So a couple weeks ago I had a terrible week...totally off the wagon and eating like crazy...not good stuff either. So now that I am getting back to routine I am having a hard time getting full when I eat. I think I must have stretched my stomach big time the week I pigged out. I am having a hard time curbing hunger and cravings and have to kick it quick cuz I am not making any progress with my workouts. It is not getting worse, but it is not getting better either. So what do you guys do to control your hunger? Are there any foods that you eat that are good for you to satisfy certain cravings that otherwise would require you to eat junk?

I leave this saturday for vacation for a week. Cant wait until I get back and get on Swoles cutting program to shed the last ten before a nice clean bulk back to about 175-180.

I drink coffee, diet sodas, and water. Otherwise I just try and stay busy and ignore them. When I'm watching my calories I live with a fairly constant level of hunger for days on end. There's just no way around it. For me to feel full or content, I require far too many calories.

When I was just starting out I had pretty major cravings for crap food....they have tapered off thank goodness! But to get me through it some snacks I had were :

Apples and peanut butter (for the sweet/ savory thing)
Berries or SF Jello with the canned whipped cream (for the sweet craving)
I switched to pretzels from chips and fries (for the salty craving)
Celery, brocolli and asparagus dipped in a Curry Cottage Cheese Dip (my friend makes this stuff and it is AWSOME! I still haven't gotten the recipe from her)


I also made sure that if I was hungry I found something good to eat....if I waited to long then the taco stand started calling my name and I would order and eat twice as much as I should.




Are there any foods that you eat that are good for you to satisfy certain cravings that otherwise would require you to eat junk?

When I'm watching my calories I live with a fairly constant level of hunger for days on end. There's just no way around it.

That's kind of depressing! I don't know if I would want to live in a constant state of hunger if I had a choice.

What has been interesting is that I have gone from about 2500-3000 calories a day (I didn't count, but it is a rough guess) to 1500 calories a day and I feel totally satisfied....I am eating more and more often. I think since I replaced the ice cream, fried food and junk with "clean" meals it has made my body much more efficient. It's much easier to see food as fuel rather than food as a reward (which is how I have spent my entire life looking at food) But if food and eating become "punishment" or painful...no thank you.

When I'm watching my calories I live with a fairly constant level of hunger for days on end. There's just no way around it.Well, I have a cheat day 1-2 week to look forward to. It's not like I'm dead starving, but yeah I'm hungry the majority of the day. The only time I'm not really is after supper, since I weight my calories quite heavily towards that, for convenience's sake. Truly the alternative is to have more fat than I want, unless I can master the technique of never overeating, and since I cannot do that, and I eat like a fool on cheat days (which has little to do with binging post-diet; I just love to eat), I have to make up for it somewhere.

I find the best things for my cravings these days are

1. Water

Just putting something in my stomach helps.

2. Healthy Fats

I did read somewhere recently that one of the most common "cravings" that can cause massive overeating happens when your body doesn't have enough essential fatty acids. You can crave fatty foods like crazy, and since most of the fatty foods we come across are full of trans fatty acids that don't make up this deficit, we keep eating and eating and eating long past what we actually want.

The solution to this would be to make sure you get enough essential fatty acids. Since I started eating sardines in olive oil every day, I have experienced a very sharp drop in the intensity and frequency of my cravings.

This correlation, of course, does not prove causation, and this does sound a bit more like a dirty rumor than like science, but if you wanted to give it a try, good foods for this in a pinch would be canned fish (not tuna, too lean!), nuts, olives, flax seed/oil, and anything else with essential fatty acids in it.

P.S.- It is, of course, also possible that eating a large number of sardines has simply spoiled my appetite, but I don't mind.

thanks everyone...all great input. I have come to far in my progress to fall back into bad eating habits when I am a mere ten pounds away from my cutting goal. I have had the darndest time getting rid of the last ten though. I will drop 5 pounds of the ten and before I know it is back.

Curry Cottage cheese...sounds great...I love CC...PLEASE POST THE RECIPE!!!!!

There's just no way around it. For me to feel full or content, I require far too many calories.
Skoob This sounds like you need to change your diet plan. I think you are picking to many nutrient dense foods that are using up your cals too quickly. Its not really a matter of how many cals make you feel full more the volume of the food which isnt always indicative of the cals.

TheRyanator
I find that the smell of aniseed helps curb any sugar cravings that i have and if your diet is good you shouldent be in a state of hunger apart from before morning cardio.

Widers

Water Water Water... if I am hungry I usually suck down a glass or two of water. If I am still hungry then I'll have a healthy snack like an apple or a bannana. Cottage Cheese sounds good though... do you guys just eat it straight? How about tuna? Or is that reserved more for the energy/protein it gives? I'm a newb so feel free to teach me!

- Emilio

Curry Cottage cheese...sounds great...I love CC...PLEASE POST THE RECIPE!!!!!


That's the problem! My friend is one of those cooks who throws a bunch of stuff together and it always ends up tasting wonderful, but when I try it is usually lacking somehow :confused:
Whenever I have a party I make her bring the Curry Dip for the veggies! For a long time it was the only way I would eat cottage cheese!

I'll tell you what she has told me...maybe you're one of the lucky ones who can make it work!

Mix together:
Cottage Cheese
LF Sour Cream
Curry Powder
& "a bunch of other spices and stuff you have in the cupboard" (her words not mine!)

I think it is the "bunch of other stuff" that does me in! Next time I talk to her I will see if I can pin her down on specific ingredients! Until then, I still have the tub from my party last week :)

So what do you guys do to control your hunger?

It's simple. I eat.

