[Kimmie1989]

It's amazing how quickly calories add up. I just had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and I'm pretty sure it knocked out the rest of my calorie allotment for the day..... lol. It was the peanut butter definitely. I put on a pretty good amount, seemingly forgetting that peanut butter is 200 calories per tablespoon! Well...... it's ok. I'm just done for the day now, that's all .

[Jelbb]

Yeah, stuff like peanut butter is killer.
You've just gotta try to keep that insanely high-calorie for very small amounts food to as much of a minimum as possible.

But hey, if you WERE hungry later, and needed something else small, just remove that number of calories from your calorie intake tomorrow, and it all evens out.

[JulieJ08]

Originally Posted by Kimmie1989

I put on a pretty good amount, seemingly forgetting that peanut butter is 200 calories per tablespoon! Well...... it's ok. I'm just done for the day now, that's all .

Just a wee bit of good news - 200 calories per two tablespoons!

[Kimmie1989]

LOL actually that's what I "meant"........ 200 cal per 2 tablespoons. But that's not what I typed... haha! Still, after adding it up that one darn sandwich was likely 800 calories.......

[munchievictim]

I suggest meals high in protein, with complex carbs. Learning how to cook different meat in different, delicious ways is fun and beneficial, because the protein keeps you full longer and helps your body burn like a high-powered machine.
Also, exercise exercise. For the longest time I kind of relied on that "80% of weight loss is due to diet" stigma, but in the past few weeks I've added in exercise and the difference is obvious. I don't stay on the treadmill longer than 20 minutes but in that time I walk, sprint, climb hills, sprint up hills... Then I do a little strength training to build muscle (which burns your fat like it's coal in a furnace) and I've added in a daily yoga routine and ab planks. I lost six inches in a week!
Anyway, the ups and downs of dieting are many and varied, but the best thing for avoiding that hungry feeling is to fill up on whole foods with high nutritional value. Count your calories to figure out what works best at your body (I'd say start around 1700, which is what I eat and lose 2-3 lbs a week, and adjust each week or two downward if you're not losing). You might find that you can eat much more food than you expected and still lose. Perhaps your body is feeling hungry because it IS! And if it is, it should be fed. And that's good news, right?
Also, I've heard the same thing about drinking water when you think you're hungry--apparently thirst does trigger reactions in our body that are interpreted as hunger. A big part of busting hunger is figuring out what IS hunger, and what is boredom, cravings, thirst, etc. But if you're feeling genuine hunger, it's a sign that your body has not had enough food.
Good luck

[sassybangs]

when i first started out, i was hungry a lot. i even remember saying, 'if im gonna feel hungry like this everyday, i dont know if i can do this'. i think it was part a mind trick i was doing to myself, but also my stomach was probably really stretched out. i was a binge eater before, so i would shovel in 1000 calories in one sitting. it takes your stomach some time to adjust. i think i forgot all about it after a week.

just keep doing what youre doing, and you stomach and body will adjust to your new eating style, and with the right nutritionally dense foods, the hunger pangs should go away.

[joyra]

I was hungry too. I mean, at this point I don't ever have to be hungry, but when I started... I felt like I was having hallucinations, my cravings for junk food were so bad!

I don't know if this is something the OP is contending with but while you CAN eat high-volume and low-calorie at the beginning of the diet, it doesn't mean you WANT to. I felt like I was in mourning over the way I used to eat... and veggies weren't consoling me!

Whenever I've started diets in the past, I bought a lot of produce only to have most of it go bad. Now I plan my (veggie-filled) meals ahead of time and know what I'll eat and when and that helps. Before I'd throw out junk food, stock up on produce, get hungry, look in the fridge and then go out for fast food.

So yeah... I was hungry at first. I was CRAVING at first. But those cravings went away (er... became substantially less... still a little bit there!) and I didn't feel so deprived with veggies. ALSO--thinking of things like veggies and whole grains as FOOD instead of "healthy" food or "diet" food helped me too. Instead of this is what I have to eat in order to lose weight, I feel better thinking this is what I eat.

[SLyman86]

One website to check out is called HowStuffWorks.com. You can type inthings like calories and it will tell you how it affects the body and what needs what. It was a huge help for me with my vitamins and such. Hope this helps.