How hungry should you get?

I've found it impossible so far to get down to my target calorie consumption. It's been so frustrating! But now I suspect - am I just not letting my self go hungry long enough?

Tonight I had a 300 calorie supper that was very heavy on the protein (chicken breast). Then I went to see the Da Vinci Code and got hungry partway through the movie. It was 2 hours before I got home to eat, and all I had was a big diet Coke.

When I got home, my blood sugar was 6.0, which is on the low side of an ideal reading (Canadian glucose meters use totally different units than American ones). And I noticed on the way home I was alert driving, which is a sign of enough sugar in your system. So, though the food deprivation was painful, it wasn't dangerous.

Am I a wuss? Think I'd do better putting up with more hunger?

nope. hunger is your body's way of telling you it needs something. sometimes that 'something' is just a drink.

waiting it out a little, like you did, helps determine if it's real hunger or just wanting to eat out of habit.

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with hunger.  And if you DO get that horribly hungry...EAT something!  You can't expect to change your eating habits over night.  If you've been doing this for 3 months and are still having the same problems, then something might be wrong.  But you're just starting, so you're gonna get hungry.  As choco said, it might be actual hunger or it might just be habit...whatever it is, i would suggest eating just a little bit.  I usually keep a granola bar with me for when that happens.  They're usually around 100-150 calories each and make a good enough dent that I'm not STARVING until I eat again.

By the way, I thought Da Vinci Code was very disappointing.  They changed way too much stuff from the book that did not NEED to be changed.

My question is the following.. how many calories are you eating, altogether, flamel?

300 seems like an extremely small meal to me. We guys should be eating at LEAST 1500 calories, NOT 1200.. and if you're physically active, you should be eating more. Are you eating enough?

Otherwise, I agree with the advice above.. if you're hungry, eat.

I know my body goes through cycles where some days I NEED to eat more than other days. If my body says eat, I eat.

It *was* a small dinner. But I eat around 7 meals a day, and 300 calories is typical. I'm getting 2500 calories a day - my goal is 2200.

Instead of a big diet coke, maybe you could try a hard-boiled egg, some nuts...  Some protein in other words...  When you are hungry, and your blood sugar goes down, you need to eat something!  Have you checked with your doctor to make sure you don't have hypoglycemia?  I know I say this a lot, but it pays to get yourself checked out in that area, especially if you are having trouble being legitimately hungry so often.  How long have you been trying to lower your calorie intake?

longwalker: I'm not hypoglycemic, I'm diabetic. After all that time hungry, my blood sugar wasn't all that low - it surprised me.

I've been cutting my calories (or trying to) for 2 weeks, and have gained 3 pounds as of today. The trend line says 2 pounds, which is more like the truth.

Are you getting enough sleep each night?

They've just shown that getting less than 7 hours of sleep each night stimulates the production of grehlin, the hormone that makes you feel hungry.  It might be as easy as going to bed a little earlier.  Of course, that's not always exactly easy, depending on your work schedule.

Ooh, I've been having insomnia - I keep waking up too early. I've been sleeping 7 hours when I normally sleep a couple hours longer than that. Hmm...

I read somewhere that diet drinks can actually make you feel hungerier, so it's possible your big coke was actually fooling you to thinking you were hungery than you actually were. What I do if I'm drinking a diet drink is I also follow it was a large glass of water, seems to help.

7 meals a day?  That seems to be quite a bit.  Coulda been your body thought it was hungry cause it was used to getting fed every few hours.  I eat around 5 times a day and I think thats plenty.  Remember, your body adapts to everything...so if your body is used to eating every 2 hours, its gonna want food every 2 hours.  Maybe try to cut it down to 5 or 6 (people here say 6, but everyone is different) and lengthen the time between meals.  This way, you're less hungry between meals because your body isnt expecting food.

Not eating when you are hungry causes your metabolic rate to decrease, which means your body will burn calories slower. Eat lots of small meals through out the day. I eat about 8 times a day.

A meal can be something like a bowl of oatmeal with some protein powder, half a cup of fat free cottage cheese with some fruit, a protein shake ect.

The important thing is that you get some protein in every meal and meals should either be Protein + carbs or Protein +fat, never Fat + Carbs. A minimal amount of fat is ok in either type.

When you eat carbs and fat it causes an insulin response that will cause your body to store the fat right away.

I ALWAYS have food on me, since I hate being hungry. I'm a big fan of Luna Bars--they're tasty and small enough to stash on your person wherever you go. They usually fill me up--even just a half of one--and they're decently low in calories. Also, cut up veggies always staves off hunger--celery and cucumbers are refreshing, filling, and nearly calorie free.

