Everyday Systems

I'm really struggling lately with my lion-like hunger and cravings.

If anyone can help with this, I'd really appreciate it!

What foods fills you up and satisfies you so you don't get hungry between meals?

I made a mistake yesterday. I had a really nice japanese noodle soup with udon noodles and thin slices of beancurd. I got hungry real fast later and that's when I realized that perhaps I should've eaten some meat with the soup, such as beef or chicken. I realize now that I may need to eat more of certain foods to fill me up and halt my hunger.

Any suggestions of what types of filling foods I can have for meals would be great!

Thanking everyone in advance!

Like you said, lean protein, such as chicken or lean beef. I'd stay away from Japanes soups and such on N days because one gets HUNGRY real fast after. Maybe on S days if you really love them?
Whole grains leave me feeling full a long time.

Well, for me, the best all time food is oatmeal. It's my favorite breakfast now because it's cheap, really good for you, tastes yummy, and it's really filling. I like to have it with a bit of fruit, with an orange as my preferred fruit. I use the quick oats, because I'm lazy, and leave them a little firm, not all gooey, and it fills me up for hours. I don't feel the absolute need for protein at breakfast, and that's when I try to slip in my extra dairy servings (yogurt mixed with oatmeal is very yummy).

For lunch, I'm still trying to find the right balance of foods that will keep me full without making me sluggish. So far, I've identified fresh fruit as a must have ... if I don't have the fruit I feel hungry faster than if I do. Other than that, a nice mix of protein and carbs seems to work. A baked potato with some chicken chili was really good and lasted a long time. A sandwich with a salad and fruit also has worked well. Regular soup, even something like chicken noodle, didn't work; but a hearty homemade stew was really good and lasted a long time, as did the hearty chili with beans. With both the stew and the chili, I had a little dairy with it too ... yogurt with the stew (I know, it sounds horrid, and it was a little weird, but it worked) and cheese and sour cream with the chili.

The stew and chili also worked well for dinner, with cornbread to go with them. I find for dinner that a smaller amount of protein, with a medium amount of starch, and a nice heaping helping of veggies is really good. That's actually the only meal that I don't really crave fresh fruit, unless I skipped it at one of the other two meals.

For between meals, my biggest successes have been with herbal teas and with V-8 juice. Fruit juice doesn't really work for me, it makes me hungry. And coffee after my cup in the morning just makes me irritable, although I will have a second cup in the afternoon if I'm just really dragging. It "feels" more substantial than tea, even if it does make me cranky. Other people are reporting great success with a glass of whole milk. I haven't tried that one yet, and on one of the other headings they've posted a couple of really terrific sounding recipes for a modified hot cocoa that doesn't have all the added sugar that just sounds heavenly.

Good luck! Stick with it!

Laura L.

Any kind of meat, with or without fat. I've been reading lately about meat fat and how it's healthy --- I know that sounds like I've just said that gravity makes things fall up. It turns out there is actually little evidence that it's unhealthy, and that's been accepted as dogma. I wouldn't go overboard, like eating only chicken skin, but I also don't cut the fat off my meat anymore, and I eat the skin that comes with the chicken.

Lunch today was beef stew using beef that the package said was 200 calories per 4 oz serving, half of the calories from fat.

Between meals, I have decaf tea with lots of unsweetened soy milk, which is very filling when warmed up, and practically all the calories come from protein anyhow.

I think people vary on what keeps them full - so be prepared to experiment a bit.

For me, I try to include some protein, some carbs (preferably complex), and some fruit/veg at (almost) every meal. For a meal where everything is discrete, my plate would divide into 1/4 protein, 1/4 carb, and 1/2 fruit/veg (at least two different ones, or I'm not happy - that's probably just psychological, though!). For most meals, where the foods are a blend (like casseroles or entrees that combine carb/protein/veg), I just go by "feel" and try to balance out as needed.

With that said, at first I still was hungry whenever I hit my former snack times. It was just a habit, and took a while to change. The podcast on "strictness" helped a lot during that transition - I recommend it highly.

Good luck!

what makes me feel hungry between meals:
- sugar at breakfast. (my breakfast is now sugar-free except for the sugar naturally contained in fruit).
- fast-food bread. (kebab bread, hamburger bread etc)
- really unbalanced meals. Forgot carbs = feel tired in the afternoon. Forgot fat/protein = feel hungry. Forgot vegetables/fruit = feel "funny" = unsatisfied.

