[kmac1196]

The only time in my whole life that I wasn't hungry was in 2005 when I lost a ton of weight (okay not a ton, but close) and maintained it in 2006. I gave up wheat, gluten, yeast and sugar. Barring that....how about fiber, as in beans? Healthy and VERY filling. Calorie dense. I'm trying to recapture the not hungry thing now.

[TraceyElaine]

I am going to say I think some of it might be in your head. You should try more filling snacks and all the suggestions above to be sure but I know when I started it took me a long time to know that after i had my (more than sufficent meal) and I thought i was still soooo hungry and just would finish iup the kids plates for them....it was in my head. I had to relearn the difference between hunger and that desire for food that helped me get all this weight on in the first place. It was tough. I genuinely thought I was just hungry all the time. I wasn't, I just wanted food. Sometimes our mind plays tricks on us.

[Couch]

Agreeing that it is possibly mostly in your head. You might be hungry before the meal, but you should be able to stop after a decent serve.

Have you tried the 20 minute wait before gaving seconds trick? 20 minutes is said to be how long it takes for your stomach to tell your brain that you have eaten. If you can wait, the urge to eat more often passes.

And nthing the suggestion to put something with fat or protein with your fruit to make it last longer.

[Rosinante]

In case it's head hunger:

Last time I lost a lot of weight, my principle plan was to make myself very small portions of whatever, and eat them with the promise to myself, which I always kept, that if I was still hungry afterwards, I'd go and make some more. It helped that I usually made myself meals from raw ingredients, so I had to be really hungry to be bothered to start from scratch again.
In about 90% of cases, I never went back for more, and I learned eventually what 'satisfied' felt like, a feeling I had not known before.

I've recognized that, long-term, I need the belt and braces of calorie counting too but this is easy this time because of the previous experience of giving myself time to register 'enough'.

[Alana in Canada]

I was reading "Mindless Eating" last night and the author made the point that one will perceive oneself as being hungry if one hasn't has an adequate volume of food.

So, another thing you could try is eating food with lots of volume: 1 cup of real strawberries--or blueberries with a more filling cereal than 1/2 a banana for example.

[H8cake]

I remember being really hungry in the beginning of my weight loss. One thing that helped was eating a big bowl of vegetables. I would cut up a zucchini a yellow squash a bunch of mushrooms some carrots and tomato, saute them with italian seasoning and garlic. I told my husband it was spaghetti without the noodles because I use canned diced tomatoes sometimes which makes it nice and saucy. He thought it was funny, but he would eat it too. A bowl of that doesn't have too many calories and really fills you. Now I add some turkey italian sausage to it and serve it with whole wheat pasta for a really delicious dinner.
A huge bowl of salad with some low calorie dressing can be a great thing when you feel ravenous, too. I agree with the others that it is important to get rid of the white carbs. I really limit carbs, even the good ones. I stick to the 2 oz. serving of whole wheat pasta. I just add a ton of veggies to it and it's fine. I can't do the regular cereals for breakfast. I have oatmeal with a tsp of peanut butter stirred in and a banana added. The peanut butter gives some protein and fat and keeps you full longer.
Just hang in there, it will get easier!

[Alana in Canada]

Oh--and when I do have cereal (in the fall and winter, mostly) I have a cooked cereal with a tablespoon of healthy nuts--like H8cake's oatmeal. I may just try peanut butter--thanks!