I need HELP!! I have been on Alli for a month now and have lost 14 lbs!! I'm so excited about that but lately like the last two weeks or so I have been so un-motivated I just feel like giving up and eating until I explode. I need help so bad!! I try so hard to eat right but I'm always starving!! I end up eating so much healthy stuff I made it unhealthy. Does anyone have any adive on a food I can eat that will fill me up and keep me full for longer than 1.5 hours. I eat a cereal bar and various fruit in the morning around 8 am by 9"30 I'm so hungry I wanna eat the paper off my desk!! Then I end up eating horribly cause I was so hungry when I go to lunch. I am really getting frustrated and on the verge of just saying screw this and eating whatever pleases me. Any advice will help me keep going cause I am hanging on by a thread!!

Another problem I can't seen to get rid of is SODA!! I love Dr. Pepper and I wanna drink it all the time and I don't know what to do to stay away!! I hate diet drinks so thats a no right off the bat so I was just wondering if anyone has any other suggestions that aren't water!! lol

It helps to eat foods that are higher in fiber and protein. High fiber foods take longer to go through your system, helping you to feel satisfied longer. Proteins take your body longer to digest and can help you reach your goals.

I found that a good breakfast helps me a lot in the morning. I have 1 cup of Fiber One Honey Clusters, 12 raw almonds and a 10 oz homemade mocha. This comes to about 410 calories, 12 grams of fat, 79 carbs (16 grams fiber) and 10 grams of protein. It keeps me feeling pretty good until mid-morning when I have a light snack - fruit and protein water. At lunch I have chicken or tuna, whole wheat mini-pita, veggies, fruit and a 60 calorie Hershey's Stick. Mid-afternoon snack is usually a 100 calorie treat and maybe a fruit. Dinner is usually a bit lighter with a protein, veggies and fruit.

When I am craving something to crunch and I know I have to watch my calories, I air-pop 4 cups of Jolly Time High Fiber popcorn for 80 calories. That gives you a little room if you want to spritz it with something.

Instead of grabbing for the soda, try a protein water. I particularly like Speciak K's Pink Lemonade protein water. 30 calories, 5 grams protein, 5 grams fiber and 0 fat. It also helps keep you satisfied between meals. I know how hard it is to break a soda habit. You may find it easier to try doing it over a weekend and totally going without the soda. This will give your body some time to detox before having to be at work. :) I find that I don't even crave sodas any more.

Hope this helps.

Hi Kels1014,

The first week I started back on Alli, I felt the same way. I wanted to (and sometimes still do) eat everything in sight because I wasn't getting the food I really wanted. The only advice I can give (and I know it sounds so cliche') is to eat lots of fruit and vegetables. If the fruit isn't sweet enough for you, sprinkle some Splenda on it. As far as the veggies, I go to my local grocery store and buy those large pre-made salads (you can't go wrong with a lot of veggies--you'd have to eat a whooooooooole lot of them and drench them with fattening dressing before they'd do any real damage.) I'm usually full by the time I'm halfway through the salad bowl. I also drink at least 64 oz of water a day (you're supposed to drink more if you're overweight--I think I read for every 25 lbs. overweight you are, you're supposed to have an extra 8 oz per day in addition to the regular 64 oz.). The water helps you feel "bloated" so you're less like to want a lot of food to eat. I'd also suggest sugar-free candies and sugar-free gum (just make sure to watch the calorie count.) I know I have a lot in here, but as far as the sodas, no "diet" soda is as good as the real thing, but the best tasting "diet" sodas I like are: Coke Zero, Diet Dr. Pepper, & Pepsi Max. They taste more like the real soda more than any others I've tried. ( all are 0 calories & 0 fat) I hope this helps.

I'm never sure why people eat cereal bars for a meal :( They have never been more than a measly snack that tides me over for an hour or less. If anything, i'll actually pair them with an actual meal like below. They are so unfilling to me, lol. I would definaly suggest a larger breakfast, since it sounds like this is your big problem zone? Even if it's a real bowl of cereal I find I am held over longer than if I ate a bar. Even so called 4-hour hunger control ones. Pfff, my butt 4 hours.

For my "big" breakfast, I like the following:

3 Turkey Sausage Links -7g of fat

1 real egg and 1/4 cup of egg beaters, scrambled with mushrooms, peppers, onions, green onions(4.5g of fat) in
1 large 97% fat free burrito wrap(2g of fat) topped with black bean salsa (no fat) (scramble in a nonstick pan or use pam/cooking spray! no butter)

This makes a very large burrito, and taste very good, for under 300 cals and about 12g of fat (including the sausage), which is fine and great for a breakfast. Sometimes I'll pull the sausage apart and throw it in with the eggs to have an all-out McDonalds style breakfast burrioto (only 2x as big and 10x as healthy!). It definaltly keeps me full until lunch (3-4 hours), and sometimes even dinner, when I forget to eat my lunch. Pair it with your favorite fruits as well.

