Weight loss: How to deal w/hunger when eating less?

[KentState]

Just curious, do you work at home? You mention going downstairs to get food and then back to the PC. I found that being stuck at home is the worst thing for snacking and keeping your mind off food. When I was doing my weight loss, I went from > 2500 calories to around 1200 near the end. I found that reducing slowly over time adjusted my body and then I did other things like going for a walk, playing the drums or just getting away from food helps.

 

[JEDI]

I'm thinking of making sushi w/brown rice, carrots and celery. (soy sauce/washabi)
and eating that all weekend.

then be on travel for 2weeks.

then start a fruit only till 4pm diet. (glad I have a Costco membership. mangos + blueberries aren't cheap even at walmart.)

 

[SP33Demon]

Two of the most calorie dense foods in existence are probably not the things you want to be eating on a diet.

JEDI, go out and exercise. It'll not only distract you but let you eat a little more while maintaining the same weight loss plan. Also I hope you're tracking your calories and not just winging it, you might still be eating too much or even too little.

I disagree, almonds (non salted) are one of the best things you can eat for your diet. The fiber will keep you satiated and they have good fats. You aren't going to gain weight eating almonds unless you're eating 4+ ounces a day as a normal 180lb guy.

I would add some peanut butter to your diet, I like the ones with omega 3's in them. That'll keep the hunger pangs away. I also eat sardines in olive oil and put all of the oil on brown rice for dinner. I'm full for the rest of the night, and if hunger pangs hit then drink a protein shake w/ milk.

Some other good suggestions in this thread: Milk, especially whole milk if working out. It's been proven to slow blood sugar response of the body and whole milk has been proven to have an anabolic effect for muscle growth.

The blueberries are fine, fructose is slightly better than putting sucrose in your body. Once you get your appetite under control, try switching to frozen strawberries which have less fructose than blueberries. I eat about 75 cals of these before bed if I'm craving sugar as a treat, but it's the only sugar I eat during the day.

Also, work out 4X a week if possible with HIIT to speed up that metabolism and give you more wiggle room in the diet.

 

[JEDI]

not tracking my calories.

i have no portion control.

if i buy a jar of peanut butter, i'll use a spoon and eat and eat and eat.
if i buy a can of peanuts, i'll grab several handfuls per day.

thus berries/mangos seem to be the best for me?

 

[Koing]

Drink more water, eat strawberries which are relatively low in carbs at around 10% same with blue berries.

Eat raw carrots. Peel a few and eat them.

Koing

 

[NAC]

not tracking my calories.

i have no portion control.

if i buy a jar of peanut butter, i'll use a spoon and eat and eat and eat.
if i buy a can of peanuts, i'll grab several handfuls per day.

thus berries/mangos seem to be the best for me?

It seems to me that you need the right mindset. This post seems to describing your past & current behavior with flat statements, rather than as things you can or want to change. Habits make you eat an entire jar of peanut butter, nothing else. IMO, eating an entire jar of peanut butter would be absolutely disgusting. I couldn't imagine doing it. But as a kid I also couldn't image eating 12 ounces of green beans for lunch, as I am about to do.

Change your habits by both discipline and the situation you put yourself into.

If your weakness is peanut butter, by all means don't buy it, then you can't eat it. Other suggestions in this thread seem really good to me. But in the end, you still have to tell yourself: you want to lose weight, and you won't let your body or habits defeat you. So you'll be hungry. So be it.

 

[z1ggy]

not tracking my calories.

i have no portion control.

if i buy a jar of peanut butter, i'll use a spoon and eat and eat and eat.
if i buy a can of peanuts, i'll grab several handfuls per day.

thus berries/mangos seem to be the best for me?

Everything about this post is wrong.

If you're not tracking and setting limits to what you can have every day to meet your goal (what is your goal??) then you'll just churn on an endless wheel getting no where.

This is why I go with prepped meals almost everyday. I lay out what I can eat, and I only eat that. When I can't make a prepped meal, I choose the least fried/fat option I can, and eat the portion size that I think fits my calories for that day.

If you have absolutely no clue what your energy intake is, how can you even imagine loosing any weight on a consistent basis?

 

[DigDog]

go into the pain - not away from it

 

[Nebor]

Having lost 30lbs in the past 5 weeks (after spending about 6 months purposely stuffing myself in order to gain it,) I have some advice. Being hungry is far from the worst feeling in the world. In all likelihood, you've never actually been starving before in your life. Have you broken a bone? Ran a marathon? Hiked 30+ miles? There are so many things that feel worse and are more grueling than hunger. Just distract yourself with work, a video game, whatever. Willpower and discipline are key.

You say things like, "if I buy peanut butter I'll eat and eat and eat." You'll never succeed with that attitude because your success is so conditional. You'll constantly come up with excuses for why you ate this, or didn't work out today. Change your mindset, and then changing your actions will become a habit.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

I've tried drink water whenever I feel hungry.
I have a gallon jug next to my computer.
doesnt work. I still feel hungry and I got to pee more.

I tried continuely stuffing my face w/fruits, specifically blue berries.
supermarket had buy one get one free. bought several pints.

whenever I'm hungry, I go downstairs, wash a handful, put it on a small plate, walk back to my computer, and eat one at a time very slowly.

that worked but I'm out of blue berries. and when not on sale, it's expensive.

there has to be a better way?

Protein shake. Try it.

150-250 calories so its a mini meal replacement, but the protein will fill you up.

