How do I stay full between lunch and dinner?

[Guest ValerieD]

Try as I might, there seems to be no way of keeping myself full from lunch. I was eating two turkey sandwiches for lunch at work, but I recently switched to salads because I need to find a way to eat vegetables. In neither case do I stay full much past 2pm. By 3 or 4, I'm absolutely famished, and counting down the minutes until I can go home and eat, each bit of time taking longer than the last. It's pure torture. What can I do? Mom suggested low-calorie popcorn, but I don't want to have to walk down to the other side of the building to use the microwave (my wing doesn't have one in our mini-kitchen for some reason, even though the other wing and the break room both have them). I'm looking for some kind of snack that I can graze on when hungry but won't cause me to gain weight.

[Guest miss kindheart]

Water Water lots of Water

<<<< hug >>>>

vanna

[Guest Sarah Faith]

Low cal popcorn is really good, when I need to graze a bit I eat fruit, things like grapes or grapefruit something to just meet that need to eat something that is not real high calorie.. Really any kind of fruit could work.

[Guest Danielle J]

Try some almonds and yes drink water

Hugs

[Guest Sarah Faith]

There is such a thing as drinking too much water. Especially if your not getting enough sodium and electrolytes. Water has a diluting effect, I've lost over 160 pounds and I can tell you I don't ever sit around drinking tons of water. Fruits, Sports Drinks, and a number of things are really good to help sate hunger between meals especially if your as active as I am.

[JJ]

It may be a blood sugar slump too. I have to eat several times a day or I feel horrible and eventually eat more too. I found Quaker Chewy Granola bars do a good job in holding off the hunger and blood sugar fluctuations that feel so bad. Though popcorn is low cal for anyone with blood sugar problems it actually can make your blood sugar fluctuate even more because of the type of carb it is. My Dr advised me not to eat popcorn at all because of hypoglycemia. You can get the bars at a grocery store or Sams and they feel like eating a candy bar but only have 90 calories while the oats digest slowly and won't cause blood sugar problems. I ate them a lot when I list the 200 lbs and still do when I hike. A caveat-the other brands don't taste anywhere near as good-especially the generic-or have a lot more sugar and calories.

There are a lot of good options out there and sometimes you ave to just keep experimenting till you find what works for you.

Johnny

[Guest Megan_Lynn]

Every time I eat fruit it just makes me even more hungry with apples being the worst at it..Only foods that ever satisfy my hunger are proteins ( aka meats) and carbos ( I know bad for me). When I have tried to stay with a vegie/fruit diet it gets me feeling insanely hungry and after a few days I get very tired weak and lethargic( no I do not have sugar issues has been tested many times). Its been almost 5 years since I had my last cigarette but still want one darn near ever day. Back when I was a smoker if I was hungry i just had a smoke and was good to go. Now I have nothing to fill the void and want to munch all the time. It is so aggravating just can never seem to be satisfied hungry wise. As for water I drink between 1-3 gallons a day every day as this is 99 percent of an average days liquids for me. Even before the days of Spiro I always had to pee alot so need large amounts of water or I get terrible headaches from dehydration.

[Guest nomnomnom]

Smaller meals spread out across the day would help keep the hunger away.

[Guest KathleenMarie27]

You have to train yourself to eat the way you need to eat, you are used to eating what you want when you want. Once you stick to your schedual for a while the hunger will go away.

In the mean time low fat proteins take longer to digest so they feed you longer. A small pack of nuts and a no cal soft drink.

[Guest ValerieD]

I can get from breakfast to lunch fine, and from dinner to breakfast as well. I thought it was the fact that lunch is my smallest meal in the day, but increasing the amount of salad I eat only made me feel bloated all afternoon, and the hunger started right on schedule.

There is such a thing as drinking too much water. Especially if your not getting enough sodium and electrolytes. Water has a diluting effect, I've lost over 160 pounds and I can tell you I don't ever sit around drinking tons of water. Fruits, Sports Drinks, and a number of things are really good to help sate hunger between meals especially if your as active as I am.

Interesting. I've noticed that sometimes drinking water makes me feel sick, usually early in the day right after I wake up but lately afternoons as well. On the other hand, right after eating a lot, I can easily chug a glass or two. I wonder if that's why.

[Guest Sarah Faith]

I can get from breakfast to lunch fine, and from dinner to breakfast as well. I thought it was the fact that lunch is my smallest meal in the day, but increasing the amount of salad I eat only made me feel bloated all afternoon, and the hunger started right on schedule.

There is such a thing as drinking too much water. Especially if your not getting enough sodium and electrolytes. Water has a diluting effect, I've lost over 160 pounds and I can tell you I don't ever sit around drinking tons of water. Fruits, Sports Drinks, and a number of things are really good to help sate hunger between meals especially if your as active as I am.

Interesting. I've noticed that sometimes drinking water makes me feel sick, usually early in the day right after I wake up but lately afternoons as well. On the other hand, right after eating a lot, I can easily chug a glass or two. I wonder if that's why.