1. Breakfast: whole grain bread
2. Lunch: oatmeal!
3. Dinner: a big plate (and a glass of wine or beer)

But most important is habit. I don't always have these "defaults," but I always (well, on N-days) stick to my three single plate meals. That structure, over time, does far more to manage and contain (and reward!) hunger than any mere stuff.

Reinhard

Breakfast: old-fashioned oatmeal with a handful of raisins; a banana sometimes, too.

Lunch and dinner: a full plate with an animal protein, lots of veggies, some starchy thing, like potatoes, bread, noodles, etc.

Between meals, I like a cup of de-caf coffee with a little milk in it.

Cantab: could you post a link to what you have read about animal fats, please? I would like to read about that.

Well, for me it's bread. Not oatmeal or rice or pasta. Bread. My breakfast and lunch are usually light. I will still be hungry if I don't have bread. Nothing else does it for me.

For me, it's protein. I have peanut butter on my bagel in the morning, and a little smoked turkey in my lunchtime salad. I did find that the between-meal hunger faded as my body grew used to the 3-meals-a-day habit.

rose wrote:what makes me feel hungry between meals:
- sugar at breakfast. (my breakfast is now sugar-free except for the sugar naturally contained in fruit).
- fast-food bread. (kebab bread, hamburger bread etc)
- really unbalanced meals. Forgot carbs = feel tired in the afternoon. Forgot fat/protein = feel hungry. Forgot vegetables/fruit = feel "funny" = unsatisfied.

Rose, I agree! I always feel much better if I avoid sugary breakfasts (even on S-days - they just make me feel crappy). And fast food is incredibly un-satisfying (maybe because it's so unbalanced).

Lots of fat - not so heavy on the simple carbs works for me.

Has anyone heard of Full Bars I have been eating them for the past 2 days w my breakfast and lunch and i am eating far less and my hunger is gone otherwise i cant make it from lunch to dinner without cheating

Dairy products are what keep me filled, they have protein, fat, and carbohydrates (more carbs in some than in others) and work really well for me.

Soft cheese, hard cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, milk...

I drink milk almost every morning, and sometimes at lunch as well. If I think what I'm getting for lunch won't hold me until dinner I get a carton of milk to go with it and I'm good.

Jammin' Jan wrote:Breakfast: old-fashioned oatmeal with a handful of raisins; a banana sometimes, too.

Lunch and dinner: a full plate with an animal protein, lots of veggies, some starchy thing, like potatoes, bread, noodles, etc.

Between meals, I like a cup of de-caf coffee with a little milk in it.

Cantab: could you post a link to what you have read about animal fats, please? I would like to read about that.

Jan, I don't know if this is what Cantab has read or not, but it's the same general idea. I think there are other articles at that site, too. There's also some info at the Weston Price Foundation web site.

I've said before I'm surprised how little it seems some people get by on. I would be so hungry if I had oatmeal with just some raisins for any meal. I add egg whites or cottage cheese. I find I do best with some kind of lean protein and some fat (nuts, olives) along with my grains at every meal. I occasionally have a bean-and-grain, but I make sure something is fatty-a sauce or the above-mentioned. I also chew my food really well, like 50-100 times, until just about all the small particles are crushed into liquid, and I think that helps. "Chew your juice and drink your food." I imagine the body registers the chewing and knows it's eaten. Okay, I know some people wolf their food and stay satisfied, but I like my little fantasy. I know I can taste more of the food my way.

Maybe after I've been through a few 21-day cycles, I'll experiment with simpler concoctions. i don't want to mess with the voodoo now.

Thank you for all your suggestions and your ideas on how to keep full between meals. I've been thinking alot on what's good for me. I think I'll go more for protein and perhaps less carbs, which I eat too much anyway, and include a piece of fruit with my lunch. The V8 juice as a way to halting hunger between meals sounds really good. I can't do milk because I'm lactose intolerant, I'll probably use soy milk instead.

Thanks again for this! I hope this thread continues awhile so I can get more ideas. No S diet has been such a struggle for me and every little bit helps!

TingTing wrote:Thanks again for this! I hope this thread continues awhile so I can get more ideas. No S diet has been such a struggle for me and every little bit helps!

Well, I'll tell you something else I've noticed as a new No S'er that perhaps the ones who have been doing it for a really long time no longer struggle with, or struggle with as much ...

