Feeling Satisfied

kdartez0127

I want to start dieting, but I've always had issues feeling "satisfied" after eating. For example, I can eat a balanced meal, and not feel staisfied. I'll give myself healthy snacks, but I end up eating and eating because my stomach never tells my brain it's been taken care of.

People say it's just tough the first few weeks and that my body will get used to it, but I don't want to sit around feeling hungry for a few weeks. 

Does anyone else have this problem? How do you make your stomach feel satisfied and keep your diet effective?

cnf2013

If you're not feeling full, then you need to eat more. If you're eating nutrient dense foods then you can eat more without compromising your diet as much as if you're mostly empty calories. You also need to think about it as a life style change, not a temporary "diet". Start tracking you food with a calorie tracker like my fitness pal or spark people and figure out what you really can eat amount wise and still reach your goals. 

If you're not feeling satisfied because you're adjusting the foods you eat, then that is something you need to work through and figure out for yourself how to deal with. If you're craving fries and the handful of almonds isn't cutting it then eat a few more, or find something else to swap it out for next time. Eventually the levels of satisfaction you get from different foods will adjust, but it takes time and work. 

unchatenfrance

Agree PP - you need to make it a lifestyle change, not a quick-fix diet. Balance out your macronutrients - you likely need to eat more fat and dial back the carbs. If you drink soda (even diet), drop it. Even diet soda wreaks havoc with your blood sugars. Don't keep junk in the house. Eating nutrient-dense foods is crucial too. What do your "healthy snacks" consist of?

Also, are you exercising? If you're doing lots of high-intensity, steady-state cardio (like your typical gym aerobics class), keep in mind that you will deplete glycogen from the liver and this will make you ravenous afterward. Focus on short but intense workouts (weight lifting, high intensity interval training cardio) and extended low-intensity workouts (such as yoga or going for a walk).

entropicbeauty

I think I know what you actually mean - you can eat a full meal but you really have to stop yourself from just continually eating afterwards.

I've had this problem forever - I find what helps is to pre-plan meals and stick to it. So long as you're not severely depriving yourself of calories (under 1200 net for the day), you should be able to figure out approx. how many calories you can eat at each meal....once you have that figured out, just stick to it.

jenferian

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_feeling-satisfied?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:238Discussion:75b097cb-64c4-42d9-a33e-5313cf624eb7Post:089981f0-555b-4979-bc59-b99980f4cf96">Re: Feeling Satisfied</a>:
[QUOTE]If you're not feeling full, then you need to eat more. If you're eating nutrient dense foods then you can eat more without compromising your diet as much as if you're mostly empty calories. You also need to think about it as a life style change, not a temporary "diet". Start tracking you food with a calorie tracker like my fitness pal or spark people and figure out what you really can eat amount wise and still reach your goals.  If you're not feeling satisfied because you're adjusting the foods you eat, then that is something you need to work through and figure out for yourself how to deal with. If you're craving fries and the handful of almonds isn't cutting it then eat a few more, or find something else to swap it out for next time. Eventually the levels of satisfaction you get from different foods will adjust, but it takes time and work. 
Posted by cnf2013[/QUOTE]

I couldn't agree more :-) One way I look at it is: if my body is getting all the nutrients it needs, it's going to stop craving food to get the nutrients.

10 years ago, I weighed 120 pounds more than I do now. Aside from starting exercise, I had to completely rethink how I ate. This is what really helped me: to think of my body craving Vitamin A, C, etc. and know that McDonalds was not going to give me those nutrients; I could eat the 1000-calorie McDonalds but STILL BE HUNGRY because my body wanted nutrients, not calories.

I learned that if I ate nutrient-dense food, my body didn't get as hungry because I was giving it what it REALLY wanted!

That's what worked for me :-) Good luck!!