Appetite

vectorvictor

For a while I have been trying to get a grip on my appetite which it seems is never satisfied. I'm healthy , average build and slightly overweight for my height (could do with loosing about half stone according to be in the median range)

I am constantly hungry yet always eating

So. Based on my sample day below what would you change to keep me from being hangry all the time?

Breakfast:
Bowl of porridge with fruit or 4 Shredded wheat
Coffee
Pastry
Juice

Between breakfast and lunch:
Yogurt
4-6 Biscuits
Popcorn or Crisps

Lunch:
Dinner size portion of something like stir fry/pasta/paella etc..

Between Lunch and Dinner:
Something savoury I.e. Toasted sambo,pizza slice
Yogurt
A bar
A soft drink

Dinner:
Meat , spuds and 2 veg generally large portion

Supper:
Cereal or something like scrambled egg and toast
Tea
A few biscuits

Middle of the night:
Something sweet - bar, cake and tea

Igotadose

vectorvictor wrote: »

For a while I have been trying to get a grip on my appetite which it seems is never satisfied. I'm healthy , average build and slightly overweight for my height (could do with loosing about half stone according to be in the median range)

I am constantly hungry yet always eating

So. Based on my sample day below what would you change to keep me from being hangry all the time?

Get more exercise. It suppresses the appetite. Beyond that, really not much you can do, appetite's driven by neurology

Dial Hard

Without knowing your height, weight gender and age it's hard to give concrete advice but that does seem like a lot of food, I wouldn't eat that much in two days.

Thread might be better moved to Nutrition & Diet but in the meantime if you could give us the info above and a bit more info about *how* you eat, it would be helpful.

Eating on the run/at your desk/in front of the TV is really bad for receiving "you've had enough" signals from your brain. Likewise food that you can eat with one hand (like bars/biscuits/slices of toast). Having to sit down at a table, with cutlery and place setting automatically makes you more mindful of what you're eating. Also, I find that the longer it takes me to eat something, the far more satiated I'm likely to be by it. Get into the habit of really thinking about, savouring and taking your time over everything you eat. Put your knife and fork down between every mouthful. If you gulp something down in a few bites your brain hasn't a hope in hell of catching up with your stomach which is still screaming "Not full yet."

2xj3hplqgsbkym

Have you tried eating better quality foods that slowly release into your blood stream or have a lower GI?
Something like a biscuit , high in sugar , quickly spikes your blood sugar levels , so immediately you feel good, but very quickly your blood sugar drops and you feel hungry and cranky.
Where as something like whole grain bread slowly releases energy so you feel fuller for longer without an instant spike then drop in blood sugar levels.
Look up Low GI foods to find out more.

Dizzyblonde

**OP I've moved this into the Nutrition & Diet forum because it's much better suited to here.

freetelly

vectorvictor wrote: »

For a while I have been trying to get a grip on my appetite which it seems is never satisfied. I'm healthy , average build and slightly overweight for my height (could do with loosing about half stone according to be in the median range)

I am constantly hungry yet always eating

So. Based on my sample day below what would you change to keep me from being hangry all the time?

Breakfast:
Bowl of porridge with fruit or 4 Shredded wheat
Coffee
Pastry
Juice

Between breakfast and lunch:
Yogurt
4-6 Biscuits
Popcorn or Crisps

Lunch:
Dinner size portion of something like stir fry/pasta/paella etc..

Between Lunch and Dinner:
Something savoury I.e. Toasted sambo,pizza slice
Yogurt
A bar
A soft drink

Dinner:
Meat , spuds and 2 veg generally large portion

Supper:
Cereal or something like scrambled egg and toast
Tea
A few biscuits

Middle of the night:
Something sweet - bar, cake and tea

Can I just say that while my diet is a little different I share the same ongoing battle with hunger. I agree with the boardsie that mentioned the blood sugar issue - I switched my brekkie from porridge with fruit / sweetener to savory and I've found it has really helped make me feel satiated until lunch. I still really really struggle with night time hunger and, like you, sometimes middle of the night hunger. For me I think a lot of it is anxiety based but it'd be good to get any advice anyone has who has had the same issues and found healthy ways of tackling it.

Diets and restriction haven't helped me as they have reinforced my tendenacny to continuously count calories and categorise some foods as "bad" which I know in reality is unhealthy and unsustainable.

