What To Do When You Are Really Hungry?

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Replies

  • laceyblow11
    laceyblow11 Posts: 2 Member
    if you are hungry eat.. theres nothing worse than feeling deprived and hungry, it makes healthy eating and sticking to a plan more likely to fail. dont forget calories are flexible and so is your diet- your body doesnt have the ability to say "omg she ate 50 more calories today, how dare she" thats all in your head. Borrow 200 calories if you need to and cut back that 200 calories over the week which is probably equivalant to 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. If you know there are certain days that will be harder than others (the weekend) eat less during the week and use thise calories. its all still a deficit . good luck
  • royekd
    royekd Posts: 7 Member
    A lean protein. I find that if I batch cook chicken breasts or tenders (I season with salt, garlic powder and onion powder), a 2oz piece is often enough to quell the hunger.
  • benol1
    benol1 Posts: 867 Member
    Don’t snack! Embrace the hunger! Change your relationship with food by changing your behaviour. If the hunger is difficult, go and do something else like go for a walk or some other activity. You’ll notice that your hunger will come and go in waves. Be strong, stick to your plan and you will achieve your goal. Wishing you all the best!
  • PAPYRUS3
    PAPYRUS3 Posts: 13,259 Member
    These are things that work for me- Eat an apple/banana. Focus on the total calories of the week as well as each day. Eat and pay it back later in the week. Eat high density low calorie foods. (fiber) Small amounts of fat will sate you. Fage 5% fat, 140 cal per serving has gotten me through a few hunger craves. Avocados (100g) provides 160 calories, 2g of protein, 8.5g of carbohydrates, and 14.7g of fat. Find healthy recipes for roasted veggies. I eat a ton each night and can barely leave the table. Check my food dairy. DONT TORTURE YOURSELF OR YOU WILL FAIL. If 1200 is difficult increase 200 cals. Be patient. You didnt become over weight over night and you wont lose drop it night.

    Do you track your macros?
  • kcox269
    kcox269 Posts: 38 Member
    Gherkins,
    ham,
    Cherry toms,
    Spoon of peanut butter weighed and logged
    Lentil crisps
    Plain jacket with balsamic vinegar
    Bag of stir fry veggies with chopped chicken and soy sauce or homemade PB2 made into sauce
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 11,689 Member
    Sometimes, hunger can be assuaged through flavor or a chewing motion. Enter a stick of gum, providing both. My kids use it regularly when they cannot wait for dinner to finish cooking.
  • Motorsheen
    Motorsheen Posts: 20,508 Member
    benol1 wrote: »
    Don’t snack! Embrace the hunger! Change your relationship with food by changing your behaviour. If the hunger is difficult, go and do something else like go for a walk or some other activity. You’ll notice that your hunger will come and go in waves. Be strong, stick to your plan and you will achieve your goal. Wishing you all the best!

    This ^ is good.

    I like this a lot.

    "Embrace the Hunger" - awesome
  • BrightEyedAgain
    BrightEyedAgain Posts: 259 Member
    edited June 2023
    I check my weekly totals to see if I have any unused calories there. Usually I do, and that's why I'm hungry. If so, I have a snack I think will give me the most bang for my buck while staying within those calories.

    If I'm not underbudget for the week, I may still have a snack, but I take a hard look at my macros to figure out WHY I'm hungry. Over the long haul an occasional overage isn't a big deal. It's your habits that matter. But the learning process is key. So whatever you do, be intentional about it and watch for patterns.
  • vvicki
    vvicki Posts: 2 Member
    s8ntdeer wrote: »
    The Duke Diet and Fitness center (now closed forever) has cookbooks that have incredible snack/dessert recipes. Every meal in any of the menus is under 400 calories and they have some incredibly simple recipes too. I was the Exec Chef there for many years and only wish they would have allowed the actual people who did the work to put their names on it! One of the reasons why I left.
    Anyway, if you cannot find it hit me up and I can email a copy of one or 2 of them. Since they are out of business now its not illegal for me to just give it away. The amount of money people spent to go there to lose weight was mind boggling! No insurance, all cash baby!

