Lasereth

I've decided to go on a lifestyle change. In other words, a diet that I don't plan on ever giving up. My family has a history of heart disease and heart problems, so me being overweight is scary. I also hate how my body feels so out of shape (4 years ago I was about 60 pounds lighter).

I want to start out by changing my caloric intake since that's one of the biggest keys to losing weight. Here's my problem: I'm a larger than average guy and I have a fucking massive appetite. Right now, I could consume 6,000 calories per day with 0 activity and not feel sick. I've already started lowering portions of the food I eat and eating food that is low(er) in calories, but I'm about to go crazy here.

Why? Because I'm constantly fucking hungry!! Like hungry to the point where I can't concentrate on anything. What I eat for lunch and supper isn't enough to keep my mind off of hunger. I need foods that have lower calories but are more filling, because what I'm doing right now isn't working very well. I'm consuming about 2,000-2,500 calories per day right now.

I'd like a snack-type substance because I'm usually OK at meal-time. I have Dysguesia, so a large majority of fruits are out of the question due to their extremely rancid taste to me. My brother suggest rice cakes so I'll probably try those. Is there ANYTHING else I can eat between meals that is filling and doesn't have 500 calories??

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maleficent

rice cakes, to me just taste like styrofoam - even the flavored ones.. but give them a shot.

I'm fond of Wasa Crackers myself - they're a whole grain, high fiber cracker -that's a BIG cracker - that i'll put cream cheese, goat cheese, or something else on it - with a sliced tomato - very fillinh and under 200 calories for 2 crackers w/ stuff.

Hummus w/ celery or carrots is another favorite

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Sultana

Lasereth, I'd *highly* recommend going to a diet specialist person (I can't spell the real title, lol). I had a problem like yours always hungry, never full, until I went to Weight Watchers and learned that I need a higher than average amount of protein (lean protein, thanks!) to feel full. No amount of fruit or veggies is going to do that for me (although I still include them in my diet, of course).

Different things work for different people, but through WW I took a food survey that helped me and my WW counselor to come to this conclusion, and boy did it help! I could eat literally 2 lbs. of pasta and not feel satisfied, or eat a chicken breast and finally feel full. I snack on lean meats, legumes (refried beans are low fat!), and protein bars (watch out though, they tend to have a lot of sugars) when I am really hungry.

Good luck!

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My goal? To fulfill my potential.

snowy

You mean a registered dietician?

Get thee to an RD. If you are still in college, there should be one on your campus. Ask about it at your student health center or the fitness center--on my campus, the RD does appointments at both places, depending on the day.

Some things the RD told me when I talked to her some years ago was that 1) Cut out processed foods. 2) Realize that 1 serving of OJ a day (if you can stomach the taste of the OJ) or tomato/vegetable juice can replace eating a fruit/vegetable. 3) Try and get your 5 a day of fruits and vegetables--and you can do this in a variety of ways--salads, stemed vegetables, fresh vegetables, dried fruit, etc. 4) Realize just how big or small a portion size of any fruit/vegetable is. Your RD should give you a portion guide. Portioning, to me, is the hardest part of any lifestyle change. 5) Find out your daily recommended allowance for fiber for men in your age group and STICK WITH IT. Fiber is your friend. 6) Take a multivitamin. The RD I saw has a great anecdote about the difference a multivitamin can make. She used to be an oceanographer and was in the Maldives doing research with her husband, and everyone but her started bruising badly and getting sores. Turns out, the whole research crew got scurvy except her--because she took her multivitamin every day. 7) Drink a lot of liquids. Sometimes when we think we're hungry, we're really just thirsty.

The American Dietetic Association is a good source of online information regarding nutrition: http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg...0_ENU_HTML.htm

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ironman

I think Sultana may have hit the nail with the protein approach. I'm was a rather skinny guy all my life untill i turned 23 and started to gain weight. I could mantain a 4000 - 5000 calories a day diet and not gain a single pound. My metabolism was amazingly fast and i never weight over 125lbs (i'm 5'10''). When i turned 23 something happened to my metabolism and i started to gain weight up to 175lbs where i'm at now with a diet of 3000 calories a day. I was used to eat like crazy and al of the sudden i wasn't able to do so if i didn't wanted to become overweight, so i started to eat less but oh my GOD!!! iwas starving all the time, i ate a lot of fruits but it didn't help with the hunger, untill a friend recommended me drinking a protein shake at mid morning and another in the afternoon. My food cravings totally disappeard and i felt satisfied for longer periods of time and the best of all was that each shake was only 250 calories each. That and drinkig lots of water, helped me changing my eating habits.