Alf Veedersane

Firstly, drink more water when you're 'hungry'.

Also, it seems like you've established habits. If you csn outline pretty much what you have between meals, its usually because you're in a routine of eating that. Breaking that routine and the notion that you need to eat that at those times is going to help a lot

silverharp

vectorvictor wrote: »

For a while I have been trying to get a grip on my appetite which it seems is never satisfied. I'm healthy , average build and slightly overweight for my height (could do with loosing about half stone according to be in the median range)

I am constantly hungry yet always eating...

god bless your metabolism or you do a lot of moving during the day though i'd guess eating like that would catch up with you eventually. as a poster above mentioned look into GI or glycemic load of food, you seem to be giving yourself a sugar hit every couple of hours. You are eating 7 times a day , if you ate more satiating food you could easily cut that down to 3 o 4.

igCorcaigh

Too much sugar, and make sure your complex carbs are wholegrain, you'll eat smaller portions.

Try to up your fibre intake. Have an apple if you're hungry with a glass of water.

You don't have to eat potatoes ever evening. Try a small amount of brown rice instead. Add some pulses to your diet too.

coffee_cake

Main thing striking me is that you're eating carbs all day
Have some plain meat at lunch and maybe eggs for brek

I've started doing a fair bit of intermittent fasting recently, including a 3 day water fast a month or so ago.

The biggest benefit I had from doing it is that I now have a different view on hunger, and I now realise most of the time it's in my head.

I'd suggest reducing meal frequency, and train your body to go longer between meals.

vectorvictor

Thanks for all the answers folks.

I suppose a large part of it is the difference between hunger and wanting to eat. I am just over 6ft and (relatively) slim built so weight gain is easy enough to get away with but the belly is bigger than I would like.

I agree that sugar and carb intake habit is a huge factor but I enjoy my food. Last night I had a large steak dinner with boiled spuds, green beans, roasted vegetables and had pangs of hunger less than an hour later. Yes I could have not eaten but I was hungry.

I'll try the changes mentioned and a bit more exercise

RiderOnTheStorm

bluewolf wrote:

Main thing striking me is that you're eating carbs all day Have some plain meat at lunch and maybe eggs for brek

+1

According to the Keto diet, sugar (and by extension, carbs) are the enemy. If you eat a meal containing sugar/carbs and fat/protein, the body will process the sugar first (as its easier, partially because its been processed already) and store the fat for later processing. But when the bodies levels of sugar dips, you need to top it up again....with a meal of carbs & fat. You end up walking a tightrope of sugar ups & downs, exercising to burn off the fat you have eaten, and getting hungry after a few hours due to low sugar.

Get off the treadmill (pun intended). Cut out sugar/carbs, eat more fat, proteins, meat, cheese, eggs etc and your body will adapt within a week or two and start to burn fat. It becomes "fat adapted". Then you wont get the sugar lows which make you hungry, as your body will burn any fat at hand before you realise you are hungry. This fat is usually the fat stored on your body. So you dont get hungry easily anymore. People on Keto who are in the zone often only eat one or two meals a day.

Note: always talking about good fats here.

Note: exercise not recommended in first month or so, until you are adapted and energy levels return to normal (or higher!)

RHJ

Honestly I don't buy the hype about keto and low carb I believe you can lose weight and be healthy on a moderate carb and mainly plant-based diet I recently switched to veganism just to see what it was like and so far I found when combined with intermittent fasting it can be a struggle at times to eat all the food in my diet plan.

Of course you don't have to go as extreme as me but if you are hungry try eating whole vegetables and fruits as most vegetables and fruits are low calorie and have fibre which helps you feel fuller and in the case of fruit when eaten whole the fibre helps slow down the release of sugar into your body.

If you are on Android you can use Vora in order to track any fasting you do.

And if you want to take the hassle out of planning a diet of your choosing then I highly recommend eatthismuch it's available as an app and a website

coffee_cake

I wouldn't be in to the keto myself, i also think a gradual shift would be better than trying to look for the perfect diet.
I just think stuff like biscuits (and believe me i love biscuits) are empty calories and you are just not going to feel full eating a pack of them. mix them up with a plate of veg or a bunch of eggs instead. switch to the yogurt to a greek (not greek-style) yogurt.

similarly a pastry is very tasty but more empty calories, why not keep it for an odd treat and let the porridge settle first. then if still hungry have some chicken or something.