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Hunger pangs...

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sarnie100

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Hi everyone, I have been diagnosed type 2 diabetic for approx 9 months - diet only. I changed my diet at the time and have since shed 3 and a 1/2 stone just by eating sensibly and not found it too difficult. However, the last couple of months I have noticed I feel hungry all the time.... my stomach actually rumbles now when I'm hungry and even if I eat a fairly big dinner/tea, it just doesn't seem to fill me up.... even eating porridge for breakfast, after about 2 and 1/2 hours I am starving again... due to this I have been eating more, so therefore the weight has stopped coming off and I need to lose another stone and a half. Does anyone experience the same or has any suggestions as to why this happens..... :?:
 
Hi Sarnie :) Well done for your superb weight loss. I have found that eating carbs makes me hungry. So that's probably why you are hungry after your porridge. What does it do to your levels? Since I have been doing low carb (30-50g a day) I haven't had any hunger pangs at all. I had to up my carbs recently to make sure I had no ketones before my yearly blood test and the hunger came back. You can have a good, filling meal without many carbs - have a read on the low carb diet forum - there are plenty of ideas of what to eat there. What do you call "eating sensibly"? Give us some examples of what you eat and perhaps someone can offer some suggestions. I am also type 2, but on metformin. :)
 
Hi Sarnie100

You've obviously been eating a diet that suits you, to lose 3.5 stone in 9 months - well done! I'm assuming your blood glucose levels are in control too, or they would probably have offered you meds by now.

You don't say what sort of diet you're on, but I would think you're not extremely low carb (eg like me on Atkins under 50g carb per day) because you mention porridge. Speaking personally, I find carbohydrate makes me hungry. It might be worth you trying to lower your carb intake a bit and increase your intake of protein foods. Protein and fat keep you feeling fuller for longer than carbohydrate does.

For instance - I eat a 2-egg omelette for breakfast every day, sometimes plain, sometimes with bacon, or mushrooms or cheese. That will do me from 08:30 until 13:00 without any hungry feelings. Or, if I know I'm going to be in a hurry, I might prepare a salad the night before, with cold meat or cheese or tuna or hard-boiled egg, and have it ready in the fridge. I know, salad for breakfast sounds weird, but it's really nice! I'd have mayonnaise on it too.

There are lots of people on here with different diet solutions, and mine is only one. If you could give us an idea of what you eat now, we might be able to help you tweak it a bit to stop you feeling hungry.

Another idea is to drink plenty of water.

Viv 8)

PS I see my friend Daisy1 got in before me - we sing from the same hymn sheet! :lol:
 
I too used to have hunger pangs when I was eating the carb based breakfast, advised by the dietican. I would have two rounds of wholemeal toast and would be ravenous by 11.00am.

I now eat something like an omellette and mushrooms and can go until lunchtime without snacking.
 
I had to up my carbs recently to make sure I had no ketones before my yearly blood test and the hunger came back
Click to expand...

I expect you realised that I meant to say urine test - not blood test of course :lol:
 
Congrats on the weight loss.

I too felt hungry after some porridge, so based on what I learned from this website, I tried an experiment. I ate only a couple of spoonfuls, and guess what? I didn't get hungry. It is the result of the spikes in blood sugar which makes you hungry.
 
