Hungry and full at the same time

Hi everyone!

I haven't been on this message board in five or six years. Long story short, when I was recovering from anorexia, I stopped being vegan for afew years, and now I am back, much healthier and happier. But, I have stumbled upon a problem I had when I was vegan before, whih is part of what led me to stop being vegan. The issue is, when I eat healthy vegan food (like a lot of veggies), my stmach gets full but I still feel hungry because I haven't eaten enough calories. Now that I am healthier and don't want to lose weight, this hungry-and-full feeling leads me to eat small and fairly unhealthy food (cookies, banana chips, coconut ice cream) to try to feel truly full (with enough calories) without adding more bulk to what is in my stomach. But, I don't like the hungry-and-full feeling and I don't want to be eating unhealthy food just to feel full without adding bulk. Just to give an example, I might have some sort of veggie and tempeh dish (mostly veggies with a little bit of tempeh, with some sauce) overbrown rice. I will get full before I can even finish the meal. Then, an hour or so later, or even right after eating the meal, I will still feel hungry (from not enough calories) but my stomach will be full. So then I eat the unhealthy food.

Does anyone have any advice on how I can prevent the hungry-and-full feeling so I can feel full and satisfied without turning to sugary foods to fill me up?

Thank you!

How much veg? tempeh? rice? Try making the bulk of your food rice/potatoes with some steamed veg followed by a piece of fruit for your sugar needs. Veg is lower calorie dense than the rice & potatoes. Just keep practising. I could not eat a lot of rice at first or potatoes but after a while I found I could do it.

First, I'd up the protein. Have less brown rice, more tempeh. Then I'd add more variety to your meal. Have small piles of different things (maybe add in a samosa and some pickles, so you've got 5 different things on your plate) as people have more appetite when they have a variety of flavours to change between in a meal.

I don't think there's anything wrong with desserts like you mentioned in moderation, but if they're bothering you could you make something like a breakfast muffin with berries and nuts in, then at least you'd be getting all the good stuff from berries, fibre and protein from the flour and nuts. Another sweet treat I've found incredibly filling is overnight oats, which you can prepare several pots of in one go and keep in the fridge. I believe we've got a thread on here somewhere with lots of ideas, but most recently (and simply!) I put 40grams of oats in a container, added a bit of chopped dried apricot, a sprinkle of dessicated coconut, a few hazelnuts, a squeeze of lemon juice and then covered with water and left overnight in the fridge. That was an easy and filling breakfast the next day.

Thank you so much for your quick replies!

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markusaurelius

How much veg? tempeh? rice? Try making the bulk of your food rice/potatoes with some steamed veg followed by a piece of fruit for your sugar needs. Veg is lower calorie dense than the rice & potatoes. Just keep practising. I could not eat a lot of rice at first or potatoes but after a while I found I could do it.

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I would say I eat mostly veggies during these healthy meals. I think I might take your suggeston and eat some higher calorie foods in the meal.

Unsalted nuts are a good thing to add to any meal because they are calorie-dense but the calories come from fats that are good for you, and the protein also helps to make the meal more satisfying, as twinkle says. They go with most things, sweet and savoury. You could put a handful of almonds in with your rice, for example.

Nut butters are useful too especially if you get wholefood-y ones that are just made with nuts.

Thank you for your quick reply too! I couldn't figure out how to quote you and the other poster in one reply, so I am just replying separately.

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twinkle

First, I'd up the protein. Have less brown rice, more tempeh. Then I'd add more variety to your meal. Have small piles of different things (maybe add in a samosa and some pickles, so you've got 5 different things on your plate) as people have more appetite when they have a variety of flavours to change between in a meal.

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Your suggestions sound really good! I eat mostly veggies in those types of meals, so I think I will add more tempeh to make it more protein rich. Instead of like an ounce of tempeh, maybe I will have two or three and less veggies and rice. Also, I never thought about adding more variety! That's a fantastic idea! I am going to use these ideas tonight. I was going to make portobello fajitas with a little bit of tempeh (I don' have that much left), but I think I will have a side of soy yogurt (for protein and variety) with some nuts or raisins in it.

