SweetNightmare

So, I'm trying to be healthier, my first steps being joining(and using!) a gym and riding my bike everywhere I need to go as often as I can without reinjuring my recently healed sprained ankle. The diet part is my problem.

I admit I haven't tried to change my diet yet, because I'm trying to find a good nutritional plan that will fit my budget(we're just poor folks) and lack of time to cook/my own stove, and my mini fridge. When I eat healthy meals like salads and such, I feel like I can't eat enough to feel full. An hour later, I'm already getting hungry again. I'm not one of those people that eats huge meals; in fact, I never finish my food when I go to restaurants. But healthy food just never seems to fill me up at all, or it doesn't last.

If your answer is you just tough it out, man, I admire your will power. The way to both mine and my man's heart is through our stomachs, and we like healthy food, but it just doesn't fill us. (Also, he can't eat salads. Something about lettuce triggers his gag reflex and he ends up throwing it up, no matter how hard he tries to keep it down.)

Also, water question. Our water tastes like algae, literally. (I work in a pet store that sells fish, I do know what algae tastes like.) Other than shelling out tons of money for bottled water, what can I do so I don't hate water so much? Unsweet tea and black coffee are not options for me, I think they're even more gross than algae water. Anything y'all would recomend? Do filters work on taste? I'm just not sure what to do with this situation.

Rock31

Only my opinion and what has worked for me....first of all RELAX, you are all over the place trying to change everything at once....for me that has never worked.

I started SLOW and I mean very slow and gradually worked my way to where I am now. I eliminated one "bad" thing from my diet at a time, and did not eliminate a second, third etc until I felt ready. For example, every morning I used to have a bagel with 2 fried eggs, bacon and cheese....so first I eliminated the cheese, then one of the eggs, then switched from a bagel to wheat toast etc etc.

As for the water part, I can't help on that since I am from NYC and my tap water is delicious, but up here at the supermarkets I can get 35 bottles of water for under $6, in my opinion if that's what it takes to drink more water, its a small expense to the pocket.

Rwebb

As the above poster states, you have to slow down. Trying to do it all at once usually leads to failure. Just pick something and start there. And second, ditch the store bought water and get a brita pitcher. They are inexpensive and you get to reuse them instead of throwing them in the landfill.

goldfinch

What are you drinking now? Some people find pop problematic but I drink diet pop and I lost weight drinking diet pop. It is the primary way I get my caffeine fix.

When I am traveling I use the Brita pitcher Rwebb mentioned, to filter the water. Cold water also often tastes best, I refrigerate my water.

There is some evidence that a higher protein diet can help with appetite early on in weight loss. So, you might try upping the protein somewhat.

I suggest counting your calories to see how much you are eating now and then figure out how many calories you should eat to maintain your weight. You then can reduce that by 500 calories a day to lose a pound a week. There are a number of online calculators that can help you with an estimate. Such as https://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php

You can lose weight on a crummy diet. So, you don't have to change everything at once. Reduce the calories and gradually over time improve the quality of what you eat.

bbeasley

I made a faucet attached filter work and our water is nasty.
Some of the best advice I got here was "you can't our exercise a bad diet".

DScience

I think I have some advice that may be of use to you.

I believe the body is the temple of the mind, and thus I treat it as a special vessel. I totally feel where you are coming from, and I have several suggestions for you.

First, let me address the 'not getting full' problem you are facing. It's important to realize that feeling full has nothing to do with the number of calories in the meal or in the food being ingested, nor does it have to do with the types of foods. It's in the mind. Why do you think the majority of diet pills out there suppress the appetite? It's not doing it by tricking your stomach to think it has an abundance of food contents in it. It's doing it in the brain. One way this can occur are from signals that are sent to your brain when your stomach becomes full and stretches out. This is why gastric by-passes allow overweight individuals to feel full off hardly any food intake...

I mentioned all this because there is a way you can utilize this, if you accept it as the way it is. You don't need to go out and purchase diet pills, or use other damaging things. I'll tell you a safe, and easy way to help feel full.

Let me start by explaining some of my lifestyle behaviors that i've had for years now. I have never really had a huge appetite in the morning, but understand the importance of the meal. *Everyday* I eat the same breakfast: I wake up and drink coffee, and for food I eat a banana, 1 cup of oatmeal, and about 1/2 - 1 cup of zero % fat, greek yogurt. Depending on your body mass and caloric requirement, you can adjust this and maybe eat two bananas, 1 1/2 cups oatmeal, and a cup of yogurt.

