I'm hungry. I've been targeting 1880 calories/day, and these past two days I've just been hungry. I went over my 1880 yesterday, and I have a feeling that I will again today. I am currently 227 pounds, 5'4". I have been exercising harder the past couple of days, which I have not done since high school, basically. I think I'm about a week and a half to two weeks until my TOM, so I don't know why I'm wanting so much more food. It may just be because it's the weekend and I'm bored. I don't know...but I try to only eat when I'm hungry and not bored. What do you think? Any advice for me?

Can you share what you are eating? Certain foods are more filling and keep you full longer than others.

If you think it's boredom, try doing something to distract yourself from the hungries. Rake leaves, walk the dog, laundry, play a computer game...anything to get your mind off of it.

Good luck and keep it up!

Lots of vegetables and high-fiber foods in your diet. They are filling and low-calorie.

Also, soups and hot beverages are great.

Have you tried hot teas when you are hungry, but don't want to eat more calories? Teas and hot broths are great to stave off that hunger sensation.

You have to focus on whole foods--high protein and healthy fats. Drink your water. Coffee is a big help for me too. You definitely don't have to be hungry!

Yesterday and today I have not eaten very well. The rest of last week, I was eating more vegetables and foods that were more filling, and I wasn't hungry and even had some calories left over at the end of the day. (That was a total run-on sentence, lol. Sorry.) I definitely need to watch what I'm putting in my body. Instead of just food, I guess I have to think of it as fuel for my body. What food is going to help keep me going and keep me full as opposed to my old way of thinking about food....what tastes better? What can I add to this (condiment wise) to make it taste even better?

I have had chili, cereal and milk (not low-calorie) and have been drinking lots of coffee (as I do when I'm home on the weekends).

ETA: I've also made homemade meatballs which were delicious, but very high calorie. I tried to make them in a low calorie way but failed big time! I guess it's just about getting used to what makes me full and what does not? It's not a lot of food, and it wasn't very filling. But, this week, I did really well one day where I ate and ate and ate and still had some calories left over. I need to go back to that day and see what I did. Thanks for the advice!!!

alyssa, Google "low calorie whole foods" and it will give you lots of ideas.

It really is about becoming used to a new way compared to your old way. The hardest part is the beginning. The sooner you can clean the junk out of your body and nourish it consistently with satiating lower calorie, whole foods--the sooner you will not be hungry.

Plan, plan, plan. Set yourself up for success by getting the crap out of your house. You can do this. If you want the result, you gotta want the process too.

As for the meatballs--

I do mine with turkey meat and rolled oats. I season them with italian seasonings and diced onions. YUM.

Others have given you great advice with eating more filling foods. Also make sure you are really hungry and not just getting cravings.

When I get like that, I'll eat a handful of nuts or a hardboiled egg.. something with a lot of protein.

I drink a big glass of water or tea when Im just snacky. It helps alot.

But if you wernt snacky and stuff last week then eat like you did then! I know its hard to do but find some foods you really like that keep you full and eat them all the time! lol =) You just have to get in the swing of staying on plan the majority of the time and then only eating off plan just every once in a while. It gets easier the more you eat on plan. Good luck!

I usually eat stuff that has a lot of volume and fibre but not many calories. My favourite right now (but I'm not sure you can get it outside of Texas) is Trappey's Creole Okra Gumbo, which is high fibre, zero fat, and 60 calories per cup! I have a can of that (105 calories) and I stay full for a couple of hours at least.

Failing that, here's a lovely salad recipe from my Galician husband:
- Lots of hothouse or Boston lettuce (the tender, round-leaf stuff), two or three big handfuls
- Very ripe tomatoes (2 plum tomatoes or 1 lg. on-the-vine tomato), sliced
- 1/4 sweet Spanish onion (Vidalia onion)
- 1/8-1/4 cup carrot shavings (use a cheese slicer or large-holed grater)
- extra virgin olive oil
- apple cider vinegar
- 2oz drained canned albacore tuna steak in water, or, if you can get it, Ortiz tuna
- coarse salt

Prep:
If the tuna is Ortiz, it's in olive oil, so rinse it first. Pat dry. Assemble the lettuce and tomatoes in a salad bowl. Roughly chop the onion, into 1-2 inch pieces. Put onion and then carrot on top of salad. Drizzle olive oil over salad VERY SPARINGLY, about 1/2tsp. Sprinkle coarse salt over salad. Toss salad to JUST coat vegetables with oil, and so that salt is evenly distributed. Add tuna. Generously drizzle vinegar over salad, about 1 tbsp. Yum yum.