Hi folks,

Thanks you all very much for your interesting comments... for breakfast I've normally had porridge or wholemeal toast with low sugar jam because I enjoy it so much....eating cold meats, salad early in morning I must admit I don't think I can do that. The porridge I have isn't too bad on BG and I didn't notice any hunger months ago at the beginning.... I think though I have been eating a few more carbs recently and starting having 2 or 3 diabetic sweets in the evening to suck.... I just need something for my sweet tooth.... I get totally fed up eating fruit at times. In the early months I was keeping the carbs to a minimum I guess.... so maybe over the months where I have been increasing them a bit more, that is what is causing the hunger. For lunch I tend to have a whole meal sandwich with meat/salad.... that's normally if I've just had 1 slice of toast for breakfast.... if I have porridge for breakfast I will probably have chicken/tuna with a mini salad.... evening time I just have meat with veg.... but introduced 3 or 4 small sweet potatoes which I adore and apparently have been proven to control BG and have antioxidants in. I guess I feel I'm losing control of it now, with the boredom.... circumstances changing and am finding it difficult to keep on track. I tend not to take reading too often.... but was told by dietician to do it mainly in the morning before eating.. as that is the truest reading.... and they have been between 4.3 and 6.2...depending maybe on what I've eaten the night before. The highest my readings have gone up to 2 hours after eating have been 8.7 but because of the type of meal I've had.... but fasting tests have never been more than 6.4 and that was the highest ever.... sorry for boring you all but I will try cutting out the porridge more in the mornings and see if it helps...worth a try! :o
 
Hi Sarnie,

With regards to the porridge why don't you add a small handful of pumpkin seeds to bulk it out, pumpkin seeds are extremely healthy and contain zinc which helps boost the immune system, just be careful with the portion size though as they do contain fat (the healthy monounsaturated) and therefore are high in calories.

Nigel
 
I think some people would question taking blood sugar readings in the morning before breakfast as the 'best time to take readings'. Early morning readings will reflect the effect of liver glucose dumps which vary from person to person and may not tell you much. I personally take my readings 2 hours after the largest meal of the day in an attempt to measure worst-case BS. I understand that it's the refined carbs that cause the most hunger pangs so it may be worth going for the lower GI carbs where possible e.g. lentils, beans etc. Whilst I have home-made oat muesli for breakfast (lowish GI carb) I also have egg and bacon as well. I buy low-GI bread from my local baker as wholemeal is still not very low GI. How about having 85% chocolate when needed as it's very low carb?
 
Hi, I do often put a handful of blackberries in with my porridge and have a 40g serving... but think I will start alternating between that and some protein.... I normally have Tesco's own make wholemeal bread as it seems to have the lowest carb content at 12.8 I believe. Is it the overall carbs I have to watch or the sugar content of carbs, does anyone know. I do have chocolate sometimes.... it's surprising what you can get to like if you have to, although dark chocolate isn't quite as good as maltesers... being my fav... :( I can't say I've had too much help since finding out about the diabetes... even the 2 nurses I see, have a difference of opinion.... and it was the dietician at the hospital who told me to have my quota of carbs... and to take reading in the morning before anything.... thanks for the suggestions guys....
 
It was my dietican too, who told me to eat carbs, 40% of my food was to be carb. I was also told by her and the practice nurse who looks after the diabetics, that on no account was I to low carb.

I eventually ignored them and though I would say I reduce carb, not low carb, as though I don't eat the starchy carbs, and I eat as much vegetables as I like and will eat pulses.

Since cutting out the starchy carbs, I am not as hungry and my HBa1c has come right down and my practise nurse now says that I am listening to my body!!

I do find that my body will deal with carbs easier, later in the day than it does in the morning - They don't spike me as much and don't make me as hungry afterwards.
 
It's all carbs you have to watch, Sarnie, not just the sugar. Sugar is just another carbohydrate, and some things (eg mashed potato) can spike your blood glucose even faster than sugar :shock:

(Oh, how I love mashed potato! Made into a mountain with the butter inside and then it all gushes out when you get to it . . . Sigh!)

Sorry, everyone! :wink:

Viv 8)
 
I I was fortunate enough never to have needed to diet until my diabetes was diagnosed but I had often thought when friends were struggling with diets that the diet in itself made them focus more on food.
I think diabetes does that too. We have to consider what we eat so we are constantly thinking about food. Before diagnosis I never gave it a thought. Never really felt hungry and if alone and bust would forget to eat.
After diagnosis . medication and being advised to eat starcht carbs to alleviate the side effects of the medication I sufffered from dreadful hunger pangs and found myself brooding about foods i had never even have considered eating before.
There is mnothing like being told you can't have something o make you long for it.
Perhaps we should go for foods we don't like to help with portion control or stick to a bland boring diet .
The latter is pretty much what I do now. I have returned to my former {before diagnosis} way of eating but its more difficult now my husband and myself have retired . Before i was oo busty to think about food . He is NEVER oo busy to think about food. I know this means I have more time to plan healthy meals but I would much prefer not .to have to spend so much time hinking of food.
As I don't see why he should be deprived just because I don't eat certain things it makes life more difficul.
 
