Hunger control

[chrisleakfan4life]

Right now I'm just sort of "eating when I'm hungry" but at the same time I'm watching what i eat.

Yesterday i had around 1200 calories( +/- 50 calories) and today i had about 1560 calories.

Going to a wedding tomorrow so it will be very tough not to over eat, i'll have to avoid the wedding cake!

[chrisleakfan4life]

I've also had 7 bottle beers sitting here(3 shocktop, 4 blue moon) and another 26 bud light here as well(from a 4th of July Party).

I'm happy to say that the past 4 nights(Tues,Wed,Thurs,Fri) that i have not had a single drop of beer.

Got to give up beer for a few months to get to my target goal, I'm currently at 195.

I'm hoping to get down to 175 by the time the Tennessee game rolls around.

[orangeblueorangeblue]

You don't have to give up beer to lose weight.

In fact, that sort of approach tends to backfire for a lot of people.

[ATL_Gator]

Depends on what you are drinking in place of the beer, and what beer you were drinking.

Changing Bud Light or something like that for fruit juice may seem like a healthy choice, but calories have likely doubled, if not tripled.

[orangeblueorangeblue]

Most beers are in the same range (90-170 kcalories) unless you're drinking water/MGD64.

I think you're better off budgeting for 6 or so beers a week then to try to go cold turkey. A lot of people just say "no cookies" or "no beer" and then crack and sort of view their diet as a bust and just give up. I have always recommended the idea of budgeting some of the things you like in smaller quantities so you don't have that problem.

Tell yourself you can have 3 or 4 beers on Friday and Saturday and lower your calories through the week to compensate.

[Dreamliner]

Currently, I'm drinking one or two beers a day and have lost nine pounds in 17 days.

I'm also eating burgers, fries, cookies, ice cream, pizza and pasta.

[orangeblueorangeblue]

I drink 40 beers before dinner and have 1lb of lasagna for every meal and I've lost 40 pounds since yesterday

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by orangeblueorangeblue

I drink 40 beers before dinner and have 1lb of lasagna for every meal and I've lost 40 pounds since yesterday

Yes, but I was being serious.

[orangeblueorangeblue]

Me too!

[GuyWhiteyCorngood]

I'll add to the argument for fasting. For me, it's kind of like a reset button on my apetite. A 24 hour fast once every 1 or 2 weeks makes a difference.

I've also found fasting to be much easier while eating a reasonable (low) carb load. No sugar, no sweets at all. My carbs come from veggies and occasional fruit (very occasional rice or potatoes). What you eat matters because different foods impact hormonal responses. Hormones, like insulin and leptin, drive your apetite at storage.

Sounds like you are doing well on your diet. I hope you can continue your success without taking pills. Natural is almost always better.

[slmdLS1]

yeah i havent stopped drinking beer during my diet.

(5 days til the 1 year anniversary - July 17th)

[Dreamliner]

There are two ways I know of to make hunger pangs go away:

(1) feed them

(2) don't feed them

[Dreamliner]

I tend to find hunger control discussions limited to appetite control. Problem is that appetite is only one of sometimes several factors that cause people to overeat. Other factors include: emotions, stress, anxiety, boredom, social-settings and the sense of often irrational obligation that attends them, negative peer-pressure, etc.

One way to get to the root of things is to peel the onion, so to speak. Go looking for the root and then root it out.

An easier way to isolate and prevail over said factors is to use your fasting time as a sort of diagnostic through which you can identify and deal with the your own unique triggers, the things that prompt you to overeat. I know for me that anxiety and boredom are a couple of triggers. I deal with either by getting up and moving, getting busy, walking around the block, etc. The latter strategy is a win-win because I don't eat but I do burn even further calories.

[Dreamliner]

I've lost 10 pounds in 20 days now. Don't think white guys who aren't professional bodybuilders can go much lower on bodyfat percentage than where I am now.