The breakfast muffins you mentioned could be good desserts! They would be filling and pretty healthy! I will also have to try those overnight oats for breakfast.

Thanks again!

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Wow, I am getting such good ideas from this thread!

Harpy, I really like nuts. I am going to put some in my soy yogurt tonight. I will also start packing them for snacks and stuff. :)

Thank you for your reply!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gTLpTq1nQk

Potatoes, brocolli, carrots & oil free hummus. One of my favourite meals. Eat as many baked potatoes as you can, eat them cold with hummus or a salad. Warm with steamed veg, with soup, with half a cup of beans, tin of tomatoes, onions.......you'll get there.

I find eating little and often is a good way to eat. Don't try to get everything from just one meal, if I do that I feel too full so I just eat a little and then in a couple of hours eat something else. It works for me. :)

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sandra

I find eating little and often is a good way to eat. Don't try to get everything from just one meal, if I do that I feel too full so I just eat a little and then in a couple of hours eat something else. It works for me. :)

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I second that. I don't think I could live on 3 meals a day! If you see my posts on the 'what did you eat today' thread you'll see that I eat a number of small meals throughout the day.

Markusaurelius-
That's such a great video! The guy in it is very entertaining. Anyway, I am bringing home the message that I need to add more high calorie foods to my veggies to get to that middle number of idea caloric density (not that I will calculate).


Sandra-
That's a good idea.... Maybe I'll add an afternoon snack more often. That might help.

Blueberries-
I'll check out the thread! :)

Your welcome veggiegirl. The only thing I try to keep track of these days is how much green vegetables I eat as they are the most nutrient dense. If I have some greens everyday even if a small amount it keeps me feeling good.

I think my eating is going to be a work in progress for a couple weeks, until I get used to being vegan again. Last night was the third night in a row that I woke up in the middle of the night hungry. It wasn't as bad last night, but I was still not happy to be awake. Yesterday and the day before I slept through breakfast time though. Today, I did not, so hopefully my big breakfast will help. I decided to try to eat something with protein at each meal and maybe snack, along with some fruit and/or veggie. Part of my issue is that I get full too easily, which I think I will become less so as I get used to eating more foods that are bulky.

Going vegan again is very easy in terms of finding things to eat. The difficult part is eating enough, particularly protein. I am committed to veganism, though. I want to do it in a healthy way, which will require some figuring out.

From the sound of it you may not be getting enough fat in your diet. Its very beneficial and i think overlooked as evil by so many people. There are tons of very beneficial things in fats, omega 3s being one, but vitamins K, or vitamin A, and other fat soluble vitamins often show up in things like olive oil. So this is not only for hunger but for a complete diet. And since you get full so easily, fat is a great way to get those calories in a small package so you wont be as hungry.

Honestly i am an olive oil addict, my family is Lebanese and a lot of foods that i love over there are literally drowned in the stuff, its a habit that i have taken up in my diet and i have no complaints (no weight gain or loss).

Some suggestions: almonds, nut butters, walnuts, flaxseed or hemp seed, avocados, or if its not too pricey where you are (i buy mine in bulk) olive oil and just throw a bunch of it on your tempeh, snack on things like almonds and nut butters and maybe include some flaxseed, chia seed or hemp seed with your morning breakfast (if you have cereal of course) or a soya yoghurt.

I think its still a cultural fad of sorts in america that all fat is bad and will make you gain weight or something. In reality it is just another source of calories that often as not comes with a great array of vitamins and beneficial nutrients.

Keep us all updated and i wish you all the best!

TarekF-

I think you may be onto something. Today, I ate a good source of protein at every meal, which was my goal. BUT, breakfast and lunch (and my dinner dessert) had fat in them. In my breakfast smoothie, I added chia seeds, and there was probably fat in my new granola. For lunch, had humus, which also probably had fat. And for dessert after dinner, I had two dark chocolate peanut butter cups, which was another source of fat. Between the potein and the fat, I had a filling day! I am not hungry!!! I don't know if it was the protein or the fat--probably a combination of both--but I have not been feeling overly hungry today.

Thank you all for all of your help. I plan to continue to have good sources of protein and fat throughout the day, as well as snacks as needed. :)

Everything I eat has protein in it, I don't even try.