I have been famished lately, all I want to do is eat. Bad stuff, good stuff. It doesn't matter. I'm exercising like I always do. The only difference is that I'm not as busy with errands and housework and am trying to keep my butt in my chair (I work at home). I'm also taking my vitamins (a multi and a calcium) fairly consistently. I need to stop feeling so hungry!
Pam

Pam, I also take a multivitamin and calcium daily. I have days that I'm very hungry and some days not really hungry. I'm forcing myself to stick to my good foods, as I finally got my holiday lbs. off and want to stay where I'm at.

Pam, I think reaching my goal weight makes me "hungry". I'm saying this because I've been watching your posts and noticed you've reached your goal. Congrats! I too have reached my goal, only to regain. Please take my encouragement... don't do what I did! Stick to your plan, no matter how hard it is, and you'll weather this storm!!

I take vitamins and for some strange reason I stopped for a few weeks in December. I don't remember that it made me less hungry when I didn't take them. I believe that it is what I eat that staves off the hunger. For example, I've been eating egg whites (plus sausage or grapefruit) for breakfast for the past few weeks and I get really hungry an hour or so later. Today, I had oatmeal and I didn't get hungry for 4 hours.

I think I'm trying to find a simple reason for this hunger when it probably has more to do with reaching my goal. Now the excitement of losing is gone and i'm trying to find something fun, and that's eating! Thanks for the gentle reminder SlimLindy to stay on plan and don't give in to this. I'm about 1 pound up because I went out to eat several times over the weekend and than had Mexican food with my dad yesterday. Today I am back on plan and it feels better. I'm hoping tomorrow when I get on teh scale at the gym the extra pound will be gone. Still, I had my big bowl of bran cereal with fat free milk this am after working out, then had a big salad made from romaine, mixed greens, tomatoes and sliced turkey and low-fat dressing. Then I had a 45-cal yogury. Now I'm thinking about having a handful of walnuts. I really shouldn't be hungry. I think it's that the excitement of getting the scale to finally go down has gone. Now I guess I need to focus on getting positive feelings from seeing it stay the same! :-)
Lily: I'm glad you said so long to those holiday lbs. That must feel great. I hope you start feeling better soon. I felt kinda bad after suggesting that you eat more bran for your stomach pain. I really should have said "see a doctor" because that would be the safest move for you. My hubby has had a lot of GI problems due to a ruptured appendix 20 years ago, and I know how uncomfortable you must be. It's also dangerous on the outside chance that there is some kind of obstruction or partial obstruction going on. The vomiting really scared me. I hope you are okay.
Pam

Pam, I'm always hungrier the day after I've had an off-plan meal, like your Mexican dinner. Maybe my body isn't used to so many foods that I don't usually eat? The hunger settles down once I'm in my usual eating routine (rut ) and it's easier to stay on plan. That's why my treat meals are few and far between ... sometimes it's hard to get back on track.

If that's not it, how about what you're eating? A lot of people find that protein keeps them from being hungry between meals. Maybe a protein snack would help?

Oh, to answer your question - no, I've never noticed that vitamins make me hungry. Here's hoping that tomorrow's an easier day for you!

I've been taking vitamins for years- long before I lost weight. I'm still hungry. They have NO effect on hunger levels. The only thing I've noticed is on the rare occasions that I forget to take them, I get a lot of foot cramps doing intense exercise.

Mel

Meg, I'm sure you're right about the off-plan eating. It just primes the taste buds and makes my stomach to want more. I'm better if I limit this to once a week like I did when I losing. Good to know that vitamins aren't causing my hunger, I guess. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced it has to do with boredom, and the fact that i've reached my goal and I'm trying to replace my craving for the excitement of losing with food. Does that make sense? I've seen the scale a couple of pounds below 140, and that was a huge high. I cleaned out my closet. I have new clothes. Now I just need to settle in and stick with it.
Thanks for your support.
Pam

I feel "hungry" when I'm stressed or bored. I have to remind myself that I'm not really hungry, just wanting to medicate with food. Sometimes it even works. The boredom one is actually easier because I'm usually at home and I can convince myself to go do something that keeps my hands busy (computer or quilting/knitting), whereas the stress occurs at work and I find myself cruising for food. Luckily today there's nothing here to eat.