Always hungry
 

I'm not sure what's wrong with me. I just get so hungry and I start to snack. Seems I eat about 5 or 6 small snacks a day. I'm constantly craving sweets. I've had bloodwork done and have nothing wrong with me. I'm just hungry and want food. I eat about 20 Hershey's kisses and some sugar free vanilla wafers. Everyday I seem to find some way to cheat on my diet. I feel desperate to lose weight and try to exercise more for my cheating. I'm tempted to just go and just throw it all up in the bathroom. I just can't stand being fat and dieting. I don't know what to do. Weight Watchers worked in the past but I don't know if it's that time of the month or what's going on. Can anyone help or point me in the right direction?

Well.,., when I feel like I could eat all day and still be hungry it is usually because I haven't been exercising and my body will get its rush anyway it can.

When I exercise regularly I don't much worry about eating too much... I tend to crave things that are good for me then anyway.. though I do have to watch certain traps.. like wine or fresh baked bread..

Are you exercising ok?

That sounds like me in the past. I was always hungry and unsatisfied while dieting and did a lot of out of control snacking (usually binging on low fat/low sugar diet items).

I concentrate now on eating whole foods - emphasis on protein, healthy fats, vegetables, fruits, low fat dairy and whole grains. It was an amazing relevation to me that a bowl of real oatmeal with blueberries would keep me full for hours while a bowl of rice crispies just made me ravenous in an hour.

In my experience with "dieting" - packaged food (especially "diet" food, low cal/low fat stuff) never satisfied me. I would just keep eating. I now wonder if that isn't my body's way of saying "hey, where is the REAL food."

!
 

If it's my TOM I'm constantly ravenous, so have you checked whether it's anything to do with that? At those times I drink lots of water, always have fruit handy, eat a few squares of 70% cocoa-solids chocolate, try to get a little more protein as that keeps me fuller for longer...and do something, ANYTHING, to distract myself from food and keep my hands busy. Go for a long walk, have some hot s-e-x, take a long bath, phone a chatty friend, get absorbed in a good book, go to the gym, clean the house, groom the dog, paint the walls, do a jigsaw puzzle, catalogue your CD collection, re-grout your bathroom tiles etc. I'm sure you can think of SOMETHING to distract you from food if you try hard enough.

Don't forget to remove the source of the temptation too. In the past I've literally thrown tempting stuff in the garbage and then fished it out half an hour later and eaten it (if it's securely wrapped), so nowadays if the cravings are unbearable I pour washing up detergent over the foodstuff that I'm craving to stop myself succumbing - it's a criminal waste of food, but it prevents any bulimic thoughts taking hold...which is a road that you really DO NOT want to travel down.

Good luck!

Janey :hug:

try taking chromium and magnesium, and avoid eating refined sugar. The supplements will help reduce cravings and balance your blood sugar. The more refined sugar you eat the more you will want.

Definitely the more sugar I eat the hungrier I am. If you feel the need for sweet could you try substituting some sugar free things instead like a sugar free jello or pudding cup? Also, protien will keep you fuller longer, so check how much protein you are getting in a meal.

Other suggestions - have you tried any of the bars like Luna or Pria? Luna bars have 180 calories and taste great. According to calorieking.com, 9 hersey kisses have 230 calories. You can definitely curb your sweet fix with something more balanced and with less calories.

You might reconsider how you define hunger. There is a big difference between just wanting food and actually being hungry. Once I was able to recognize REAL hunger it was much easier to draw boundries around my eating. Until that point I would tell myself I was hungry (even though I knew I wasn't) and that gave me permission, so to speak, to eat when I knew I shouldn't. Now that I've accepted that I'm not hungry just because my stomach isn't full I'm able to rationalize with myself when the urge to eat hits for any other reason.

That is totally true about how having a tiny bit of refined sugar makes you want a lot more... I find that that is true with lots of things, too. Once you let yourself slip a little, it's really easy to keep slipping. For me, it was one meal of indian food... 2 days later, I'd had a steak and a salad and veggies and cheesecake and ...ALL IN ONE MEAL! AT A RESTAURANT, SO IT WAS WORSE THAN NORMAL!

The best thing I've found for satiating my sweet tooth is the Carb & Sugar Control yogurt by Dannon. It is AMAZING, and it's sweetened with Splenda. 60 calories per cup, and it's definitely sweet enough to stave off my cravings. Also, I agree with the person who mentioned Luna bars. The Iced Oatmeal and Raisin one is probably my favorite.

Good luck to you! You can do it if I can!

Magnesium... absolutely, Sheri.... I don't take an extra magnesium supplement except for what is already in my multivitamin.. but I do make an effort to eat foods rich in magnesium... whole grains, nuts, green leafy vegetables this way I get the benefit of the fiber and also have fun eating delicious foods that fill me up....

Also, refined sugar, caffeine and alcohol have a negative effect on magnesium absorption....

I believe many many people nowadays are deficient in magnesium.. I've heard it causes lots of health problems.

