Veggies making me HUNGRY??

  • Hello all. Ive noticed that when I eat veggies (notice the "when") I get hungry within 15 minutes of a full meal. Ive heard that vegetables are supposed to fill you more, however, I feel so hungry after, I start feeling sick. (I am pre-diabetic, dont know if that matters much) But have any of you felt this way too? I hope im not alone. Thanks for any input in advance.
  • I thought it was just me! I started today off great, my firts day of fat smash phase 1, and after about an hour after i ate my mushrooms and peas, I was famished and felt faint. I was wondering if maybe it's a psychological thing or actually physiological. Lets just say I ate a big dinner of chicken and brown rice, I needed the protein. I totally understand you though, you are not alone! Good luck!
  • What are you eating with the veggies? I can't eat a meal of just veggies or I get hungry. However, I like to add a large serving of veggies to my protein and whole grains, and it really helps. I find that I eat fewer calories overall this way and I feel better
  • My day mostly consists of veggies. Yesterday I made a huge veggie stir fry - broccoli, mushrooms, onions, peppers, spinach, carrots and zuchini. I also ate a 2 egg white omlette with it, adding some more protein and making it more filling. I WAS stuffed. I like to add a protein with my veggies, either the egg white omlette, some fish (even tuna will do) or chicken breast. It keeps me quite full.
  • I usually will eat half a plate of veggies, whether it consists of mixed vegetables, broccolli, etc. And 1/4 plate of my main dish, chicken, fish,etc, and 1/4 plate of carbs, rice, pasta, etc. Im usually either full or just right at the end of the meal, then it falls downhill after about 20 minutes.
  • I find if I eat slower that tends to help me out a bit with not feeling as hungry sooner. But when I do feel hunger I eat a bit of peanut butter to get my protein in as well. I hope this helps you!
  • I eat a boatload of veggies supplemented with lean protein and some starchy carbs. Sometimes, eating in general just makes me hungry. All those years of yo-yo dieting and poor balance (sorry to sound like Oprah here) has messed me up. However, overall, if I stick to the plan, at the end of the day, I have energy, I am happy, I am regular (like you Jamie Lee Curtis but no Activia needed here), and I am satisfied. You may want to look at your fats as well. The above basic plan with NO fat leaves me famished. Adding in just a little olive oil in a dressing, some avocado cubes, or something along those lines can get the balance just right. Experiment.
  • It sounds like your blood sugar is reacting to something in the meal; it could be the carbs/starches (potatoes, rice, bread) rather than the veggies.

    I'm not a diabetic but I find that they make me hungry too, and it helped to eliminate these from some meals, and in others to make sure to balance them with a good amount (at least 3 oz) of a protein like beans or chicken. And as noted above, a small amount of fat like olive oil, yogurt, or cheese can help too. Although some vegetables depending on how they are prepared can cause your blood sugar to spike too, especially if you eat them without protein.

    Have you read at all about the glycemic index of foods? The idea (though not everyone agrees with it, it's true) is to keep the average glycemic index of your meal as low as possible, by eating carbs that are processed more slowly, for instance whole rather than refined grains. It doesn't always work as advertised for me, but in general I haven't suffered the hunger pangs I did before I started paying attention to GI values of my foods.

    Here is a page from the Mayo Clinic on the glycemic index and blood sugar
    and here is the Univ of Sydney's glycemic index page with database
    but you can also just google "glycemic index foodX" and generally get an answer that way.
  • I get the same way if I eat them on their own, but if I include starches and meat/eggs to it I tend to stay satisfied for longer.
  • Quote: My day mostly consists of veggies. Yesterday I made a huge veggie stir fry - broccoli, mushrooms, onions, peppers, spinach, carrots and zuchini. I also ate a 2 egg white omlette with it, adding some more protein and making it more filling. I WAS stuffed. I like to add a protein with my veggies, either the egg white omlette, some fish (even tuna will do) or chicken breast. It keeps me quite full.
    When got a meal like that, I always have feeling of overeating but only for 30 minutes or an hour. I don't know the reason though.
  • I think that the most important thing is HOW you prepare your vegetables. It should be a real substitution for the meals you used to eat. Beans is a good choice, you can make it with a sauce (use skimmed milk instead of cream) and eat it with rice for example. Don't be afraid to experiment, the most important thing that you could do for yourself is to "fall in love" with vegetables, not taking them as "lesser evil" or something inevitable. Forcing yourself is the worst thing. I still think that being vegan is way too strict for me (it's good to have meat from time to time but it's a must to have dairy products, for example to have enough calcium in your bones) but maybe this can inspire you at least a bit:
    http://ilovetoronto.com/restaurant-r...llenge-recipes

    When I was a kid, I didn't like most vegetables, but now my only enemy is beetroot, it's irony, because it's one of the healthiest vegetables, but I think loving and regularly eating onion, garlic, broccoli, patissons, spinach etc..is enough. Anyway good luck!
  • You know what, I feel the same way sometimes. For instance, I ate a whole can of peas with a 1/2 of cucumber all mixed together for lunch (thats ALL VEGES!!) and thought I was stuffed. Now its only been an hour and im hungry again...ugh ... just hoping my body will get used to it
  • I get you, I've always thought it was a lack of carbs, but whenever I eat an apple I feel incredibly hungry immediately afterwards!
  • I'm not a veggie fan, so I pretty much never eat just veggies. For the most part I feel like I need some protein and fat to feel and stay full for any length of time.

    If I eat a meal that is mostly just carbs, whether it is fruit or bread or crackers or what have you, I sometimes feel hungrier just after and sometimes a little nauseated. Apples in particular will leave me feeling nauseous if I don't eat something else with them.

    I recently started making "green smoothies" as an attempt to overcome my veggie aversion and those actually keep me surprisingly full with none of the kinda icky upset stomach feeling I get when eating carbs by themselves, in spite of the fact that many of them only contain fruit, water and vegetables. Maybe it's a digestion issue.