Now, for lunch, *EVERYDAY* (I do make exceptions) is a banana, apple, and a high calorie granola bar like a Cliff Bar. You may ask how can this keep me full? Here is the key: First, you need to buy this tea https://www.amazon.com/Yogi-Blueberry.../dp/B000CMF196, then the second important thing is to drink a HUGE (16 oz) glass/bottle of water after your meal. Again, depending on your body mass and caloric requirement, you can adjust this and eat two bars, two bananas and other fruit as well.

The tea is amazing. I've drank it for years now, two bags per day. I didn't get into it because of the appetite suppressing affects, I got it because it has some key ingredients: normal green tea has minimal caffeine, which this does too. However, this tea is PACKED full of several different types of ginseng. What's ginseng do/good for? Well, not only does it give you plenty of energy, it's an appetite suppressant AND, big &, it speeds up your metabolism, vastly. I wanted it for the energy, and got that. As a side effect it suppresses my appetite, so I know it works.

What does all this equal? If you eat what I told you, it will be plenty of calories to keep you going (and GOOD calories, not crap fast/processed food, high fructose corn syrup) and the water, plus tea will keep you full.

The nights are more complicated, but you can get that.

BTW, just get a huge brita filtration system for your fridge. The filter last two months with daily refills. It makes water taste good! :O)

Cache

Talk to a nutritionist for your specific needs - random fellows on the interwebs, although well-meaning, aren't in a position to offer you the best advice. If you 'up' your protein intake for instance, you may gain weight if you don't also reduce your carbohydrates at the same time. But that's not the point - what works for some doesn't work for all, and we're not your doctor! And 'cold water tastes best'? Warm or even heated water has *many* health benefits such as better/easier digestion, flushing toxins from your body, increased blood flow & stamina, and even clarity of mind. A good filtered pitcher is good advice, and you can also add lemon juice to improve the taste (with or without the filter). Luckily for me I live where the NYC water comes from, but draw it right from the aquifer.

goldfinch

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/d...ural/1000.html

goldfinch

If I wasn't clear, sorry. I did say count calories and reduce below maintenance level. You don't have to see a nutritionist to lose weight.

For sure. But we can toss out suggestions to try, as you have. And note if there is evidence in support of the suggestions we make or if it is simply based on our own experience.

Warm water and clarity of mind? Flushes toxins better than cold water? Not science. But if you like drinking warm water, that is fine too.

SweetNightmare

All great advise! Unfortunately, I'm going on trial and error, as I'm, to put it bluntly, too poor to see a doctor about it. (Last time I had to see a doctor for my sprained ankle, it totaled at nearly three hundred dollars. That's one whole paycheck, but I couldn't work on my injured ankle, so it drained everything I had.) I've heard nuts can help with raising protien levels(I know from micromanaging my pet rats' diet) and keeping one from binging when used between meals as a snack. Any input here?

Researching is my way of going slow. I'll talk about it for months so when i finally do it, I'll know at least enough to get me by a while, and will know I'm really committed. Which I should be, I'm tired of the looks and comments I get as an overweight person. (That's why I like my gym. The trainers there congratulate me at every milestone, are genuinely glad to see me there, and applaud my biking to the gym. But they never mention my weight, or looking good. Because it should be about feeling good.)

Because I'm in Texas, I drink nothing but water on rides, walks, and exercise. I haven't fully cut sodas yet, I admit, but I'm drinking a whole lot less than I was.

I'm not quite ready to count calories yet. I'm of the mindset of switching to good stuff is the easier part(not easy, but easier) and the numbers are the hard part. Especially since I used to sneer at calorie counters on TV, because it seemed so trivial, and because I was trying to convince everyone else and myself that I was okay with who I was.

Donsell

The thing that has best helped my hunger is to eat more, smaller meals. For example I'll have a protein shake made with skim milk and a piece of fresh fruit at 7:00 am. At 10:00 am I'll have a banana and 1 oz of almonds, at 12:30 I'll have lunch with some kind of protein - left over chicken and some green veggies for example, at 3:00 I'll have a cup of plain Greek yogurt with some frozen fruit mixed in, and then a reasonable dinner at 6:00. The idea is to spread your calories out more during the day.

Hope that helps you.

SweetNightmare

Unfortunately both me and my SO work night shifts(3-10), him at a fast food restaurant, me at retail, so spreading it out is extremely difficult about five days of the week. He so much as looks at food during his shift and he gets reamed for being "lazy"(he's far from, I snuck in once with a hoodie on and watched, he did most of the work without needing to be told; also, he's an hourly manager). I can sneak food under the register or in my pocket, but only when no one's looking and no one's in line. (Which the no one looking became a lot harder when they installed four security cameras pointed straight at the registers.) So we're stuck eating in the morning, right before work, and right after work. Not being negative, just saying that's our situation.