Water is good and all, but if your more active its probably better to find something that'll help balance your electrolytes and sodium. Personally I snack on grapes, apples, or grapefruit between meals if Im hungry and tired but I try to avoid chugging water because too much water makes me feel very very sick too. (Too much water can actually kill you but that's pretty rare. Look up: Water Toxicty)

[Guest KimberlyF]

If you can get up and walk a few minutes every hour at a desk job it increases your energy and decreases you hunger. In theory.

[Guest Kaylee234]

You could always eat more fruits and vegetables. They won't wreck your diet.

~ K

[Guest DianeATL]

I am just passing along something I saw on Dr, Oz, I don't know you so I am certainly not implying that this fits your case, just some food for thought for all of us (excuse the bad food reference).

Dr. Oz was making the point that many of our eating problems, especially bad eating habits, were emotional, trying to find comfort in food, rather than real physiological hunger. He had some people track an "apple test" over a period of time. Whenever they felt hungry or wanted a snack they were to ask the question, would an apple satisfy my hunger? If the answer was no, then probably they were looking for a comfort food whether it be potato chips or cookies or whatever versus trying to feed a need for calories for the body. I thought about this when you said that eating an apple just made you more hungry. His participants overwhelmingly rated their hunger/snacking needs as not being satisfied with an apple.

You have some good advice from others, I will just add on to what they have already said. Eat more often in smaller portions. You mentioned that you sought protein. That can only be absorbed and used in finite quantities at a time (I think it is something like 30gms) more than that is just flushed out or wasted calories. So you definitely want to spread you protein intake across 4 times in a day if you can. Also you might try some protein alternatives like supplement shakes or egg whites or boneless chicken breasts instead of steak and red meat. I have some competitive body builder friends and when they are getting ready for competition, they live on egg whites, chicken breasts, and water. The more water you drink, the less you maintain. Your body's survival instincts monitor the water intake and if you aren't getting it regularly, it thinks it needs to conserve and save it so it will retain water. But if you have a constant flow of water in, it senses that water is plentiful and therefore extra water storage is unnecessary so it flushes it out.

[Guest ValerieD]

I wonder if the afternoon water issues are partly cup related. I just noticed today that the disposable plastic cup I was using at work is starting to look rather disgusting. I'm bringing in my company thermus (the lid should keep it from getting dusty like the cup did) and see if that improves anything. Honestly, I don't even want to touch the cup anymore, much less drink out of it. It looks like the dust has merged with the plastic.

I'm not active at all right now, actually. Swimming got too annoying for me last December and I never found anything to replace it with. I sit at a desk at work and go home just to sit at yet another desk.

[Charlize]

Yuck, that cup sounds like one of my old friends a shot glass i have given up. Time for a change for sure. I drink a lot but much of it is green tea which is rather subtle in taste. I make up a big batch in the am and drink it cold during the day . I add a small amount of splenda but not enough to get it real sweet. Overall quite satisfying and i understand even pretty good for me. Certainly better than what was in the shot glass.

Hugs,

Charlie

[Guest Lizzie McTrucker]

I'm happy to report that I've actually been increasing my water intake lately. I used to live on diet soda, and still do to an extent but I'm trying to find ways to maybe not eliminate it entirely (going cold turkey would make me want to go postal) but make some substitutions. I started by just adding one regular size bottle of water into the mix, to have drank it all before I'm done working for the day. Now I've progressed to drinking a 1L bottle of water a day. Some days I forget, but oh well.

Also with my trucking lifestyle I'm very sedentary and long hours on the road are prone to snacking and over-eating. This has been a big hurdle for me, actually. I eat like I used to in my male days, but now I'm not getting the exercise like I used to so I've been trying to cut back on calories or eating healthier food choices for now. I don't always have time to stop in the middle of the day to take a walk and I definitely don't have time at the end of the day when it's dark out to go walk laps in a dark truck stop parking lot, but I digress. I've been really trying instead of getting the large soda with my meals to fill it up with something non-carbinated instead like iced tea or lemonade. I figure one one less large soda a day is a step in the right direction.

As far as mid-day snacking goes, I'm a victim of it for sure. Those preservative-filled pastries always call my name and the powdered sugar mini donuts yell the loudest, it seems. But, I've been experimenting with candies instead, like lifesavers or those Werther's butterscotch (?) candies and enjoying those while I drive instead of munching on donuts or candy bars. Starburst, too. I would love to add fruit into the mix, and some days I do if I find a fruit-filled cup of grapes or...oh my stars..one filled with fresh strawberries or pineapple but many times fresh fruit other than apples, oranges and bananas are kind of expensive out on the road and I don't have many opportunities to hit a grocery store for produce.

Lately I've found those small 50 cent tubes of peanuts are good for a mid-day snack, also. Some times I just need a little something that would be a teeny bit filling and take the edge off until dinner time.

Anyway, any thoughts, ideas or suggestions would be lovely.

