Cutting calories and dealing with the hunger...how do you do it?

[Anonymous]

Drink lots of water. And caffeine curbs hunger for me too.

[Anonymous]

I can’t. I’m slightly overweight and happy

[Anonymous]

For a few days, the hunger really sucks. But if you can get through those while sticking with your plan, your body will adjust and you'll feel better.

[Anonymous]

I do intermittent fasting - I don't know if it has made me lose weight any faster, but I find it easier to stick to my calories if I skip breakfast.

Honestly, I only really find myself hungry in the late morning now. The rest of the time I know I can eat soon.

I eat between 12-8 - I drink coffee with skim milk in the morning, try to stick to around 400-450 for lunch, and then eat a solid sized dinner. I find it easier to just eat at certain times and not do a lot of snacking between meals, so I basically fast 8 pm to noon, and then between 12:30 and 5:30 I generally don't eat, and then have a window between 5:30 and 6 pm where I eat again. When I do eat, I eat solid meals so I steal feel like I am getting enough to eat.

Either I eat dinner early (5:30) and then a snack right before 8, or I eat a little snack after work and then dinner. Sometimes I just have a really big dinner. Doing this I am able to stick to 1200-1400 calories a day without feeling too much hunger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do intermittent fasting - I don't know if it has made me lose weight any faster, but I find it easier to stick to my calories if I skip breakfast.

Honestly, I only really find myself hungry in the late morning now. The rest of the time I know I can eat soon.

I eat between 12-8 - I drink coffee with skim milk in the morning, try to stick to around 400-450 for lunch, and then eat a solid sized dinner. I find it easier to just eat at certain times and not do a lot of snacking between meals, so I basically fast 8 pm to noon, and then between 12:30 and 5:30 I generally don't eat, and then have a window between 5:30 and 6 pm where I eat again. When I do eat, I eat solid meals so I steal feel like I am getting enough to eat.

Either I eat dinner early (5:30) and then a snack right before 8, or I eat a little snack after work and then dinner. Sometimes I just have a really big dinner. Doing this I am able to stick to 1200-1400 calories a day without feeling too much hunger.

+1
I do pretty much the same and don't feel hungry outside of mealtimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a few days, the hunger really sucks. But if you can get through those while sticking with your plan, your body will adjust and you'll feel better.

This. I back off gradually and my hunger diminishes. Likewise, I eat raw vegetables.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Increase your volume through vegetables, broth based soups, etc. there is really no reason ever to be hungry.

Watch the sodium in aoups

[Anonymous]

I eat high fat dairy and other things like high fat salad dressings. Low fat anything leaves me hungry and they have no flavor. I also eat a lot less this way -- i am filled up faster and satisfied taste-wise. I love drinking a half glass of whole milk before lunch or diner as I ending up eating less.

I also started going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. This way i don't snack at night, and I certainly don't snack in the morning. I have time for half an hour exercise in the morning. I was too tired to do that at night. I now sleep 10pm-5am instead of 11pm (full of snacks) to 6am.

It's all the little things you do that add up.

[Anonymous]

I eat smaller meals but ones that are nutrient dense, and I have 3 small snacks through the day. I run and exercise a lot so I do painfully hungry if I don’t have fuel, plus I need it to perform well. Fasting would not work for me.

[Anonymous]

Hunger was (and is) always a big issue for me. What has helped:

- Being in ketosis (I can tell when I'm not because I'm just hungry all the time versus not unless it's a meal time)
- Drinking 1/2 my body weight in water
- Eating enough non-starchy vegetables (bell peppers, zucchini, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, red onion, asparagus) and NOT just a few strips or florets in salads
- Getting regular protein

[Anonymous]

I just got used to hungry and knew when it would transition to hangry.
I eat at 6:30 pm and then not until 8/9 am. Always hungry in the am. In the pm I have herbal tea to satiate. It’s the only way I can maintain/lose weight. I eat most of my carbs for breakfast and then dinner is protein and vegetables. I’m happy when i can fit into my clothes
I find this is all much easier in summer when it’s hot anyway. And in winter I crave potatoes and bread and soup.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. I fell off the wagon last night after trying to eat better and smaller portions. I was doing a lot of veggies, fruits, salads along with a protein but always felt hungry. Last night, I cut loose and got my fill of chocolate chip cookies, ice cream and chips. And a little soda.

It felt so good and all so yummy. But the strange thing is that I still felt hungry. It's like my body is making fun of me and my efforts to do better. I hate hate hate feeling hungry.

Getting back on track this week....

[Anonymous]

If you totally deprive yourself of all things sweet you’re going to binge like you did. It’s okay to allow yourself a cookie or whatever. I do this all the time. Ill pack a serving size of chips ahoy for myself as one of my snacks. If I allow myself to eat the 150 calories of chips ahoy twice a week, I don’t eat the whole sleeve of them in one sitting during a meltdown.

[Anonymous]

If you are eating the right foods you should be able to eat in abundance. Have you tried Raw till 4? As much fruit, veggies as you want as long as they are raw until 4pm. Then a normal sized (cooked) dinner. You will be shocked at how much watermelon, banana and avocado you can put away during the day and still lose weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you totally deprive yourself of all things sweet you’re going to binge like you did. It’s okay to allow yourself a cookie or whatever. I do this all the time. Ill pack a serving size of chips ahoy for myself as one of my snacks. If I allow myself to eat the 150 calories of chips ahoy twice a week, I don’t eat the whole sleeve of them in one sitting during a meltdown.

I think some people are like this, but others need total abstinence. I am the latter. I just do better when I completely satay away from certain foods (sugar, simple carbs). I cannot have dessert just once a week. In fact, I find that when I backtrack it’s because for example I had birthday cake at my kids birthday party and then it leads to literally weeeks of bad eating. I just have to stay away from the bad stuff completely.

So - figure out which kind of person you are and follow that plan (moderation versus abstinence).