Why am I hungry?

I know this sounds like a crazy question, but I'm starving. I've had a reasonable breakfast, a decent lunch, and a snack, but I'm *really* hungry. I just started to change the way I eat and I've cut out the regular soda. Is my body adjusting? What's going on? Anyone deal with this?

Thanks

 How much water are you drinking? How much protein and fiber are you eating?

It may just be your body adjusting. I find that drinking plenty of water, and getting more protein and fiber help hold off the hunger. 

I just finished my first week and the same problem, but it is starting to even out a bit. I found that I broke my 1550 cal a day allowance to 5 meals to be around 250, and my last one an extra 100 for dinner. It helps a lot. Drinking water is hard for me as well, so I started freezing 100% (no sugar added) fruit juice as ice cubes and it helps a lot to add some flavor to it...

I could probably be drinking more. I've been eating good mix of whole grains and things with protien. I'm at about 750 calories for the day. I'm thinking I should probably have a snack again soon.

I am having the same problem.  I am starving!!!  This is why I fail everytime.  I have drank 2 1/2 bottles of water today and have snacked on carrots and grapes, but I'm hungry.  How do you get the will power not to eat!!!

What did you eat today? Maybe we can give you some tips.

Other possibilities:

If you're just coming off an extended holiday binge it may take a little time to get used to less. Definitely make sure you drink enough, it will help.

or, If you're just getting started you may just be thinking about eating/not eating too much. I know it's hard not to especially when counting every little thing you eat. Stay busy and it may be easier. The perfect way to stay busy is to do things to help others. Double good!

sigh

im hungry too.  I've had 1530 calories today, and have finished eating for the day.. but im hungry. I want to eat toast. But i wont. Grrrr.  

If you truly are really hungry then eat something. I'm a strong believer in listening to your body when it cries out for food.

Yes, your body is probably adjusting.  And you may be eating at a deficit.  Are you trying to lose weight?  If so, that can make you hungry.

 

Try to see your hunger as a good thing.  The sensation of hunger is caused by a complex machinery of chemicals in your body.  Normally, hunger is your body telling you that it is low on calories.  I like to see hunger as the FLASHING NEON SIGN that I am BURNING FAT.  Woo hoo!

But maybe what you are eating is affecting your hunger.  Sugars?  Carbs?  Read this:

A Day in the Life of a Fat Cell 

 

Also, maybe you should try to eat less food, more often.  Instead of 700 calorie meals 3 times a day, try to eat 200-500 calorie meals 6 times a day. 

It could be dehydration. I read somewhere that most people who think they're hungry are actually suffering from dehydration and should just drink more water.

Your body is more than just a fat holding devil you wage war against. It's a complex and magnificent machine. The sense of hunger comes for a reason. You are not giving your body what it needs. You should never starve yourself or deny yourself food if you're ravishing. This will tell your body you're in a state of famine and it should start stocking up on whatever it can get.

Instead, you should do more to give the body what it wants. Fat and protein take longer to digest, and not only that, they help the body absorb minerals. That's why salad dressings traditionally have a lot of fat. Your body needs that to process nutrients in vegetables. So nuts, light cheese, and edamame make for better snacks to hold you over.

If you are eating those things, you should maybe look at your eating pattern. Our body doesn't understand why we sit so much these days. It's used to our very active ancestors, so when we're at rest for most of the day, the body thinks you're trying to conserve energy and tells you it's hungry so it can stock up. Go for a quick walk or engage in an activity if you're starting to get just a little hungry. But if you're starving, by all means, pick up some food!

Hunger is one of our primal motivators.  Back in the old days, we had to hunt and gather food...

 Here are my suggestions for dealing with hunger:

 Eat more fiber rich foods, they help you feel full longer.

Drink water frequently in small servings.  Sip from a cup of water 6-10 times per hour.  I try not to down a bottle of water, I find it makes the hunger worse.  But the sips mellow the hunger. 

Minimize the caffeine (even in diet sodas), it makes the hunger animal stronger. 

 Everybody is different, I can eat and eat and eat, unless my body has 20 minutes to process the food I am eating, I will still feel hungry.  If you eat a snack do you give your body time to register the snack?  

Try eating smaller portions more often.  I eat a 300-500 calorie breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, and final snack everyday.  This keeps me eating something every couple hours and minimizes the hungry time.  (When I am more active, I eat more.)

Original Post by mlshores79:

I am having the same problem. I am starving!!! This is why I fail everytime. I have drank 2 1/2 bottles of water today and have snacked on carrots and grapes, but I'm hungry. How do you get the will power not to eat!!!

 Carrots are good for in terms of low calorie for snacking - but full of carbs.  I find that if I do half a piece of fruit and a small amount of nuts versus one whole piece of fruit (both equal about 100 calories) but when I eat something with some protein I'm satisfied for a lot longer.  