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If I agreed with you we´d both be wrong

Willravel

There are a number of ways to get in shape.

To get into shape for "Curage Under Fire", Matt Damon ran 6 miles every morning and night, picked up smoking, and ate mostly apples. He dropped instantly. If you want to lose weight fast, that's the way to do it (though you'll be dying).

The thing is: most people online will say "burn more calories than you eat", but they don't take into account that there are good calories and bad caliroes. Dieting is honestly MASSIVELY simple.

Eat what you know is healthy: enjoy plenty of fruits, veggies, lean meats (mostly fish and poultry); lay off the trans and saturated fats (mono and poly are fine); watch your salt and cholesterol, and don't eat after maybe 6 at night. Eat when you're hungry and never to excess. ALWAYS exercise regularly.

That's it. That's the trick to being healthy.

la petite moi

Veggie broth.

thingstodo

Oh God yes. The perfect answer. All the fruits and veggies you want. Only whole grains - no processed, bleached flower. Stay away from any refined sugar. Maple syrup, honey and agave syrup are good sweatener that don't give you a glycogen crash. Prett much stay away from anything in a box or bag other than Deli Rye Triskets (whole grain, good fat).

Only eat what will fit into a fint container at one time. If you're hungery two hours later, fill it up again - with the fruits and veggies.

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Redjake

Those are good suggestions, be he's not asking how to lose weight. He's asking what he can eat that will fill him up so he's not so hungry all the time I'm in a similar situation. Eating fruit and veggies does the furthest thing away from fill me up I can imagine. Right now, I'm on a rice-cake sort of deal. Anytime I get hungry during the day, I eat a rice cake. Works. Only 30-50 calories per cake. They are gross, but they taste good after a day or so. Sort of like Chek Cola

You may want to try to eat 6 meals per day, if you can find time to do it. Eat breakfast, eat an energy bar or shake mid-morning, eat lunch, eat a mid-afternoon energy bar or shake, eat supper, then eat something late in the evening. These need to be healthy foods, with a reduced portion to even out the caloric intake. I am going to start doing this soon to go along with my workout routine. Raises metabolism, and you aren't starving the entire day.

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Willravel

Apples, then (I dare you to eat 1000 calories in apples). Or high fiber (caliroies cannot be digested, so eat plenty of oats, legumes, barley, flaxseeds, fruits, vegetables and psyllium) that can essentially become a mass in digestion that helps you feel full longer.

If you're having trouble, try swollowing a few fiber tablets or drinking a liquid with a soluable fiber compound in it before you eat.

People with a healthy diet and exercise routine do not need apetite supression, though. I'd strongly suggest you get at least 1 hour of exercise a day and follow the diet instructions I layed out before.

dlish

ok guys..ive heard a lot here that my mrs would agree with, but then again ive heard heaps where she would just puke at..pardon the pun

shes an APD (accredited practicing dietitian)..yeah a registered dietitian is what you guys might call em.

anyways, shes at work at the moment, but when she gets home ill ask her what she thinks and ill post her response.

one thing though, i dont think that by eating more protien that it would suppress your hunger, its the other way around. its the carbs that fill you up, you just need to find something that isnt high in salt.

i dont know if you guys have heard of this new craze..the GI diet (the glycymic Index diet).. its a new type of diet here in oz, where foods that are low GI generally are slow release foods, and thus keep the hungry pangs away for longer. foods like breads are high GI amd spike your sugar levels almost instantaneously. foods like legumes are best, but beware of the gas!

anyways..ill post in the next day or so and let you know what she says.

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dlish

sorry guys, i know this has taken a few more days than it should have. had computer and internet trouble, so i havent been online for a while. nevertheless, i did ask the mrs and she recommended the following:

celery
carrots
cucumbers
plenty of fluids, especially water (her exact words)
mixed nuts
dips, she recomended something like a hommous dip or similar cos its quite filling.

she said that celery and carrots are 'free foods' and you can eat as much as you like.

if you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask and ill pass them on.

