reasonable (you may have already considered this).
You've tried fat and you've tried protein. Some other things that work for people: volume eating, higher fiber, starchy foods (it flies in the face of "diet wisdom," but it's a real thing some people report), timed eating (delaying the first meal of the day).
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.
Some other things to consider:
Are you eating enough? How large is your deficit? Are you taking diet breaks?
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).
Smartypants
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.
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.
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.
- 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!
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.
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.
As far as changes in appetite, mine cycles with my monthly cycle as a female.