Since I began tracking my animal sourced protein intake as well as my calories and making a point to eat at least 60 grams of animal sourced protein daily I've dropped 2 pounds.
I've also noted as well as not needing a night time snack, I'm less hungry throughout the day. My calorie intake is at 1600 or below daily. It doesn't take as much willpower to resist food when you're not hungry. And I find eating less carbs overall means I don't crave them either.
Yesterday I had to grab a bite out for lunch, so I took a string cheese and individual low fat cottage cheese with me to have on hand should I need it.
When lunch rolled around I was next to McD's...so being the cheapie that I am I popped in to order off the dollar menu. They have a double cheeseburger for a buck, but I prefer a plain hamburger. And the fries were tempting. But I ordered 2 plain hamburgers...less fat than the hamburger and fries--and 24 grams of protein. Each burger is 12 grams of protein whereas a small order of fries is 2. And I opted for a low fat milk instead of diet soda because artificial sweeteners cause me to crave sweets so I believe they do cause an insulin surge in my body. That gave me 8 more grams of protein for a grand total of 30-ish grams of animal sourced protein. On top of breakfast--which was a 1/2 cup of low fat cottage cheese which I scarfed down in a rush, a string cheese, half a banana that was sitting in a clear container on the counter, and a partially eaten piece of whole wheat toast spread with a teaspoon of real butter I was in good protein wise.
By the time supper rolled around I was not hungry. Since I had to pick hubby up at work we decided to grab a bite at our favorite Greek fast food place. He ordered a plate meal and got an extra plate for me. I had a few bites of his salad, rice, meat and pita and I was full...so full that had I eaten more I'd have been miserable.
I'm not trying to eliminate or avoid carbs...but in making the animal protein the priority, the carbs get limited because I'm counting calories too. For health reasons I'm making it a point to eat healthy carbs.
For some reason I've been craving, of all things, celery. I'm not a big celery fan unless it's filled with peanut butter or cream cheese. But plain celery beckons my palate these days.
So if you find you're having trouble staying in your range due to hunger and cravings, check out your animal protein intake. (I find that the veg sourced protein doesn't have the same good effect on my appetite so I don't count it toward my goal.)
While it's a pain to have to eat more animal food than I'd like, if it's what my body needs to shed excess fat I guess I need to take heed.