I usually like chopped salads, but this one I like really chunky. You can cut the vegetables finely if you wish but I like spearing pieces of tuna and veg on a fork.

Calories: 160
Fat: 2g
Protein: 15g
Fibre: 8.2g

If you don't like tuna, try substituting it with 2 oz. white meat skinless chicken.

Also, here's a recipe my mother used to make me, which I love:
Puffed Cheese and Broccoli
- 1 broccoli head, cut into large florets
- 1/8 cup finely grated low-fat hard cheese (like Parmesan or Gruyere)
- 2 egg whites
- 1 tbsp low-fat mayo
- tiny pinch ground nutmeg
- salt
- pepper

Prep:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F, or 180 degrees C. Steam the florets until they turn a brilliant green and are tender. Place them in an oven-friendly dish. Lightly salt them.
In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites into hard peaks, but not so much that they begin to separate. Add a pinch of salt to set them a bit. Gently fold in the mayo, cheese and nutmeg.
Pour mixture over florets. Cook in oven until the cheese mixture has puffed up and turned golden on top. Turn oven off, crack it open, and let pan rest for a few minutes. Serve immediately after resting.
When serving, sprinkle with a bit of pepper.

I adore this recipe. The cheese mixture turns into something like a soufflé, and keeps its shape really well. It's extremely low in calories, although not as low as I would like in fat.

Recipe number 3! Also from my mum:
Portabella Pizzas
- Large portabella mushrooms
- Ripe, thick tomato slices
- Slices of very sharp and very aged low-fat cheddar
- salt
- lots of pepper

Prep:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F or 180 degrees C. Separate the stems of the mushrooms from the caps. Place in a glass oven dish. Salt and pepper the caps. Place one very thick tomato slice on top of each portabella cap, and a slice of cheese on top of that.
The "pizzas" are done when the mushrooms have released a ton of juice into the dish, and have dried out a bit around the edges. Careful not to burn the cheese!

I got extremely addicted to this dish for a few weeks, and would have nothing but that for dinner. It's really quick and easy, and the texture of the mushrooms is wonderful.


I hope I've helped. If you don't like mushrooms or tuna or broccoli, please tell me so I can hunt around for more recipes!

Good luck!

Here's a easy soup that I use to keep the hunger at bay.....

1 can of tomatoes
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic

puree these in the food processor then cook on the stove for a good 10-20 minutes until everything is tender (more time is better if you have it!).

Add 6 cups of chicken broth/boullion (I use low sodium).

Throw in some herbs if you have them (basil is good, so is oregano).

It doesn't sound that good but really.....it is! I think the original recipe include tortilla-type toppings but I just eat the base soup plain.

The other thing I do is just have a cup of boullion - low calories yet fills me up or at least distracts me until the next meal.

You guys are awesome! I'm still in that trial and error phase, so this is exactly probably just the right time for me to have had this issue.

Those recipes look great! I will make sure that I'm hungry and not just snacky or bored. I can go ahead and try to drink a glass of water or tea at that point. All good ideas. (Now I just have to remember them when it comes down to it!) Thank you!

Great post and great responses!

Thanks for the recipes, ladies! I think I'm going to have to try that puffed broccoli one!

Let me know how it goes! I'm really hoping I got the proportions right on that one because I usually estimate. If something goes pear-shaped, give me a shout and I'll do some experiments in the kitchen. It should be fine, though. (I don't want to worry you!)

I don't want to take the attention away from miss alyssa in her own thread, but I have so, so many recipes, so I might start up a low-cal, low-fat recipe blog in the 3FC forum. What do you guys think? And where should I post it?