Also...coffee. I know there's a debate on these forums about whether it's good for you or not, but it certainly works as an appetite supressant for me. Same with green tea. But that may be bad advice, healthwise...I'm not sure. Some of the more savvy health-nuts on here will know better; I'm just saying what works for me.

Just me, but if I ate 6 or 7 meals a day, I would with out a doubt, eat to much. Whether it's my insulin level or just being used to eating, the more often I eat, the more I eat.

Right now I eat twice one small meal around noon and dinner with maybe one drink after that.

You have the self control to only eat twice a day, which will slow your metabolism, but you dont have the self control to have a small meal (almost a snack) every 2 - 3 hours, which will increase your metabolism?

Not eating is a heck of a lot harder than eating, and your stategy is counter productive.

intrestiong thoughts. I eat every two hours... I get hungry if I dont get my little meal on time. I eat 1,500-1,800 cals a day. Depending on my activity level.  I am like a steam engine now! most days anyhow. Before I was eating 3 meals and 2 small snacks, felt over full at my meals and like i didnt get enough at my snacks. so i now eat 6 small meals. toast and tuna, or yogurt and some sort of fruit. things like this. the only meal i eat more at is dinner. I will have 3 oz of the meat or fish or whatever  i cooked.. and lots of veggies and a whole baked potatoe. this keeps me VERY FULL for the night. and if I am hungry before bed I will eat a fruit or a frozen yogurt(small pack yogurt, lil serving sized one, simply freeze and injoy, the PEACH is the best!)

I also started a meal plan for each day, I sometimes change it throughout the day if i feel like having something else. Takes the math out of it you see. If i know the night before, or in the morning what I am going to eat, it is easier to stay on track.  I must add though, at first the 6 meals a day thing was hard for me. I was alwys full and felt like i was forcing myself to eat, the way i didnt when i started to eat breakfast for the first time in my life! My body got used to it, and likes it. And my tummy reminds me when it is time to eat!

if all else fails and you have 0 cals left, down 5 hard boiled egg whites. pretty low in cals, high in protien and fat free for late at night!

stef

jbodzin wrote:

"You have the self control to only eat twice a day, which will slow your metabolism, but you dont have the self control to have a small meal (almost a snack) every 2 - 3 hours, which will increase your metabolism?

Not eating is a heck of a lot harder than eating, and your stategy is counter productive."


It takes no self control for me. I don't get hungry and I get no cravings in fact the last strong craving I got was before I switched my diet when I was eating 4 times a day, it was so bad my teeth were grindnig and I was shaking.

The two meals is so peaceful for me. I don't have to get up and raid the fridge at 11 pm, I never get up and feel I have to eat before anything, I never get those bad cravings. I know in theory I should try to turn up my metabolism but that doesn't seem to be a path that will lead to my success.

hmm well if you dont get hungry I guess.

stefhernandez thats pretty much my eating program as well.

Just wanted to clarify MF we are not talking about eating becuase we are craving. Talking about eating nutrious meals.

No understood. I know people who eat 6 times a day and it works really well for them, it just doesn't for me.

This hunger question reminds me a bit of the Paul McKenna method thing I did last year (quite efficient, McKenna himself is a bit of a short tacky hypnotitian man who publishes books like "I can make you thin!" or "I can give you willpower" or "Rule the world in seven days"). Anyways, apart from a mind-programming CD that tells you again and again to imagine yourself thin - self-fulfilling prophecies, a winner for motivation I hear - his book also brings in the official eating system of the skinny people. It's quite nicely boiled down to a few rules, which are:

1. Eat whenever you feel hungry.

2. Eat whatever you want.

3. STOP when you even suspect you're full.

4. Truly enjoy every single bite of what you eat (i.e. chew a bit slower, make sure it registers).

And all of these points in the end boil down to this: Trust yourself, YOUR BODY KNOWS BEST. Who cares if you're 100 cals over your allowance today, maybe tomorrow you'll be 100 cals under. I know it's a bit of an anti-approach to the calorie counting, but I think as a measure to stop you obsessing about food and taking things easy it's not bad at all. Anyways, what I end up saying, which might not even apply because you're diabetic after all and I'm no nutritionist, is: Don't worry yourself because you're a bit off the mark one day because at the end of the day it's your body going "give me this, give me that". If you crave a lot of chocolate because you're bored, that's one thing, but if it's coming up to dinner and your head is bombarding you with images of potato wedges and risotto, it might just be that there's something in there that your body needs right now (possibly to build a nice you).

And on the chew properly note, if someone could explain to me

a) how to do that with soup,

and

b) whether that means that soup's a rubbish food,

that'd be great. Hope this helped?