| Author |
 Topic  |
|
enni
9 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 19 2005 : 12:43:15
|
How do people cope with appetite? Mine is huge...always has been. Eating tons of fruit / vegetables is ineffective, and I loathe whole-grain anything. About the only thing that will kill my hunger pangs are high-fat foods - a no no. (My medical education tells me Atkins is the worst thing you can do to yourself, and gives you bad breath besides).
Most of the OTC appetite suppressants are nothing more than caffeine, which doesn't work and gives you the jitters. Never heard of a prescription one that works either. Vigourous exercise will work...for about half an hour. Then I'm hungrier than ever.
Unfortunately, I have found that if I'm not hungry, I don't lose any weight... |
|
|
neil
USA
279 Posts |
Posted - Oct 21 2005 : 03:26:49
|
Enni, welcome!
People cope with appetite in a few ways:
-Eating whatever they want. Not recommended.
-Eating high-volume, low-calorie foods with moderate amounts of "comfort foods". Now we're talkin'.
-Being hungry. Not the worst feeling in the world. Not as bad as being overweight, for instance. You'll learn to live with it, enjoy it, welcome it. Okay, maybe just not complain about it.
You will need to try new vegetables and fruit, perhaps, to help you feel satisfied, and there's no way you have tried every type of whole-grain food. There are some mighty tasty and satifying ways to prepare grains. A little butter is a magical thing. Also explore some low-fat protein sources that can be quite filling. Soups are filling, too.
Your best bet is to learn to work with the food to keep appetite at bay. The only alternative is to develop extremely strong willpower, which may work for you.
Last, what kind of vigorous exercise are you doing and for how long? And at what time of day? All these variables will influence appetite, in my experience. Most people I know find that exercise early in the day curbs the appetite best.
I hope some of this helps. |
 |
|
|
FunBikerChick
USA
415 Posts |
Posted - Oct 21 2005 : 17:54:57
|
| If I am really hungry I do one of two things...go to bed or drink water. Water will fill you up. It may not be satisfying, but you will not have hunger pangs. There is a difference between a craving and hunger. So, if you drink water, you wont' be hungry, but you might still feel a craving or strong desire for food. |
|
|
|
enni
9 Posts |
Posted - Nov 30 2005 : 18:18:18
|
Weird but true..I finally found an 'appetite suppressant' that seems to work for me. Believe it or not, it's CHOCOLATE-COVERED COFFEE BEANS. Six or seven of them (a total of about 55 cals) will kill my appetite for up to 6 hours. I'm not all that crazy about them, so I can easily stop eating them after a small handful - unlike other chocolate candy!
Not sure why this works, maybe the combination of fat-containing chocolate with a big slug of caffeine. Caffeine is used in commercial appetite suppressants, which have never worked for me and only gave me the jitters. I don't get the shakes from choco-coffee beans - maybe it's a smaller amount of caffeine, + / - the mitigating circumstances of the chocolate coating. But the coffee beans do give me a very slight 'not quite right' feeling which is not enough to cause any problems but will temporarily kill my usually raging appetite.
I don't do this every day - 55 calories of 'junk food' is 55 calories and as I say, I don't like them all that much. But they are very helpful on those occasions when I feel like I'll go stark raving mad if I don't eat everything in sight and a stick of butter besides.
Has anyone else found some weird appetite killers? I mean other than the usual "drink lots of water, eat high-fiber foods" , advice which only seems to work because you're too busy running to the bathroom to eat. Nothing high-fiber has EVER put a dent my appetite! |
|
|
|
neil
USA
279 Posts |
Posted - Dec 02 2005 : 13:31:46
|
Enni,
Along the same lines, my wife found an article that claimed that most people are satisfied after 3 bites of something sweet. Seems you've tested the hypothesis for us. If I had those in the house, I'd be in deep, deep trouble.
|
|
|
|
Pinkie
8 Posts |
Posted - Dec 03 2005 : 07:33:39
|
Hi Enni -
Are you talking appetite or hunger? My hunger is usually satisfied with a moderate meal of just about anything (healthy is best, of course!). And if no food's available, the pangs go away after several minutes. Sometimes grazing throughout the day - with a few bigger meals - makes it easier for me.
Now, appetite is a whole other story! That's a psychological thing (physiological, too, I think they're proving) that wants to be babied, petted & indulged. It doesn't care about fiber content, "good" carbs or healthy fats. That's what I struggle with. That's when the sugar-free popsicles come out, frozen grapes (they're crunchy & require chewing), celery sticks, yada yada yada...
Oddly enough, sometimes lighting my Banana Nut candle really helps - it indulges the "sweet" through smell, instead of taste. Try it! Amazing. I leave it burn until it's overpowering, and it actually works. (Note: Not nice to try around co-workers.) I wonder if our other senses could pick up some of the slack? Deep, vibrant colors? Interesting textures? Incredible music? Just a thought.
Keep your hands busy with a fun hobby. Jump up and take out the trash - from every room (needs it anyway, right?). Make an overdue phone call. Surprise someone special with a short, handwritten note. Brush the cat. Brush your teeth. Brush your hair!
