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?

BreadandWine
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.

Warning: this method could trigger weight gain, ill health, depression, mood swings, lack of concentration and/or binge eating/ bulimia for quite a few people.

There is no reason not to eat good food frequently and have some treats and still be able to lose weight.

I feel a little bit hungry when I'm dieting but I suspect it's more feeling peckish than actual hunger. I tend to have four meals a day and no snacks at all.

Surely, feeling a bit hungry is ok - even if you are not dieting.

Sometimes if I do something very physical such as a long run or bike ride I feel really hungry afterwards. It makes the food taste extra nice.

Agree.

I've lost a lot of weight but I've recently been put on a new medication and my appetite is astounding. I can eat a meal then 30mins after feel like I need something else. This constant feeling is awful. I accepted hunger when it was for weight loss, but now I'm hungry just trying to maintain. Its horrible.

So sorry Gray, that sounds so difficult for you. Could the medication be changed?

Totally agree. I hate the hunger, which starts off as niggling but handable, then day 7 I'm half way through a pot of ice cream in a ravenous fury before I realise, damn! This is supposed to be hard! Put the ice cream down and walk away...

When my kids were little I rarely gave them snacks. I wasn't strict about it but generally we just ate at meal times. Now they are adults I find they still don't snack very much and I wonder if it's because they are used to waiting for meal times.

I know kids shouldn't get hungry but I don't think they need 'topping up' every hour or so.

Bollocks. I'm hungry after a work out/swim. But not generally. On 1200 kcal a day + up to half of my exercise calories, lost over 2 stone in 5 monthss

But the contents of my meals have totally changed. I eat a lot of veg (tomatoes courgette mushrooms kale leek), egg and salmon or chicken. I'm usually stacking up 7-8 vegetable portions (80 g)

I am a massive snacker. But now I have swapped popcorn for crisps. I discovered fake mini magnum and usually fit one of these in most days.

I have eaten Dominoes, Chinese, fish and chip. Obviously not every night but I've made it fit within the calorie

kings I've had a lot of different ones, each one either stopped working or resulted in me vomiting or having insomnia. This one is mirtazapine and is okay so far, but it's also an appetite stimulant. I'll stick with it for now because I can't cope otherwise but my god, it's awful. It's not even the belly knawing hunger, it's like an itch that needs to be scratched. Every day I feel like I'm denying myself of food even though I'm eating well. But it's something I'm going to have to get used to. Thankyou for replying!

"I feel a little bit hungry when I'm dieting but I suspect it's more feeling peckish than actual hunger"

Oh yeah

Huge difference between hunger and famished.
You need to get to the point where you don't fulfill every craving or fill the boredom with food.
But if that pang does actually turn in to proper insatiable hunger then you take care of it with good food. Turkey burger and a handful of broccoli etc.

But you do need to learn to be able to chill on the couch or go to bed feeling a little bit hungry

I'm not by any means saying you need to be constantly hungry btw

But if you are in a cut cycle it's generally an unfortunate byproduct.

When you get insatiable you fill it with protein or greens.

It's completely different to day to day living when you're just at your walking around weight.
But cutting over a 8-12 week period takes proper commitment

No.

Being hungry just makes you think about food and eating - and that's the last thing you need. If part of managing your weight means you're hungry you're eating the wrong food.

Managing weight is different from losing weight springy

So, sorry Grays if that is for depression.
I wonder if eating protein and vegetables and whole grains and some oil including hemp oil frequently might help all round including with your hunger, if you aren't getting much of those already?

Chromium is supposed to help against sugar cravings, and too much sugar lowers the body's seratonin, but perhaps better ask if there are contra-indications with your medication.

If depression, maybe one day when it is getting a bit better and your doctor said it would be Ok you could see if there were a natural nutritional alternative.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16542786
B vitamins & Vitamin D (in a dark place) too

Grays Does the mirtazapine make you feel a bit drowsy?

YY Grays.

Sorry to hear about the new meds.

