I am trying to figure out a problem I have. I am 5' 8" and 190 pounds. I am at about 14%-16% BF. I have been trying to keep to an 1800 calorie (max...minimum is 1500) a day eating routine. I am ALWAYS hungry though. For example I went to the gym this morning, did 20 minutes of cardio to warm up and then did my upper body routine. I came home and consumed about 400 calories made up of one egg white, one whole egg, half a whole wheat Bagel and about 12 almonds and a 1/4 cup of raisins. That was at 10 am, I felt "full" for about half hour and now it is 12:30 and I am starving. Anyone else have this problem? Are there foods I could be eating other than I am to stay fuller longer? Or is this just natural? I just dont see how I can stay within the calorie limit if I eat enough just to feel satisfied, not even full, but just not hungry. Thanks in advance for any input!

Well, I eat every 2.5-3 hours. I still do get very hungry sometimes in between depending on the day so sometimes I'll either just add a 100-200 calories snack knowing it won't kill me or I take part of a later meal and eat it then.

Karate,

Yes, that is what I have been doing. I read that you were doing that in another thread you posted in and started trying like the 10 smaller smaller meals a day plan, as opposed to 5-6. That has helped somewhat, and I supposed there is not harm in having 10 or so meals a day with 120-200 calories a piece versus 5 or 6 at 300-400 a piece is there? Thanks for the thoughts!

Well, not quite. A typical day for me is 5-6 meals (1 of them PWO) with 1 snack somewhere.

I don't have 10 180 calorie meals. I have 5-6 meals that are 300-400 calories generally and usually during ONE of the "waiting periods" I get too hungry to wait. So I usually leave room in my calorie intake for 1 snack which could be an Apple, 1/2 cup Kashi GoLean Crunch, etc or sometimes if I don't have room to take in more food, I simply will eat part of a later meal like 1/4 of my Tuna sandwich that I have planned to eat that day or whatever else.

Gee, I think I'd be pretty hungry on that food too, and I'm less than 130 pounds. Your food choices, while nutritious, sound to me to be a little calorie dense.

Try eating foods with more volume, either by air or water. Lettuce, celery, cucumber, melon, soup all fill you up pretty well. A big bowl of oatmeal would probably fill you up any better than a bagel. Grapes would also be better than raisins for making you full. Snacking on popcorn might work.

When I'm hungry I have an apple and a big glass of milk, or a Diet Coke and some carrot sticks.

Don't forget to drink lots of water!

I am ALWAYS hungry though. I felt "full" for about half hour and now it is 12:30 and I am starving. Anyone else have this problem?
Try to eat foods with a low glycemic index (GI).
Check out the following link for more info on what I mean.
http://www.glycemicindex.com/

One of the arts to dieting is ensuring you don't eat your target calories until you have put a certain volume of food into your stomach in order to trick your body into thinking there's no reason to eat (in reality, you need nutrients, but you can nearly stop feeling hungry without getting what you need if you go out of your way).

It gets easier after the first bit, but start doing things like taking a gulp of water after every bite. Weight Watchers recipies focus on this principle, and I'm sure it applies to other diet cookbooks as well - for instance, I had hamburgers, where the meat was made less dense by adding green bell peppers to the mix (and egg whites to keep it stuck together).

I also preempt hunger with drinking water. I eat 2 or 3 whole wheat crackers to dry my mouth out, and I drink a fair bit at about 7pm at night, right before the hunger/snacking always wants to start.

Essentially, I go to bed having eaten 1500 calories a day, and I don't often feel hunger pangs anymore.

Your stomach will shrink as you go, too. I know I could hardly eat a footlong sub from Subway anymore. I used to be good for a sub and a half back when I was 225 lbs.

If I get hungry between meals, I usually have forgot to drink water..

I am ALWAYS hungry. I mean literally always. An effective way to keep hunger at bay is to eat plenty of fibrous vegetables. For example, if you have a tuna sandwich, have a large side salad as well. It adds relatively few calories and fills you up for longer.

Maybe you need to eat a little more calories say 2000 then lower 1900 then 1800 or whatever your goal is. You may have gone down too fast. Drink tons of water. That helps a little. If you are really hungry try black coffee or green tea inbetween one meal that should hold you over.

Add oatmeal to your breakfast. Loose the bagel and try whole wheat toast with natty pb. Maybe go with more egg whites. 3 -4 egg whites or egg beaters. As stated by others your food choices will make a big difference on how hungry you feel later.


It sounds like your just starting out so my guess is that your body is used to getting fed 2500-3000 calories or more per day and you just cut it down to 1800.

Thanks for all of your input,

The idea of more fibrous, voluminous food is one I have not thought of. I do drink at least a gallon of water a day and include black coffee or green tea in my morning routine. I have been into fitness since 2001 when after I got married I dropped about 35 pounds (for my wife's sake, it had nothing to do with her cooking and everything to do with the fact that I got tired of being 20-25 pounds overweight). Since I dropped from 210 to 185 I have maintained that pretty much, gaining muscle weight as I have lost fat. The frustrating thing about maintaining and improving over the years has been the constant hunger, but I am certainly going to try some of the ideas you all passed my way. They make sense and seem like they will help. :tu: Thanks!