HUGE Appetite! Need HELP!

Hi, the huge appetite happens to me too! In fact, it seems to sabotage all my efforts -- just when everything seems to be going good, the appetite hits in a bad way. On some days sticking to my goals is easy and some days it seems impossible.

So this last month, after tracking everything I ate, I made a graph and tried to look for patterns. I checked if it happens after I have low calorie days -- no. I checked if it was on the weekends -- no. Then I found a female hormone graph and to my amazement, my appetite surges coincide to when progesterone levels peak. All of the days where I went over my calories like crazy happened at that time. Here's the link to the graph in case you want to check when your "overages" occur, who knows, it might be happening to other people besides me: http://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/wwwhuman/MCycle/images/Mcycle.GIF

I've been trying to figure out what to do with this information. I don't think I can white knuckle my way through it, that hormone is stronger than I am So for April, I'm trying to reduce my caloric intake throughout the month on the days that I can actually pull it off, and then bank those extra calories to compensate for the crazy appetite days. I guess my approach is, "I can't beat it, but I can plan for it". I hope it works!

Hello
If you look at my food diary you will see that I eat quite a lot of food but still manage to keep under my cals for the day. I have always been a snacker so I incorporate that into my day. I have discovered Miracle noodles which have zero calories and give me the satisfaction I need and I am eating something. I just mix it with 1/2 tin of tuna, some sweet chilli sauce and soy sauce and some parmesan and it's only 74 calories. Sometimes I have this twice a day!! I have always found it difficult to recognise the feeling of fullness and this is something I need to work on. But for now I know that I personally can eat a large quantity of food and it takes a bit to make me feel full. At night I have a HUGE amount of vegies, and I mean huge. I mix it with a small amount of meat, say 100 grams and I cut the meat really tiny. I stirfry the meat with onion and garlic and one teaspoon of curry powder and 25ml of Carnation evaporated milk (and additional water) and then mix all of the vegies in. Then I top the lot with heaps of Parmesan cheese (very good for cheesy taste but low cals). YUM, I can have a couple of huge bowls of this. The fact is that I don't feel deprived. You could even make up this concoction and nibble on it during the day. I know that people say that you have to retrain yourself to eat smaller meals etc. but c'mon as long as you are keeping under your calories does it really matter how you go about it! Take that back, you must eat healthily, do not make up your cals for the day out of junk. You will not feel satisfied. And it only takes a cople of minutes to eat a chocoate bar but you can nibble on yummy vegie dishes for ages. Just work out what flavours you like and add that to your vegies. You will eventually find a combo that you absolutely love and you will look forward to it and love what it does to your body and your mindset. Best of luck and please feel free to add me as a friend. Shell

When I started MFP about 6 weeks ago, I was also worried about how I would stick to smaller meals. Luckily, I had already investigated other diets mainly Weight Watchers to see how people lost weight there without being hungry all the time. Weightwatchers allows free vegetables and fruit, meaning that they do not count towards the daily points total. I knew that this would not work for me because I can eats tons of fruit and veg and I mean lots. What I ended up doing was eating salads whenever I was hungry and I kept that (and still do) as free ie I don't log it. HOWEVER, by salad I mean raw veg such as lettuce cucumber, carrots and any other raw veg you might want to eat (I have to be strict on myself by what I mean by salad so that other things don't slip in there). Also ANYTHING EXTRA I put on the salad like olives or ham (I don't use dressings) I counted and logged.

After a week, the amount of salads I ate between meals decreased and I still lost weight steadily. I also ate a salad before each meal meaning that I was full after each meal. I am going to start eating a salad before each meal again because it stopped me from picking, after meals because even though I have stayed within my calorie limit, my eye has started to wander again.

I have tried all different methods like brushing my teeth or chewing gum but that has never worked for me. I realised that I seemed to find some comfort in being full rather than having the need to chew someting all the time. I am working on my portions and appetite all the time, so it is important that I still cut down, but that will happen over a sustained period of time and mental conditioning, so for now this is what I do. I would suggest that you try different things to see what works for you

Mandy hun,
I think you may be being a little too tough on yourself. I had a quick glimpse at your profile and like me you have a bit of a way to go. If you are trying to stick to 1200-1400 calories now what are you going to cut it down to when you are smaller?
Also you appear to be struggling at the mo........I have every respect for people who can stick to as low an intake as that but know that I would not be able to sustain it and it would make me want to give up all together. I am attending a consultant lead weight loss group and have been advised to take it slowly as the evidence suggests if you lose slowly it is more likely to stay off. I haven't the research to back that statement up but am assured it is true. Have a think about increasing your allowance.

