First day on MFP and HUNGRY!!!!

Another suggestion: Eat your largest meal for breakfast, your second largest meal for lunch, and a small meal for dinner. I was always told if you eat like a king for breakfast, prince for lunch and a small child for dinner it is a good way to have energy during the day but not gain weight during the night when your body isn't burning much calories.

I am supposed to eat about 1700 calories a day (which seems like so many). My usual breakfast is 2 pieces of 100% whole wheat toast with 1 tsp of honey and 1-2Tbs of reduced fat peanut butter. That usually fills me up and keeps me content until lunch. I usually snack for lunch (and not the right stuff) and then eat a fairly large dinner of pasta and chicken. I know I need to make many changes, but trying to figure it out slowly and work my way into it. I am thinking of following the diabetic diet (I am not even pre-diabetic) but was told by my doctor that it is a safe and healthy eating plan. I also have spoken to many diabetics who say they are never hungry and have shed a lot of weight when they started following it.

Thanks so much for the suggestions. Please keep them coming as I need all the help I can get!!!

Your usual breakfast does not sound too bad, and since changing gradually makes it easier to stick with your plan, I'd suggest making the change in your "large dinner of pasta and chicken". Try changing from pasta to whole grains and veggies. Perhaps some qinoa as the grain part and cauliflower mash or steamed broccoli with a bit of olive oil drizzled on and some lemon pepper and garlic sprinkled on top would go well with a grilled skinless chicken breast (just as an example). You can also replace the chicken with a low-fat fish like steelhead trout to change things up a bit. Regarding lunch, I suggest real food instead of snacks. You could try a large salad with a fat-free dressing (e.g. Maple grove FF balsamic vinaigrette works for me), and add a serving of your favorite nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts, pine-nuts, etc.), a tablespoon of crumbled cheese on top for protein, and throw in some craisins for color and sweetness if you like.

The short of it is that you should avoid getting hungry, but do so by eating good stuff most of the time, and snacking between meals on fruits and vegetables (baby carrots as someone mentioned can be good for that, and you can even dip them in fat free ranch dressing as long as you don't overdo it). Finally, if you want to eat more, simply burn calories through exercise .

Good luck!

You should try and eat breakfast within 30 min - 1 hour of rising. You should also look for a more balanced breakfast than the one you described. You are eating sugar and simple carbs, and the cereal is mostly empty calories. This won't keep you full, no matter how much of it you eat. Try a more wholesome breakfast with a balance of protein and complex carbs with a little healthy fat. You'll stay fuller much, much longer for the same calories. Think eggs, whole wheat toast and avocado. Or toast with a little peanut butter and banana. Things like that. After you make some more nutrient-dense food choices, if you are still hungry, evaluate your calorie goals and make sure you are eating enough. Eating too little can be detrimental to your weight loss just like over-eating can be.

I have always been hungry while dieting in the past. I don't seem to be as hungry this time.

I have a granny smith apple and a tablespoon of peanut butter in the morning. And yes... I measure the peanut butter. I'd love for my tablespoon to suddenly be 1/4 cup, so I have to measure EACH time.

I find that I am fullest on the days when I plan out what to eat. Today, I have a bad cold so I'm taking it a bit easier.

B: WW toast ( 1 pieces ) with 1.5 tablespoons of pb.
Snack : Apple
Lunch : Fiesta veggie soup with extra black beans
Snack : carrots & peppers with 1 tablespoon of ranch dressing, bulked up with 1 tsp of hot sauce
Dinner : Taco salad - Ground turkey, chopped peppers, onions, carrots, 1/4 cup refried beans, lettuce, 2 tablespoons of salsa, 1 tablespoon of ranch dip.

If I make it to the gym tonight, my " dessert " is a chocolate powerbar

( I also have, and log, 2 cups of coffee with 1 oz whole milk and 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup each )

You could try to add one meal. As an example, put your fist together and consider 1,5 fist as a portion (you should have proteins and carbs in every meal). The easiest is to spend 2h cooking in the week, preparing toperwares that you can heat up when required. You can have five meals a day (for me it was 1 every 3h), wite chicken and brown rice, oat and yogurt, tuna and salad, whatever you like as long as this is not processed food. Doing this, I never succeeded to get my 5th meal (I was so full even though a meal is about 1/4 of a normal portion for me). It becomes really difficult to reach 1200 cal with such foods. Of course I could snack my banana, carrots, apple, or oranges after 2h if I was hungry (especially in the morning). For me, the first rule of my diet is NEVER get hungry. If I am hungry, I am afraid my body will stock my next meal in my belly, so I always have fruits and vegies around. Carrots really kill my hunger feeling.
Increasing the meals also increase metabolism, so that your body burns more...and I know the body spend a lor of energy digesting, so that maybe increasing meals make him burn more (the lst one is a supposition). Count 5 meals and snacks, I can swear you will never be so full all day long

Do you have any broth based soups in the house? Eating broth soups is a really great way to satisfy your hunger but not load on the calories. They can be high in sodium but you can work on buying healthier soups later. The first few days can be tough.

I would say not to stress out about the crystal light tea. If you want some, drink some. Just stick to the portion sizes. When I first started, I ate everything I was used to eating, I just made myself more aware of portion sizes. Then I gradually started changing the things I was eating. Now, when I used to have a beer, soda, or glass of wine with dinner, I have water instead. Rather than putting sugar in my tea, I now use truvia, or nothing at all. Veggies, fruits, and salads have become a more regular part of my meals and snacks.

When you go out to eat, divide everything on your plate in half, exept for veggies and take the rest home. Food establishments always give you way too much! If you do this before you start eating, you'll know when to stop. Another good tip is to put your fork down in between every bite, eat slowly and enjoy what you are tasting. Then take a drink of water and have another bite. This is called "Mindful Eating". If you slow down the rate at which you intake food, you're body has more of a chance to tell you that its full.

If you're really worried about snacking, make it a walking snack or snack and then take a walk with your kids. They'll enjoy the outside time and you'll feel less guilty about snacking.

Hang in there! Things will get easier as you start creating new eating habits and start becoming more active.