Suppressing appetite

I suspect that all of us trying to lose weight without the benefit of a pouch tool to restrict food intake wrestle with the question of controlling our hunger when restricting our caloric intake. There's been discussions surrounding a few of the pharmacological options, but since I am on Prozac, I have to stay away from stimulant-based appetite suppressants, which more or less counts out most of the clinically tested anorectic medications on the market.

I’m also leery of “dietary supplement" pills advertised as appetite suppressants, because logic tells me they don’t have to be sufficiently tested in clinical trials to prove significant efficacy in reducing hunger and aiding weight loss. Experience tells me they never work (for me).

So I’m wondering…what do you guys do to deal with your hunger pangs? Do you use mental imagery, keeping yourself busy, changing the way you’re thinking about food in that moment? What works for you?

Also, has anyone tried going to the source of these “dietary supplements"? Like, for instance, buying their own hoodia gordonii succulent and chewing on its roots or something?

Everyone is different, so I’m just wondering….what works for you? 

Somayeh
Binge eater, purge-exerciser, yo-yo dieter

 on the pharmicutical rout, my Dr put me on metformin, it stabolizes my insulin, and cuts my appetite down ALOT and things...um... move faster.
 I have learned that I emotionally eat, I cant seem to fully stop that. But before I eat anything (not one of my 3 planned meals), I ask myself am I hungry or is it in my head, am I thirsty, I then take a drink of water (6-8oz) and see if im still feeling hungry.  If I still feel like I want to eat it, I then think of what I would have to do to work it off, that usually does the trick. 

I've been on Metformin for a while now, and it definitely helped me curb my outrageous carb intake. At the time, I was ingesting more than 450g of starch every day (I was on a practically all-white-rice-diet. Not diet as in "trying to lose weight" - diet as in "ooo, rice. Gimme. Another please!"). With the changes that Metformin &  armour thyroid brought about in my body & my eating, I went down from 311 lbs to 265 lbs. That was in 2005. since then, I've bounced around from 265 to 190 and right back up again. But then again, if this was easy, I wouldn't be looking to an online support network for help! =D


The thing that I've found to be the most helpful in curbing my appetite is upping my protein intake. I use an online food diary, and when I start to notice myself getting hunger pangs or strong cravings, I look at the day's breakdown of food by %. Usually, the carb % is higher than the protein % on those days. The next snack/meal, I make sure it is protein rich solid food - not a protein shake or supplement, but slices of lean deli meat, cheese, or baked/grilled/steamed chicken breast. Sometimes, a spoonful of lean ground meat does the trick. Sometimes, I need a good 3 oz serving. The hardest part is always the first 30 mins after I've eaten a meal. After that, the protein does its magic and I am on track for another 3 hours. 


Anyone else have any tactics they want to share with everyone?


Somayeh
h: 311/c: 255/l: 190/g: 145

Water upon waking in the am
protien shake 1st thing in my system
coffee
water water water and sugar free gum. I drink at least a gallon of PLAIN water everyday. ...

I am currently doing the HCG program. I take 150 units of HCG daily and do the Dr Simeons diet. The diet looks horrible when you first read about it, but when you actually start, it is not that bad. The hard part is finding recipes for the foods that you can eat. A good thing about the HCG, you can titrate it up to 200 units/day if you feel overly hungry.  I plan to have the DS done later this year, but first I have to lose 35 pounds to be a candidate for the Lap version. You can find out more info about HCG if you google " pounds and inches" Dr Simeons. Good Luck !!