Hi, I don't know if this is a common problem, but I'm finding that eating healthier and limiting my calories is making me feel hungry allthe time. I know I'm eating less...blah blah blah...I should expect to feel hungrier, but its been nearly 3 months now. Surely my body should be getting used to the changes??

Its not like I'm not eating enough. I'm eating 4 mini-meals/snacks throughout the day and having a nice and healthy main meal in the evening. But I feel like I'm constantly looking to what I can eat next.

Do you think its because I'm thinking about dieting too much? Like thinking about how to make meals healthy and counting calories and planning meals in my head is making me think about food which is making me hungry? Or is this a common thing when people are dieting?

If its the thinking about food too much thing, how can I stop it? Because its driving me insane. I'm constantly thinking about food, and feeling hungry!!

Please help me.

Jess

ive found im less hungry since i started dieting, but i have had a couple of days that im starving, so i just take that as my body saying it needs some extra food that day. if you are really hungry it wont do you any harm to have an extra piece of fruit or something. maybe you could post a sample menu so we can see exactly what you are eating?

It may come down to what it is you are eating. I did a very low fat diet back in the 90s, and lost quite a bit of weight, but my diet was full of empty carbs. I was able to keep it up for several months, but I was hungry *all* the time -- my body never got used to just eating less. This time I have focused on lean proteins, tons of veggies, some fruits, mostly complex carbs (and I go easy on them), and a little dairy, and I have to say I am pretty satisfied most of the time. I honestly couldn't keep doing this is I was really hungry all the time.

Can you post a sample menu?

Like others have said it's all about what you eat! I can eat 1500 in one day and be starving, or 1000 and be full. Protein protein protein protein plus a bit of fat, and the occasional whole grain, is what makes me feel full.

Michael Pollan argues that we overeat because our bodies are craving nutrients that we don't get from empty calorie foods (which he states include frozen vegetable, packaged meals, etc). I haven't done enough research on the veracity of this claim, but it makes intuitive sense and I certainly incorporate this logic into my eating. I try to make sure everything I eat is packed with a nutritional punch (plus of course protein and veggies) and I usually am fine on my 1200 diet, even with exercise.

perhaps I told you what you already know, just wanted to share what works for me

Could you try three bigger meals a day and see if that helps keep you full longer?

Are you eating some protein with each meal. It keeps you full longer.

Are you drinking a lot of caffiene? That tends to make me feel hungry.

Try greek yogurt for breakfast or lunch. I eat Dannon Greek Yogurt with fruit. It really sticks in my belly and makes me feel full longer.

Good Luck!

You are probably not getting the nutrients you need from your diet. I suggest you start taking a multi-vitamin and incorporating more healthy foods and focusing on having a good balance of protien, carbs, and healthy fats. since you are just starting it could also be withdrawal from all the sugar, caffeine, and preservatives. if that's the case it should go away in a week or two.

For me, staying full is all about eating protein and fat (yes, I said FAT!). Also eating my biggest meal early in the day (lunch time) has helped me as well. In my case it definitely makes a difference WHAT I'm eating, not just how much. 1500 calories worth of plain veggies and I would be so hungry I could murder someone!

A couple of must-have foods to keep me full:
Chicken
Nuts
Full fat cheese
beans
eggs
Peanut butter

There have been times when I'm really counting calories and doing a good job, but the *thinking* of food all the time was too much. I was always maddeningly a *little* hungry, always thinking about my next meal.

Eating higher protein, fewer carbs makes me feel fuller longer, but not immediately.

I always feel there's two parties of the "full" philopsophy - some who say "more protein!" and others who say "more fiber!"

This is an average day for me:
Breakfast: Greek yogurt with honey and cranberries/strawberries
Snack: Banana or cereal bar
Lunch: Salad with chicken/turkey/quorn
Snack: Kiwi fruit/carrot sticks and houmous
Tea: Tuna and sweetorn with jacket potato and veg.
If feeling peckish later: Some ice pops.

That seems like quite alot to be eating in a day tbh. But I'm just hungry all the time. I'm drinking alot of water too. About 1.5 litres...

Do you think my body is still getting used to the change?

Btw when you all say fat - the big scary no-no word - what do you mean?

Can you give me examples of foods?

Also, I know meat and fish are good sources for protein, but other things could I have? I don't want to go down the super diet route, I just want to et better and lose weight healthily.

Weight loss is an equation of energy. Eat more calories than you use and gain weight. Eat less than you use and lose weight. You can lose weight eating mcdonalds for every meal if your calories balance the right way.

Fat is not bad for you. Too much saturated fat can be problematic for an inactive person and transfats are bad for everyone but beyond that fat is not bad for you.

Protein and fat are much more satiating that carbs. Your diet right now is high in carbs and low in protein which is probably why you're hungry all the time.

Mmmm FAT! Haha. Peanut butter, nuts/trail mix, eggs, avocado, 2% yogurt or milk, granola, and cheese are fabulous sources of fat. Glancing at your sample menu it looks like that could be what you need to ramp up to keep you satiated. 1 tbs of peanut butter has around 90 calories and 8 grams of good fat, plus protein, and is a wonderful way to fill an appetite. Put that over a banana and yum!

Maybe get creative with cooking to fill you up and satisfy any cravings you may have for tasty treats- healthy peanut butter cookies with oatmeal instead of flour, banana/oatmeal pancakes with honey for breakfast, a "parfait" with yogurt, granola and honey, whole wheat muffins with bran, apples, and carrots, banana with peanut butter as a snack, english muffin with a slice of cheese, avocado and egg... these are just a few ideas. (Also, they all contain alot of fiber, which also helps you feel full).

While we don't know portion size, she's got hummus, greek yogurt, tuna, and chicken in her sample diet. Carbs are the potato, cereal bar, and banana. Certainly most of us have room for improvement in the protein-carb ratio (I certainly do), but would you really consider this a high carb, low protein diet? Is this due to the GI index of the carbs chosen?

I'm not talking about a carb/protein ratio I'm talking about protein. She has no protein until noon except the greek yogurt which probably has 14-15g of protein at most. I would assume the salad isn't loaded with protein so proabably another 15-20g at most. Hummus has protein but if she is eating 1/4 a cup that is only about 3g of protein. Dinner is a mystery but before dinner we're talking about less than 40g of protein. RDA guidlines are higher than that and I'd say they are low.

Regarding GI I am of the belief that GI index doesn't matter unless you're eating high GI foods by themselves. In a mixed meal GI doesn't matter.

I have this same problem and then add to that difficulty sleeping the past six weeks and it is darn near impossible to make any progress in losing weight. I C/P all of your points and I am going to apply them to my situation. I have also found that upping my water consumption to 80+ oz per day has helped give me a feeling of satiety.

Thanks everyone for all of the rest of us who also struggle with this issue. When you're feeling hungry, it is easy to fall off your plan.