What foods will keep me full the longest?

[madmomma]

I have 2 and a half stone to lose but I'm not dieting cos I can't maintain it. I'm a greedy bugger so what I want to focus on the foods I can eat instead of the stuff I'll have to cut out. My blood sugar is a bit wonky so I really need to eat five times a day to keep me on an even keel. And to complicate things further I am vegetarian.
Could anyone advise me on snacks or meals that will keep my bloodsugar stable?
So far I've got lentil soup, yoghurt and fruit with oats, spanish omelette... and nowt else! I need some inspiration. Thanks in advance.x

Soup - make it the way you like then add some extra water - lumpy with water will make you feel full.

Eat plenty of fibre and have some protein every time you eat if possible.

Useful supplements to help if you crave sugar are chromium and cinnamon.

The worst foods for making you feel hungry shortly after are the things that have a lot of fat and a lot of sugar but not much fibre eg ice-cream, chocolate, cheesecake.

Alcohol has a lot of calories too.

How about substituting celeriac or sweet potato chips for (ordinary) fries? Substituting mashed carrots/sweet potato/celeriac/swede for part of your potatoes in mash will reduce their calories and if you really like them creamy add a small amount of cream instead of butter.

Caffeine causes you to produce adrenaline which causes blood sugar spikes so cut down if possible but don't substitute with drinks that have artificial sweeteners - they don't fool your body - you'll end up eating the same amount of calories.

Instead of crisps you could have kale crisps - roast washed and carefully dried kale (take the tough middle stalks out) on a baking tray with salt and whatever spice you fancy and a little olive oil for a few minutes. leave to dry out - keeps in an airtight tub for a few days (if you don't eat them!)

Fill your plate with loads of veg and or salad instead of pasta, rice or potatoes. It will be a load of food but with fewer calories.

Do you like porridge? - It's easy to make if you soak the porridge oats in the pot the night before. It should keep you full for ages - sprinkle a few seeds on the top if you like.

Drink herbal teas if you associate snacks with your cup of tea or coffee to cut the association. I like rosehip and or hibiscus tea sweetened with half a teaspoon of yacon syrup or xylitol; these are not artificial sweeteners.

Substitute dark chocolate for milk chocolate - even I can't eat more than three squares of the dark stuff.

Brush your teeth instead of snacking.

Drink plenty of water and herbal teas (avoid smoothies though)

Eat as slowly as you can manage so your stomach has time to tell your brain that you're full.

Make a huge salad and have salad leaves and crudités ready to snack on. Experiment with different dressings eg lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, pomegranate molasses etc.

Read labels.

Avoid take-aways and fast-food outlets like the plague.

I find rice cakes quite filling and bananas as snacks. Nuts are filling too but high calories I think so you have to be sensible and not eat the whole bag like me

Rice cakes have an amazingly high glycaemic index!

Google glycaemic index to see which foods are lowest - low GI foods release their sugars more slowly so you don't get a spike of insulin followed by a crash in blood sugar followed by a craving to stuff yourself.

Try to kind of respect or even worship your meals - set the table nicely and don't pick at anything until you've sat down with your plate to eat. Try to really notice and enjoy the food to avoid carelessly scoffing loads (voice of experience here )

Start the day with some lemon juice in very hot water twenty minutes before your breakfast.

Pulses, seeds and wholegrains + good quality protein, healthy fats and loadsa veg and salads is the way to go. Eat as cleanly as possible to retrain your appetite.

Google cauliflower pizza recipes - the base is made from cauliflower!

Don't have no wholegrains at all though - too much protein is not good for you.

Quinoa is super healthy and has all the amino acids (proteins) found in meat.

bean and vegetable soup : 350 calories will leave you full for 12 hours

Definitely protein

learn to love the chickpea

in a dal

with - perhaps buckwheat - pasta, softened onions and garlic and a smidgen of cheese and parsley

roasted with spices as a snack

hummus to eat with crudités, and to gussy up with different flavourings

Golden syrup instant porridge. Keeps you feeling full for a very long time. Good for you, filling, and satisfies a sweet tooth.

