How long after a salad are you hungry again?

[Locie]

Trying to lose the stone I’ve gained over Christmas and three weeks spent in America at the end of last year.

Losing weight just fine but do just have to accept a certain level of hunger. Which is annoying.

An hour and a half ago I had a whole chicken breast, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, sweet pepper, sweetcorn and cucumber. With a homemade mustard and lemon dressing. Covered an average sized plate. I was full immediately after eating. Wouldn’t be able to eat a larger portion or add more protein.

I’m ALREADY peckish. It just sucks that was supposed to be my dinner. Going to probably end up boiling a few eggs and having a herbal tea. Maybe some Greek yoghurt too.

How long would what I ate fill you up? I am at my limit with these hunger pangs. Hunger pangs make feel emotionally weird. I don’t know how to describe it

Did the dressing contain oil, OP?

I need some fat to feel full.

I also agree with PP that some legumes might help, even though (as I understand it) you don’t want many carbs with the PCOS. I think the beans are low glycemic, which is the key aspect.

I’d be hungry quickly but if I swapped those vegetables for broccoli, sprouts, carrots, leeks, sweetcorn, peas I’d be fine. Also if I did the chicken with stir fry veg and broccoli and cauliflower ‘rice’ I’d be fine. Don’t know if it’s because they’re hot ir if it’s a psychological thing or what but it’s definitely different.

Yes, adding some chickpeas/beans and definitely try these grain pouches, I love the Merchant Gourmet Quinoa ones, you don't even need to heat, one pouch will do 2 or 3 salads imo and they're high protein. I know I can cook my own Quinoa but when I'm prepping a lot of salad veg it's taking long enough already.

A chicken breast is quite a meal with some veg. To give you an idea, I had a chicken thigh (probably half the size of a chicken breast), a few chips, a big pile of tenderstem broccoli, some sautéed leeks and some fermented veg for dinner about 7:30pm and I definitely am not hungry and won’t eat again until probably 10am tomorrow. I am not trying to cut calories or lose weight.

But I don’t think you can go wrong eating more veg and protein. Cake, McDonald’s, a pizza, yes. But I’d eat all the veg and protein I wanted if I was hungry.

Agree. I'm fine with salad but I have it with protein, carbs and fat, and I don't think of it as 'just a salad'.

Warm food feels more substantial.

Dressing does contain oil but it's usually mixed with vinegar, so doesn't have the same greasy mouthfeel IMO.

Beans and lentils are good IMO, and I eat all sorts not just chickpeas and red lentils.

Yes that happens to me with salad op, and the same with soup unfortunately. I feel full then hungry less than an hour later. There's loads of low cal lunches that aren't salad if you do.some research. I need carbs with my meal. If you don't feel satiated and then snack the meal isn't right

There were probably 300 calories on her plate. Of course she's sure it's hunger!

I think that's a conservative estimate.

I'd be hungry fairly quickly, like a couple of hours if it were lunchtime. Fat would help, more olive oil or an avocado, or some nuts/seeds (or all of the above). Not sure what that would do to calories though... I don't calorie count.

Saaame. Hungry ten seconds after a salad meal. 😭 also trying to shed Xmas lbs.
when I’m starving I feel such waves of nausea it’s awful. Reminds me of pregnancy. The temptation to just make some toast is unreal.

Sorry - I hadn't read that you have PCOS before I answered. It's not something I know anything about really. I guess I'd just say that not all carbs are equal - white bread is likely to have a really different effect on the body than a portion of lentils. Perhaps it's worth experimenting?

Isn’t everyone often peckish 1.5 hours after eating? Especially if losing weight.
I’d take an egg and a pint of water if you think it’s going to derail you. I also take tea and Diet Coke between meals. I hate Diet Coke but it helps.

I can’t imagine not having hunger, it’s just a normal daily feeling. It’s easier the busier I am.

Double the chicken protein.

That's my regular lunchtime meal (with a couple of diced boiled baby potatoes). I'm "hungry" again after about 2 hours.

Realised it wasn't actually hunger, it's wind as my digestion system digests the food.

I've found getting up and moving around - going for a 5 minute walk (steady pace) - helps move the wind about and stops the hungry feeling.

Are you used to snacking after meals? I find my body quickly gets used to being hungry at times I have eaten before so if I religiously stick to meal times for a few days it stops being hungry between meals.

I find I need to add fat to feel full. I add evoo as a dressing and often end a meal with some nut butter and a small apple which is really filling, just try not too have too much.

I’m small with PCOS too. And 65 which doesn’t help….I’m not trying to lose much weight at the moment but to stop gaining I really do have to exercise (5 mile walk most days) and some sort of IF (no food till lunch…I did find 5:2 worked for weight loss when I tried it several years ago) and monitor cals with nutracheck and not eat white carbs. DH and I did the Zoe thing a couple of years ago, that was interesting - pulses do seem to help as a source of some protein, fibre and complex carbs. And veg. A favourite dinner is harissa salmon with butter beans baked on the tray and roasted red pepper with it plus a good portion of tenderstem brocolli.

The problem with salad, imo, is that it’s deceptive….it looks huge but if you cooked it down it wouldn’t be much. 80g of raw spinach barely fits in a bowl and you’d have jaw ache by the time you finished; cooked it’s a few mouthfuls. If we have a main course salad then I’d want some sort of cooked veg such as green beans or broccoli in it, and/or some pulses. Soups likewise need beans or lentils in them.

What do you count as 'carbs' though? Pulses are pretty high in carbs but they also have lots of protein and fibre, so they keep you full longer and don't spike your blood sugar or become addictive.

Scientifically this isn’t actually true.

our bodies burn through carbs faster than fats or protein - the OP would be better off adding some hard boiled egg or avocado to her salad if she wants to stay fuller for longer.

I do agree that adding some “simple” carbs like pulses would help, doesn’t have to be a lot.

A single lettuce leaf and slither of cucumber fills me up for a week

The slither was a slug. You greedy so-snd-so!