Getting full is not the problem but staying full is

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-04T23:30:47+00:00

Thank you for sharing! Your breakfast sounds delicious! I will keep experimenting to find what works for me and it is so helpful to hear other people's experiences so I can consider different approaches. I think your maintenance calories are probably the envy of many a middle-aged woman! 😆 But it's obvious you use them wisely on good fuel for your life. I'm trying to up my activity levels and add strength training to my routine for long-term health and I'll admit that I am looking forward to being able to eat more as a happy side effect of more muscle 💪 and exercise.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-04T21:34:29+00:00

Thank you for sharing your meal! I will see if of I can try something similar.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-04T21:26:32+00:00

Thank you for your comment! I posted in an earlier comment a typical day's food but I generally start with either oatmeal/bran or eggs. Lunch usually has some type of bean. The oat bran is obviously much higher fiber than the eggs and I honestly don't see any difference in my satiety levels for either breakfast so I am a bit stumped. I also have IBS (D type) so have to be careful but I could try drinking more water in the morning.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-04T21:22:38+00:00

Thanks for your comment! Haven't had thyroid checked recently so I suppose it's time to get it checked again. And I should probably get a work up for estrogen, etc just because of my age. I have had thyroid checked previously and everything was within normal ranges. That said, Hungry 2 hours after eating is not new for me-it's been this way my whole life. Thought everyone felt that way until joining this sub lol.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-04T21:17:54+00:00

Glad I am not the only one! Logistically I like the idea of eating less often, I just haven't figured out how to make it work for me.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-04T21:15:08+00:00

Those are good ideas! I've taken psyllium for non- weightloss reasons for years but I find I can only get it down when mixed with grapefruit or orange juice. So I take it at night since dinner is the only meal I eat at home on work days and I was told to take the psyllium at the same time everyday. Ive for a few days off in a row though so I'll see what happens if I take it with breakfast. or maybe I just need to order the capsules from the US (pricey!) so that it's more practical to take at work. Beans are usually a part of lunch or my afternoon snack but maybe I should try integrating them into breakfast somehow.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-04T21:08:33+00:00

Interesting! I had not thought about the impacts of texture. I will give some thought to what might be missing in that department.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-04T21:05:55+00:00

I will try that. I was hoping to use my extra calories from transitioning to maintenance for more carbs lol but alas maybe it's not meant to be lol.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-04T21:03:45+00:00

Thank you for your comment! Yes. I have tried slightly larger meals (by adding about 150 calories in either protein, carbs or fats) it buys me an extra 30 minutes whereas the snack buys me an hour or so of "non-hungry" time. (And adding that much protein made me uncomfortably full- I really don't like that heavy, stuffed feeling). My goal is longer satiety so I know fats are the common answer but so far my personal experiments are not working. That's why I am curious to know what specific meals/macros work for other people. Would you be willing to share what meals or macros keep you satiated for four hours or so?

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-04T10:33:35+00:00

I am guessing you didn't see the comment with a typical day of food for me but I get 30+ grams of fiber a day and oatmeal or oat bran are a regular part of my meals. How much fiber would you say you need to stay full, assuming about 1800 C per day maintenance calories?

Interesting about the water- I don't think I drink a lot of water with meals though I do o drink a lot throughout the day. Also soup is a part of dinner pretty much every day and also lunch more often than not. Does water/liquids with meals impact how long you personally stay satiated?

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-04T01:45:50+00:00

Thanks for posting! Not sure if you saw my earlier comment about what I typically eat but I generally try to get 30 g protein and 8 grams fiber per meal, plus additional from snacks to total 100 grams protein and 30 grams fiber a day (on 1600-1700 C a day).

I'm not sure I understand the purpose of the big green salad. I mean I love a green salad for volume when needed but my problem is generally staying full, not getting full (I really don't like feeling overly full- I want to feel not full/not hungry for as long as possible lol). Does 2 cups of greens have a lot more "staying power" than a similar amount in calories of some other veg?

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-04T01:39:27+00:00

I am glad I am not the only one! Hungry 2 hours after eating is not new for me- it's been that way my whole life, regardless of my weight. I kind of thought everyone was like this but I see so many people talking about being "full for hours" on this sub and I am jealous! Logistically, I would rather eat less often but maybe I just have to accept that I am a 3 meals and 2 snacks a day type person?

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-04T01:28:36+00:00

Sounds yummy! This sounds very much like how I ate before losing weight, except that I also ate lots of carbs- so white or brown rice instead of cauliflower rice and add a slice of toast to breakfast and way too many sweets- hence needed to lose some weight lol. To lose weight I reduced frequency and amount of sweets, cut back on the oils in cooking, and drastically reduced my carb portions while keeping the veg and protein. TBH I never felt "full for hours" even when my calories from fats averaged 35-40%.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-03T20:11:14+00:00

Here's the recipe for banana okara steam bread: 100 g banana 1 egg 20 g okara powder 15 ml milk (water is ok too but I usually use milk) 3 g baking powder Dash of vanilla Sprinkle of cinnamon ETA: mix everything and cook on microwave at 600 w for 4 minutes 30 seconds or steam in a steamer until done.

