Why can i not keep my appetite in check?!?!?
 

I swear...I am ALWAYS hungry!! ALL day long. I eat things that are high in fiber so i feel full longer (whole oatmeal with protein powder is a staple)...I eat about 5 times a day...but i just CANNOT control or satiate my appetite. I don't get it?!?! Does anyone else struggle with this?? I'm about to go on the hunt for a good appetite suppresant.

2 things

first of all, how many calories are you eating?

second, are you sure its actual hunger? i had a lot of issues with mistaking cravings for hunger, or the fact that i was constantly obsessing and thinking about food which made me think i needed it!

I tried the eating 5-6 mini meals thing, and it did not work for me. I was never satisfied, I'd eat my tiny meals, and sure, I'd get to eat in a few hours, but I was only kind of full. Usually, it just got my taste buds going and I'd be hungry again after.

I'm now eating 3 larger meals with a big snack in the evening. For me, part of the full feeling is mental, and that comes from the eating experience itself. Did my food fill my plate or was it a little blob on a big plate? How long did it take to eat? Was I rushed? Did I get to eat slowly and enjoy the eating experience? When I was eating mini meals, they were usually little snacks that I eat on the go, I never got to sit down and enjoy meals. So my brain never got the satisfying meal experience.

This is a typical breakdown of my meals:
- breakfast (300-500 cal): huge bowl of oatmeal or huge bowl of cereal
- lunch (250 cal): my quickest and lowest cal meal...I'm busy during the day so I keep my mind off of being hungry. I usually eat a lean cuisine, a turkey wrap, a scrambled egg burrito, or something
- dinner (350-500 cal): a big portion of protein, almost always fish or chicken and lots of veggies...I don't usually eat starchy carby foods for dinner
- evening snack (200 cal): big smoothie, chocolate bar, cheese quesadilla, bowl of oatmeal, etc

I usually keep my total between 1300-1600.

Also, if I'm feeling hungry, I very consciously ask myself why am I wanting to eat. Am I bored? Am I sad, happy, anxious, stressed, out with friends and wanting to eat socially? Or am I truly hungry? I identify the reason and then I do something about it. If I'm stressed, I take a hot bath. If I'm wanting to eat socially, I'll order a diet soda. If I'm bored, I busy myself with something. If I'm truly hungry, I'll look at my meal plan for the day and see if I can spare some calories from somewhere...if not, I'll try to add a bit of extra exercise.

I second mkendrick. Mini meals made me ravenous and food obsessed. I stick to bigger meals more spaced apart.

And I agree with mkendrick again about asking about the hunger. Usually, when I feel hungry I ask myself why. Usually it's because I'm bored or scared. I try to distract myself and then I forget about it.

My default coping strategy is eating so I admit I get "hungry" several times a day. But I have been practicing the not eating muscle and it is getting stronger.

Like above mentioned.. what are your calories? and What does your diet look like? Also, are you drinking enough water? with the answers to these I can give some advice

I find that it's not just the number of calories for me. I've found that too many carbs and not enough fat will make me stark-raving-mad with hunger, even if I'm eating 1800-2000 calories! So now I've cut back on carbs drastically, focus each meal around protein and veg, and am not afraid to increase my fats to get my calories to the 1600-1800 range.

thanks for the insight!! i am good about the calories...keeping it between 1200-1600. i admit, i am HORRIBLE about the water drinking. i don't drink NEARLY enough, and i really need to work on that. like i said, i eat the oatmeal with protein powder, i will have a low fat string cheese and banana for a snack, turkey and veggie cheese on organic bread...yogurt for a snack. i think i'm with you gals who have ditched the whole eating 5-6 times a day. i'm starting to think that may actually BE the problem because i don't EVER feel full after eating, i'm always still hungry. i also admit i'm bored to tears. i never really thought about that one either...but it's true. when i'm at work, i am sitting at a desk for 12.5 hours a day...sometimes it's busy, sometimes it's slow...but i'm primarily hungry when i'm at WORK. looking back that doesn't happen when i'm home. WOW...what a revelation THAT is!!!

I wholeheartedly agree the eating every few hours thing is crap. I know there are dozens of people in here who swear by it, but I HATE it. It just makes me feel hungry all the time and always always thinking about food.

I just want to eat three square meals a day with no snacking. When I was slim all those years I never snacked.

I eat three meals a day--approximately 300 cal for breakfast, 500 for lunch, and 700 for dinner. I usually have a banana or a string cheese (60-100 calories) around 11, especially if I'm having lunch late. I do eat dinner rather early, though--4-6PM.

I think calories, number of meals, carbs and all that is different for everyone. I think we have to figure out what foods and how often are best for ourselves.

I think, for me, it's not true hunger if I am eating enough calories - it's more desire or cravings than true hunger - triggered by emotions, smells, feelings, environment, events, hormones etc. Learning to live with food in those situations is my goal.

What do your percentages of carb / fat/ protein look like?

For several years I was happy and satisfied at a vegetarian 60 carb -20 fat -20 protein but then I started getting nuts with hunger. I had to work in more seafood, eggs, and be more open to chicken so I could push it more to 40-30-30 and that helped considerably.

Don't forget sleep. That's when some hormones are released and lack of sleep messes you up.

As a PCOS/IR patient I've long learned to watch out for hormone influencing situations beyond the hormones in food. (sleep, stress, etc.)

A.