I am trying to count calories and watch what I eat, not only to lose weight but to eat healthier. It just seems that fruits and vegetables and such don't cut it for me hunger-wise. I feel like I am always hungry. I shouldn't be, either. I'm getting enough calories.
Any ideas or tips on how to help curb the hunger?
drink water. i read that like 70% (or something like that) of the time when you think you're hungry you're actually thirsty.
tea, coffee, and peppermint are also natural hunger suppressants.
I've learned that by reducing your carb intake usually helps with the hunger because there are less glucose spikes. I avoid refined carbs, basically all that's man made and for the next little while I'm not eating fruits either. I do however eat lots of fresh raw vegetables and some like carrots that tend to have more carbs than other veggies, but that's pretty much it. I also eat nuts and grains daily and I get some of my carbs there.
Most refined foods enter your blood stream very quickly and spikes your glucose, and then your pancreas being highly efficient does a fabulous job of lowering your glucose to a low level. By lowering your glucose level the body feels that it's lacking carbs and the hunger starts. The key is to try to maintain a stable glucose level by snacking regularly and avoiding refined carbs. Natural foods take longer to breakdown and enters the bloodstream at a slower rate helping to keep the glucose level more stable. Don't forget to drink lots of water. Many times we think that we're hungry when instead the body simply needs fluids.
Hopefully these tips can help you. I'm sure that other people on this forum will provide some other tips that may differ from these. In the end you need to find the right combination that works for you.
So you can log your weight -- which allows you to do the following:
- Plot your weight curve
- Analyze the trend of your weight (see under Recent in the figure above)
- Determine the projected target date (see under Overall in the figure above)
