To think you need to deal with a certain amount of hunger to lose weight?

[Cushionwoman]

I feel this way.

I've done exercise and healthy eating. Yes I felt better. But did I ever really lose weight? No.

I'm now sticking to three healthy, smaller meals with no snacking and it's working.

I do go to bed hungry though.

The only other time in my life when I've actually lost weight I had to do this too.

Is that the true nature of a proper lose weight diet? A certain amount of hunger and discipline?

Or is it just me?

Ha. I have realised 'it's OK to feel hungry'. I seem to have had an irrational fear of not being able to access food, so ensured I always 'topped up'. Now I just remind myself I'll be having a meal/snack in half an hour or whatever, and I've learned to live with being slightly hungry. (Too hungry, and I get grumpy and can't think of anything else!!) . I often just drink water of coffee and that resolves the hunger issue.

So, not sure if it's essential, but it's something I've certainly had to accommodate.

Jillythe Dependable i know what you mean about fruit being sugar and eating too much fruit not helping, but I think a very little, with some protein to go with it, for one or two small between meal snacks is ok and full of vitamins and fibre. For example, a small apple with about eight almonds. Some not too sweet berries in about a tablespoonful of plain yogurt. some cottage cheese with green pepper.

I feel something is wrong OP that you are so hungry, and agree with those mentioning insulin spikes possibly being the cause together with not enough vegetables and not enough good fat.

IwasHere
I have read that coffee causes spikes and crashes and increases hunger and helps keep weight on. Try to keep to just one cup a day.

This is in Ian Marber The Food Doctor diet.

Those who say they never feel hungry, how do you get your que to eat? It's mealtime, you're not hungry, you eat anyway?

tooold the massive problem is there is no one thing fits all when it comes to dieting and in some respects 'healthy' eating. I'm certain the reason there are so many diet plans and so many advocates out there is down to the fact that different people have different responses, whether physical or mental, and that means what works for me won't necessarily work for you. But what I would say is if you want to lose weight then try something, if it doesn't work then try something else. Also be aware of issues like plateaus which happen to everyone losing weight, so don't dismiss things quickly.

caveat I lost a lot of weight doing 5:2 years ago, I've maintained that weight with relative ease because I trained myself to eat in a better way, I could wax lyrical about it all day. But I know others for who it just did nothing for at all, but low carb/slimming world/low GI did.

Every time I've lost weight, I've felt hungry, I mean proper tummy rumbling. However you need to train yourself to not worry about it, I'd just have a big drink of water and wait tip for next meal.

I think I agree OP.

I read about the benefits of low carb eating meaning no hunger. But I think I'd rather eat everything but in smaller quantities and deal with intermittent hunger than face never (or hardly ever) eating bread, potatoes, rice, chocolate or cake.

I really should get up and walk around as Fitbit won't be happy

You make it sound a bit like a Tamagotchi, FluffyPersian. I want one now!

I'm doing slimming world and am not hungry at all. In fact I'm sure I eat more than I did before, it's just better food. I've lost almost 1.5 stone in 7 weeks

YY StrictlyMum Totally agree.

I've lost three stone and kept it off by cutting out processed foods and sugar. I've not been hungry really, I eat lots of fruit (as I'm often too lazy to prepare food), full fat dairy (milk, cheese, Greek yoghurt, butter), veg, nuts (we don't absorb all the fat from nuts as the particles are too big), eggs, a small amount of fish and occasionally pasta, bread and cereal.
I did start using MFP but it made me obsess about food...if it told me I had 200 calories left I'd raid the cupboard for something to eat even if I wasn't hungry!
I am trying to cut back on caffeine but a cup of coffee definitely curbs my appetite!
I don't think it's as simple as calorie counting, your body uses more calories breaking down 100 calories of fat than 100 calories of sugar.

It's not a sustainable way to live long term. However I do think it's good to retrain your appetite and stop eating and snacking out of habit or boredom.

"If your body needs 1800 calories a day and you're on a 'diet' and only eating 1300 then there is a deficit, so surely yo're bound to feel a bit hungry"

But you're not necessarily eating less food, just fewer calories.

