To hope that I can cretrain my appetite?

[Titterofwit]

Ive been quite ill for a week which has had the benefit of curtailing my appetite.
I have a rubbish diet overall and exist on instant soup or sandwiches bolstered with crisps and chocolate at work with fries or curry at home as i work full time and its quick and easy. I will also have a couple of chocolate biscuits or a small cake for 'pudding' every day. I rarely eat fruit as Im not a fan .Im hungry most of the time.Im also very overweight .
But since Ive not been well its been such a release not to feel hungry all of the time.Ive been conscious that Im currently eating a tiny amount - 2 small slices of wholemeal bread for one days intake for example. I havent died.I like the feeling but I fear that once im back at work the old habits will come back.
Has anyone managed to retrain their brain/stomach to expect less food ?And how?

Sounds like you should try fasting. Michael Moseley's Fast 800 plan might be just what you need. Google it and have a look at the talk pages on MN about it

I lost 5 stone in 8 months and have maintained for over a year. Protein and veg was game changer for me. Never hungry. I do SlimmingWorld which gets slated on here but it’s just healthy eating cooking from scratch. 1/3 plate veg each meal. What stands out from your list is you are mainly eating rubbish not real food. Breakfast I eat a lot of eggs, skyr or 0% Greek and berries. Lunch homemade soup - takes 21 mins in soup maker and does 2 or 3 lunches with pulses etc do it’s filling. Dinner all sorts of stuff I like the pinch of nom recipe books. I eat some carbs but not every meal. Very little bread.

olivesnutsandcheese Thank you.I hadnt considered fasting as a continuation.Ive dabbled at the edges of fasting but not followed a plan. Ill take a look.

Dixiechickonhols - well done! Thats an amazing achievement.
I love home made soup but never seem to have much luck with it- it always turns out an uninspiring brown sludge. But Pinch of nom might be a good way to get back in the cooking saddle.
My main problem seems to be at work . I start out with good intentions but invariably decide to treat myself far too often. So Ill start the week with a toasted wholemeal pitta with hummus say.By the end of the week it will be a cheese sandwich ,bag of crisps and a chocolate snack. Plus anything else I can manage to pick up .
Ive made a note to see if I can get the pinch of nom books for xmas .My DH will be thrilled to have a request he can fulfill.

look up dr Fung for fasting, very important not to limit your calories intake to a caloric deficit though, or you'll wreck your metabolism, you limit when you eat, not how much!

I've lost two stone this year, largely by cutting out bread, sugar and salt, and eating a simpler diet. Lots of eggs, lots of vegetables, lots of fish, endless snacking on cucumber and grapes. No additives or sauces or dressing. Less meat.

I genuinely feel amazing; I am healthier and have so much more energy. It's incredible how your taste buds adapt too - the junk just doesn't taste as good as it used to, and you begin to enjoy the fruit and veg more. Or that's happened for me at least.

The first few weeks were hard though! You're effectively breaking addictions after all.

My appetite has changed. So it is possible.
I can forget to eat nowadays & I sure wasn't like that as a young person.
I also used to emotionally eat a lot but then I figured out that if I sorted out things that were stressing me out that I relied less and less on mouthing food to emotionally cope.

The more you do it the easier it gets.
I only want to eat when I am going to super enjoy my food, and that's only when I'm truly hungry. So it's worth waiting as long as comfortably possible before I eat.

And then only eat enough to satiate hunger, don't eat for pleasant mouth sensations.
Not that complicated.

Hard part was learning how ot figure out what is stressing me out and then doing what I can about it, and believing that will tend to be enough to get me thru (emotionally).

I agree with fasting.
I was overweight until I was 21, I lost 5 stone on weight watchers, I didn’t enjoy it, felt restricted but found some will power from somewhere!
I have since had 2 children and have been followed the fast 800 diet after the birth of my youngest last year. It’s LIFE CHANGING. I’m
Never hungry, I stick to protein/veg and full fat dairy. Now I’ve lost the weight I needed to (3.5 stone) I stick to the diet 5 days a week, however I’ve found even when I allow myself the weekend off, I’m not that hungry. I’ll eat things I don’t usually eat like toast, pasta etc but it’s a lot smaller than the portions I used to it as I am genuinely not hungry.