I am currently using myoplex lite powder - I blend 2 scoops mixed with 4-6 oz 2% milk, 4-6 oz water, and 4-6 oz of ice. Makes a delicious frothy shake that will keep me feeling full for a good long while. Its also much lower in sugar than eating a ton of fruit. Not that fruit is bad, but IME it does nothing for my hunger unless I eat a crap ton of it.

You can buy a huge bag of myoplex for ~%25 bucks online or at BJ's, and it has ~65 servings in it. So its about 35c a serving for the myoplex plus about 15-20c serving for the milk. Cheap and easy. And it tastes good.

 

[Exterous]

not tracking my calories.

i have no portion control.

if i buy a jar of peanut butter, i'll use a spoon and eat and eat and eat.
if i buy a can of peanuts, i'll grab several handfuls per day.

thus berries/mangos seem to be the best for me?

I don't know if this will work for you but it helped me. I can lack self-control when I am hungry so I try not to put myself in the position of making decisions when hungry. We try and plan out a week's worth of meals after eating a meal. That way hunger and cravings won't impact what we want to buy. We also do our grocery shopping after eating to avoid the same temptation.

Actually stick to portion sizes. Don't eat the peanuts out of the can. Measure out a portion and just eat that. If the temptation is still there stick the can someplace inconvenient. You'll be less likely to keep grabbing handfuls if you have to get out the step stool every time you want to reach the can - or at least I was

For the hunger itself try and find some foods that are filling but have few calories. For me those are things like air popped popcorn and Bamboo Lane Crunchy Rice Rollers from Costco

 

[Scarpozzi]

I suffer from portion control issues too. My problem comes from being a big guy and not knowing when to quit. I can burn a lot of calories when I happen to do physical work (or workouts). I just rarely do that anymore....I used to burn upwards of 3800 calories a day easy....

My advice is to eat more protein. It sticks with you longer...also, fill up on more foods like beans, raw spinach, and eat a few apples a day when you need a snack. Supplement your diet with low fat cottage cheese and other foods that fall into the low end of the Glycemic index. There are other charts out there....

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/weight-loss/plans/diets/the-slow-carb-diet/

The goal is to eat what fills you up and sticks with you. Eat snacks if you must, but only eat other low GI foods and you'll be fine.

 

[Carson Dyle]

My advice is to eat more protein. It sticks with you longer...also, fill up on more foods like beans, raw spinach, and eat a few apples a day when you need a snack. Supplement your diet with low fat cottage cheese and other foods that fall into the low end of the Glycemic index. There are other charts out there....

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/weight-loss/plans/diets/the-slow-carb-diet/

The goal is to eat what fills you up and sticks with you. Eat snacks if you must, but only eat other low GI foods and you'll be fine.

Charts like that can sometimes be an eye-opener. I'm surprised Shredded Wheat has a high-glycemic index, being nothing more than whole wheat with nothing else added.

High protein foods, especially for breakfast, have always controlled my appetite very well. Typically, for breakfast I'll have Greek yogurt or several hard boiled egg whites or a three egg white omelette with one yolk. This easily keeps me sated through early afternoon.

After my last meal of the day, which is typically before 7PM, I usually eat a handful of nuts, most often almonds, and that keeps me going through breakfast.

 

[flutterskit]

Lower carb intake. Up your protein and healthy fats. You'll stay satiated longer and have a cleaner energy burn.

 

[Ventanni]

A lot of individuals here have stated that you need to up your protein intake, and they're absolutely correct. If you're in the business of shedding pounds, it's because over the time you've gained the weight, you've likely been reaching out and satiating any bouts of hunger with the wrong foods; carbs.

But as you start to lose weight and become healthier, be mindful of the cravings that you have. Sometimes your body is hungry because it needs energy. Okay, nothing new there. It does this every day, and that we're familiar with. But other times you're hungry because you're deficient in a particular nutrient. If you're used to eating junk and more junk all the time, yet still find yourself constantly hungry in the process, it's probably because your body is craving a particular nutrient (or several...or many lol). You start eating healthier and more nutritious, and what do you know, you're not as hungry all the time.

Feel the urge to destroy that whole bag of almonds? Yes, they're yummy, but think smart here and ask yourself when's the last time you had a balanced, protein+fruit+vegetable rich meal.

 

[Deeko]

Old thread, but I've been through this dance enough times so I'll chime in with what works for me:

1) Black coffee. It works great. Extremely low calorie, suppresses appetite. When I'm trying to cut weight I double my coffee intake but switch to half-caf so I'm not overloading on caffeine.

2) Light exercise followed by water. If I take a 10-15 minute walk around the building and then drink a glass of water, it usually quells things for a bit.

3) Small amount of fatty food + water. Eat a (small) handful of nuts and drink some water. The combination helps more than fruit, which will leave you hungry again. Just be careful since you say you have portion issues....nuts are very high in calories, if you sit there and eat them all day that's counter productive.

4) Just deal with it. Your body becomes accustomed to an eating schedule. When you change it, it gets unhappy. Usually, after about two weeks, it adjusts, and you barely notice that you're hungry anymore. Yes, those two weeks are miserable, but after you get through them, you'll find your portions are smaller, you get hungry less frequently, and it's just easier all around.

I've been through this before for powerlifting, so this is what works for me...your mileage may vary.

 

[Blackjack200]

1) Black coffee. It works great. Extremely low calorie, suppresses appetite. When I'm trying to cut weight I double my coffee intake but switch to half-caf so I'm not overloading on caffeine.

Isn't it the caffeine that suppresses your appetite?

 

[Deeko]

Isn't it the caffeine that suppresses your appetite?

It's more about spreading it out. You could also do half as much, twice as often...But I prefer this way, myself.