Trying to lose weight & feeling hungry after smaller meals. Advice please

[Jaz21]

Hi, I'm currently trying to lose weight so have cut down on the junk I'm eating & trying to eat more healthily but I don't know why I keep feeling hungry after each meal. Is this normal? An example day is:

Breakfast: porridge with fruit

Lunch: chicken & cucumber sandwich

Dinner: tuna pasta bake & grapes

Snacks: rice crackers 

I do eat differently everyday but this is todays. I normally eat rice & curry for dinner but sometimes change it around. I'm sure this sounds like a normal amount of food & not less than i should be eating. Am confused & would appreciate some advice please. Thank u

[linggirl]

Hi. Are you drinking enough? Sometimes when we think we are hungry it is actually because we are thirsty.

I'm not sure but I have a feeling that rice crackers(much as I like them) aren't actually very good at producing long lasting energy.

[Jaz21 in reply to linggirl]

Hi, yeah I'm drinking loads of water. Yeah I heard about that. Ohh right maybe that's one of the reasons. I only just started eating them a few months ago because I thought they are better than eating crisps. Thanks 

[Foodie87]

Hi Jaz21 

I know it's all confusing, but since I'm at this whole "dieting/healthy eating" thing for over a year I think I'm slowly getting the hang of things.

I don't know how old you are, but I found that adults up to the age of 50 should consume around 25g of fibre a day. - Fibre is a great thing, I won't go into the details, as there are different types of fibre, but the general idea is the more fibre the fuller you feel for longer....

You're making a great start with your breakfast, porridge can be a great source of fibre, so can fruits.

But looking at your lunch and dinner choices you just posted, they're low in fibre high in carbs - starchy carbs - which unless you're planning on going for a run just now, you don't really need.

A quick example of my day today:

Breakfast - 8 am

Weetabix crispy minis (banana flavour) with almond milk instead of milk - 234 calories packing 5.4g

Lunch - 1pm

Wholewheat pasta with a tomato/aubergine sauce - 446 calories, getting 7.2g of fibre from the pasta

Dinner - 6pm (no - haven't had that yet ;))

125g of green lentils cooked in vegetable stock - 377 calories packing 11g of fibre and 26g of protein 

I'm sure you'll find a combination of dishes that works for you! I for example have been having those green lentils most days at lunch the past few weeks and they really work for me - keep me full and I can mix it up by adding a few different veggies, whatever is in the fridge

Good luck!

[Jaz21 in reply to Foodie87]

Thanks for the advice. Really helps

[Hidden]

Could you add some extra veggies or maybe a fat free veg soup. Would help fill you up with few calories x

[Zest Healthy BMI]

Hi Jaz21,

Welcome to the Weight Loss NhS community forum.  I'd just like to give you a link to our Welcome Newbie post, as you might find some good ideas in there - plus it has the link to the NHS 12 week plan which is a great structure:

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

We also have a Recipe collation in the Pinned Posts area - which you might find helpful for some ideas.

Lowcal

[Jaz21 in reply to Zest]

Hi, thanks I have looked at the weight loss plan & hv started that from yesterday. I have also been doing the 10 min exercises from the NHS website the past two days & I can really feel the difference. Will try the 45 mins aerobics on the weekend. So far so good

[dish70]

Try oat cakes as snacks instead they are better choice or have some low fat greek yoghurt its got plenty protein in .

I have low fat greek yoghurt and nuts with fruit as a breakfast or lunch and never feel hungry its around 400 calories.

 OR Oatcakes instead of bread with some kind of protein ,fruit and yoghurt .

Huge salad (I am Veggie) with prawns ,or fish for tea. Or a  homemade veggie bake, chilli ,curry type of meal for tea. All no low or no fat.

If having a treat I keep it too 100 cals.