Its calories (energy in) and calories out so yes, you do need to feel a bit hungry. Ok, you could eat 20 lettuce leaves which would make you feel full for about an hour, then hunger sets in.

I don't think you should go to bed hungry. You're about to spend 8 hours without eating anyway. At least have some cocoa (without milk & sugar, if you're keen) and a banana. Both help with sleep, too.

Its calories (energy in) and calories out
That has generally been questioned now days, hasn't it?.
A calorie is not a calorie. Different calories have different metabolic effects.

It would not work to eat lettuce leaves, but say chicken or fish (or lentils or tofu or eggs) with a large salad of lettuce leaves, cucumbers. green pepper some tomatoes and a very little olive oil would be fine. Or a two egg omelette with broccoli or spinach with a little oil. You will not feel hungry after food like that, will feel full of energy etc probably move more, will gain muscle of you exercise.

Also small snacks and water increase the metabolism too.

cherrytree's way sounds good.

I lost weight on slimming world on the old green plan, which was basically HCLF.

I was never hungry, because you have to eat so much veg on it. It just fills you up.

It's about finding a diet that you can stick to and where you don't feel deprived. That will vary by person.

But I do believe in more veg and less sugar. Sugar is just so addictive though.

Yes. YANBU, feeling (and being) thinner for me is being hungry with a rumbly belly

I think we are not familiar with real hunger now so sometimes, when on a diet, we confuse the empty feeling of less quantity or fewer stodgy carbs with hunger. I agree that low carb, high fat keeps you from feeling true hunger but you can still feel empty

Those who say they never feel hungry, how do you get your que to eat? It's mealtime, you're not hungry, you eat anyway?

More or less. I'm one the lucky ones who never feel hunger - not even when I once fasted for 48 hours! I lost 24lbs over a few months practicing 5:2, and now I've kept the same weight for over three years maintaining with 6:1.

I no longer eat breakfast, so I'm basically doing 16:8. This allows me to over-indulge in cake/biscuits/chocolate, etc - which I'm now getting under control by only allowing myself these things on 2 days a week.

I wish someone, somewhere, would be able to give actual stone cold solid facts about weight loss.

The 5:2 WOL is grounded in hard science. Check out all the links here in the OP of this thread.

The help and support - and the sheer friendliness - shown on this thread makes it one of the best threads on Mumsnet!

I actually quite like the feeling of being a bit hungry, it makes me look forward to and enjoy meals more.

I think somehow over the years (probably since snacking became so popular), many people have started to see hunger as a 'bad' thing, rather than a natural thing.

Times have changed and now instant gratification is what people are growing up with, so of course they find hunger difficult to deal with. It's no longer seen as a normal every day thing.

If you're hungry before bed, a warm milky drink can really take the edge off it and help you sleep better.

almondpudding so did i

fakename Okay, before my last post I was actually very hungry. I'd eaten loads during the day - I'm pretty relaxed on Fridays anyway, and it's been a fairly crap week for me food-wise, and I did a 6k run earlier in the evening. So I was hungry. I was just marking time before DP was ready for us to eat.

Dinner was actually what I prepared last night, but ended up not eating because something happened - not related to him - that made me decide I'd rather go to bed without having dinner. So I did. When I was falling asleep last night I was a bit hungry, but I knew it didn't matter - I wouldn't wake up hungry, I'd have breakfast before work and I'd be fine.

So anyway, tonight we had dinner, and when I started eating I was hungry, as you should be. I ate until I was full, then stopped. I know that before I eat breakfast tomorrow I will be really hungry again, because I'm going to have a lie-in and then go to an exercise class, so no time to eat before. When I eat, I'll be really hungry. But again, I'll stop when I'm full, and I won't eat again for maybe 6 hours, by which point I will be hungry again.

So, yes, I do skip meals (most often dinner, seldom breakfast) because I am not feeling hungry. Or I'll have a very late breakfast on weekends, then a snack after a run, then not eat again before bed.

Agree with op 100%

Went from
25 to 8 % body fat in the last 10 months