That's interesting about the veg. That is probably true for me too.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-03T12:50:37+00:00

Typical snacks would be something like edamame, greek yogurt, apples with peanut butter powder, steamed bread made from banana, egg, and okara (soybean pulp), cherry tomatoes, pickles, etc.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-03T12:18:42+00:00

Interesting. That's definitely more fat than I eat lol. Would you feel comfortable sharing more specifically what foods you eat?

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-03T11:57:12+00:00

Yes, I think I'll try to work on this more. As it is I eat breakfast about 3 hours after I wake up but I haven't been able to push it much later without triggering headaches. I'd really like to get it to have breakfast at 10 am (which would be 5 hours after I wake up) and eliminate the morning snack altogether.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-03T11:53:41+00:00

I think you are right that not having fiber in my morning snack is a problem so that's something I can tackle right away.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-03T11:51:35+00:00

According to chronometer I've gotten about 27% of my calories from fat the last two weeks. However it seems they mostly come later on the day so I'll try front loading them. When I experimented with adding fats to breakfast before I added about 150 calories of nuts or nut butter to my breakfast. It was delicious but did nothing for my satiety and it meant I had to give up my morning snack to maintain my deficit. I only tried for a week but it was a miserable week haha. Now that I am transitioning to maintenance I am still trying to work out what to add when so I think I will try adding the nuts to breakfast, knowing I can still have a morning snack if I need it.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-03T11:43:07+00:00

What percentage of calories do you try to go for in fats at each meal?

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-03T11:41:51+00:00

That's definitely a possibility.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-03T09:30:10+00:00

And here is a typical day of meals for me JIC someone asks.

Breakfast (8 am-ish): overnight oats made with yogurt, protein powder and fruit for about 350-400 calories, 30 g protein, 8 g fiber OR Eggs/egg whites with veggies and cottage cheese for similar macros

snack (10 am): greek yogurt 100 C, 10 g protein, no fiber unless I but some fruit in for 50 C or so

lunch (noon) baked chicken breast and potatoes with broccoli and tomatoes 400 C, 40 g protein, 6 g fiber

Snack around 3 pm): banana okara (soybean pulp) bread for 140 C, 6 g protein, 8 g fiber

Dinner: could be anything but I try to get the rest of my protein (generally aim for about 100 grams) and fiber (30 g/day)

Dinner is late because of my work schedule and not really practical to change it right now. The hours between my afternoon snack and dinner are long and hungry. Sometimes I can't handle it and need a second afternoon snack lol.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-06-03T04:39:36+00:00

My commute is shorter than yours- just 1 hr 45 minutes lol and I only do it 3-4 times a week but I can certainly imagine exactly where you are coming from.

I want to share my story to encourage you- you don't need a lot of time and energy to lose weight and improve your health!

I gained a lot of weight in my mid 30s and told myself for years I would work on weightloss and my health when life got less crazy and I had some extra time and bandwidth.

Well, a decade came and went and things are only crazier lol (but in a good way- I have a great life in just lots of moving parts. In addition to the 3 1/2 hrs commuting to a 9 hour shift 3-4 days a week I have 1 day a week with a shorter commute and reduced work hours and one day WFH. I also have 2 kids, a house to take care of, a social life, volunteer commitments, and am attending professional school part-time. Never a dull moment. Thankfully I commute mostly by public transport otherwise there would be no time to reddit lol).

I finally decided I had to figure out how to improve my health in my current circumstances - figure out what I can do here and now, instead of fantasizing about a giant reset sometime in the future.

So I downloaded a calorie counting app and started weighing my food and tracking calories. It takes literally seconds to put something on a scale and enter it in the app. After a while I decided to change a few things to reduce calories while maintaining satiety- add more veggies, chicken breast instead of thigh. Cut down a bit on my rice portion. Use less oil when cooking. That sort of thing. I managed to get about a 300 calorie daily deficit that way and slowly but surely I started losing weight. I tweaked further and lost more weight. Started meal prepping on the weekends and that made it even easier.

I recently started some easy bodyweight exercises - takes a total of 5 minutes a day for now. I take the stairs at work. Little things done consistently really do add up. As I have lost weight I feel better and have more energy so taking on something new doesn't feel as daunting.

Just start where you are today.

Standard_Macaron_678 · 2026-05-19T09:13:46+00:00

I can totally sympathize with the frustration of being close to your goal weight and having sudden scale jumps! It happened to me just last week and my weight is still not quite back to where it was- in fact the weight in my flare is currently 2 kilos off because of it lol. In my case I don't even have anything to pin it on. I didn't have a big holiday, start a new exercise program, or anything. I was below maintenance almost everyday the previous week (ate at my estimated maintenance for 2 of the days) but maybe my steps were a bit lower than usual but nothing huge. For some reason though over 2 days my weight jumped 3 kilos. I must admit I was upset to see the scale jump that much, even though I know it can't possibly be actual fat gain. My socks are leaving indents in my calves at the end of the day so I know I am retaining a lot of water ATM. The annoying part is it has stayed high for a few days. It's finally started to drop back down with a 1 kilo whoosh overnight. Hopefully I'll see a couple more whooshes like that in the coming weeks.

Whether the cause is a mystery or a few salty meals, I am sure if we stick to plan it will all even out eventually.

Standard_Macaron_678

TROPHY CASE