First week without dairy, hungry all the time...advice?
Posted by theodamus on Oct 07, 2008 · Member since Oct 2008 · 2960 posts
Hey folks,
Recently discovered I'm lactose intolerant so cut out the dairy in my life, a week on I'm going fine foodwise (making delicious stuff and perfectly happy as far as tastes go) but I seem to be really hungry all the time. I didn't really eat much dairy before so I'm quite surprised, wouldn't have thought I got that much protein from it but it seems I am missing something. Any advice? I don't want to start eating twice as much!
Also it looks like I'm going to be up veeeery late tonight studying, I don't drink caffeine at all or eat sugar, any sneaky more natural stay-awake sources?
Loving this site by the way, I swear I'm getting addicted...
When I gave up dairy for a bit, the thing/nutrient I found lacking in my diet wasn't protein or calcium, but rather fat!! Fat and whole grains are what keep you feeling "full/satiated"....
Late night studies=tofu jerky, protein=brain food, and I found chewing on jerky helped me focus on what I was studying.
Haha awesome I shall have to figure out how to "get fat" ;D ohhh I amuse myself. Tofu jerky sounds delicious I must seek some out... Thanks :)
Some soy jerky is so "meat-like" it might freak you out a bit at first. My daughter is a huge consumer of the Primal Strips stuff (link below). All of our HFSs carry it, usually up near the register. Tofurky makes a nice peppery one too.
http://www.primalspiritfoods.com/Home.html
i like to drink carrot juice, it has a lot of natural sugars in it. i think beet juice has a lot of sugar in it too. you could try one of those to keep you awake! i bet if you look at naked or bolthouse juices, they'll say something like "calming" "energy" stuff like that to tell you what the juice can do for you. so i would pick the energy one.
You could have oatmeal in the morning and popcorn is a great late night snack. Both of these are whole grain foods and all of the fiber will keep you full for a long time. To stay alert have an ice cold glass of water, invigorating.
I second the fat! toffutti better than cream cheese is a good sub for cream cheese on a bagel if you miss that. Earth Balance is the perfect sub for butter. Peanut & other nut butters or just plain nuts are really good. I also really like coconut milk, avocado and I use flax oil as much as possible. These will all give you a little more lasting satisfaction.
Congrats on cutting out dairy! Cheese pizza was the only thing that kept me from being vegan for sooo long. Damn dairy cheese. Good for you!
I like to put nuts on a lot of things. I buy bags of several different nuts- walnuts, pecans, almonds, pine nuts, etc., mix them together in a large sealed container for storage, then add a couple spoonfuls to meals as a topping. I even have a small travel container that I take to restaurants to liven up the boring house salads. They seem to have a filling effect. Nutty marinara sauce over whole wheat pasta = yum. Good luck studying tonight!! Drink plenty of water- that will at least keep you up running to the bathroom frequently!
I second the fat! toffutti better than cream cheese is a good sub for cream cheese on a bagel if you miss that. Earth Balance is the perfect sub for butter. Peanut & other nut butters or just plain nuts are really good. I also really like coconut milk, avocado and I use flax oil as much as possible. These will all give you a little more lasting satisfaction.
i was going to suggest the same things. in terms of not falling asleep i find a couple of things help: when you find your self dozing off do a few push ups or jumping jacks. OORRR eat mostly raw foods, they seem to help (me at least) be less tired and more focused.
I eat a lot of homemade hommous since I became a vegan (a few months ago)... I add a lot of olive oil to it and some flaxseed oil (for omega 3), and dip homemade falafel in it when I get home from the gym. It's very filling and seems to sort out the lack of fats in my diet. I make a huge batch of falafel pretty often and practically live off them (they make great wraps with a bit of lettuce and some sweet chilli sauce, too).
There are some great falafel recipes on vegweb... :)>>>
Late night studies=tofu jerky, protein=brain food, and I found chewing on jerky helped me focus on what I was studying.
There have been studies done that show chewing gum can help people to focus. My friend teaches at a school where they allow the children to chew gum during standardized tests because of this. Jerky probably has the same effect. It must be the chewing... Try eating something super chewy while you study, theodamus!
You know what else, it might just be a temporary effect of the diet change. I mean, do make sure you are getting all your nutrients, but give it a little more time as well. It might go away.
It also might just be calories. Maybe you just need to eat a little more to make up the difference.
I agree with the fat. When I don't get enough fat for a few days in a row I'm famished.
You know what else, it might just be a temporary effect of the diet change. I mean, do make sure you are getting all your nutrients, but give it a little more time as well. It might go away.
I second this. i was contantly hungry for a couple of months when I dropped dairy. then it got better.
I eat a lot of homemade hommous since I became a vegan (a few months ago)... I add a lot of olive oil to it and some flaxseed oil (for omega 3), and dip homemade falafel in it when I get home from the gym. It's very filling and seems to sort out the lack of fats in my diet. I make a huge batch of falafel pretty often and practically live off them (they make great wraps with a bit of lettuce and some sweet chilli sauce, too).
There are some great falafel recipes on vegweb... :)>>>
Whats the best falafel recipe? mine always seems to fall apart and/or feels too mushy
I always make redflower's "Perfect Falafel"... It hasn't let me down yet. If you find that it's a bit moist for your liking, just add about a tablespoon of dry couscous, rolled oats or breadcrumbs to the mix and let it sit a while and that will make them firmer by soaking up some of the liquid. Do try it by the recipe first though because the mixture seems quite moist before frying but firms up, especially if you're going to eat them cold a while after cooking.
I don't know how to do links properly, but here it is: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=13970.0
I agree about needing fat. I get those little cans of almonds, my fav is the jalapeno flavor. when I start craving them or avocado, I know I need more fat in my diet
I was hungry all the time as well. However, I found for me that fiber was the key. (ooh, a rhyme)
And in eating fiber you don't have to increase you daily calorie intake. Just consider switching over to whole wheat bread (or sprouted grain hemp which has 14g of fiber in one serving), whole wheat pasta, brown rice, etc. This really helped me a lot. Most people don't get enough fiber, you should be getting at least 25g a day. I've found that if I at least hit 20g in a day, I feel full and satisfied.