Golden syrup instant porridge.
NOPE
cut sugar right out to stay sated

There are satiety tables that show which foods make you feel fullest for longest. As I remember, porridge and potatoes are particularly good.

• Cottage cheese is high protein for veggies without the fat or carbs
• Boiled egg chopped up in a salad
• peanut butter (or other nut butters) on whole grain toast
• spicy things (something like Mexican spicy bean soup)
• avocado

Protein protein and more protein.

Meat, lovely meat, mmm meat, eggs, feeeeesh, mmm fish, cheese (bleurgh, eeeyak cheese) lentils, chickpeas, quinoa (but mind the South Americans now), beans (bleurgh), bulgar wheat, cous cous and some more meat.

If you are having issues with your blood sugar, then you should be keeping a firm check on the amount of carbohydrate you're eating.

A high carb diet will cause peaks and troughs in your blood sugar levels, rather than keeping them stable, and it will also mean that you're hungry more often - which is why you will need to snack during the day.

Eat high fat, medium protein and low carb and your blood sugar levels will be stabilised and you won't be hungry.

Plain porridge for breakfast
Simple undressed salad for lunch, include some protein such as a hard boiled egg, or a finger of edam cheese, or tuna /sardines. Also add some grated carrot, sliced celery, this is so that you have got something to chew, which will fool you into feeling full.

Eat tomatoes and red fruit such as blueberries raspberries, thy are incredibly good for you.

Brilliant ideas thanks so much. For some reason porridge doesn't keep me full for long at all. I feel hungry an hour after eating it, so I definitely think protein is the way forward. The thought of being full for 12 hours on a bowl of soup seems unlikely to me, but I know you know your stuff about this kind of thing talkin, so I will give it a try.

madmomma
you know those big tubs of fresh soup in the supermarket - they are around 350 calories - eat a whole one and you'll barely be able to move!

or 350 calories of stir fry veg is a HUGE portion

I love porridge but it doesn't keep me full for long: my stomach will be rumbling by 10am. I've switched to full fat (no added sugar) greek yoghurt with blueberries or frozen cherries and a boiled egg and I'm full until lunch. I definitely feel fuller with protein and fats.

Right bean soup is definitely on the shopping list. I fouled up my homemade effort yesterday by putting too much salt in :(
I tried porridge yesterday and to be fair it did keep the wolf from the door for 4 hrs, so I shall start doing that regularly and having the full fat greek yoghurt as a snack.

Check out BIWI's Bootcamp threads! I don't mean to fangirl (fangirls) but I've lost over a stone since starting and I'm barely ever hungry. I need to remind myself to eat and while I still enjoy a nice meal, my attitude to food has totally changed.

I used to be so addicted to sugar and eat totally mindlessly, to satisfy physical and emotional cravings. I was incapable of doing a weekly shop because I'd crave different things every day so what I'd bought on Monday would lie untouched as I made spaghetti bolonaise or nachos or entire boxes of chocolate on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

I would never have believed how different I could feel in only a month without sugar. I still like food, and I'm still eating delicious meals (the guacamole and the cheese are still here, just without the crisps and biscuits!) but I don't have the same desperate cravings. I can plan ahead because if I've planned something I enjoy, I'll still enjoy it three days later because I won't be overtaken by mad cravings for something else.

Eggs for breakfast have been the biggest positive swap for me. If I don't watch myself, I can end up going to 3-4pm without realising I haven't eaten lunch yet!

I'm another biwi fan.... Lost 5 stone low carbing a few years ago, kept it off for almost 3 years

Protein is the way to go

Wow! How have you been maintaining, 26Point2Miles?

Well once the weight started shifting I landed up on another MN thread.... C25k.... So got into running that way and I'm now so addicted I'm running London marathon next month!!

So I do eat carbs again now, but good ones. For fuel. But it's the sugar that I can't tolerate now, everything tastes too sweet for new tastebuds. I just run to keep weight stable.

Low carb is still a way of eating for me but I'm just not as strict