Original Post by mlshores79:

I am having the same problem. I am starving!!! This is why I fail everytime. I have drank 2 1/2 bottles of water today and have snacked on carrots and grapes, but I'm hungry. How do you get the will power not to eat!!!

 Carrots are good for in terms of low calorie for snacking - but full of carbs.  I find that if I do half a piece of fruit and a small amount of nuts versus one whole piece of fruit (both equal about 100 calories) but when I eat something with some protein I'm satisfied for a lot longer.  

Hit the elliptical machine for an hour.  Sounds crazy, but after a couple months hitting the gym, tracking calories, and realizing how much work goes into burning off a Jack's Ultimate Cheeseburger  (1100 calories, mostly from fat) my hunger circuits don't kick in as much.

Also, eating more protein and less fat may be helpful.  I supplement my diet with whey protein isolates which have very little fat or carb content and am rarely hungry when it's not meal time.

If you're still hungry when it's not meal time, perhaps you're restricting your calorie intake TOO much.  It took more then a year for those extra pounds to pile up, so it's reasonable to assume it will take some time to work them off.  1-2 pounds a week of healthy weight loss is generally healthy.

Boy do I know how you feel.  I too am hungry.  But when i really sat down and thought about it, I never remember not being hungry.  I am hungry all day everyday, and it's not a good feeling.  One thing that I read recently and have been trying is too eat the right calories if I'm gonna blow it.  It's easy to consume an extra 1000 or so calories in less than 1 minute when your hungry so reach for something low in calories.  I don't like eating the way that I am, but I've accepted that I have to!  So instead of grabbing a swiss roll when I'm hungry 5 minutes after finishing eating, I grab an apple.  They say try to eat 1000 calories from apples, the most I have ever been able to eat is 1 and half apples a mere 90 calories per apple, compared to 400 in 2 poptarts!!! When we all know I could eat 4 if not the whole box.  I hope this helps, they also gave a recipe for a pudding mix where you could eat the whole 4 servings and still be under 200 calories, so look for some things you can tollerate to eat that are as low in calories as possible and eat as much as you want.  And you won't have to feel guilty about eating and being hungry.  I'm also not a tea drinker, but hey I tried that stuff called stevia and I can actually tolerate it, I have like 6 cups a day now, no or very few calories and let's me feel like I'm eating all day, gives my hands something to do!

I always find the first week the most difficult.  But think about this for a minute.  "Normal" eating, for me and probably most of us because we are here, we eat, we get full.  We feel the full.  Love it right?  Now we reduce our calories and "we are hungry"  It took me a real long time to really distinguish hunger.  I was so used to being full all the time that just not having that full feeling meant I was hungry.  I still struggle with it.  I always have to ask myself, is this hunger or the desire to want to have a full belly.

Drink, Drink, Drink.  Water.  At first for me it wasn't always water, it was coffee and diet coke.  I slowly made the change over and drink well over 100 oz a day.  When I want to munch I grab the water.  Just the action of bringing hand to mouth is satisfying.  Like a smoker chewing gum to quit or snacking to replace the smoking.  Go all complex carbs.  Try ALL Bran.  A half cup is 80 calories.  With a half cup of milk.  I eat it up to three times a day.  That's all of your fiber.  You'll get through it.  As irritating as it is, you have to constantly evaluate yourself.  Good Luck.

This will be disappointing but remove the sugar from your diet as much as possible and if you can go three days with no sugar you will have it under control. 
Also eat protein for breakfast....or mid morning eat a hard boiled egg.  Have a small lunch and snack on fruit or yogurt....Light Yogurt in the afternoon.  I have 3 snacks a day and when I first started I would have a hard boiled egg for a snack mid morning and it really helped.  Foods with a high sugar content raise your blood sugar and then it drops quickly which then makes you feel hungary.

Me too. So I just finished my Lunch, I had a cup of chicken breast and a bowl of veggie chili, and I'm still starving. That means, I've had fiber, protein and liquid to keep me full. Everyday is like this, I do great in the morning and afternoon, but when dinner comes I can't hold off the hunger anymore. I feel like i'm hungury all the time.

I was really beating myself up after supper.  It was not good.  I was so hungry and I just kept eating.  I have exercised all three nights like the 12 week program said, my problem is we are very short on money and whatever is cheap in the grocery store is what I buy.  I have a family to feed.  We live in a really small town and it is 20 miles to the nearest Wal-mart or grocery store.  We have a local grocery store but they don't carry a lot of the healthy foods.  In fact really nowhere close carries the foods you see in the health magazines.  It's easier when you live in a big city like St. Louis.  You can find such a better variety.  Here you settle for what you can get.  So that is a major struggle for me.  I'm so frustrated.