Thanks again everyone.... Annie what would you call the starchy carbs? I've been eating totally what I shouldn't in the sweet line lately, I know I've been silly but it was like I just craved sweetness and just needed to do it, to get it out my system.... it just went on for longer than it should have. I am now back on track though and taking it seriously, but it's true.... food is constantly on your mind, thinking, can I have this, can I have that. If you're going to have something bad I guess the trick is to have it very occasionally, but whatever you fancy, then be good again, but it's not that easy. I really struggle. At the end of the day we can all eat what we like, but it's only ourselves that are in control and will only shorten our lives or bring on things we really don't want if it's ignored. I can eat a pretty full salad, with salad cream, some humous etc. and it won't alter my BG an awful lot.... so best I stick to them... I wouldn't mind but the diabetic dietician who tells you what you should and shouldn't be eating.... mine in particular was at least a size 20/22. :roll:
 
Hi Sarnie

I steer clear of bread/pasta/potaoes and rice, though we are all different. I can't eat anything wheat based, but can get away with some potatoes and a (very) small amount of basmati rice. Others can eat a slice or two of the burgen bread.

I can, as I said before, eat a reasonable amount of pulses, so I too can eat things like houmus, but I can't eat much fruit, except for berries such as blueberries, raspberries and Strawberries. These don't affect my BG but sadly for me I have IBS and the fruit gives me the runs :(

This is why you need a meter, to find out what your body will and won't tolerate, your body is unique to you and this is why the 'one size fits all' advice given by the HCP's is not good for all of us.
 
Starchy carbs - bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, anything made with flour eg baked goods, biscuits, cakes, all breakfast cereals, all grains eg sweetcorn, oats.

Have you got a carb counter book? Collins do one in their Gem series, which is not the most accurate but is a very handy size.

Check the contents of your salad cream - some of them are full of sugar.

You need to decide for yourself how much carbohydrate you want to eat - see the current thread to see what others do - and work out your meals around that.

Viv 8)
 
Read some place that chewing your food longer is good at fooling your brain that your full

I eat an apple or drink full glass of water works for me
 
A few years ago when I was still stupid enough to be listening to the quacks and dieticians I was experimenting with extreme dieting as a method of losing weight. It was unusual for me to eat more than three days a week and in the end I had cut down to one light meal and one sandiwch a week plus a few apples. I didn't lose any weight though, sticking firmly at 20 stone on this diet. The point is that as they make you sicker you will get used not just to hunger pangs but extreme starvation. In the end you just get used to it. I remember once cooking my familly a roast dinner after not eating for six days - I didn't have any myself of course. I don't recommend this extreme dieting to anyone. Just lose the metabolic syndrome in the usual manner and you can eat and drink like a teenager while you effortlessly shed weight. Imagine losing 2" from your waist every six weeks? It is brilliant.
 
bowell said:
Read some place that chewing your food longer is good at fooling your brain that your full

I eat an apple or drink full glass of water works for me
Click to expand...

This is where you need to experiment a bit, as an apple doesn't fill me and raises my BG - I experimented only a week or two back. One braeburn apple with Cheese and my bg went from 6.2 (ish) to 9.6

I find a handful of nuts works - though the problem with that is sticking to just one handful........
 
Personally I think if you include all food groups in a meal, (the carbs at a level that suits you), then you don't need to snack. A bowl of porridge is a bowl of carbs whereas if you add fruits, nuts and seeds to a smaller portion then you are including fats and protein plus fibre. A combined meal involves better digestion and higher satiety, (feeling fuller for longer) in my experience.
 
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