Controlling hunger is frequently a daily challenge for all of us who are trying to optimize our nutritional status.
Managing it successfully requires each of us to develop our own customi multipronged approach.
Here are some tips I use and recommend to patients:
1) Eat 15-20 gms of low fat protein @ the start of each meal and half as much protein with each snack.
2) Load up on low carb veggies for meals and snacks - the fresher, the better.
3) Measure/weigh and record exactly what you are eating each day (a nutrition software program is invaluable for this)
4) Sit down to eat each meal/snack, and eat slowly and mindfully without distractions.
5) Avoid beverages containing non-nutritive sweeteners.
Read the many comments from diabetics and you will gain insight to the obese diabetics problem....appetite. Appetite that grows with eating with breakfast, after exercise, with high blood sugar, after injecting insulin, even when full they continue to eat. I know, I am one of them. There is a hardwire problem from the brain controlling appetite center and nobody can fix it yet. It has nothing to do with fullness, breakfast, or your love life or job. You just are hungry all the time no matter how, what, when, or why you eat. I tried symlin...zip. The fatter I get, the more insulin I need, the more hungry I am. I have been on the ADA diet for twelve years now, started at 252 now weigh 323. I take 140 units of short and basal insulin combined. I exercise every day on the treadmill. You read that right. I eat pretty well and when I continue to eat, its good stuff not junk food. My A1c is heading down while my weight is heading up. I just went from 8.6 to 7.6. Next week I attend a seminar on lap band procedure for weight loss. I am beside myself on this issue. I can't stand it anymore. With all the knowledge I have and effort, I still cannot control my weight while improving my blood sugar.
I too have struggled with weight gain and weight loss, dieting from the age of 11. I have always been able to lose but never been able to maintain the weight loss.
Then in 1991 I was diagnosed with T2, sent off to diabetes education, 1200 calorie diet. I knew nutrition I was trained in nutrition I knew what not to do, it was the what to do that always was not easy for me. I was always hungry and selective eating was not fun.
For years it was many diets, exercise and hunger. In 2001 I went on medication and menopause hindered any weight loss. I continued to go up and down on the scale more up then down.
This year in June, I changed from my primary physician to a specialist, an endocrinologist for the diabetes. It was the best thing I have done. I was put on Byetta as David has been using. I have been able to loose 25 pounds and I am able to maintain it and I am not hungry.
So some may say I can't afford Byetta, yes, you can they have an assistance program. Myself my insurance covers Byetta. Last week I walked out of the pharmacy with over $1,100.00 of medication, for diabetes and paid $40.00. I count that a great blessing.
My blood sugar readings are great and I am not hungry. I would like to loose another 30 pounds but if I don't and I am able to maintain what I have lost I will be very excited. I eat in moderation and watch which carbs I put in my mouth and how it affects my blood sugar. If it raises it too high I don't eat that again. Its a learning process and at the age of 59 I am still learning the do's and don'ts of eating.
Thank you David for this great article.
Monica Cohee
I am a diabetic who needs to lose 110 pounds. Lost 55 in a year with metformin and Byetta and a 30-45 minute walk EVERY day. Yes its slower than I like but this is the first time in my life that I haven't gained any weight back. The Byetta does help with the appetite but you still have to put a lot of time and effort in eating right,and the exercise is very important. Yes I do have a piece of pizza once in
awhile and eat out with friends but I am very careful and up the exercise to 60 min the next day. I have gotten my blood sugars to under 100 most days, but you must get out of that chair get moving. By the way I eat 1600 cals a day, and still lose weight. I have learned from past dieting that if I eat too little I don't lose weight at all, and then I am likely to binge eat. Besides the fear of getting diabeties
related illnesses keeps me on track even before I went on Byetta. Good luck to all.
I'm really going to start looking for a doctor that will look into Byetta for me. It's done good things for my dad when he was taking it. And since it is supposed to make you feel full, it will help for my one problem area of the day: suppertime. It seems to me that no matter how much or how little I eat throughout the day, the nighttime is when I go nuts.
David, as far as your comment: "I know from my own experience that it's a myth that exercise makes you eat more.", what do you make of what Taubes writes about this, specifically, LPL causes us to consume MORE calories after exercise. I'll admit, I've stalled in his book because of school and work, but I did read the full article, Does Exercise Really Make Us Thinner? from New York Magazine (http://nymag.com/news/sports/38001/)
Also, I just received notification that my order from Amazon for your book was going to be delayed! I was hoping to have it read before my next doctor appointment! Oh well, I'm sure there is a reason, and I'll survive.
Dear Christoper,
Like you, I am stalled in Taubes book because of other work demands. However, my friend Gretchen, who has finished it, brought that to my attention. It might well make a difference how much and how intense the exercise it. But certainly even hiking for 8 hours at a stretch doesn't make me hungry.
Thanks for the link to Taubes's article about exercise in New York magazine. I've printed it out and have started to read it. Like all of his work, it is well written and well worth reading.
I'm glad that you ordered a copy of my book. Yes, it has been delayed and won't be published until January or February. The main reason is that the publisher, Avalon, was bought out by another company, Perseus Book Group. It is now in the final stages of publishing, and the work that I have to do that I referred to earlier is reviewing the final galleys in the next few days.
I really like the articles Taubes writes, because they are so much shorter than a book! This one is only 5 pages. The Big Fat Lie article (have you read that one?) is maybe 11. Way more managable to read in a short period of time, like on the bus or between classes or something like that.
About the book, Amazon says it is estimated to ship next week. I guess that isn't right huh? As long as it will still come out, that is fine by me!
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