Good luck B

I know you say you don't care for protein shakes etc, but regardless of that you should try get into the habit of having them. I can't stand water and salad, but I know in order to make changes to my body I'm going to have to suck it up and drink/eat them. I find the more water I drink the fuller I am. Also things like quick-soups and porridge are very filling. You just have to find the things that will work for you! x

I really appreciate your suggestions. Thank you! I've never heard of the brush your teeth thing. It's a good idea.. if I can make myself do it.
I'm wondering if my calories are too low. I'm trying to go by what my trainer says. She wants me to stick with 12-1400 calories a day. It's hard. I think I will do really good and then at night it will hit me, and I feel like I'm starving. Then I just start shoving food in because I don't care by then.
What's extremely hard for me, is that I am a very picky eater. I try things, but so much disgusts me to the point of gagging (like a lot of veggies). Which is why I've tried to juice. I bought a juicer and juice fresh fruits and veggies. By mixing the fruits with some veggies, it's a little easier for me to get them down. Only problem is, I was doing a juice fast for a whole day twice a week. After so long, everything just looks disgusting. It gets old really quick. Like today, I was going to juice all day, but then, my second juice actually made me feel bad. My stomach felt really empty. Then I drank the juice which just didn't seem to settle good. I ended up having to quit and eat some real food.. and even now, my stomach still feels a little blah.
Again, thanks for your advice! I've been getting a lot. Trying to figure out what's best for me can be really hard and confusing. My trainer telling me one thing, my doctor telling me something else, and then to hear what everyone on mfp says.. it can really be mind boggling!
Hope to talk again!
~Mandy

Mandy-- I think your trainer may be short changing you on the calories. Go to fitness frog and use their calculators to determine for yourself your BMR, bodyfat %,(use the US Military Standard -- or certainly your trainer must have a device to measure it for you) TDEE (total daily energy expeditures). Compare those daily caloric requirements results. You will see what the results for caloric requirements based upon your activity level. You can even determine what your maintenance calories would be at your desired weight.
On MFP what did you set your weekly weight loss goal to? At a maximum stick to no more than one pound.
Other than that, all the strategies folks recommended are great. But please do your own calculations as a comparison to w hat the trainer is recommending.
Best wishes to you.

Hi Mandy!

I can SO relate! First and foremost, your trainer is not also a nutritionist, so don't take her word for what you should eat. Anyone here on MFP will tell you that 1200-1400 calories is not enough-not even close! I was just in a recent discussion about upping the calories to something more realistic and I think you'd get a lot out of that discussion. Here is is: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/548294-up-my-calories-to-what

Also, don't do all day juicing. Your body needs more than liquids. I'm not a nutritionist so I'm only going by experience here, but you can really get some serious acid issues going by doing that. I totally understand picky eaters-I'm married to one! But if I can get him to eat vegetables (and I can!) then you can do it too. Make a list of the vegetables you do like and how you like them. My hubby eats most of his raw 'cause he really only likes them that way. Carrots and broccoli with dip, so that's what he eats. I think it's best to eat what we like and find ways to make it work rather than try to force ourselves to eat what we don't like. Change comes slowly.

I also have a book I highly recommend that helped me tremendously with emotional eating. It's called "If I'm So Smart, Why Can't I Lose Weight?" It's a fantastic read and has great steps to help those of us who need to break the cycle of emotional eating. I needed this book a lot and it really helped. It's a small book, but worth it, IMO.

Friend me if you want, hon, I'd be glad to share the journey!

I really appreciate your suggestions. Thank you! I've never heard of the brush your teeth thing. It's a good idea.. if I can make myself do it.
I'm wondering if my calories are too low. I'm trying to go by what my trainer says. She wants me to stick with 12-1400 calories a day. It's hard. I think I will do really good and then at night it will hit me, and I feel like I'm starving. Then I just start shoving food in because I don't care by then.
What's extremely hard for me, is that I am a very picky eater. I try things, but so much disgusts me to the point of gagging (like a lot of veggies). Which is why I've tried to juice. I bought a juicer and juice fresh fruits and veggies. By mixing the fruits with some veggies, it's a little easier for me to get them down. Only problem is, I was doing a juice fast for a whole day twice a week. After so long, everything just looks disgusting. It gets old really quick. Like today, I was going to juice all day, but then, my second juice actually made me feel bad. My stomach felt really empty. Then I drank the juice which just didn't seem to settle good. I ended up having to quit and eat some real food.. and even now, my stomach still feels a little blah.
Again, thanks for your advice! I've been getting a lot. Trying to figure out what's best for me can be really hard and confusing. My trainer telling me one thing, my doctor telling me something else, and then to hear what everyone on mfp says.. it can really be mind boggling!
Hope to talk again!
~Mandy

I wouldn't recommend shakes if you don't like them--especially as you are having trouble with overeating. Shakes are just going to be an easy way to get calories in and if you don't like them, leave you unsatisfied and wanting real food.

this may sound crazy but there is a diet plan out there called the Shangri La diet. You might want to read up on it and give it a shot.
Basically the doctor used himself as a patient to come up with a plan that would help him lose weight. It involved having tablespoons of oil twice per day. Apparently this works to suppress appetite, and helps you eat fewer calories. Yes, sounds crazy, but based on the message boards it his helping curb the appetite of thousands of people.
I gave it a try for two days and it didn't work as well for me, but based on what people wrote it will work more quickly if you are not close to your goal weight.
Anyway, just a suggestion but you might want to give it a read and see if it works for you. It is not unhealthy or expensive and might be worth a few days of your life to see if this crazy thing works for you as it seems to have done for others.

good luck

How can anyone say that 1400 calories is not tons of food?

You can eat (35oz) 1kg of lettuce (28oz) 800grams of raw chicken breasts and (3.5oz) 100g of raw lentils.

If You are not stuffed from 1400 calories You are making wrong food choices.

Decide what Your goal is and stick to it.