When I’m really hungry (which is way more frequently than it ought to be), I seem to use the nutrition charts at Subway or other restaurants to figure out how to maximize my caloric intake.
I’ve figured out that when I’m really hungry at lunch time, it takes about 1200-1400 calories for me to feel “full”.
This is probably not good.
1200-1400? At lunch? Is that your main meal?
I do use the calorie thing sometimes, usually just to look up what I like to eat and see how many calories are in a common item.
My lunch is one can of soup, usually ranging from 250-350 calories.
I always reach for whatever has the highest protein count.
Not all calories are equal when it comes to being full. You should take a look at “filling foods” and how to feel full without eating lots of calories. There are many strategies, such as drinking a full glass of water before meals, eating more fiber, making sure you have some lean protein, and others.
Moved MPSIMS --> IMHO.
Those calorie counts for sandwiches may not include cheese or condiments, make sure you’re including them in your analysis. Mayo and cheese add a lot.
As stated above, proteinated foods will make you feel fuller faster. Sugar and carbs (bread and potatoes especially) are very starchy. They will neither fill you up, nor stick to your ribs. You’ll be hungry again sooner. Try incorporating more rabbit and chicken into your diet.
Holy crap!
I use those things to steer away from the higher calories stuff rather than towards. The only meal in the week I will regularly go over 1000 calories with is Sunday dinner, and that’s only because it has a dessert with it.
I know. It’s rare that I’m not hungry. If I eat slowly, 800-1000 calories probably does it… but usually I’m so hungry I wolf it down.
Eat smaller meals more frequently, if your work/schedule allows you to do so.
I use the nutrition information to help me make a healthy decision. If it were up to my stomach to make those decisions, I’d have a high calorie, fat laden, sodium filled meal every time. I re-learning how to eat to help me lose weight and get healthy. The amount you are eating for lunch is almost my entire day’s worth of food. Since I don’t know anything about you, I don’t know if that amount of calories is excessive for you or not.
Your daily caloric intake shouldn’t be based on how much it takes to make you feel full. If you are wolfing your food down, your brain isn’t receiving the signal to stop eating before you actually eat too much. Try to slow yourself down and stop eating when you feel satisfied, not full. Wait 20-30 minutes and then if you are still getting hunger signals eat a little more.
But to answer your question, yes, I use that information.
Holy jumping jesus, my daily intake totals 1800 calories :eek:
If I am really hungry, I start my meal with a glass of ice water, and if it is between meals I go for celery. I just checked my normal 2 snacks and they are about 100-150 calories, typically I like a couple tablespoons of hummus for dipping my celery in, or half a small pita with the hummus. I did a hardboiled egg for bedtime snack last night because we had one left.
I recommend a small protein bar about an hour before lunch, followed by a lot of liquid. You can find them at lots of places, like supermarkets, drugstores, etc. Look for one that has under 200 calories and at least 15 grams of protein. If you’re allergic to peanuts or tree nuts, this level of nutrition can be harder to find, but they are out there.
As others have said, I suspect that carbs are a hunger trigger for you; they taste good but leave you wanting more and they don’t do well at giving you that full feeling. You may want to experiment with a low-carb eating program to see what works for you. Don’t expect miracles overnight, but over a few weeks you can find your patterns changing dramatically.
Roddy
I love that states / certain cities are listing calories on menus. I’ll even search online to see what they are.
I almost always focus on it when I’m not super hungry, but know it’ll be a long time before my next meal. Like before a two hour train ride. Option A is 800 calories Option B is 100. If I’m not even hungry then option B is the way to go.
Calories usually aren’t much of an issue with me, as I try to always eat healthy. But since I run and swim a lot I know what types of foods help prepare for and recover from a hard workout.
What I’d like to see is less focus on putting the calories and more focus on a few healthier options (without cutting portion size!)
It probably doesn’t. It probably takes 1200-1400 calories of that particular food type (e.g. Subway) to feel full. If you google “satiety index” you will probably find foods of similar volume with fewer calories that will make you feel just as full, or even more full, such as high protein foods.
I’ve never heard of anyone gauging satiety via calorie count rather than other factors. It doesn’t really make sense. If you consume 1200-1400 calories’ worth of soda or hard candy, do you feel as full?
Yes, if there is a calorie count available on a menu, I can’t resist trying to get the most calories possible. I don’t eat out very much though.
I would like to put on 10-20 lbs, so I am always trying to eat as much as I can. I used to count calories every day (when I was skinnier) and I would eat two meals per day of 1200-1600 calories each, plus I would snack/graze in the morning and during the day. Some people just need to eat a lot, for various reasons. There’s nothing wrong with eating a lot, in itself.
I’m a pretty rabid calorie counter for years (as in “I record the gram weight of 90% of what I eat, and the rest is in measured packages of some sort”) I’ve actually found that over the course of a day my calorie count has a lot to do with how sated I feel. Now, obviously, it’s not exact, and a huge chunk of pure sugar or something is likely to mess that up, but at the end of the day my body knows how many calories it needs and if it hasn’t gotten that, I’m hungry. The satiety stuff works in the short run, but in the long run, your body responds to a caloric deficit with hunger signals. You can’t trick your body into not knowing it’s burning fat.
Also, with no context it’s really impossible to tell if a 1200 calorie meal is a bad idea. Since people generally count calories when they diet, they think of diet calorie ranges as “normal”–but those ranges are supposed to create a deficit. I know that when I was at the top of normal BMI and exercising moderately my maintenance calories were 2300 a day–and I am a woman in my 30s. It’s not at all crazy for a young, active man to lose weight if he eats under 2500 calories a day–and that makes a 1200 calorie lunch pretty reasonable, especially for a non-snacker.