Also, if you are not feeding your body the nutrients it needs it will crave it one way or the other...

What is your total calorie count in a day? Do you know? In my experience, I always feel a little hungry when I'm trying to lose weight, but if I feel a lot hungry it's because I haven't eaten enough calories during the day. It's like I get "overdrawn" or something. But first you have to know how many you are eating. If it comes out below 1200 then you are too low.

Eating sugar or bread just makes me want to eat more sugar or bread, so I always try to have some protein when I eat, even if it's just some string cheese (lowfat) or an egg--something to break the hold of the sweets.

I find that a hot cup of decaf coffee or tea with some lowfat creamer often takes away cravings for snacks.

Good luck!

Jay

well first off i would say- its okay to be hungry!

it might not be desirable- or that fun.... but physically (if you are getting in a min number of daily cals and nutrients) its okay!!!

thats what i try to remind myself when im hungry and think i "have" to eat. often by the 3-4 day of not eating when hungry- i find im not as hungry anymore. i think our bodies get programed to send hunger signals at a certain time... i know i am always "hungry" at lunch time.... whether i ate breakfast an hour or 4 hours before.

also- ita about the refined sugar- that will give you cravings!!

heres how i look at it ... pick something you dont love... but dont hate... for me thatd be cauliflower. if im *hungry* even the cauliflower will sound good... if im snacky, i just want chips or candy or whatever and i know that im not really hungry.

good luck!

I'm the opposite :) I hate being hungry, so if I get hungry, I eat something. Life is too short to be hungry and miserable, I love food! There are plenty of healthy, filling snack options that won't interrupt my progress. If I'm not enjoying something, I won't stick to it. This is a plan for my entire life and I wouldn't stick to any plan that meant I would be hungry.

I generally try to eat every 2 hours. I do it on purpose - I eat before I get hungry. A hungry me is a light-headed, dangerous, headed for the snack machines, eating my office mate's food me. The hungrier I get, the less likely it is that I will make a healthy, thoughtful food decision.

I had the same problem, which was one of the biggest contributors to my weight gain. I resolved it by forcing myself to go 2 weeks with absolutely no refined sugar (no honey, no syrup, no foods with added sugar) to get over my "addiction" to it (and it really is an addiction - when you eat sugar, it raises your body's glucose levels, but it's a short rise, so they crash quickly, leaving you craving more). Everytime I wanted sugar, I had some fruit - it satisfies your body's need for glucose, but it's processed differently, so it's a longer lasting snack. After that I gradually started to let myself have treats again, but I don't crave them anymore. The problem with eating a lot of sugar is that your body has a harder time processing it and tends to store it - adding to your weight. Try making a rule that if you want a treat, you have to have a piece of fruit first and wait 20 minutes - for me the craving often goes away after this.

Oh, I had a similar experience to Sierra. When I started eating better in July 2004 I completely gave up sugar. It wasn't my goal, it was a by product of my goal. My goal was to eat as many whole foods as possible and avoid as many processed foods as possible. To meet my goal, packaged baked goods and sugary stuff were out. I didn't eat them at all.

I had been a sugar binger all my life without realizing that's what I was doing. I was so envious of people who could eat two Oreos and stop. If I brought home a package of cookies, I would take out 2, close up the bag. Eat cookies. Think...mmmm more cookies. Go get 2 more, close up the bag. Eat the cookies. Fight the temptation for more cookies - get two more. Close the bag. Want MORE cookies - finally go get the bag and eat them all.

In previous weight loss efforts, I substituted diet foods for the sugary foods I craved - low fat, low sugar this or that. The fake sugars affected me the same way. Just switch Snackwell's Devil Food cookies for Oreos and the feeling of being out of control, not being able to stop eating was the same.

Giving up sugar cold-turkey was a revelation for me. All of a sudden, I had "will power" I wasn't out of control anymore. I could plan a healthy menu and stick to it. Like Sierra, I still ate fruit (quite a lot of fruit, actually - satisfied my sweet tooth). After a year, I was able to start slowly adding sweet things back into my life. Always tentatively, always afraid I would wake the slumbering sugar monster - so far, all is good.

I still put boundaries around my sugar eating. Splitting a fudgy dessert in a restaurant is okay, getting a small portion of ice cream from an ice cream parlour is okay, getting a biscotti with my Starbucks is okay. These are all finite treats. An open bag of Hersheys miniatures - I wouldn't trust myself still. I still don't bring ice cream, sugary breakfast cereals or cookies into the house - why tempt fate. I don't want to return to my old out of control eating habits. It just made me feel so BAD, there was a lot of self-loathing when I couldn't seem to stop eating foods that I knew were bad for me and I knew were making me heavy.

Giving up sugar, switching to whole foods, finally living a healthy life style where I love everything I'm eating, I feel good about my choices, feel good about my health, literally feel GOOD all the time - such a miracle. To go from old fat schlumpy me, depressed, tired, falling asleep all the time to the healthy, energetic me now. Amazing.