Edit: Oh, and we also each get a lunch period, but neither of us have refridgerators available to us, and he's not allowed to leave at all. Mine's thirty minutes, his is whenever there are no customers. Usually we eat "breakfast" right before work, because we live our lives mostly at night. But occasionally we get up early enough to have a proper breakfast. (Proper being a bowl of sugar free whole grain cereals of sorts.)

Nusince

In terms of the water issue... Maybe look into something like the bobble water bottle. It is a water bottle with a replaceable filter built in. My wife hates the taste of all tap water so I bought her one of those and it solved the always having to buy bottled water issue.

Mark Stone

Your situation sounds like me and Mrs. Tractorlegs a year ago. For about 9 years I struggled with eating just as you described (it started when I turned 50). People here in the Clyde forum know I'm a Weight Watchers fanboy (fanman?) (fanoldman?) and it may be an idea for you to consider a structured program like WW or South Beach or Nutri-system or something similar. Systems like WW educate us about food intake, which helps. Weight Watchers online runs a little less than $20 a month and you don't have to go the the meetings etc. Adding the simple structure of WW and the accountability has very much worked for us, in a little over 6 months I've lost almost 38 pounds and Mrs. Trac has had good results too.

A structured weight loss program is not for everybody, but it came along for me right when I needed it. There are quite a lot of posters here in the Clyde forum who use/have used Weight Watchers, and I've only heard one person claim it didn't work (but he was trolling, and subsequently left our friendly forum with burn scars lol). It's something to think about. Trac has spoken; Ride Free!

chandltp

The only thing that helped me not be hungry was to eat more fat. Otherwise I was hungry all the time on a low fat diet, regardless of how much I ate. I could feel stuffed from a salad with fat free dressing, but still not be satisfied, I still felt hungry. I could eat an omelet with a dozen egg whites and still feel hungry and hour later. But if I make the same omelet with a TB of butter, 3 eggs, and real cheese I make it to lunch without much trouble at all.

goldfinch

What do most people eat at his workplace? Fast food?

There is some research comparing having many small meals vs the standard three meals a day. There was no difference in weight loss. Of course, individuals vary and it might really help some. But it is hardly a necessity.

I assume you have milk with that cereal? To get the protein?

If you are not willing to count calories I do suggest writing down everything you eat anyway. It will help you be thoughtful about what you eat and in what circumstances you overeat. For example, I knew that I tended to snack when watching tv and the food would mindlessly disappear. When I started losing weight I turned off the tv and kept myself busy with other things in my free time. I played music and podcasts and worked on crafts to keep my hands busy. This helped me break the link between tv and eating.

The Weight Watchers idea is a good one. If you schedule doesn't work with local meeting times there is Weight Watchers online.

rumrunn6

add a chicken cutlet to every meal and snack on chicken cutlets throughout the day. 1/2 cutlert and some baby carrots will do the trick just a couple carrots though

Mithrandir

So I have issues controlling my appetite too. Here's my solution:


Buy less food. For some reason I'm able to say no to food when it impacts my pocketbook, but when it's sitting in front of me I can't say no.


Now when I get home I have a limited amount of food to eat for the week. I keep running out before the week ends, which usually results in a pretty hungry Thursday. I'm hoping to force myself to eat less by learning how to ration throughout the week better. I seem to be getting better at it. Not perfect yet, as I'm sitting here starving to death because I haven't eaten breakfast (because there is none!), but I'm learning.

Pamestique 

Couple of suggestions for the always hungry thing:

1) work out more... a hard workout always curbs my appetite and
2) drink milk... not with your meal; alone after a work out. You will be surprised how it curbs cravings. Also that should be non-fat milk. I sometimes add a small teaspoon of Ovaltine.

The water thing: Fortunately for me I love water... it's my drink of choice. Or tea which is just flavored water. I have no problem with tap water and use that in water bottles and my Camelbak. I never notice the taste while working out. At home, I use a Brita Filter. Easy to use. Leave the pitcher in the frigerator and you always have tasty, cold water. I would stay away from any flavorings you add to water. Like diet sodas, the "sweet" taste of these flavorings makes your body crave real sweets.

