I am STARVIN MARVIN. How do you deal with the hunger?

[MrsGravy]

I'm desperate to lose weight - I'm heavier than I've ever been. I can cut out the junk food/fat/alcohol reasonably easily but I'm seriously struggling with quantities of food. I've been seriously over eating for ages so my appetite is massive. Eating 3 healthy meals a day and 2 small snacks leaves me STARVING. I've even been looking at appetite suppressants. I find it gets worse every day too, the first day I'm not that hungry, then as the days pass it gets worse and worse until I end up stuffing my face.

Do any of you have any tips? Please??

I'm just starting on a new eating plan and am drinking loads of water and coffee when I feel hungry. I also eat fruit and raw carrots. Sometimes I eat because I'm bored and the process of chewing does a job. I also don't like eating salad, but have it frequently because it takes ages to eat and I get bored with it. I usually find I'm hungry not long after eating salad, so I eat fruit. If I'm hungry after 8pm I try my best to ignore it. I'm a big fan of melon...I find ti fills me up if I eat a chunk with a glass of soda and lime.

Eventually your stomach shrinks back a bit and you get used to eating less. Try not to do an all or nothing type plan. You'll just feel hungrier. It also helps sometimes to eat little and often rather than 3 big meals. It tricks your brain into thinking that you're full.

Soup's another good one for filling you up, but that isn't great when the weather's warmer...

I think cut down calories gradually, your stomach shrinks so the hunger does pass. I am not hungry now apart from at meal times and I am only eating 1200 calories a day - I need to eat more now to maintain rather than loose more but I am not hungry.

Eat massive portions of calorie free soup - eg make fat free soup, also huge salads, and loads of non startchy vegetables to fill up. I found a diet coke in the morning a good appetite suppresant, others would say its a bad idea but if it stops you from eating something else why not. Or a latte made with skimmed milk.

you need a hobby .. be active when you would normally eat - water your roses etc, take up knitting - I always eat when I am bored thus I need not to be bored and I won't eat. Keep a diary so you can see when you eat and then cut down the snacks. Don't pick at the kids food and have lots and lots of vegetables.. ohh and drink a pint of water before you eat meals and use small plate

Thanks for all those tips, I am already a diet coke addict foreverondiet - and trying to cut down from my 2 a day habit!! Calorie free soup is a good one though, I'll get a recipe. Cazzybabs, you wouldn't think I have time to eat so much - am really busy and rarely have time to be bored. I am definitely guilty of picking at the kids leftovers though. Princehumperdink, I associate EVERYTHING with eating, I'd have to take to my bed all day

ohh and the other advice I read was don't eat carbs after 7pm

I get this but find I'm OK by the 4th day, there's definately the most amount of willpower involved in this stage IMO.

I second the low calorie soup idea, I also swear by eggs in the morning.

How do I deal with hunger? I eat. Have lost 2 stone doing this. :)

I used to massively overeat. I turned to Paul McKenna to deal with my food issues and now I deal with hunger how its supposed to be dealt with - by eating food. Being hungry is your body asking for fuel - why would you deny it? Who would want to learn how to ignore hunger? No-one denies themselves a drink when they are thirsty. Eat when you are hungry, stop when you are satisfied. Easy peasy & the excess weight falls off. If you want to know more, we have a fab, supportive thread running with loads of info

I drink a lot of water and eat lots of raw carrots. If I eat whenever I'm hungry I end up HUGE.

You were probably feeding emtional hunger. Your body doesnt ask for more food than it needs.

I've just started eating only my meals and having no snacks.
I coped with the hunger for a couple of days and now, as Forever says, I'm starting to only feel hungry at meal times now. I just put up with the hunger and refused to give in.
I'm finding it so liberating that I'm actually hungry at mealtimes! Previously, I'd be having dinner because it was dinner time even though I'd snacked all afternoon and wasn't even hungry.
Diet coke makes you hungry and fat. Google it.
Its better to have some low fat dairy (latte as Forever suggested or low fat yoghurt)

Isn't the Diet Coke theory only because when some people switch from Fat Coke to Diet, they view it as a license to eat more because of the saved calories from the switch? And it can increase hunger because the body can see it as a food without getting the food fix, or something like that? In itself, it's okay, it's how you respond to it.

I don't know how much you were eating before, but as long as it was fitting on one plate, you can diet in such a way as not to feel like you are starving.

If you are so hungry, you are definitely doing something wrong.

I lost quite a bit of weight, following the advice of a nutritionist, and one of the things she said was that the plate needs to be full. The stomach needs to be filled somehow. Her view was that a quarter of the plate needs to be carbohydrates (steamed rice, pasta with a simple tomato sauce, or a slice of bread), a quarter needs to be protein (fish, chicken, meat, (all simply grilled or steamed), and the remaining half of the plate needs to be salad or vegetables. All followed by a fruit.

Abandon all carbonated drinks when you are dieting, not only diet coke.

I haven't touched carbonated drinks during this diet and since I lost the weight.

I think its good to feel hungry. Most of us gorge ourselves (me included) so to understand what real hunger feels like and then to only eat until satisfied, not stuffed, is good discipline

But if I Do feel ravenous, i have an Activia fat free pro biotic yog, cherry flavour

Feeling hungry is not the same thing as starving, though.

OP says she feels like starving and ends up stuffing her face.

Clearly, that diet not going very well.

diet is not going well, rather.

Also wanted to say that be sure to eat protein & fibre at every meal, really helps with keeping you feeling full longer, plus best to avoid any white carbs as these will leave you feeling hungry quickly.

I think if you are very hungry, best to eat more healthy food, eg lean protein, veggies and even wholegrains rather than risk getting starving and completely jeopardising your diet.

But yes as the others say, by mealtimes, you should feel hungry.

Also sometimes we feel hungry when actually we are thirsty. Try drinking 500ml of water whenever you feel small hunger pangs.