What do I do? I can't eat enough to satisfy myself.

I've just started this, and I think it's a great way to lose weight; there's one problem though. I can't eat enough to satisfy my hunger. I have my calorie-count to 387 calories per meal; breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the occasional late night snack.

Does anyone have any tips on how I can satisfy myself with this? As in meal ideas or such? I would very much appreciate the help.

make sure your three meals include protein, fiber and a healthy fat. grilled chicken with lots of veggies and olive oil is really basic and well-rounded. plus i would say you should totally feel free to eat unlimited veggies...even when counting calories. dense foods like oatmeal, natural peanut butter and other nuts fill you up and keep you satisfied a lot longer then other foods. also have you tired eating 3 meals and two snacks? sometimes people react better to that eating program because you aren't waiting constantly for your next big meal. the follwing sched. could help: 8 am breakfast 11 am snack 1 pm lunch 4 pm snack 6pm dinner

I am on a 1350 a day diet.  I am never hungry, truly, I'm not lying here.  This is what I do. 

First, remember if your used to eating 5-600 calories per meal and your stomach being full give your stomach a chance to shrink.  This takes about 2-4 days. 

Second, dont' eat 3 meals eat six.  I eat about 250 calories at each 'meal' and can do this 5- 6 times.  therefore, my snacks are really mini meals.  Vegetables can be eaten all day long.  A glass of warm water before you eat, or cold if you can't stomach warm is good. 

Third, excercise.  This is for me, the key.  It helps you keep your appetite under control.  If boredom is a factor for you find ways to alleviate this. 

Finally always eat bulky high fiber foods.  For instance one of my favs is natural plain yogurt with 1/3 cup of granola.  The whole thing is 220 cals, high fiber, high protein and filling.  Fruits such as pears, apples (eat with a meal bc of acidity), watermelon, etc give fiber and bulk. 

I wish you the best of luck! Remember if I can do it so can you just keep plugging to find what works.

That's very helpful. Thanks! :)

Veggies!  On the weight watcher plan they don't even count as points.  If you stay away from some of the higher sugar ones, like corn and carrots, you should be fine. 

I try to eat just a little protein and fat on a cracker with a large salad when I am really hungry.  Don't bing.  Just eat a large salad, and a couple of saltines with a couple of teaspoons of cottage cheese on them or a teaspoon of peanut butter, or a salad and 1/2 oz of peanuts (75 calories!).

Water!  Drinking a big glass of water after a meal has both helped with digestion and my hungry feelings.  They also started to go away after about 2 weeks of dieting.

Good luck! 

If you are quite overweight, this may not be quite enough food to keep you healthy and happy. What's your caloric deficit? What are your stats?

Get a Sam's Club membership (or whatever membership-based Discount store in your area)

Buy the following in bulk:

Romaine Lettuce
Fresh Spinach
Mushrooms
Red Onions
Roma Tomatoes
Cucumbers

(Fruit can be iffy at the Membership stores, they cater to businesses so they often sell fruit before it's ripe, in this case get these at your corner market or Super Mart)

Grapefruit
Watermelon
Bananas
Oranges

Frozen Broccoli
Frozen "California Mix" (Broccoli, Cauliflower, & Carrots)
Frozen Green Beans

Skinless Chicken Breasts
Lean Ground Turkey
Salmon
Tilapia

Nature's Own Double Fiber Whole Wheat Bread
Rice

Pasta Sauce (compare calories on the labels)
Whole Grain Pasta (You will probably have to find this at your local corner market or Super Mart)

Mustard

Various seasoning mixes and herbs:

(Garlic & Herb mix, Cajun mix, Lime & Pepper mix, Italian Herb Mix, etc)

Olive Oil, Smart Balance Buttery Spread, Smart Balance Oil

A good Once-a-day Multi-vitamin


At your corner market or Super Mart:

Egg Beaters

Flax Seeds (sprinkle on salads for extra fiber and Omega 3)
Low Calorie Salad Dressing

Olive Oil Spray

Sugar Free Jelly (usually 5-10 cals per serving)
Smart Balance Peanut Butter

Roasted Turkey Breast Lunch Meat

Low Cal Mayo

Relish (They even have sugar-free now)

Canned Salmon

Konsyl 100% Fiber Supplement (no additives or sugars, take twice a day)

Always eat a huge salad before your meals. They are almost no calories when prepared without cheese, meat, nuts, tons of dressing, etc. Salads can be prepared in a large tupperware container then portioned out to smaller containers so you have them available during the day or at work, etc.

