How to eat in a calorie deficit and not be bloody starving!!

@flossie232 protein and salad .. guaranteed!

also I am having collagen throughout the day and due to it’s protein content it makes me less hungry

I lost 5 kg since May (strict in the week, no limits in the weekend)

finally hunger means you’re losing weight, so good sign if you can tolerate

I eat 1400 calories a day and am rarely hungry

Breakfast: full fat Greek yoghurt, chia seeds, berries and cherries

Lunch: salad leaves, tomatoes, pine nuts, avocado, jalapeños, cucumber, protein (salmon, tuna, eggs or cottage cheese). Bit of oil and balsamic

Dinner: chicken with loads of veg (broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, courgette, onion) or scrambled eggs with avocado, tomatoes and spinach or stir fried prawns with the above veg and cauliflower rice

One square of dark chocolate after dinner

On heavy exercise days I also have a snack of a protein yoghurt or a protein shake

Just ignore the hunger for a while, you’ll get used to it, honestly! I always feel normal-ish after a week or so if I’ve gone into consistent deficit.

My favourite fast day meal is a whole big bag of stir fry veg, with some soy sauce and garlic, ginger (no oil) and a small chicken breast. Makes a huge bowl, but as there’s no rice or noodles it is very low calorie.

I have Greek yoghurt with no added sugar muesli for office breakfast and eggs on home days.

Low carb (try to pair carbs with a protein), low sugar, lots of veg. I find eating fats for breakfast keeps me fuller for longer. At the moment I'm having a couple of slices of low carb chia bread toasted with butter and full fat Philadelphia and a coffee for breakfast and that fills me up til lunch.

This is good advice.

Cereal for breakfast, bread for lunch, pasta for dinner is an awful diet in so many ways, whoever was in charge of nutrition education when we were all growing up has a lot to answer for.

Vegetables, lean protein, legumes, nuts and seeds, a small amount of fruit and full fat dairy - that's what we should all be eating. Some whole grains but not every meal or the bulk of any meal. Try to avoid anything that comes already made up in a packet.

I found I have to train myself to see hunger as healthy. I always make sure I go to bed hungry to get used to it.

Oh I forgot to say that potatoes and rice are much lower calorie than bread. Try to avoid bread. It’s insanely high calorie and doesn’t really stop you feeling hungry.

Porridge fills me up at breakfast time and is fairly low cal. Lower than yogurt and granola is quite high too.

Try a salad with some tuna for lunch and have it with couscous. Fish is quite low calorie too.

3 egg omelette with loads of veg.

Also have a look at quorn mince and have it with veggies rather than pasta or rice

I find carbs, especially processed ones are high in calories, as is red meat. Make sure at least 1/3 of your plate are vegetables.

A massive bowl of (frozen then defrosted obv) blueberry or other berries at breakfast. - much better for you than a processed cereal bar.

lunch - green veg salad like spinach, broccoli green beans, add a tin of tuna, balsamic for dressing, rice cakes to add a bit on the side. plums, more blueberry or raspberries.

or: I do a tin of tomatoes. Add turmeric and cayenne pepper, eat it like soup with rice cakes or ryvita. 160 kcal lunch.

tea - veg stir fry no oil, chicken breast.
pud: 55 cal yoghurt and a kit kat

thats 800 approx

Lots of people have said protein already so I’m going to talk about fibre and roughage.

First thing in the morning take a psyllium husk tablet with at least 650ml water. This will fill you up.

Try to make your main meal lunch if you can and eat a lighter super. But for both or either focus on lots and lots of vegetables. Get a big bowl, no bigger than that, a wide big bowl not a deep one ideally. Then make a mega salad, you can fill it with a bag of salad leaves to start with then add sliced peppers, mushrooms, spring onions, carrots, spiralised courgette, sliced cabbage or kale, roasted chickpeas (not too many of those), tomatoes (it’s okay to have a lot) and add your protein of choice.

That protein can be chicken or fish if you eat meat, if you’re veggie then eggs, Quorn, tofu (but be aware it’s high in fat) or beans.

You can dress your salad with vinegar but steer clear of oil.

This will fill you up full of roughage which should make you feel pleasantly replete while actually having a low calorie count.

I stick to 1500 calories and as an example, ate this today:

Breakfast = Nothing (16:8 fasting)
Lunch = 1 x tin tuna, 1 x packet salmon, 100g cottage cheese, tomatoes & grapes
Dinner = Chicken breast in yoghurt & spices, rice, brocoli
Snacks = Protein yoghurt, protein shake (with milk)

I go to the gym 4-5 times a week and try to ear 100g protein a day (yesterday was a particularly protein-filled day!) Luckily I like fish for lunch as it's so easy to take to work.

It’s far easier to do 600 calories twice a week and then eat more on the other days. Then you aren’t hungry all the time and by week 4
the fast days are actually fine.

1600 calories daily is just depressing and not sustainable.

It’s still calorie deficit.

Exactly this but Greek yoghurt, lose the granola it's full of sugar and will cause an insulin spike making you feel hungry. High protein lunch , salmon chicken eggs with salad and an olive oil dressing will sustain your hunger levels. Lots of fluids too.Never easy but this makes it much more satisfying hunger wise for me.

More protein
More veg
Smaller eating window

I’ve found it helpful to reframe “I’m starving” as “having an appetite”. I try to eat at a level that will make me hungry about 30mins before the next meal, and welcome the hunger as an indication that I’m ready to eat.

Cut out the cereal bars and granola. Switch to black coffee in the morning, and don't eat until 11/midday. Eat as much protein as possible, and start slowly cutting down your carb intake - try 10g less pasta/potatoes each time you have them.

Protein protein protein. Replace the granola (not that healthy as tends to be high in sugar). Yoghurt and berries are ok, but also have an omelette.
Lunch -salad with some protein like tuna or skinless chicken. Make sure you use lots of cal dressing.
Dinner more protein and veg - roasted veg is yummy, the carrots are a bit like sweet potato fries! If you add carbs make sure they are complex - not pasta or the ce.
High volume, nutrient dense lo calorie food featuring protein is key. Also two bigger meals rather than three smaller might help.

As everyone else has said, more protein, more vegetables. Protein and fibre will stop you feeling so hungry.

Also, psychologically, aiming for a positive target is easier than a negative one (eg avoiding/restricting) So aiming for a certain protein target each day, and aiming for a certain number of fruit or veg. Doing that helps displace some of the other stuff from your diet

Fast. The cereal bar is process and sugar and carbs and makes you hungry. Actually not eating until lunchtime is doable and once I start eating in the day then I’m hungry so starting at lunchtime makes it easier. Granola can also be high carbs and sugar

You need to focus on getting the right calories rather than empty ones.

For example if I have half a pizza for dinner at 500 calories, I would be hungry later on. But if I had a chicken breast and lots of veg I wouldn’t.

Protein is your friend on these types of diets as it will help you to stay feeling fuller for longer.

Eggs. The end.

A cereal bar and a coffee is bugger all in terms of volume and is not going to keep you going til lunch. Cereal bars are very calorie dense. It's why they're so small.

You would be much better served by switching to eggs, porridge, or fruit.

Low carb high protein works fast and is healthy - good for blood sugar - but you have to really stick it out through the first fortnight

Cereal bars, generally a big no. High in carbs.