Fed up and hungry

[Funtimewincies]

I'm looking for some ideas and a kick up the backside .

I'm 5' and 9.5 stone, which doesn't sound massive but, after a lifetime of being slim, all the childbirth/post children scoffing has gone straight to my middle. I don't look overweight as such, but I know that I need to deal with the extra pounds now so that more doesn't creep up on me as I get older.

Over the past month I've lost half a stone through cutting out the cake and some of the carbs, reducing portion sizes and generally being more aware of what I'm eating. BUT I'm at a point now where I'm fed up with being hungry all the time. At the start, I put it down to my stomach getting used to smaller portions but my constantly rumbling tummy is really getting on my wick now.

We don't eat takeaways and I cook from scratch. I grow most of our veg (so lots of digging) and I do jive dancing once a week. Dh and the dc aren't overweight. Unfortunately I've got a prolapsed bladder and so running/jumping/bouncy exercise is just too uncomfortable.

Sorry this has ended up being a bit long . I suppose what I'm saying is that, despite eating healthy, sensible sized portions and losing weight at a slow but steady rate, I'm ludicrously hungry ALL the time.

Please could you give me some tips for snack/meal options that would fill me up sufficiently so that my tum isn't rumbling barely an 90mins after breakfast ?

What do you eat for breakfast? And lunch and dinner?

I used to have special k with skimmed milk for breakfast, was starving 90 mins later. Now have 2 eggs and 150g greek fat free yoghurt. Same calories except I'm full until lunchtime.

Usually a poached egg on toast. Lunch is something like a ham salad sandwich or boiled egg with soldiers with a yoghurt and fruit for pud. Tea will be a main meal (fish and veg, cottage pie, spag bol type things).

I try to eat fruit for snacks but it doesn't touch the sides !

I think you might benefit from a slightly bigger breakfast! You're doing well at a balanced and healthy diet but in the long term, you can deffo eat more than that and still lose weight steadily. Especially as you don't have much to lose at all now, it's advisable to take it a bit slower now which will prevent the hunger hormones from creeping in so much.

You could just increase the portion so that you have 2 poached eggs and 2 pieces of wholegrain bread with only a thin scraping of butter... or you could add some baked beans or a small bowl of greek yoghurt in with it. You might also find that a milky coffee staves off hunger but isn't very calorific.

Other good breakfasts are porridge made with milk and topped with a banana and small amount of nuts or seeds, muesli with lots of nuts and seeds in it with yoghurt, peanut butter on toast, an omelette with some veggies in it, cottage cheese and fruit, yoghurt with berries, nuts and seeds (nice in summer) or a grilled fry up for a treat (grilled bacon, poached egg, beans, toast and grilled mushrooms/tomatoes).

For your snacks, you might find that having a little bit of protein rather than the carbs of fruit which are healthy but tend to not stick with you for long... so a small low fat cheese like babybel, 30g of nuts or seeds, an apple with peanut butter. That sort of thing.

Hope that helps! Being slightly hungry is fine but being starving isn't! x

Thanks, I'll try that . It's all a bit of a shock, to be honest. Before children, I used to be one of those hideous people who could just lay off the cake and booze for couple of weeks and snap back into shape. I'm not quite so smug now! Mind you, I also was able to eat my main meal at lunchtime then, which isn't feasible now.

I hadn't really thought about the nuts and was wondering what I could replace some of the bread with. Top tip !

I think you need a bigger breakfast that doesn't sound like much.... also swapping the bread in breakfast and lunch for low GI bread (eg burgen soya and linseed) might help.

re: snacks - I agree good to have protein - nuts (30g), natural yoghurt, couple slices turkey breast, latte, or even a protein bar.

re: lunch - why not have ham salad with more ham and some cheese. When i went to see nutritionalist she said wheat fine provided wholemeal but only once a day - if you have pasta is 3x a day.

Also read the south beach diet book.

If you are hungry you are either eating the wrong foods (too much carbs) or not eating enough.