Go crazy in the kitchen with the rest of the stuff. The seasoning mixes at Sam's Club are great and make cooking a no-brainer. Preparing the frozen veggies is simplicity itself. Season them with a seasoning mix before steaming or microwaving if they seem bland to you. Load your plate with those veggies. Buy a rice cooker. This stuff is easy.

I never go hungry and I have lost about 60 lbs. in the past 6 months or so since switching from Prime Rib, King Crab, Double Hamburgers w/ Fries, Cheesecake, Pies, Beer, etc, etc, etc.

Best thing I've ever done for myself and my family. I can't imagine going back to my former eating habits and this list provides me with more food than I can or care to eat!

Oh, and drink lots of water.

That's the stuff!

Veggies, complex carbs (brown rice, beans, etc), good proteins, balanced right, multiple meals. It works for me too.  

Good hydration- I like seltzer water a lot. The bubbles fill me up, but it doesn't have the same chemical feeling that diet soda does. That's my big diet secret- seltzer water. You can order it like a soda at restaurants and feel "chic", while hydrating, getting 0 cals, and filling up.

I never shrank my stomach much when I started eating healthier. I just fill it full of broccoli. Literally a couple pounds of it per day, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Exercise helps me too- it helps me organize the signals I get from my body so I can better tell what's hunger, thirst, craving, etc. I consistently eat less and feel less hungry on days that I exercise.

I make my 450 calorie breakfast and save some back for a snack later. Hey DON'T drink a big glass of water after your meal as someone suggested. Many many studies have shown it dilutes digestive juices. You should drink a big glass of water at least 1/2 hour BEFORE.

I like the person who eats brocolli all day long. I hope you don't turn green:)

madsenk, I never thought of that... when my cousin was a baby she refused to eat anything but carrots and she turned orange! Now you've got me all worried   :)

great suggestions, bigmanwalking, thanks for taking the time to share your list!

After I was (finally) diagnosed with diabetes, the first thing I did was a lot of research. I learned that carbs (depending on what kind you eat) can make you crave more carbs. Since I had spent the month before my diagnosis in a carb binge, and not knowing why, this made so much sense to me.

Realiizing it was like a drug, I knew I needed to kick it cold-turkey. For two weeks, I allowed myself to eat all the salad I wanted (and salad dressing, as long as it had an oil base--although I didn't go crazy!). I also only ate salmon, chicken, and tofu for lunch,  and dinner, (and sometimes breakfast), with yogurt, with an egg or two and yogurt for breakfast. The protein and fiber helped to break the hold carbs had on me, and I was always full. The yogurt helped with digesting the protein, and calcium is known to help with weight loss. I did lose weight; 14 lbs since I started my change on July 3rd.

I've since reintroduced good carbs back into my diet, but I'm able to do so without the cravings.

Obviously, if you have kidney problems, this is not the way to go. However, if you can at least replace the bad carbs with good ones, it will help give you that leg up.

I almost forgot; when I went back to carbs again, I first go for low glycemic loads (check here for measured loadsL http://www.carbs-information.com/glycemic-loa d.htm#food and here for GL estimates: http://www.nutritiondata.com). If I can't find a load value, then I use the regular glycemic index.

Broccoli can't turn you green! LOL! The worst it will do is turn your...excrement green. :P Carrots do have something in them that make your skin turn orange: carotene.

Kashi has been the key to keeping me full. If you haven't tried their frozen dinners, see if any strike your fancy. The grains are pretty hearty, so it may take some getting used to. The cereal is amazing, especially when mixed with yogurt.

Also, starch may be bad for you overall, but those cheddar and potato pierogies (Mrs. T's) are awesome in a pinch when I am hungry (and shouldn't be). Cottage cheese fills you up. Try it with some cherry tomatoes. I love the explosion of flavor when I bite into those.

Edit: Excess sugar may make you crave more, but if you combine carbs with whole grains, you won't feel the same effect. I don't, at least.

Kashi meals are great Wildebeth, and are very nutritious and low calorie. AND TASTY!
I love chicken breast, I get the skinless, boneless, lean chicken breast, which is 440 calories for a pound package, each package contains 3 breasts, so one breast is roughly 150 calories, and very filling and protein packed. Try that for a lean meat, some brown rice and some steamed veggies with that. A meal like this would be probably around 400 calories and very filling and delicious. Not to mention healthy.

Also, anything extra that you eat that makes you go over your calorie limit you can work off with exercise! It's okay to do that too.

pumkin:

The working off with exercise thing is really debatable... it's not as simple as that, unfortunately...