For the past 4 days I've been trying to count calories, I've been eating 3 meals a day, with snacks, I've been trying to keep my calories between 1500 and 1800 per day, eating smaller portions of foods I know have alot of calories, but I've actually been more hungry.

Tonight for example, I had barbecued boneless skinless chicken breast, one large potato (diced and barbecued in tinfoil) and sliced carrots (also barbecued in tinfoil with a little butter) I was hungry about 1/2 hour after eating! I'm eating more than I was before, its just now Im eating healthier foods instead of a bunch of junk food.

So Im trying to eat more food more often, but healthier and less calories...it is becoming frustrating, I do good all day, but after dinner I give in and pig out, I feel hungry the majority of the day, but its easier for me to ignore it earlier in the day, I just keep thinking "It's normal, it will go away, Im just not used to eating this way" but like I said after dinner it becomes very hard for me to resist and I pig out and ruin the entire day...

Does anyone have any suggestions to help control the hunger?? Thanks.

Popcorn. Popcorn is my best friend LOL. I used to eat chips EVERYDAY. Man, that was hard to stop. Now, I just pop some popcorn in the air popper (1/4 cup gives about five cups popped at 130 cals). That is enough crunch and ruffage to fill you up. And even if you have to overeat on it a bit, it's still better than other stuff.

How much water are you drinking? When you say you are hungry, is your stomach growling?

When I started this journey I didn't know what real hunger was. What I thought was hunger was actually thirst most of the time (and some times emotional "hunger".) I truly had to relearn how to listen to my body. For me now, hunger is when my stomach not only feels empty, but is making noise. Then I know it's true hunger. This may not be the case in your situation, but this was the case for me.

It's also possible that you just aren't eating enough. Depending on your age and activity, at your starting weight you may just need to eat a bit more. Some people are able to lose and eat 2000+ calories. It all depends on your body. Some hunger is normal, but it should start to subside fairly quickly. I do get hungry too, but it usually hits right about meal time.

Hey there! I know exactly how you feel about the hunger thing... I wasn't about to jump into trying to lose weight again until I knew exactly how I could eat whatever I want (in reasonable limits) and not feel deprived. Otherwise, dieting just wasn't going to work with me and I'd gain the weight back fast after a few weeks or months on a "diet." And as most of us already know, a food plan that you can live with - and perhaps even continue well after losing all the weight you want - stands for better success than a fad diet here.

What I do is I keep processed carbs (like say a couple of ounces of pasta or 2 eggo waffles, etc) limited to meals only. I found from past experience with losing weight, that I'd feel hungry after eating 1200 or up to 1400 calories a day, even with exercise and counting calories... I recently realized that what was taking up a large portion of my calories was bread products.

So, what I did was kept the bread limited to one or two meals a day (and actually make sure a piece of french bread or a serving of pasta was the actual serving size, thanks to a cheap diet scale) and snack the rest of the time on frozen fruit bars, microwavable frozen veggies, beans, etc. That, and 8 glasses of water, sparkling water, and tea really does the job for me.

*another girl on the 3fatchicks forum suggested low-calorie chicken broth which you can whip up as soup when you're just dying for something to eat. I'd also recommend low-calorie homemade vegetable soup as well.*

*I've actually ended up having to buy more processed carbs like special 100 calorie packs of mini carrot cakes or popcorn as desserts for each of my main meals, since it's actually gotten a bit of a pain in the neck trying to make it to 1200 calories a day while I'm "pigging" out as much as I am LOL!*

One more tip-- since I hate not being able to fill up my plate with food while I'm losing weight (and I'm not about to fill up a dinner plate with all rabbit food here lol), what I do is I tend to eat my meals (after making sure they're portion size appropriate) on appetizer plates and bowls. That way I can comfortably "fill up" my plate and not feel psychologically deprived, etc.

I also make sure to get all my liquids and food in before 9pm in the evening... the reason being is if I decide to snack on something late at night, it'll just make me soooo hungry for more food, that I'll be like the heck with it! lol.

Hope this helps!

I keep from getting hungry by eating often. Every 2 1/2 hours or so. I have 3 nice meals and 2 or 3 snacks. I also drink tons of water.

The foods that I fill up on are ones that contain lots and lots of filling fiber - vegetables and lots of low fat proteins. These are foods that stick with you and control hunger.

You don't mention your whole menu, but I see that you had a baked potato and carrots with - butter. I think for your calorie allotment you would get a lot more full with that chicken breast if you ate it with more filling foods. Cauliflower, broccoli, zuchinni, a huge salad, you get where I'm going - veggies. Maybe a small amount of brown rice. You get to eat a lot more volume with vegetables then any other item.

You shouldn't be hungry, you'll never stick to your plan if you do that. I would never have lasted this long if I weren't satisfied and full. Maybe if you give us an idea of a typical day of eating for you, we can help you tweak it to make it more satisfying for you. I really want you to succeed and finding foods that you enjoy and that keep you from being hungry is a huge part of that success.