    I'd like a copy. How can we arrange that?
  • lululovesbread
    lululovesbread Posts: 2 Member
    I cut up an entire romaine heart, sprinkle some balsamic vinegar on top and 1/2 can of tuna packed in water (drained). It takes a long time to eat that much lettuce so you feel like you're eating a lot
  • RenaTX
    RenaTX Posts: 345 Member
    Are you sure 1200 is the correct calorie goal for you ? That's the first thing I would check. Make sure you are entering the correct activity level as well when you calculate this.

    You can check it against http://ratfactor.com/tools/fatcalc

    Then drink a glass of water and see how you feel after that. You want to make sure you aren't just thirsty.
  • I'm not an expert and working on keeping my daily intake in check myself, but I've found that whole pickles help. The crunch, flavor, and size of a pickle just make it seem to satisfy snack cravings. Nutritional info says that they don't have any calories, so I eat it with relatively no worry whatsoever about how it affects my daily allowance.

    I also enjoy chocolate rice cakes made by Quaker. 60 calories and keep takes longer than a few seconds to eat :)

    Good luck finding what works!
  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 1,205 Member
    if i am legitimately struggling and i haven’t been making a pattern of cheat days then i will simply eat at maintenance for the day. return to the plan the next day.
  • Darkstar45
    Darkstar45 Posts: 4 Member
    For the days that I slip, I think of the big picture. "Will one day of eating a hand full (or two) of chips make me gain weight"? Probably not. As long as it is not frequent. You also have the option, for a day that you go over the 1200 cals, do some activity. Do you utilize the exercise diary? I add even lawn mowing (and trust me, you burn a lot of calories with it, lol). But you could even use it before you actually engage in an activity and just plug in something you might want to do. Do you feel like walking? Put it in and it will tell you how many calories you'll burn, and if you go back to your food diary, it will show you how many extra calories you've "earned" for the day. So if you've consumed 1400 calories, and you do some activity that increases your daily calorie limit to 1500, there you go! You're still at a caloric deficit. You got this!
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,329 Member
    nsk1951 wrote: »
    Next time, try an egg

    This, or something else high protein. The simple carbs in the fruit will not provide satiety, and will not keep you full as long as an egg will.
  • royekd
    royekd Posts: 7 Member
    I eat a lean protein, some chicken breast for example, and wait 20 minutes. This almost always takes away the hunger
  • memeq2
    memeq2 Posts: 91 Member
    Protein and fiber are my friends.
  • Hobartlemagne
    Hobartlemagne Posts: 569 Member
    Dill pickles are VERY low calorie.

    Alternatively, you could eat a raw, spicy pepper. You wont worry about hunger after that.
  • AmunahSki
    AmunahSki Posts: 210 Member
    How about Tom Yum soup? A serving (15g of paste) is around 45 calories (depending on the brand), then add according to whatever you have to hand… mushrooms (25 cals per 100g), a spring onion (scallions, to you in the US), maybe a bell pepper, go ahead and add protein if you have the calories (prawns, chicken). I only recently discovered this ambrosial liquid, and it hits all the ‘spicy and filling’ buttons for me!
  • natatat33
    natatat33 Posts: 3 Member
    Following, I need ideas as well 😅
  • pkt67z
    pkt67z Posts: 2 Member
    petite baby carrots and a tiny bit of peanut butter(if needed). They are crunchy and I'm usually so tired of them but the time I eat the little 35 calorie bag that I don't want anything else. That or a greek yogurt. Oikos triple zero is low cal, no fat and relatively low sugar.,
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    Unless you're a tiny menopausal woman, 1200 calories is not enough. You're not even providing your body what it needs if it were in a coma. That's why you're so hungry.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,458 Member
    VeryKatie wrote: »
    Unless you're a tiny menopausal woman, 1200 calories is not enough. You're not even providing your body what it needs if it were in a coma. That's why you're so hungry.

    I would argue the menopausal, but not the rest of it.
  • perryc05
    perryc05 Posts: 226 Member
    My body usually wants sugar so I try to eat a tin of sardines with some capers scattered on them.
  • tnmaydew
    tnmaydew Posts: 3 Member
    Pickles
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