Thanks for the advice ladies. I've been doing the "If you're hungry drink water" thing and it seems to be helping today. I just have to be strong and do it for myself. Have a wonderful day and God bless you!

If you are hungry drink water...

I had forgotten that one... sometimes I think I am hungry when all I am is extremely thirsty.

Looks like u have gotten some great replys... I would also add make sure u are getting enuff protein... and if u are truely hungry eat "protein" in the form of food or protein shake... protein fills u up and u stay satisified..

Wow I too am impressed with the replies here! One that has been said repeatedly and is a huge one for me is that I pretty much stopped eating processed food; not entirely and sometimes I use a can of low fat soup in recipes, etc.... but my general rule is "If God made it it is okay to eat; if mankind messed around with it to "improve" it use caution."

The wonderful part is... it is not hard! Got myself a crockpot and started digging out recipes and sharing them with friends. You can cook up a whole pot of something and put it in freezer bags and have wonderful meals! I make separate stuff for lunches at work, etc. So when everyone is chowing down on the cookies or other junk it is okay... because I know what I have stashed away or at home for dinner! YUM! AND they do satisfy my hunger much more than processed foods.

Also I always have fresh fruit and veggies around and pretty much eat all I want of it. BUT I find that most of the time when I am "hungry" I'm really not! A few big chugs of water cures it... and if I really AM... well, there's that apple right there!

Also true about exercise... gets my body moving and I don't think about or crave food nearly as much! AND all that sugar and junk IS addictive! Once I get past the first month or two without it, it's no problem! I can sit in a roomful of people eating cheesecake... my favorite! (In fact I DID last week LOL) and it doesn't bother me at all.

Hang in there and don't give up. And DO resist the temptation to go throw it all up!! :nono: I'm sure most of us have thought of it but that is NOT the solution. Stick around here where there is lots of support, advice and encouragement.

drbjaded- I am so sorry that you are feeling so low about this. I too, experience exactly the same thing and it drives me insane because the more I cave in and eat sweet foods, the more depressed I get about my weight so it is a vicious circle.
All the lovely people on here have given great advice and I completely agree that trying to do something to take your mind off eating helps. I have suddenly became very organised in my house as I find this keeps me occupied and so away from the thought of temptation. If that does not work then I put on my ipod and take the dog for a walk. It's only a small thing but if it helps me stop giving in to temptation then it has worked.
It is very, very hard and I am not going to deny it. I do have days when I feel like just giving up and eating tons of chocolate but I remind myself of just how miserable my weight is making me feel right now and then I ask myself 'Do I really want to add more weight to the misery?' The answer is always 'no' , I really want to change my weight and feel like me and not some huge blimp that I have let myself become.
Try and set yourself goals, however small. Think of something that inspires you and go for it. It may just have the right effect for you to realise that you can break the cycle and stay on the right path to your own weight loss goal.
I wish you every bit of luck and I am sending you lots of good vibes. xx

Oh and Janey... LOL about the garbage. For sure... it does no good to put it into the garbage unless you destroy it first LOLOL.

Lots of excellent suggestions above! Well done, folks!

One snack I've recently (re)discovered is baby carrots! They're sort of sweet, so you get that sweetish taste. They're quite crunchy, so your tongue, teeth and jaws get a good workout, like they would with cookies, crackers or chips (crisps). And they have virtually no calories at all, so there's no guilt associated with them.

I like them with ranch dip. 1/2 oz of dip can go a long way with an ounce of baby carrots (9-10 carrots). It's really more than enough, unless you really drench the carrots.

They really are a great snack!

Actually, the problem with eating sugar is that your body processes it very quickly and easily. ALL the food you eat, no matter what it is, is eventually broken down into sugars in your body. If you eat refined sugar or highly refined foods in the first place, there aren't any nutrients in the food and most of the work is already done for you. Excess calories consumed as refined sugars convert pretty instantly to body fat.

You've gotten great advice from all the posters above: if you crave sweets, try to eliminate them. The cravings will go away as long as you don't reintroduce them.

That doesn't necessarily mean you won't be hungry. Some people just are. I've been hungry for most of the 5 years since I started losing weight and maintaining at goal. I exercise a lot, so that's not the problem. Normally, I stay sugar free. It is true, stomach grumbling hunger. At this point in my life, it's a price I'm willing to pay. If I eat more (no matter how high quality the source of calories) I gain. That's life.

Mel

Fret not we have all been in the same situation at least once in our weight loss journey. Honestly, what really helps me is to drink lots of cold bottled water...the more water I drink the less hungry I am, Ive noticed a huge difference. Best of luck and hang in there, for this too shall pass :)

Sometimes I eat when I'm bored. So keeping busy helps keep me from eating. I get hungry a lot too. When I'm trying to sleep I notice my hunger more, so I tend to eat at night. I must cut out this bad habit. Got to stop eating sweet stuff too. Sweets and chocolate are my weakness. I have lots of fruits and veggies I can snack on, like apples, green grapes, baby carrots, and celery. Also, there is Dannon fatfree low calorie yogurt I can eat.