When you are hungry

[jeteaa]

I need to loose about 50 lbs. I LOVE food, for taste, for comfort..... I like feeling full. But I KNOW that for me to loose the lbs I need to eat less, not eat sweets, eat less carbs and not be so full all the time that I can't workout. I have been doing well for the past few days w/ this eating plan. BUT I'm having real weak moments when I "feel hungry" but I know I don't NEED food. What could I do to get through these moments? Being a sahm, where food is always available most of my day, its way to easy to run to the kitchen.....

[sapphire_chan]

In order:
Look at what you've eaten so far that day and see if there's likely to be a missing nutrient and if so eat a food that has that.

Or a supplement of the same.

Do some exercise.

Have water.

Have a protein source that requires cooking.

Have a protein source that doesn't require cooking.

Chew sugarless gum.


Something to keep in mind is that cravings when you aren't hungry can mean that your body is missing a nutrient and is hoping that more eating will give you the nutrient. Your body won't necessarily crave a food that has the nutrient, it's more likely to crave something that will make you eat a lot, i.e. sugar.

[nolansmummy]

What i do in those moments is similar to what sapphire_chan suggested:

If i haven't done so, i log all my calories for the day online- if i have room in my calorie budget for more food, i eat it
If i don't, then i drink water or tea, if i'm still having that gnawing hunger, then i eat fruit
If i'm still just starving, regardless of if i have calories left or not, whether the feeling is real or not, i have a piece of cheese or greek yogurt ( a protein source around 100 calories)

If i totally blow it calorie wise then i just try and add a few more minutes to my workouts the rest of the week.

For the SAHM part, is there a way you could block off the kitchen- maybe put up a baby gate, or just something simple like keeping the light off when its not time to eat.

One more suggestion i have, is that if you are a person who likes to eat, maybe break up your meals more so that you are eating every 2-3 hours. That is what i like to do. I have a small breakfast, then snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. i eat about 1550 cals/day.

[chiromamma]

Here's how I've taken control of my eating and avoid being hungry or overly full. I've created a fair amount of structure around it because I found that by noshing I was ingesting a ridiculous number of calories.
I do 3 meals, 1 snack and drink 80 ounces of water every day.
I track my calories and plan my meals on FitDay. I'm keeping my calories between 1200 and 1500 a day. I do cardio in the morning and circuit training in the afternoon. Knowing I can't eat closer than an hour or 2 before my pm workout keeps me on my noon-12:30 lunch time.
Most of the time I don't get hungry. I have protein, fat and carbs at every meal or snack. I don't do many starchy carbs.I get my carbs from fruits and veggies. I don't keep sweets or pretzels or any type of heavily processed snacks in the house.
My witching hour is late afternoon so that's when I have a snack...usually a protein shake or a fresh fruit/nut combo.
Some things I do when I want to nosh:
Knitting...It keeps both hands busy.
I go online and look at fitness blogs and websites.
I'll do a round of sun salutations
I drink water and lemon.
I'll eat celery.
If I'm still really hungry, I'll have a 1/4 cup of raw almonds.

[akmeg]

Originally Posted by chiromamma

Here's how I've taken control of my eating and avoid being hungry or overly full. I've created a fair amount of structure around it because I found that by noshing I was ingesting a ridiculous number of calories.
I do 3 meals, 1 snack and drink 80 ounces of water every day.
I track my calories and plan my meals on FitDay. I'm keeping my calories between 1200 and 1500 a day. I do cardio in the morning and circuit training in the afternoon. Knowing I can't eat closer than an hour or 2 before my pm workout keeps me on my noon-12:30 lunch time.
Most of the time I don't get hungry. I have protein, fat and carbs at every meal or snack. I don't do many starchy carbs.I get my carbs from fruits and veggies. I don't keep sweets or pretzels or any type of heavily processed snacks in the house.
My witching hour is late afternoon so that's when I have a snack...usually a protein shake or a fresh fruit/nut combo.
Some things I do when I want to nosh:
Knitting...It keeps both hands busy.
I go online and look at fitness blogs and websites.
I'll do a round of sun salutations
I drink water and lemon.
I'll eat celery.
If I'm still really hungry, I'll have a 1/4 cup of raw almonds.

This is an awesome list! Thank you, I'll come back here for inspiration when I'm having a snacking fit!

[jeteaa]

thanks for the suggestions. I do need to find a good online cal counter. I;ll look in to the fit day.

[mary3mama]

Eat something that allows you a satisfying crunch for few calories. I keep raw veggies on hand for this: baby carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, celery, etc.

If all that chewing and a big glass of water doesn't take care of it...well, that's a rare thing for me.

[tanyam926]

I have found that it will take a few days for your stomache to shrink to a smaller size after a pattern of eating a lot.

I also had to really ask myself why I don't like ever feeling hungry. Feeling hungry is feeling uncomfortable and I don't like feeling uncomfortable bc I don't like dealing w/those kinds of emotions. So now I embrace the hunger for a few minutes and take time to tune into my body, experience the sensations, and really think and visualize what I would like to eat that would nourish my body. This process helps me be aware of what I am doing.

[UberMama]

For ME, cutting back my portion sizes has been very important. I use smaller plates (7" instead of 10", for instance) and therefore it looks like more food is on my plate. But I was hungry for the first week of cutting back my portions, and then that feeling went away and I get full much faster than before.

I also drink water. It's said that when you feel hungry, it may be the first sign of dehydration. So, I drink water. Also, if I feel like going back for seconds after my first plate of dinner (rare if ever now). I wait 20 minutes before doing so. It takes your body 20ish minutes after eating to feel full, and that's why so many of us overeat and then feel bloated afterward.