Just my two cents 
Blessings - Pinkie |
|
|
|
HeartSong
267 Posts |
Posted - Dec 10 2005 : 12:41:05
|
I can never stand to be hungry for any length of time, and I don't think I ever will. And I'm losing weight.
But I originally felt like I was in the same boat as you. I felt like I was hungry all the time and needed a LOT of calories in order for that feeling to pass. I needed to eat throughout the day!
What I've found out is that a lot of those feelings of hunger (about half) were actually more like "emotional hunger" (they felt just the same as my real hunger though.)
I don't know if this applies to you at all but this is my experience.
Every time I would feel stressed or depressed or lonely, I would get "hungry". I would feel bad that I was eating so much so I would continue to feel "hungry" and eat even more.
I read a book called "Overcoming Overeating" and the biggest tip that really helped me in that book (they really drove it home too!) is that a big component of some people's overeating is "yelling at ourselves" (inside) for having done it. And as soon as you yell at yourself for having done it (or not looking good in the mirror) you hurt yourself, and you have to eat even more, because you are using food to heal your pain (You have to do something to heal your pain!)
So once I realized that I was "taking care of my emotional self" by overeating, not "being a pig with no willpower", I found that, gradually, I would get less "hunger" throughout the day.
I still eat many small meals a day rather than a few big ones. And I still eat to "heal" myself when I'm in pain sometimes. But it doesn't happen as much, and when it does I don't eat as much.
I haven't ever denied myself food when I've felt hungry, just forgiven myself when I needed to eat to heal myself, and I've already lost about 10 pounds. (in about 2 months). I don't think I'll gain it back, since I never once had to "starve myself" or "deprive myself" or excercise myself half to death to do it. |
Edited by - HeartSong on Dec 10 2005 12:43:01 |
|
|
|
glory
12 Posts |
Posted - Jan 05 2006 : 02:29:16
|
| if you are actually hungry all the time try switching to slimstyles or drinking hodia tea. stop using sugar and use stevia instead even honey is better than sugar. slimstyles is full of fiber and you drink a lot of water with it(I find i'm full althetime) Hodia tea, for me, kills any hunger pangs for about 8hrs(allows me to sleep without getting up for a midnight snack) and if I eat anything with sugar I binge because I get intense cravings and massive hunger so i sweeten with stevia(which I hear is banned in the states as a sweetener, but not as a food supliment, for no apparent reason. Its completely safe.) |
|
|
|
dsmom
838 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2006 : 09:07:17
|
| I know the post was a while ago about the choc. covered coffee beans..Oh joy that I've never seen those..that would be the end..the end of my reduced-caffine plan and the end of my reduced chocolate plan. But I can see why they would work..chocolate acts as a smile on your tongue and the caffine(sp) is the suppressant. |
|
|
|
ultra_classic
USA
995 Posts |
Posted - Jan 18 2006 : 12:50:30
|
quote:
Originally posted by enni
How do people cope with appetite? Mine is huge...always has been. Eating tons of fruit / vegetables is ineffective, and I loathe whole-grain anything. About the only thing that will kill my hunger pangs are high-fat foods - a no no. (My medical education tells me Atkins is the worst thing you can do to yourself, and gives you bad breath besides).
Most of the OTC appetite suppressants are nothing more than caffeine, which doesn't work and gives you the jitters. Never heard of a prescription one that works either. Vigourous exercise will work...for about half an hour. Then I'm hungrier than ever.
Unfortunately, I have found that if I'm not hungry, I don't lose any weight...
enni,
Couldn't disagree with you more. Medically speaking as a 20+ year professional I wish I had discovered Atkins secrets years ago.
Perhaps if you re-read Atkins paperback book especially the part about "glucolisis" and "lipoloisis" you would soon discover the secret of burning actual stored fat for energy instead of glucose. You will not be "hungry" all the time because without the carbs you will turn your insulin off. Another myth is that fat makes you fat! Not so, a combination of 'sugar' and 'white flour' together with 'fat' is what makes you store fat. Simply put, throw the potato away and have the butter instead. You are correct....eating high fat foods will give you a feeling of saity and will kill your appetite. Just leave out the carbs (sugar) and (white-flour). Enough said, read the book and understand how the body actually works before you knock Dr. Atkins or his teachings.
ultra_classic |
|
|
|
enni
9 Posts |
Posted - Jan 23 2006 : 10:31:55
|
I HAVE read Atkin's book. I thoroughly understand it. I think it's a crock of ****. He bases his weight loss theories on putting the body into as state of 'controlled' ketosis, which is really not that controllable and represents a runaway metabolic process. Diabetics who are unstable go into ketosis. It is not a healthy state to be in. Not to mention that for humans, a high fat diet is the quickest way to cardiovascular disease and other serious conditions. Yes, you lose weight on Atkins, but at great cost. And as soon as you start eating carbohydrates again, you gain it all back.
Moderation is the key to dieting. Atkins is way too extreme.
I highly recommend that YOU read 'Reversing Diabetes', which contains a lot of peer-reviewed medical research that discusses the advantages and disadvantages of high-fat, high carbohydrate and other diets out there. Whether or not you are diabetic (and I am not), you will find the information useful and enlightening.
enni |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
hungry all the time