I am surprised you can't get full on a salad. They fill me up but I do add a healthy helping of veggies (usually cucumbers, tomatoes, green pepper, banana peppers) and fruit (pears, apples, strawberries, blueberries) to give me some substance. Add a small cut up portion of baked chicken (I use chicken fingers sprinkled with Paul Prudhomme's Meat Magic) and its a good hearty meal. If your man wont eat slads, buy a vegetable steamer. Cut up potatoes, squash, corn, okra, peppers - what ever he likes - and then serve the steamed veggies with alittle vinegarette or Butter Buds. You can also toss in some cooked chicken or steak.

It's not hard eating well being poor. I know. Just takes a little effort. It's hte effort that tends to be a "fluffy" person's downfall. I sometimes get lazy and take the easy way out (fast food).

Pamestique 

Keep in mind that is not saying much... most restaurants nowadays serve portions that actually would serve 2 - 3 people. We have gotten so use to the Claim Jumper size meals we don't get anymore what a real portion is. This is why eating out is dangerous.

Healthy food - well is generally not fried but can be breaded and baked. Little changes like instead of eating thighs and dumbsticks, eat breast. Try leaner cuts of beef but remember a portion is the size of a playing card (literally). If you take a steak, broil it, slice it (will make 3 servings or 3 meals) and then serve it over a salad with a nice vinegarette, it's a hearty meal. Add some fun stuff to the salad so you don't feel deprived.

Of course after saying all this I still need to lose weight. I know what to do, I like many, have trouble following through. Exercise is my savior though otherwise I would be 400 lbs!

rthomse

As for the water issue ,I learned a trick when I was in Arizona. Lemon slices. Arizona has a high alkali content in the "soil' called caleechi (i think that how you spell it) The only way they serve water is with lemon slices in it. It's the only way I can drink large quanitys of it

jim p

I have been eating very simple, inexpensive, and fast food for the last 8 months. During this time I have lost from 200 lbs to 148 lbs.

My daily food consist of 1 lb of tri colored cole slaw, 8 tea spoons of mayonnaise, 1 can of peas or beans, and one can of tuna fish in oil. Total cost of food for the day is around $4. I only drink water. I can fix these meals in about 5 minutes if I take my time. I prefer to eat only twice a day so I only make two meals from this food. You could make many small meals from this food if you desired.

As long as I eat the above foods I usually don't get hungry but if I add even one small candy bar or sugar treat, then I will starve for at least one day.

If you will only drink water for 2 weeks, then you may find that the soft drinks are causing health problems that you didn't even recognize that you had.

Try the above diet at your own risk. One thing that I have noticed is that when going on a low carb diet is that after about 2 days I will suffer from mild depression which will last for about 4 days and then I will be back to normal.

I have heard that many people think that healthy food is just too expensive and too difficult to prepare. I hope that I have helped to give a suggestion that is not too expensive and too difficult to prepare.

I also suggest that you use a multi vitamin and that you occasionally add a few nuts or fruit or a treat of some kind if you start feeling too deprived.

I am not a nutritionist or medical doctor of any kind. The above diet is just something that is working for me.

The_DK

I'm dieting.

I'm eating about 500-700 calories under maintenance... losing about a pound week. Also incorporating compound strength training, and getting stronger.

I am never hungry. I have good energy. No mid-day crash anymore. Never get that shaky low blood sugar feeling.

I gave up grains.
I now eat a nutritional profile of 15% carbo 60% fat 40% protein.
All of my carbs come from fruits and vegetables.
I eat a lot of steak. bacon. eggs. cheese. cashews/etc.
Modeled my diet after the Primal Diet.

It's not for everyone. Some people just seem to not be able to move from carbs to fat as an energy source.
Pretty much everyone gets a little sick while switching.

It's hard to follow. People treat you funny at group eating places.

But the other day I had 12oz of steak in a huge salad with a cup of blue cheese and a whole carmelized onion, within my calorie limits. Eating like a king.

To save money, I often fill extra calories with full fat milk, peanut butter, and eggs. I cook things in butter.

400 calories of bread is nothing. 400 calories of steak is a damn good meal.

goldfinch

I assume that you don't really mean that you are eating only 500 to 700 calories a day? I don't want the OP to be confused. A person starves if they only ate 500 to 700 calories a day as their resting metabolic rate would be higher than that.

goldfinch

I have found your diet very interesting, you mentioned it in the past. There is a distinct advantage in having a simple set of rules to follow. Reducing the day to day food decisions can be helpful. If that is all you have in the house temptations are removed. Other people may find it tedious. I do eat one of three things for breakfast. It does really keep me from overeating at breakfast.

What is your long term plan when you have lost the weight you want to lose?