I used to "starve" myself and it led to continuous binging eventually which ended up hurting me a lot more than had I just satisfied myself when I ate. I am no longer a believer in the "always being hungry is part of cutting". Sure it is, if you're a professional bodybuilder prepping for competition.

It's simple. I eat.

I used to "starve" myself and it led to continuous binging eventually which ended up hurting me a lot more than had I just satisfied myself when I ate. I am no longer a believer in the "always being hungry is part of cutting". Sure it is, if you're a professional bodybuilder prepping for competition.

i was going to post the same thing!
refer to that "eating when hungry" thread, thats what i've been doing for this past week, and to be honest i dont get hungry as much as i thought i would, im always snacking on nuts, or sometimes some banana with peanut butter/almond butter on it (damn its good :D)

some good tips to not binge...
-have a big breakfast, this is so important for so many reasons, not just because of hunger, but you need something to start you off in the morning, my breakfasts are never under 500calories
-eat your protein first, protein fills you up, and tastes good too, also it has good metabolic advantages, so eat it up before you start looking around for anything else
-lots of vegies, need i say more, low cal, fills you up, also tastes great!

Try Ice water as it freezes your stomach and tongue, it makes you less hungry because your taste buds then have no feeling. It has to be really cold and then chew the ice (I know it is bad for your teeth) but it makes the cravings less. Also Try frozen No sugar added whole fruit bars, they also work the same way except you still sneak in a few calories to satiate your appetite.

As an in-between meal (between breakfast and lunch, and lunch and dinner) I have half a litre of water, and a single rice cake.

I have my breakfast at around 8.30 in the morning and if I have a rice cake and water at 10 I'm usually good until 12.00, at 12.10 I'm starving again.

This simple meal has worked well for me and (usually :o) keeps other foodly temptations at bay.

you might try a google search on "natural appetite suppressors" i remember hearing once that beats fell in that catagory

Brush your teeth and tounge, 3 times a day at least. Water is good.

I can't resist food cravings, and so I worked out a program that reconciles that problem with my goals. My experience with my body:

2000 calories daily / 40% protein /40% carbs / 20% fat = tired, hungry and miserable. I would eventually crack, binge, and fall off my program.

2300 calories daily / 40% protein / 30% carbs / 30% fat = happy, energetic, and disciplined.

(I'm 6'0'', 195 lbs., 20% BF and 43 years old. Weights and cardio 3x weekly each)

And when I'm hungry I just eat (clean), and if I start to go above my calorie limit, I exercise more. I much, much prefer calling a friend and setting up another squash match (burns 800 calories!), instead of feeling hungry and obsessing over food. So if I eat more, I just play more.

I was finally successful only when I changed my priorities:
#1 - diet/exercise habits must be a sustainable lifestyle change with little or no sacrifice.
#2 - diet/exercise habits must be as hardcore as possible within constraints of priority #1

Really the only "sacrifice" I make is to cut way back on sugars (including alcohol - ouch!).

Following this approach I've lost 30 lbs fat and gained 10 lbs LBM since January 21, which is about halfway to my goal.

Good luck. :tu:

usually drinking water helps deal with cravings as well as eating cottage cheese and/or fruit and veg. (well for me anyhow)

:gl:

Some of you may be against supplementation but most Ephedra free fat burners tend to specialize in killing off those hunger pains. One that worked for me was Legal Gear's Lipo Assassin. Works great. So does Thermorexin. Other than that, sheer will power. I always get those cravings, especially at night.

I find I hardly get cravings with the increased protein intake as it make me feel fuller for longer usually its only a chocolate bar when the kids have them but I agree if I do feel hungry a large galss of water helps.

Four vanilla ice-creams in a row seem to help me with the sugar cravings.

On a less stupid note ( :lol: ) I found that if I force myself to eat all the food I'm scheduled to eat and follow my diet the cravings disappear. I picture one of those navy seals commanders in the movies shouting "eat your goddamn 120g of beans and 150g of chicken breast and then you can have your doughnut, you b*tch!" and when I'm done with that I don't really want the doughnut.

It's the combination of hunger+cravings that will make you fail.

Have a cheat day 1-2 a week, and yogurt seems to fix the problem good. :tu:

This may sound strange, but I keep my sink clean and dry and then well, I don't want to mess it up again making something to eat.

If that doesnt work, I drink a couple of glasses of water and clean the house or something to keep busy.

lol godezz, i read your post, and i thought, who cleans their house to keep buisy??? and then i saw your "Female"... :lol: :lol: :lol:

anyhow when i first started drinking more water, i would drink about 3-4 liters per day.

now i seem to drink water out of sheer boredom, and i drink about 7 good liters per day. I bought a big measuring cup, which measures out 1 liter, and i use it to drink water.. i dont know if its such a good idea, seeing as how i may strech my stomach.. or i dunno.. also i use the restroom about every 2 hours or even more.. and i still have cravings.. usually for oats mixed with milk... so sometimes ill have just a tiny helping.. and then drink my liter of water.. and that helps..

I find the best things for my cravings these days are
Since I started eating sardines in olive oil every day, I have experienced a very sharp drop in the intensity and frequency of my cravings.

....

P.S.- It is, of course, also possible that eating a large number of sardines has simply spoiled my appetite, but I don't mind.

I read that again and again. It takes any cravings away. :)

I'm hungry all the time sadly, probably the reason I'm overweight. When my weight is on the way down however, and I'm in the right frame of mind, I see the hunger as good. No matter what combinations of food I have tried, I still get hungry, even up to 4000 calories per day, so for me, hunger is a bit of a red herring, and I've come to distrust it.

Andrew.

Thermorexin

EC

Synephrine added to any fatburner or by itself is pretty decent

DO NOT TAKE Synephrine with EC