Oh, I most definitely aim to be satisfied. I'm really into enjoying life - at least I'm trying, as I spent the first part of my life not enjoying much. But I had a moderate amount to lose. I think that comes into play too.
I picked I'm hungry no matter what I eat. Hunger might be cravings.
What I eat plays a part too, not just the numbers. If I eat good carbs with fiber and protein I won't get that uncontrollable hunger right away. If I eat a piece of cake, icecream, cookies,..it won't fill me up and I will still be hungry and keep eating them till I am full, so it's not a case of just eating whatever I want with portion control.
my answer: I feel hungry no matter how much I eat, so it's more a matter of sticking to numbers.
However, if I plan ahead and eat every few hours then I'm generally ok. I have pretty much tried every type of food combining out there to reduce my hunger, but I'm just always hungry. Like real, physical hunger. There is only a certain level I will let myself get to and I just accept that this is the way it is for me. It's either a wee bit of hunger or eat too much and remain fat. It's a no-brainer for me.
I can't stress enough how I HAVE to plan ahead to succeed. If I don't plan and get too hungry and don't have my snacks, yeah, that's set up for failure that day.
Last edited by PinkyPie; 05-21-2009 at 04:29 PM.
Reason: spelling!
I would rather lose weight slower (theoretically) while not feeling hungry. Granted, I also get frustrated after a while, so I really need to focus on the prize.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RealCdn
That does work for most of the population. For interest, I eat ~2000 cals a day (2250-2300 on strength training days) and still lose around 2 pounds a week. Yet, I'm still pretty much hungry all the time. It's not from under-eating, but it could be why I naturally over-ate. There was a time that I ate junk food (which certainly didn't help), but I can (and have) gained weight eating a pretty decent diet - just too much of it. I suspect even at maintenance I'll have the urge to eat. However, knowing this is some of the battle.
Your constant hunger COULD be due to a leptin-insensitivity (leptin is a hormone that helps you feel full) and could improve as you lose more and more weight. I hope it gets better, being hungry all the time stinks!
I was very lucky that in the beginning of my journey "this time" I didn't have any hunger issues after the first couple of weeks. The situation has changed over the last month and I am experiencing a lot of hunger, some times very intense. I have started some calorie cycling and upped my base allowance by 100 calories per day. I am also trying to having fruit as an afternoon snack every day. So far it is not working very well. I am hoping this is just a phase!
I picked that I would lose weight more slowly so that I am not hungry. If I feel hungrey and wait too long to eat I get ravinous and will eat everything in the house. I am trying to keep healthy snacks in the house so that when I do need to snack I dont do too much damage.
Prior to starting my counting, I was hungry ALL the time, no matter what, and ate ALL the time. Once I started changing things, my body changed. Now, when I am eating my daily numbers, & making good choices with those numbers, I dont feel hungry.
The one exception for this is TOM/PMS time. I do feel more hungry, and usually add an extra snack in for 4-5 days, however I keep that snack a healthy one.
I would choose # 2 if the word "hungry" was replaced with "deprived". I am one of those who doesn't really see anything wrong with occasional feelings of hunger. It's 4:30 PM right now and dinner is about an hour away so yeah, I am starting to feel a little hungry but I guess I don't see anything wrong with that! I know that I'll be having dinner soon and I can have a snack if I want, so to me it doesn't feel scary or terribly uncomfortable to have the normal, "Hey, when is dinner!?" kind of hunger.
Having said that, I am willing to lose more slowly so that I can have a more relaxed eating plan. This is because I don't want to feel deprived or be starving all the time (which, to me, is different from the normal little niggling hunger you get before dinner).
The only type of "hunger" I have trouble with is not really hunger at all; it's when I want to eat just because I'm bored or upset. I deal with that by having healthy snacks around and just having one (or more!) of those. Then I close the kitchen and either have a cup of tea or go to bed.
So I haven't answered the poll, because I would have to be able to check a couple of options and change some of the words!
The only type of "hunger" I have trouble with is not really hunger at all; it's when I want to eat just because I'm bored or upset. I deal with that by having healthy snacks around and just having one (or more!) of those. Then I close the kitchen and either have a cup of tea or go to bed.
Me too.
More often than not I'll just go to bed and know that tomorrow I will be glad I didn't give in.
Your constant hunger COULD be due to a leptin-insensitivity (leptin is a hormone that helps you feel full) and could improve as you lose more and more weight. I hope it gets better, being hungry all the time stinks!
Me too.
More often than not I'll just go to bed and know that tomorrow I will be glad I didn't give in.
Yep! Although I do need to add another comment: There are days when I am just plain hungry. We're talking about physical hunger that feels very, very real. So on those days, I just go ahead and eat and know that I'm probably going to exceed my calorie budget. I do my best to make heathy choices but don't always succeed. I still count everything I eat, and usually it seems like it'll be balanced out by a lower calorie day later on. But yeah, if I'm REALLY hungry, then I eat. The trick is knowing the difference between hunger and boredom.
I've tried every way of eating and the only way for me to be successful is to eat a little more to avoid hunger. I am one of those who will be triggered into a desperate-feeling starvation that means binge, binge, binge if I allow myself to get hungry. A little hunger just before a meal is ok but if it's any more than that I am setting myself up for failure. I will eat over my calorie allowance if I am genuinely hungry.
Most of the time, while I may not be hungry, I feel that I could easily eat a lot. I have many cravings throughout the day and have to really manage them. Eating protein, fiber, and complex carbs reduces the intensity somewhat and helps me manage them, but they're never far away.
I don't really trust my hunger. The more involved I am in an activity the less hunger I feel. If I am basically doing nothing I have to make myself wait till it is time for my snack or meal. It's not so much my stomache that gets hungery in is my brain.
I chose "I rarely feel hungry" option, but actually I guess it's a little of the first and last option. I wanted to lose this weight as fast as possible without feeling hungry. That is why I ate/eat massive amounts of low calories veggies and fruit and lean protein to control the hunger, add fibre, and still manage to take off the weight in a timely fashion. I knew with 180 (+/-) pounds to lose it was going to take a LONG TIME regardless of how "good" I was. I just didn't want it to drag on for YEARS. If there was an option that said, "I want/wanted to lose weight as quickly as possible without feeling hungry..." I would have to say that is what I strive for.
I picked "rarely hungry". Unfortunately I broke my hunger button a long time ago. I'm still trying to fix it, I definitely know I'm hungry if my stomach is growling. But for the most part I never get to that point.
My problem is eating just because the food is there. I've caught myself eating "mindlessly". The other day I opened a bag of chips and just kept eating them. When I realized what I was doing I noticed I wasn't even tasting the chips, I was just munching away because they were there.
I agree with going slowly without feeling hungry too, but I don't think that applies to me.