The first week was really hard, while I was trying to figure out what worked to keep me full, and while I was breaking the unconcious snacking habits (grabbing a piece of candy out of the candy dish, a bit of this or a bite of that).

The second week was much easier. I had the meals sort of figured out, and was getting used to the not snacking.

This third week has been a nightmare. I don't know why ... I haven't quite figured that one out. So hang in there ... it will get better, and don't get discouraged if it suddenly gets worse again. As with anything in life, it comes in cycles.

Good luck! If you aren't already, either join the January Challenge or the one titled "Bumping This Up" ... that's the 21 day wanna bes, and I'm finding that the act of posting my daily successes on that board ... in "public" ... is helping me resist temptations that otherwise I think I might not have been able to resist. I know that yesterday it's the ONLY thing that kept me from breaking free. If I'd just been recording it on my own little calendar at home, I would have had that cheesecake.

Laura L.

TingTing, one thing I should have clarified is that I do still get hungry between meals. Protein is what prevents that consuming, distracting hunger. But I've learned to accept mild hunger between meals. I had forgetten - I'm not supposed to feel full before eating lunch. Hunger is what used to signal the need to eat. So as long as I'm not counting down the minutes until I can shove something in my mouth, I appreciate hunger as a sign that my eating habits have really changed.

True that. Hunger: good. ravenous: bad. cravings: bad. urges: bad. I call the feeling that many call "hunger" "desire" or "urge." I can have an intense desire or urge to eat when I am not hungry. I have finally realized that "rewarding" that feeling with food is absolutely counter productive. It just reinforces the circuit. I believe it's not really that different to reward it with chocolate or celery. Counteracting the thoughts that go with the urge and diverting to a different activity has actually been shown to "rewire" the brain of obsessive compulsives. The thoughts occur less often. I decided to use that strategy in adhering to No S, and I believe it has helped. I mean, what's more obsessive than the thoughts of an overeater to get food, get food, get food? But legitimate hunger between meals? Beverage.

For me, I try to find a good balance between protein, carbs, and fats in my meals. I try to have some form of protein with each meal (such as lean poultry, soy protein, nut butter, or eggs). I try to make sure most of my carbs are whole grains. I also make sure to include some fat with each meal. As one of the other posters said, if I have too little protein or fat, I get hungry too quickly. If I have too few carbs, I feel tired, weak, and irritable. Oh! I also try to include fruit and/or veggies with every meal.

I love having a big greek salad or tuna on salad. Having a salad really satisfies me both physically and on an appetite level because I get to crunch and chew... I love noodle dishes and stuff too, but sometimes I don't get the same satisfaction as if I am crunching on stuff, so salad does the trick.. I always put at least 2-3 ounces of some kind of protein on it as well as olive oil.
Debs

Soup is good. Experiments have found that it takes the stomach longer to digest ingredients which have been made into a blended soup, than it does to digest the same ingredients unblended. A thick soup can be surprisingly filling for the amount of calories.

Too solid flesh wrote:Soup is good. Experiments have found that it takes the stomach longer to digest ingredients which have been made into a blended soup, than it does to digest the same ingredients unblended. A thick soup can be surprisingly filling for the amount of calories.

From what I've read, the soup doesn't even need to be blended -- just soup as opposed to the same ingredients with a glass of water.

Wosnes: thanks for the link.

For some reason, soup doesn't fill me up at all -- at least not for very long. In order to be satisfied with soup, I have to make sure there's protein in it (like chicken) and supplement with a salad and/or some bread with butter.

clarinetgal wrote:For some reason, soup doesn't fill me up at all -- at least not for very long. In order to be satisfied with soup, I have to make sure there's protein in it (like chicken) and supplement with a salad and/or some bread with butter.

Funny how different we all are. Soup is my lunch nearly every day. I almost never make soups with animal protein in them. In fact, I don't often eat animal protein before dinner. Occasionally I'll have cheese or eggs earlier in the day, but almost never meat.

It's interesting! I didn't eat meat all that often until I started doing No S last summer. Ever since I started eating more meat, I've been a lot less hungry between meals.

clarinetgal wrote:It's interesting! I didn't eat meat all that often until I started doing No S last summer. Ever since I started eating more meat, I've been a lot less hungry between meals.

Even funnier, when I have a breakfast with eggs/meat, I'll be hungry well before lunch. When I eat my small breakfast or none at all, I'm not hungry.

I'm never hungry between lunch and dinner.

Interesting! It just goes to show how everybody's body is different.