I also like french toast:

2 pieces of wheat bread (1.5g of fat)

1 real egg and 1/4 cup of egg beaters beat in a bowl with cinnamon to taste(4.5g of fat)

Dip toast liberally in the egg then place in pan to cook, non-stick works best, make sure to use cooking spray if you don't have a non-stick pan. Serve with low-calorie syrup (it's called reduced cal).

I like this with a single serving of grits with 1/2 teaspoon of butter and 1/2 slice of 2% american cheese (about 4-5g of fat), and a turkey sausage link (2.5g)

As for your Dr. Pepper problem, you wont like the suggestion probably, but you should really try diet. I find that what I crave the moast from soda is the burn. You know, the burn/fizz. So diet still gives me that, and while drinking as much as I do I am sure isn't healthy either, it's got to be better than regular!

 I SOOOOOOOO get the Dr Pepper addiction :)- I was so super addicted... like a for real addiction :)..

Instead of just Diet Dr Pepper, I found that I like the Diet Dr Pepper with cherry much much better :)- and I feel 1000 times better drinking water, that it is now hard for me to finish a can of Diet Dr Pepper...

Good luck- it is worth it to give up or lessen that addiction!!

Thanks you guys so much for your advice. I have been feeling so alone in this because No one I know around my home diets or even wants to for that matter!! I am not a very good morning person I usually get up 10 minutes before I have to leave but I am going to work on that so I can get up and eat a real breakfast!! I am just taking the weekend off to cool off and not "diet" and I am starting fresh on Monday. I think my biggest problem has been I have been feeling like im dieting and I hate that word and I hate the feeling you get when your on a "diet". I really do appreciate everything everyone has said. I really wanna do this right but I have been finding that most weeks we can't really afford beyond the normal meat and canned veggies in our house so I find things I would love to buy to help us be healthier get pushed to the side. I hate when that happens but what can I do I have more than just me to feed!! Thanks again for everything it has made me feel so much better!!

Don't think of this as a "diet" but as a lifestyle change. What you are learning is not temporary but a way of eating healthy and exercising that you can do for the rest of your life.

Do you have a farmer's market in your area? Farmer's markets are usually less expensive for fresh veggies and fruits.

Instead of canned veggies, try frozen veggies. You don't get all the extra sodium that way and they can taste fresher.

Clip cupons and look for sales. We just picked up corn on the cob 3 ears for $1. Hubby got 6 ears for $2 which will give us corn for 3 meals. (We only eat 1/2 ear for each person.)

IMO, a non-stick pan is vital when you don't have a lot of time to spare cooking. You can prepare cutting veggies up the night before so they're proportioned and ready to go , as well, that is the part that takes the longest. Then you just toss the eggs in with them in a non-stick pan with a bit of pam and they're done in 3-5 minutes (you do have to watch ans scamble them).

I also thought i'd mentioned I tried egg beaters Southwestern style in my burrito this morning. I'd highly recommend it for breakfast burritos!

Hi Kels1014,

It looks like you got some great advice. I wanted to emphasize two of the most common reasons why people are hungry when trying to lose weight:

Protein - this is the only nutrient that increases your satiety. If you don't get enough protein in your meal you will feel hungry soon after eating. High sources of protein are meat, chicken, turkey, seafood, soy, nuts, tofu, eggs, cheese, beans, peanut butter, and dairy. My recommendation is to get at least 14 grams of protein at each meal. Each ounce of meat has 7 grams of protein. A 3 oz serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards and has 21 grams of protein.

Volume - there is lots of really great research to support the fact that cutting back on the amount of food that you eat can be a problem. You want to get fewer calories, not less food. It takes a little work but it is really going to make a difference for you. One of the top researchers in this area is Dr. Barbara Rolls. She wrote the book Volumetrics Eating Plan and has a site to look at for more information http://thevolumetricseatingplan.com/. This entire concept is based on energy density. Here is an article on this: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/NU00195

These two may seem basic but have had a tremendous impact on helping my clients curb their hunger.

Give them a try and let us know how it goes,

Betty Kovacs, MS, RD

Thanks!! I had two wisdom teeth pulled monday so right now my diet consists of nothing because I can't open my mouth!! This is probably gonna hurt me even more but right now I just don't care. I am almost out of the pills so I also have to get some more of them. I may just start all over from the beginning and do the diet for about a week and then start the pills so I can get a completley fresh start!!

((Hugs)) Kels! That hurts! My daughter's bf just had all 4 of his done and ate nothing but yogurt for a few days. Please make sure to take care of yourself!

Thanks!! There's no way I could do all four at once. I thought I was dying with just two!!