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An injustice anywhere, is an injustice everywhere

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- Filthy

noodle

One of the snacks that I enjoy most to fill me up is a lightly salted rice-cake smeared with all-natural crunchy peanut butter (no sugar or oil added) and topped with a sliced banana or strawberry or preserves with no sugar added or just honey, depending on your preference. As long as you portion control the peanut butter, it all balances out. I [I]can't[I] physically eat much after one of those. As for dips, I, too, recommend hummus, baba ganoosh, fat-free sour cream with any of the dried dressing mixes (watch out for MSG in Hidden Valley Ranch!). I'll break the same lightly-salted rice cakes into pieces and dip them in or make my own pita chips with Multi-grain Pitas in the broiler.
Also try:
~edamame beans (straight from the freezer or steamed)
~whole grain cereals from the organic section at the grocery store. One of the ones I like has 15g of protein and 12 g of fiber per serving. I lost 6 lbs in 10 days eating one serving for breakfast because I couldn't fit anything else in my stomach for hours
~fat-free yogurt. Use small amounts on cereal instead of milk, add almonds or fruits, whatever.
~put natural peanuts, sunflower seeds, raisins, whatever you like into a trail mix type assortment and store it in portion-controlled containers. Stash the containers in different areas of the cupoard so you don't grab for two.

That's a lot of how I did it. I lost 95lbs between those things and the gym. Oh, and I drank close to a gallon of water a day. Whenever I felt hungry, I'd drink a glass of water. If I was still hungry 5 to 10 minutes later, I'd have a snack. In the beginning, I think I drank well over a gallon because I always "felt" hungry even though I wasn't. I was bored.

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Spanxxx

I read only about half the posts, so forgive me for repeating... but I'll toss out my tidbits from the few times I've dropped 40 pounds in just a few months by changing my diet and exercise.

First off, the weight comes off through diet AND exercise, not just diet.

Now, to the food. Several people pointed to protein, and I think that's probably going to be your issue. I suggest buying some chocolate or vanilla protein powder at your local GNC store. Try a 2lb. container until you find a flavor you like, and then go for the 5lb jugs cause they are cheaper. In the morning, try oatmeal. Instant quaker oats, take 1/2 cup with 1 cup of water, through in 1 -1.5 teaspoons of splenda (sugar will bump up your calories for the day) and eat that while you drink a chocolate or vanilla shake made with skim milk.

Also, being hungry at first is because of conditioning. You've been eating huge meals, huge amounts of calories, and your body thinks that's what it needs right now. Drinking water between meals is extremely important. Frequently, when we think we are hungry, we are actually thirsty. When I "feel" hungry, I will frequently reach for a glass of water first. Sometimes it quenches the appetite outright. Looking above me, I see Fredweena hits the nail on the head with this one.

Another problem with big eaters and changing a diet to lose weight is that the the two don't really go hand in hand. If you eat massive meals (I'm there with you) and you want to lose weight, it's hard to change that reflex of eating MORE. Unfortunately FAT is what makes us feel full. So, even though reducing the amount of fat in your diet is generally a good rule of thumb, keeping some in your diet is also healthy for you.

Try whole vegetable products as well. Carrots, celery, cucumber, bell peppers. If you can eat these raw, they are very good for you. Red and green bell peppers are excellent for you, and can be very satisfying if you like them. They make good snacks. You are right about the fruits. Many fruits are excellent for you, but they pack on the sugar for the day. Likewise, many are very high on the glycemic index scale which can be bad for you. That's another suggestion I have as well. Read up on the Glycemic Index and research foods that you can eat with lower GI ratings. These foods take longer to burn and will sustain you much longer than those with high GI values. (http://www.glycemicindex.com/). This is important for filling full. It also helps with energy issues.


Okay, I'll stop now. Fitness and health have always been important to me, and as I am currently on a cycle of "trying to lose a few pounds of fat" while at the same time keeping up my gigantic caloric intake to sustain new muscle growth, it is definitely in the forefront of my mind lately.

One last point, that I'd like to reinforce that I think was a good one is : go see a nutrionist. That could be very helpful for helping you set a diet schedule and also to just be more informed. I believe being informed about what you put in your body helps you make considerably wiser decisions about what you put in there.

Good luck!

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