How to ignore the hunger....

[ScottishStottie]

So i posted here recently about starting excercising half an hour 4/5 days a week on an excercise bike, and got mixed responses to how successful this would be. Lots of people said i needed to adress my diet, which i thought was ok ish so didnt worry too mich about that.

But been thinking about it amd decided to really look at what i was eating. Eat chicken and rice a lot, sometimes egg fried rice for a bit more protein. Weighed out how much i would normally cook for rice, and realised that it was more than double the normal weight for a portion!

So cut back and doing weighed portion amounts for everything and its so much less than i used to eat...

Because im so used to eating more, im eating the weighed amount and feeling starving half an hour after! Im hoping that I'll get used to the new portion sizes eventually and the hunger will ease (hopefuly?) But how do i deal with the hunger before then without reaching for a packet of crisps??

Also how long does this starving feeling last...?

Drink more water, especially before eating and that will make you feel full, plus keep you hydrated and this can keep hunger pangs at bay.

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Perhaps it’s not just portion size but type of food, things like white bread, rice and pasta raise blood sugar and you become hungry when you crash. Try leafy greens (as much as you want, no need to weigh) and wholegrain foods. Maybe lower carbs

I think the problem was that before we were eating a lot of carbs. So while i dont want to cut them out completely, would rather eat within reason rather than eliminate a food group, my body is craving the amount of carbs i used to eat, compared to what its getting now.

Yep definately lots of water, high water content/low cal fruits, carrot sticks and celery to snack on. Brush your teeth as the mental association at bedtime is one that normally triggers not eating afterwards. Up your protein more to feel fuller for longer. Test spreading your cal portion across the day vs having light breakfast/lunch and a big dinner, see which keeps you more satisfied, try fruit teas, and low cal hot chocolate to help hunger pangs, homemade soups with loads of veg. Play around so you get more bang for your buck meals wise. Download a food calorie app so you can check what's in what.

The 'low carb flu' normally subsides after about a week or so whilst your body catches up.

Drink more water -
Massively up your veggies and aim to have half of your plate full with vegetables - especially green ones like broccoli etc they will fill you, are good for you but are low in calories. Make sure your getting enough protein - it will make you feel fuller for longer than carbs do (but you obviously need carbs aswell)
If you genuinely feel starving try and drink a bit of water, wait 10 minutes and see if you still feel as hungry, and then try and snack on vegetables or if your really hungry then choose protein (hard boiled eggs, tuna etc)

Definitely veg. If I have a salad it's 2/3 of a bag plus cucumber, pickles, spring onion, tomatoes... load up on the lower cal stuff

More protein and veg, fewer carbs (I think you have not mentioned your portion sizes - could you give us an idea of how much meat / veg / starchy carbs you eat in a typical meal?). Finding yourself "starving" half an hour after a meal suggests your blood sugar levels are crashing, which means you are eating too many carbs.

I have also rethought my attitude to hunger. It is a rather unpleasant feeling, but it is not that bad. I have realised I can easily tune it out if I am busy enough. And I now consider that being hungry at some times is perfectly normal, not something to be avoided at all costs.

It will absolutely pass in few weeks. I had the same issue. Basically portions double the size.
As pp said, drink more water. Your body will setlle soon enough.

But how do i deal with the hunger before then without reaching for a packet of crisps??

Don't have them at home or anywhere close. I was unable to have these and few things at home for couple of months. Then I got so good in not munching that I now forget about them and have like 3 bags🤦

Portion sizes are now 60g weight uncooked rice (which i then obviously cook 😂), 1 chicken breast and loads of veggies, with piri piri sauce is my staple meal atm. Will have scrambled eggs in the morning and then water/squash or tea throughout the day

But before i was having at least twice that amount if carbs. So when im finished my meal its like my brain is asking where the rest of my meal is iykwim.

Eat slowly. Eat V E R Y slowly😂 I remember going to bed 2 hours earlier because I was starving. It really settles after few weeks. Now I look at that old portions and wonder how the hell did I fit that into my stomach.

I now do 150g cooked carb. So rice, pasta, potatoes are 150g and then plenty of veg and protein depends on what it is. But that's usually over the recommended portion , but it fills me up nicely for a while.

All this takes bit of time. You are doing really well with looking into all of this and chosing a sensible solutions. Keep it up

Green tea or similar. I find hot drinks fill me up much more than cold. My tactic also was that when I felt hungry I would have the green tea and promise myself that if I still felt hungry 30 mins later I would allow myself a snack (not a treat, but maybe a bit of cheese or a hard-boiled egg or something of that nature). More often than not I'd forgotten all about feeling hungry. The biggest help for me was pushing through the hunger and finding that it did go away. I think many people fear that the feeling will just grow and grow and become unbearable so they give in before it goes.

So tonights dinner was an oven cooked chicken breast, 1/4 of a large head of cauliflower as cauli rice, another 1/4 of a cauli steamed florets, along with around 100g of brocolli florets steamed. With a little bit of sweet chilli sauce. Have to say im feeling very full after all that, maybe cauliflower is the secret!

Is it possible to eat too much cauliflower...?

Is it possible to eat too much cauliflower...?

Depends whether you have bedroom just for yourself or if someone else will suffer the consequences too😂

Cauli is very filling. I like it. You are doing great!

Sharing a bed with dp... But he is also healthy eating and ate the other half of the large cauliflower 😂

Just keep chomping the veg you like. Good on you cutting the processed carbs. The hunger does pass, it's just intense for a few days. You will be surprised, in a few months time you may find yourself looking at a plate of food (in a restaurant say) which beforehand you would have polished off without a second thought, and you will be baffled at how you managed to ever put that away.

Im still feeling pretty full from dinner so im taking that as a win!

Carbs are the big thing i struggle with. In that i love them. I could live off bread if i could get away with it!

So rather than telling myself im not allowed them any more, im going to make a conscious effort to cut down. Bread is gone, but im happy to have steamed rice, but only the portion amount stated. No more than that. Same with oven chips, although only as a treat. And again, only the recomended portion size on the bag.

But if i tried to cut carbs completely i know i would struggle, fail and then binge on toast!

You didn’t mention eating lunch. Make sure you eat 3 meals a day and don’t skip any otherwise you will be starving and miserable x

I admit that ive not been having breakfast, but i had 2 eggs scrambled for lunch. No toast or anything but still pretty filling!

Ive never really been a big breakfast eater so dont really miss it or feel hungry at that time of the day, a few cups of tea keep me going till lunch.

If you're desperate have a boiled egg. Exciting, I know!

If im having scrambled eggs for lunch is a boiled egg snack too much?

Im going to invent the egg and cauliflower diet...!! 😂💨

Eat lots of veg. Spring greens are great for filling you up.
Switch to low-GI carbs. White rice and pasta spike your blood sugar and when it slumps you feel hungry - but it's not hunger, it a craving for carbs.

What helped me a lot was having eating times. Strict. If I miss the window, that's it.
So for example, linch just before 12, snack at 3:30 and dinner around 7. That way if I was hungry, I knew when next food is and could tell myself, "just x till dinner, drink some water you crybaby"😂

Snacks I do. Nice full fat yogurt with fruit, ryvita (the rye ones are my top) with quark and herbs sometimes with slice of turkey chorizo or cucumber, ryvita with hard boiled egg white, quark or yogurt and herbs, tzatziky, fruit and cheese, just fruit, grapefruit sprinkled with cinnamon and put under a grill for couple of minutes is delish with some yogurt on top. Veg and hummus, veg and quark and sriracha dip with herbs, veg by itself.
So many options. A plain hardboiled egg wouldn't do it for me tbh. I love my snack time🙈