Dealing with Hunger while "Dieting"

I can tell I'm full force into this diet now because I'm pretty much hungry all the time and my meals only keep me full for about an hour to an hour and a half.  If I weren't trying to cut my body fat for a figure competition, I'd probably increase my calorie intake slightly, but I need a deficit, so I am just suffering through.  I'm not "starving" yet, so I'm doing ok, but if I get to that point and I'm losing weight, then I guess I'll readjust.  Currently I haven't really lost any weight, but it's only been about a week and half and I also am taking creatine for muscle building, which causes you to retain water.  And of course I still have some sodium in my diet (although it's been averaging around 1500 mg/day, so not too bad - I'm aiming to get below 1,000 and eventually a few weeks before the competition, cut it as close to 0 as possible, which means drinking distilled water over regular water and doing crazy stuff, but I'll learn more about that when I get there).

Tonight I made up a new recipe for crockpot chicken.  I find grilled chicken breasts utterly disgusting as a leftover meal, but I don't have time to grill one up every single day, so I've been using the crockpot a lot.  It helps the chicken soak in the flavor of the herbs & seasonings better.  Tonight's recipe -

Lemony Italian Chicken
2.5 lbs. chicken breast (or however much you want - this was just the package I had)
1 c. low sodium chicken broth for every pound of chicken (or sub water if you are really wanting to keep sodium low)
1-2 whole lemons juiced
dried herbs - I didn't measure - I just shook them to coat the chicken breasts - mix of whatever herbs you want - I used an Italian blend - thyme, garlic powder, oregeno & basil.  You could also make it a lemon curry by using curry seasoning like turmeric, garam marsala, curry, etc.
Cook in slow cooker on low anywhere from 3-7 hours (this is not something I would cook all day because the chicken will be dried out - I put frozen breasts in so it will probably take 6-7 hours, but if they are not frozen, I would check after 2-3 hours)

* I will post pictures in tomorrow's blog.

Today I just did cardio - 20 min on bike at easy pace in the morning & 30 min Interval training on treadmill in evening (5 min warm/5 min cool with 1 min on/30 seconds off sprints for 20 minutes).  I drink 10 g. BCAAs in my water in the morning while on my bike since I don't eat beforehand - I read that's the best way to retain muscle while doing fasted cardio.  Not sure if it's true, but it can't hurt!

Today's Diet was clean, but I was pretty hungry this afternoon between meals.  I drank a lot of herbal tea & water to keep my belly feeling full.
Breakfast - after bike ride - 1/2 c. oats with 1/2 c. raspberries & 1 packet stevia to sweeten.  1 egg + 1/3 c. egg whites scrambled with pepper
Snack - 2 turkey meatballs (just 4 oz. ground turkey with herbs & shredded carrots baked in oven) & carrots/celery
Lunch - 4 oz. chicken breast, 4 oz. sweet potato w/cinnamon, 1 c. broccoli
Really hungry after lunch :(
Snack - Pure Protein Bar (it has no sugar - uses sugar alcohols like xylitol so low carb)
Pre-Gym Cardio #2 - whey protein w/1/2 c. pineapple (fresh so no sugar added in juice) & 2 wasa light rye crisps
Dinner - haven't eaten yet but it will be 1/2 of a 7 oz. can of salmon with chopped up ginger mixed in & 1 tsp sesame seed oil for seasoning, squeeze of lime served with steamed bok choy, mushrooms & carrots (if you aren't cutting carbs you could add 1/2 c. cooked brown rice, but I am not eating carbs at dinner so no rice for me).  If I'm hungry after dinner I'll have some more herbal tea :(  I usually save my whey shake for before bed but i didn't my evening cardio later than usual and was starving, so I drank my shake so I would have energy to get through the cardio or I know I would've bonked.