What about if you had a salad instead of the potato and then had a nice grainy carb later? a little bowl of high fiber cereal with low fat milk?

you may not be drinking enough water. Sometimes if we've not drunk enough water in a day the signals feel like hunger. Even if your mouth doesnt feel dry. What I do, when I'm faced with hunger pains like yours is I drink a glass of water - then I wait for 20 minutes. If after 20 minutes the hunger is gone I know it was thirst... but if its still there I know that it is true hunger.

Ditto rockinrobin and susan b.

I am about your weight and i am the same way, so i would highly recommend more bulk veggies that dont have all the sugar. I cant do low carb, but i can do "lower" bad carbs. Like instead of a potato, how bout a sweet potato? Instead of carrots, how bout mixing those carrots with some zuchinni, green peppers, etc. Carrots are great, but they do have sugar.

If i just eat chicken, white starch (potato), and sweet veggie...i too am hungry in 30 minutes...and worse, not only am i hungry, but i am craving carbs and empty calories. I have to be VERY careful. Give your stomach some roughage and fiber. Give your stomach something it has to work at to digest. If I am having something lean like chicken, i have to mix it with LOTS of salad, and a starch that is not so quickly digested, like brown rice. Like with fish, I degest fish REALLY quickly, so i have to make sure i have LOTS of salad and a good carb. To keep my tummy busy for a while.

Look through your food and see how much fiber you are getting...it is KEY to me being full. Even protien doesnt keep me full long. But you give me lots of fiber AND protien and i am full for the evening. On those nights that i just have to have something...how bout a large bowl of cucumbers, celery, and whatnot dipped in a light or ff dressing? I do that alot. It keeps my hands busy, and gives my mouth something crunchy. And you just need a tablespoon or so of dressing.

Or

100 cal popcorn, like someone else recommend REALLY works well to fill me up too.

Find you some foods with fiber, that REALLY helped me out.

I usually eat every 3 hours or so, I don't cook dinner, so if it were up to me it wouldn't have been a potato, it probably would have been brown rice or whole wheat noodles with carrots (not cooked in butter on the barbecue) but I live with my boyfriend and his parents, his mom is usually the one who cooks dinner, so I just try and keep my portions right and eat more of what is healthy. I am thinking of buying things like whole wheat pasta and rice that I can cook up with something for myself when its a "fend for yourself" night.

Oh, and I would have no problem cooking meals for everyone once in a while, but my boyfriends parents arn't the "healthy food" type, if I cooked anything whole wheat I wouldn't hear the end of it. Plus, I think it would be much more stressful on me than need be, my boyfriends mom would be in the kitchen the entire time telling me to do this and do that and that Im doing this wrong and I should do it this way not that way... lol

It could possibly be because Im not drinking enough water, I will try to drink more. My mom suggested that it could be because my body is adjusting to the way Im eating, since before I would usually have a small breakfast or something sweet (like coffee cake) and then I'd go all day without eating until dinner, at which I would pig out, then I wouldn't stop until I went to bed, it would be popcorn and chips and anything else I could get my hands on.

I guess I will just have to try different options until I find what works for me!

Thanks for all the help!

I would skip the whole wheat pasta (it's not all it's cracked up to be; the potato is probably better both in terms of nutrition and curbing your hunger), go easy on the brown rice, and instead start buying vegetables for yourself. Why couldn't you make a salad or steam/roast some veggies for yourself and have those instead of whatever starchy or buttery side your boyfriend's mom makes? I never eat butter or margarine because it uses up such a huge portion of my calories and does nothing to curb my hunger. If I need a butter-like spread, I use nonfat cream cheese. I eat a huge (around 9 oz of lettuce and veggies) salad every night with dinner. With a low calorie dressing, it comes out at around 50-60 calories, but it makes a big difference in terms of keeping me satisfied.

You really shouldn't be hungry all day. I may have problems with hunger once in a while, but if it is a recurring problem, it's a sign to me that I'm not doing something right with my diet. Either I'm not eating enough, not eating often enough, or I'm not eating the right foods. It sounds like you are getting enough calories and are eating meals and snacks, so you probably need to tweak what you are eating. You might want to post your entire menu for a typical day; then folks could give you suggestions on how to tweak it to keep yourself more satisfied.

I find that usually if I am hungry or face cravings, it is because I haven't been drinking enough water.....
YOU ON A DIET indicates that hunger in the afternoon and evening comes from not eating enough fiber early in the day. They suggest a high fiber breakfast and a high fiber mid-morning snack.
I found out that cut up fresh fruit & yogurt are a winning combination to stave off hunger. That is backed by the theory that sugar (fruit) and protein(yogurt) combine well to bounce the blood sugar level up and maintain it longer. Another combination would be fruit & nuts. But you get the idea. When I ate an apple alone for my morning snack, it just didn't have much staying power.....but when I added the yogurt it was very satisfying.

YOU....also recommends about an ounce of walnuts in the afternoon to stave off the before meal hungries. I haven't tried it......I plan to....but mostly if I have the fruit & yogurt and really watch the water intake I have a minimum problem with the hungrys.

Keep tweeking the diet....the answer is out there....but as was mentioned, be real careful you are not confusing hunger with something else.....lack of hydration, emotional, stress etc. etc.