I'm fasting roughly 20 hours every day now. Hunger pangs are present but not besetting. They do not have to be fed. I have one substantial meal and a lighter meal 2-3 hours later. I am not tired. I am not jittery. Energy levels are fine and performance has increased almost across the board in my workouts.

I will probably end the 'experiment' around July 20, or so, when dear friends of mine, who love to splurge, return to town. But even then I'll probably just be adding back in calories moderately.

I'm not doing this because I'm crazy but because I'm naughty. I aim to prove to my trainees, if no one else, that people do not need anywhere near the food they usually eat and that they DO NOT need to eat when they are hungry. Secondarily, this serves to prove that almost all the nutritional rules are either false or only partially-correct.

[ATL_Gator]

I am learning to agree with that to a point....Technically, for the weight you are at... you are consuming less calories than you NEED (thus the losing weight bit)... that is intentional. Assuming you are still remaining below caloric need, at some point, you are going to hit an "ideal weight" where you have shed 100% of unnecessary fat, thus borderline healthy state to unhealthy state... At that point... I would argue that hunger pangs at that point are truely a signal that you need to eat more.I would view hunger pangs more along the lines of.. your body is telling you something is off. You could be a bit dehydrated (which food does contain water... to a point), or your body is out/low on "quick energy" and it is asking for more "quick energy" because going to fat storage for energy is more difficult. (does that make sense? that is my simple way of thinking about it... without trying to get into psychology stuff, which I don't understand either)

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by ATL_Gator

I am learning to agree with that to a point....Technically, for the weight you are at... you are consuming less calories than you NEED (thus the losing weight bit)... that is intentional. Assuming you are still remaining below caloric need, at some point, you are going to hit an "ideal weight" where you have shed 100% of unnecessary fat, thus borderline healthy state to unhealthy state... At that point... I would argue that hunger pangs at that point are truely a signal that you need to eat more.I would view hunger pangs more along the lines of.. your body is telling you something is off. You could be a bit dehydrated (which food does contain water... to a point), or your body is out/low on "quick energy" and it is asking for more "quick energy" because going to fat storage for energy is more difficult. (does that make sense? that is my simple way of thinking about it... without trying to get into psychology stuff, which I don't understand either)

I'm not sure about the 'hunger warning' part. I don't think I've gotten there yet.

Viewed in one way, a hunger pang always comes across as a sort of warning. It's just that they are usually false warnings.

I'm under 1,500 calories now. This isn't much for a typical man, but still WELL above 'starvation level.' They're putting diabetes patients on 600 calorie diets these days.

[gator7_5]

Originally Posted by Sir_Gibby

Water. I know it's not the wonder magic pill that people seem to be looking for but it does the trick. Keep a bottle with you at all times. Once that hunger sets in, take a few big gulps of water, refill and continue. I think there was a study done where it said that only about 4-5% of people drink the recommended 64 ounces of water a day. I drink a couple of bottles but I usually don't come that close to that amount unless I know I'm going to be active.

I read a year or so back that some hunger pangs, especially at night, are from a lack of water consumed during the day. The more water you drink in general the less hungry you'll feel.

I drink about 70-80 ounces a day.

[gator7_5]

BTW, If I fasted for 12 hours, I'd fall on the floor and die. You people talking about not eating for a couple of days and still functioning must not be exercising or you have a slow metabolism. My metab is mach3. I gotta eat all day just to stay upright.

True story, I actually had an inside oppurtunity to appear on Survivor. I know I could play it well, but there is no way I could compete on a bowl of rice a day. I litterally would turn into skin and bones.

[ATL_Gator]

Originally Posted by gator7_5

I read a year or so back that some hunger pangs, especially at night, are from a lack of water consumed during the day. The more water you drink in general the less hungry you'll feel.

I drink about 70-80 ounces a day.

I have been testing that theory for years. I don't believe it. I think it is more placebo effect.

[gator7_5]

Could be. I feel alot better in general when I'm hydrated. I don't like carbonated drinks (except beer which I love) or sweetened drinks like sweet tea so consuming a lot of water is easy for me.