If you’re dieting how do you stay strong as the day goes on?

[Everythingaches]

I start off each day really determined but often get hungry in the evenings and find it so hard not to snack. Any tips?
Afternoons can be a challenge too.
Generally my meals are healthy but I struggle with snacking,

It's really not, 'food noise' in my experience is something that quells itself if you ignore it for long enough.

Op I was in your shoes, honestly the first few weeks are the hardest then your body just seems to adjust. I lost 2 stone about a year ago(went from a bmi of 25 to 20) and have kept it off. For me distraction was a good one, I learnt how to crochet and that kept me busy in the evenings and quelled the food thoughts. If I was really hungry I'd eat something that was high in protein low on sugar, even a boiled egg works fine. Like I said though starting was the hardest, a lot of it, especially evening eating is just habit. It takes time to break it but after a month it really wasn't so much of an issue anymore, my body just accepted that we eat less now and was fine with it.

So you really think weight loss injections are the answer?
there are so many risks and unknowns plus a huge cost as I wouldn’t qualify.
I can’t believe how many people are using them, terrifies me.

I can’t believe how many people are using them, terrifies me

when people struggle with their weight it’s often easier to be annoyed at others that are managing it through weight loss injections - even to see it as ‘cheating.’ But if you do a bit of research into how they work it’ll make more sense. And it’s not terrifying. 1 in 5 people in the US are taking WLM and for the first time in about 50 years there’s been a reduction in obesity. It’s not only life changing, it’s society changing.

there are relatively few risks, and fewer unknowns as these drugs have been prescribed to Diabetics for over 25 years.

And I appreciate money is hard for many but it’s about £120 a month (barely anyone gets it on NHS) which for a lot of people is manageable. Anyway, I’ll leave you to it. I’m not trying to convince you as it doesn’t matter to me! Good luck with your journey

OP, I’ve just lost a stone and a half on WeightWatchers and the whole thing of ‘zero point’ foods worked really well for me. It meant that asong as I was sticking to my points, I could have snacks of zero point foods like fruit, zero fat yoghut,

I’m not someone who can manage just on three meals and it worked really well for me.

I'd be very tempted to do weight loss injections at current 27 BMI myself, but it seems you can't get them unless you have a BMI of 30?

I'm an evening snacker too. I just accept it and plan accordingly.
Every night I have a bowl of berries with yoghurt and a couple of spoonfuls of granola (with low cal caramel sauce on top) and later a small pkt of crisps.
It's enough to satisfy both sweet and savoury cravings.

The less you have the less you want tbh.

Protein is your friend. Also, remember why you started.

And go clean your teeth!

I plan a late night snack, which is not high in calories, but is enough so it's yummy and I can sleep not hungry. I cannot go to bed hungry. I can't fast, it's just not in my nature, so eating smaller portions, spread out over the day works for me.

Some ideas that help me avoid snacking:

• eating 3 filling meals each day.

• only eating at dinner table. It's a lot less tempting to snack on a bag of crisps etc sitting at a table in the evening than to lie on sofa in front of TV.

• drinking sparkling water and just generally staying hydrated.

• at end of meal cleaning teeth and/or doing something to break my chain of thought from eating (in summer months I like to go a quick walk - i find it totally removes my desire to continue eating.)

• Not buying treats that I know I find difficult not to overeat.

• Having something nice to eat in house - this might seem to contradict above, but I found if I was heading home and had nothing nice to look forward to then I'd pop into local shop and pick up a treat - and I would then eat the whole thing that evening (like a share bag of chocolate or something). Now I make sure I have some biscuits or similar in house. It means on way home I find it relatively easy to avoid buying a treat, and when I am home I usually don't bother having the biscuit or just have one as it's nothing fancy, just a chocolate digestive or something.

Are you focused on protein, training, exercising?

I used to train and found having a bowl of Greek yogurt with fruit and seeds mid evening just stopped all snacking, I'd add in some chocolate protein powder.

My other evening snack is porridge, with fruit, or some Nutella stirred in.

I'd factor that into my day, a pre bed snack!

But if you are staying low calories get some jelly's in the fridge, less than 90 calories and they keep you busy.

I’ve lost 7kg in the last 7 weeks.

The best way to keep hunger and cravings at bay, for me, is to maximise protein intake.

I eat 1200 calories per day with an absolute minimum 100g of protein. I eat lots of chicken breast, lean beef/pork/turkey mince, fish, eggs, Greek yogurt and whey protein powder.

When prioritising protein I never really feel the need to snack, which is pretty revolutionary for me because I used to be such a snacker, particularly with sweet treats in the evening.

What’s your current protein intake?

Monjouro. Works for me.

I hate the words sweet treat. They make me hysterical 😅

I used to have two ryvita with a low calorie topping if I was really hungry. Drink lots of water. Your stomach will shrink and you won’t be hungry after a week or two.

I think I’m going to make just one change for now. For the next two weeks no snacking after my evening meal. If I’m still hungry I will have yoghurt and fruit but that’s it.
By just making one change it feels less overwhelming.