[Guest DianeATL]

One of the keys is to only have healthy choices available. If you don't buy junk, you can't eat it. If you have good foods at your fingertips, you will eat them.

One of my favorite snacks are nuts, especially almonds. If you need a little sweet kick, add a few M&M's to a mix of almonds, walnuts, cashews, other assorted nuts. You will fill up on the good stuff but just a hint of sugar with the M&M's will satisfy that urge instead of filling up on a big bag of candy. I mix up my own snack/trail mix and put it into little snack baggies and try to keep those handy. I usually have one of those or a granola bar in my back pack almost all of the time, I travel a lot and can miss meals or have extended times between meals so having a healthy snack handy to handle the hunger keeps me from buying a high calorie alternative.

[Ravin]

What worked for me was the paleo approach, which I kicked off with Whole 30. The idea is to avoid sugar and combine lean meat, vegetables, and healthy fats. Without enough fat or carbs, you're going to get hungry again fast. Some olives, a handful of nuts, or olive oil (with balsamic is good) on your salad would help. Avoid foods that lead to sugar crashes--"white" starches and any kind of sugar in particular. Even fruit is best in great moderation eaten with other food, not by itself.

This worked for me, during Whole 30 my blood sugar stabilized and I found I could eat my fill (a fairly fixed amount of protein and fat with the corners filled in with all the veggies I want) three times a day and not need to snack between meals. I lost some weight (and inches at the waist) in the process.

Avoiding mid-day caffeine also helps me with this.

It's an approach worth trying. It might or might not work for you--I'm a firm believer no one way of eating is perfect for everyone.

[Guest ValerieD]

So now I need something new for lunch because I've gotten sick of salad to the point where even thinking about bagged salad makes me want to throw up. I'm not sure what else to try. I already got sick of sandwiches, and anything else that I can think of requires too much preparation at work and/or the night before at home (motivating myself to make anything in advance is HARD, especially since I think I'm clinically depressed). Having extremely limited food preferences doesn't help.

[Guest DianeATL]

Do you have a microwave availablle? A lot of my friends will bring a frozen Lean Quisine or something like that for lunch. Just read the packages carefully, often they have way too much sodium.

Diane

[Guest ValerieD]

There isn't a microwave in my hallway but the other wing (or so I'm told - haven't looked) and the break room both have one. I would feel the need to babysit the food while it's microwaved though.

I like SmartOnes (and I know I wouldn't get sick of them), but one meal of SmartOnes isn't enough to keep me full. I'd need two, and for that price (of having two a day), I might as well just buy food from the coffee shop across the street every day.

I also like Stouffer's macaroni and cheese, but that's definitely not healthy enough to eat every day. I always feel guilty after the rare occasion I have one of those.

[Guest DianeATL]

I don't know if this works for others, but it sure does for me. I will start to get real hungry then I will run and actually my appetite goes down instead of up plus I burned calories. If taking a walk or doing something active for a few minutes during your lunch break is an option, you might give that a try.

[Guest Lizzie McTrucker]

I have recently become hooked on Subway's chopped salads. The first time I had one was in Texas and omg it was so much food!

Lately though I've been trying to eat a little better, and smaller meals. I'm no longer eating like a pig but mind you it's only been a week. I've been trying to cut back on the sweets and I made a small bag of candy last nearly a week by just allowing myself 2 pieces after lunch and after dinner. Those mid-day cravings do attack but I found a 50 cent tube of peanuts helps. I had bought one of almonds to try tonight but I wasn't that hungry so I totally forgot about it. I've also been working on my water intake.

Now granted I haven't been perfect. I did go a little crazy at McDonald's 2 days ago but I'm not letting it get to me. I've been making better food choices or if I do kinda splurge a bit, to not get as much as I used to. It's probably not the best thing for me but peppermint candy have been working really well during the day, too.

I've also been asking the apple question whenever I feel like I'm getting ready to emotion eat, and that's helped curb some cravings when I realized I wasn't reaching for food because I was hungry, it was because I was feeling stressed, or upset or something. Now granted there were some times when I was reaching for food because I was starving but the emotional eating has been cut down some.

..sadly, I've been emotion eating ever since I realized I was trans...but that's another story.

[Sally]

You should eat a snack about halfway between each meal - the morning snack needs to be a protein, eggs, tuna, turkey, peanuts, peanut butter and those sorts of foods - small amounts to keep the calories low turkey and eggs are both very low, a hard boiled egg is only 78 calories - the afternoon snack needs to be a smart carb - that's right a carb but not just any carb only smart carbs like bananas, apples, whole grain bread, grapes, just avoid white flour items like white bread although Sourdough is a smart carb.

This has been working for me - so far 112 pounds lost since mid January.

Also you do need a small snack after dinner so that you do not go to bed starving - about 2 hours before you go to bed and it is basically a smart carb as well but if you do not eat for a long period of time your body goes into a panic mode of there is no more food we have to store everything we can because we do not know if we will ever eat again - that is not what you want.

Love ya,

Sally