Hope this helps x

[Jaz21 in reply to dish70]

@ dish 70: Hi, I bought some oatcakes but wasn't sure what to eat with them so thanx for the suggestion. Yeah it helps thanx. Will try out these ideas 

[muffintop67]

Hi I stick to about 1200-1400 calories a day and sometimes feel quite empty. I can't say it is hunger but I have obviously used up all the calories from the food and my stomach is empty. Are you sure that the food that you are consuming is the correct calorie amount for you. I try to drink lots also so that I can feel full without any extra calories. I did feel more hungry for the first couple of weeks of dropping to the lower calorie limit but it did pass after a while. Hope that helps Jaz21.

[Jaz21 in reply to muffintop67]

Hi, that makes sense. Im not sure if iam eating the right calorie amount. According to the BMI calculator i should be consuming between 1595-2051 but I don't think I am anywhere near that amount. My fitness pal says I should be consuming 1700 & im logging in my amounts but think I'm less as well. But I don't really want to eat more than I need to if that makes sense. I'm also drinking lots of water. Yeah maybe that's it because I only properly started about 4 days ago with the healthy eating. Helpful advice

[IndigoBlue61]

Are you sure you are eating enough calories? If you work out you BMR this will allow you to work out his much you can eat and still lose weight. Or use an app such as myfitnesspal 😊 

Good luck

[Jaz21 in reply to IndigoBlue61]

Im not sure. I don't think I am. What's the difference between BMR & BMI?  Im currently using that app  

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to IndigoBlue61]

Oops! Think I was writing this just as you posted! 

[Jaz21 in reply to IndigoBlue61]

That's ok!

[Son1 Maintainer]

I've found that apples are quite filling, and bananas are good too.  I'm really enjoying nuts and raisins together (but read the packet and weigh) I normally do 15g of each as they are high fat (nuts) and high sugar (raisins).  But it's good stuff!  An apple is only 50 cals and a banana, about 90.  An orange is about 50 too, and quite filling - all lots of fibre.

[muffintop67]

Your BMR is your basal metabolic rate. Its the amount of calories you would burn if you did nothing but rest for 24 hours..  So the base level before activity. I think you can check yours out on myfitnesspal if you look under APPS on the menu bar then BMR comes up next to BMI. Hope this helps.

[Jaz21 in reply to muffintop67]

Thanks that helps. Will have a look

[9871ALPW]

I think everyone on here has gone through this stage. 

I've found that if I pick at my meal , my stomach tells my brain im full before I finish the meal therefore I eat less, sometimes I don't get the urge to stop eating so ill eat half drink a bottle of water return to my meal and et voila I feel full. My stomach has shrunk so much. I used to eat 1/3-1/2 of a 14" pizza now I barely eat 3 slices even then I leave most of the crust and pull off all the cheese to avoid fat.

Xx

[jenwriter]

I'm using fitness pal and it told me to eat 1,200 calories but the NHS BMI 1,400-1,500! So after a week of struggling I've upped it to 1,200. I'm still learning though BMR? I will look into this

[jenwriter]

bmi-calculator.net/

[Jaz21 in reply to jenwriter]

Thanx xx

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Jaz21]

How is it going this week Jaz21  ? Hope you are getting more used to things 😊

[Jaz21 in reply to IndigoBlue61]

Hi, its going ok. I have lost a tiny bit of weight but still feeling hungry. Will have to rethink again lol x

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Jaz21]

Have another look at your daily calories, it's not always helpful to go too low 😕 Reducing calories by 250 a day and having a half hour exercise each day should result in 1 lb loss each week 😊 I find this achievable without feeling too deprived. Good luck! 😊

[Jaz21 in reply to IndigoBlue61]

Ok will do. Yeah that's true. Thank u will try that  

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Jaz21]

I meant 1lb Loss!! 😳

[Neela47]

I have the same problem of THINKING I feel hungry when in fact I'm full. We are used to a certain amount of food and our minds tell us that we should be eating more when we should train our brains to know when we're actually full. Try drinking something to give the feeling of being full. Hope that works. Another thought. The experts say that protein fills you up. Are you getting enough protein?