I know this topic has probably been discussed to death before, so forgive me...

I started eating better and working out about a week ago, limiting myself to around 1500-1600 calories a day. I'm cooking more, buying good foods that I can eat a lot of for minimal calories, the whole thing. I eat my daily calories, and yet I'm still hungry all the time

Like today, for instance. I made a wonderful shrimp stir-fry with rice for lunch, had a portion of that. Less than an hour later, I'm hungry again and munching on carrots and hummus. I probably have enough calories left in the day for a sandwich or something.

Any advice? And is it true that your stomach shrinks after starting a portion-controlled diet?

Thanks!

how often are you eating? are your meals spaced out a lot? another thing to look at is maybe the content of your food. if there's a lot of carbs, try maybe replacing some of those carbs with more protein & healthy fats since they will help make you feel fuller longer.

also if that doesn't work, maybe look into IF? maybe having a shorter window for eating will make it easier?

Thanks for the info Yes, I realize now that, for me, small meals throughout the day work better than 3 large ones. I do need to replace some of the carbs with fruits and veg, and a little meat wouldn't hurt. The only meats I ate today were the slice of ham in my sandwich and the shrimp in my stir-fry. I eat a lot of finger food-type things, like carrots and pretzels with hummus, or crackers and cheese. I LOVE dairy.

I guess the biggest thing is that I'm really not sure how to plan my diet. I know I need to eat healthier, sure, or else I wouldn't be here. But just how to structure this is sort of mind-boggling. Even now I'm worried about what I'm going to eat tomorrow at my cousin's open house. I should be more like my super-skinny vegan cousin and his girlfriend - they bring their own food wherever they go.