Grays, I'm on mirtazapine and this happened every time my dose was increased. It wears off after about 6 weeks (ime, could be sooner.) But, yes, it is raging hunger and I find that what I want/need is carbs, the more the better! The medication 'works' for me, so I reckon fuckit. I'm only going to gain several a few pounds, then it stops.

As a scientific bod, you might be interested in the apparent reason for this: it seems mirtazapine locks an extra glucose molecule in the cells. Don't ask me which cells and which other medications do this; I've forgotten! Net result is less glucose roaming around the bloodstream, so brain calculates you must be desperate for food.

I'm pretty sure my cells could do with all the energy they can get, so that's fine by me

garlic thankyou so much for that! That;s exactly what I feel too, carbs carbs carbs. Also I've had this 500g chocolate bar in my fridge for agesss (mum bought it for me) and never touched it but when commenced on these I've found myself gravitating to it. Thats not me at all.

And mega thanks for the explination, it's always interesting to know and sort of helps me fight against it IYSWIM.

I really hope it stops. When i was at work, well I'm usually fine working 13 hour shifts and eating on the odd break I have - but I found myself actively seeking food and it scared me. Stuffing biscuits in my mouth in the nurses break room!

You've made me feel loads better, just knowing I'm not alone. Thankyou x

Gray i hope you eat some small meals quite often though during those long shifts! Not eating every three hours would worsen problems for me.

I really wish i could kind. I often have to go 8 hours without anything and even then it's to grab something really quick. Thats why I found it so shocking that all of a sudden i found myself needing to go into a ward kitchen and grabbing digestives. I couldn't stop myself! I'm usually fine, stomach grumbles as you would expect but not this insidious need for food. I felt like a starving person, I know thats horrible to say but its the only way I can describe it.

Does eating 3 hourly help you though? I don't think I'd be able to get any help from who manages me but I'm interested at the small meals often stuff as it sounds perfect for my days off

Gray, absolutely. Eating a little food often can go a very long way to preventing depression and mood swings. Even, if depression is for a good reason like a bereavement, it can still help deal with it as opposed to going further down under. (Also some nutritional supplements as said before.)

Start with a really good breakfast with something that gives out sugar gradually like plain porridge, mixed with protein like milk or a handful of seeds and then an egg or two and a piece of brown toast.

Could you take ready a small stock of easy to grab snacklets in a little nap sack for breaks? Cater for at least four.
Examples: Brown bread sandwich with peanut butter or cheese cut into quarters so it's easy to eat. An small apple (like a children's lunch box one) and a handful of nuts. A protein drink like Good Hemp in a small airtight beaker. A small container of plain full fat yogurt with some flax seeds and berries. A small pot of cottage cheese with some raw vegetable chopped in. Some celery sticks with houmous (you could make your own without garlic for work). All in tiny lock-tight pots. Some soup in a flask, (you could buy ready made like Covent Garden and add lentils for extra protein).

You could have these little things, one at a time, in about five minutes each if necessary.

If you have a slow cooker you could make something a.m. to await you at home after your evidently very long, tiring day.

YANBU.
The horror and fear of feeling hungry is what causes obesity.
We've forgotten that it's perfectly normal, biological response. Like feeling tired.
This bullshit you read about some diets ... "And you'll never feel hungry!" screams to me that it ain't gonna work.
Learn that hunger is ok, you're not going to die from a pang, and yes, you'll lose weight by not constantly needing to protect yourself from a hunger pang.

I agree with this. Hunger doesn't kill you. I'm losing weight at the moment, going really well, and I have to accept that I'll be hungry for part of my day. But as I go on, it bothers me less

Yanbu of course

If you are cutting down portions and eliminating snacks then you are going to feel hungry.

Yes I do go to bed hungry and I wake up hungry. I know it's not of the end of the world and it won't kill me (I've had hyperemesis and have a good idea of what would kill me) but it's unpleasant and unnatural. So yeah I'm hungry, not peckish or bored or thirsty or conditioned by my Western upbringing. How patronising.

I'm on Slimming World and lost 1.5 stone - honestly never been hungry.

Those of you who feel hungry/don't feel hungry... how many calories are you consuming per day?