I am SOOOOO hungry!

[busywend]

I am getting hungry by 3pm every day. I just do not know what to do. I know if I use more points I will be losing it at the end of the day.

I need 0 point snacks that are easy to have at work.

HELP!!!!!!!

[upallnight]

Hi Busywend,

This used to happen to me, too. Here's what you need to do: Eat more for lunch and breakfast. Plan, Plan, Plan every calorie and point from the minute you get up until bed. Know when you're apt to be hungry and eat before that happens. I eat most of my calories for the day at school, and not a lot later.

That doesn't help you now though! How about some radishes? or lettuce with cucumbers, carrots, and vinegar as the dressing? How about coffee, or tea? I'm sorry I don't know about points. A handful of cereal always helps me.

or just hang on.......and tell yourself you can do anything for one hour- repeat until tomorrows points become available!
-Alyssa

[Andy]

I also do not know the point system but still wanted to share and input:

Make sure you get fruit at lunch. More fruit and veggies and less breads (carbohydrates).

GFG's pdoc explained to us that breads are a quick filler upper but also a quick emptier - doesn't stay very long. Fruit and veggies though they don't feel like they fill you up, last longer so you don't get hungry so fast.

Look at the foods you are having for lunch. Are they solid to last or fast foods that really are not helpful much longer than lunch?

Foods like oatmeal and peanut butter toast in the morning. Maybe even oatmeal or peanutbutter sandwich for lunch or budget a 2:30/3:00 healthy snack (again something that will last - a piece of fruit).

[Andy]

I also learned years ago to have three foods atleast per meal. If you have a variety of foods, you feel full because your body is not yearning for that one item you missed.

Less food, but a variety. protien - fruit and/or veggie - bread - dairy -dessert

A balanced meal of all food groups really does serve this purpose.

[trinityroyal]

Wendy,
I don't know how the point system works either, but here are a few things that work for me. I eat my biggest meal of the day at lunch, and I always make sure to include some kind of protein (cheese, yogurt, edamame, slice of lean beef or chicken...that sort of thing). I will often chop up a chicken breast and put it in a salad.

Proteins take much longer to digest than carbs, so they stick with you through the afternoon slump. If you can't stretch it out until dinner, a small handful of almonds is a very healthful snack. Does wonderful things for your heart, as well as keeping hunger at bay.

Hope you find the solution.

Trinity

[Wiped Out]

All good suggestions. A couple more might be to eat a Fiber One Bar-they really fill you up! Also, I used to eat a lot of the ww fruities on the way home. You can eat a whole pack for 1 pt.

[busywend]

I usually have a Lean Cuisine for lunch. I will have to pay attention to carb vs protein content to see if that makes a difference. Yesterday I had a ravioli one (carbs) but there were a lot of veggies in it, too.

I did get some almonds out of the machine. It helped for a bit. Then GFG stressed me out so I did bad at dinner. Emotional eating!! Agh! The day before a weigh in, too.

Keep 'em coming. Any low point snacks you can tell me about would be great!

[Marguerite]

I made my own muesli for breakfast. It's got the things in it I should eat - bran, more bran, a small amount of LSA, more bran, a few walnuts, a very small amount of dried fruit and bran. Also BROWN rice in various forms, including rolled and puffed. I can't eat oats. The recipe is available on request, including the option to vary it to your personal taste and still have it really work well to help you lose weight, not feel hungry, AND keep you moving.

It's a plain muesli, no added sugar. The only sugar is in the dried fruit, and I keep it low. Not a toasted muesli either. No added fat.

I also eat a small amount - I use a one cup ramekin as a bowl, so I'm eating less than a cup in total.

I'm finding this muesli keeps me from feeling hungry for a lot longer than any other cereal.

BUT - I also get the hungers. Sometimes mid-afternoon, sometimes late at night. Because I play around with the dried fruit allowance in the muesli, as well as the nut allowance (so I can put in the type of fruit, and type of nuts, that I LOVE without changing the proportion of fruit, or nuts) then I look forward to eating my muesli. So if I get the hungers, instead of having eaten more muesli for breakfast, I have the extra bit of muesli later, when I'm hungry.

There have been times, in past successful diets, when I could have eaten as many as six bowls of muesli in a 24 hour period.

The other thing I did - because my doctor told me I had to lose weight or I was heading for gastric bypass surgery, I ate as if I already HAD had bypass. So again, eating small amounts of GOOD food, often. A mouthful at a time, if necessary. I also kept reminding myself that I very much wanted to avoid surgery.

I've just had a day where people who hadn't seen me for a couple of months kept telling me how skinny I looked. Without exaggeration, I've had at least ten people tell me today that I look great. A few asked me with concern if I meant to lose weight.

So just to reassure you - this is working.

The other thing I'm eating when I'm ravenous - strawberries. Preferably at room temperature - they have more flavour.

Very important mid-afternoon, though - before you eat ANYTHING, have at least 500 ml water (or non-sweetened water-based drink). This means water if you can (chilled if it helps) with as few calories in it as possible. Artificially sweetened non-carbonated drink if you can't stand too much water. Because mid-afternoon craving can often be thirst in disguise, particularly if you're craving fruit, or ice cream, or similar. Promise yourself your snack afterwards, but make yourself drink the water first. You should be drinking 2 litres of water a day anyway. If you have the water first, you will be satisfied with a much smaller snack.

The other strong suggestion - avoid fat, avoid sugars (including natural sugars where possible), avoid carbs (unless they're whole food carbs such as wholegrains or vegetables). Carbs leave a taste in your mouth that quickly turns sour as the bacteria in your mouth use up the last residue. That sour aftertaste (about ten minutes after you ate something high carb) encourages you to have a little more, to briefly kill the sour taste.

Good luck. Not easy, but if you have a strategy in place to sort out the problem (so you don't have to always rely on denial and willpower) then you will win through.

Marg

[busywend]

Don't ya love it when people comment on the weight loss??!!! It always feels so good to know when people have noticed.

Please send me your snack recipe. I will try anything. I will have to figure out the points before I attempt it.

I do drink water - but some days more than others. It could be those are the days I have trouble with most. Today it is better. I had a lemon chicken with rice (lean cuisine). Yesterday was ravioli - so that carb vs protein theory seems to be working for me. I will keep track another couple days.

Snacks, snacks and more snacks!

[ML]

Laughing cow cheese on celery. It's just 1 point per wedge, it has protein and it fills you just enough. I find that when I eat more protein it really does stick with me longer. I expected to be hungrier then I am as I just started back on Tuesday (WW). I ate a lean hamburger pattie with tomato slices and it stayed with me till about 3:30 and the cheese spread on celery got me the rest of the way. Someone told me that they drank protein water in the car on the way home and it helped them from raiding the fridge out of ravenous hunger when they got home.