To think that to stay in the healthy weight range I'm going to be hungry 70% of the time for the rest of my life.

[AliceAbsolum]

I've tried eating when I feel hungry, I put on about half a stone a month. Bmi is about 22.

I eat a balanced, protein rich diet based on lean fish, loads of veg, etc. But about an hour after eating each meal I'm generally hungry. Don't drink alcohol, try to avoid processed foods. Don't feel overly stressed, don't smoke etc etc.
Drives me mad.
I run 5 miles most days just to be able to eat an extra 400kcal!
Urgh.
Anyone else?

Yeah I felt like I really had to "try" to maintain my weight when I had a BMI of 22 but not so much with a BMI of 24 (just make sure I don't have too much junk) its only about 11 or 12 pounds difference but at the moment I have butter on my toast and hearty portions of healthy food and maintain fairly easily. X

From an evolutionary perspective, I think we are meant to feel hunger as it used to spur us into catching animals for food and foraging. We'd also go for long stretches with little food.
Now, everyone is used to feeling full and eating every 4 hours or more, by snacking.

You can learn to ignore hunger pangs. Once the worst bit is over- the hour or so after which you'd normally eat a meal- it gets easier.

It's a habit our bodies get into - eating at specific times.

If you eat 3 meals a day with no snacking, and makes those meals mainly protein and veg/ fruit, with only a few refined carbs, you ought to be able to maintain a healthy weight.

@OlympicProcrastinator

Yup. I have found I need to live strictly on 1200 calories to stay a healthy weight. I’m starving but if I eat when hungry I just get fat.

Discovered the other day that in the olden days, women generally died shortly after menopause so I figured once we hit 40 plus we are destined to ‘not work’ properly

That’s not accurate. The life expectancy in U.K. in the 1800s was around 40 for women but that is measured as life expectancy at birth and so it is skewed by the high infant mortality, high child mortality, and high childbirth mortality. If you survived infancy, childhood, and child bearing to reach age 40, your life expectancy at age 40 was at a minimum another 25yrs, or 65 yrs old during the 1800s. www.jbending.org.uk/stats3.htm

@CampaignToo

I know it's an unfashionable view but I think you need more carbs, especially if you're running.

I'm always hungry unless I've had potatoes/rice/pasta with my meal.

I'm in my 50s and maintain my weight within healthy guidelines. I don't snack but I'm not hungry. I eat a proper meal until I'm satisfied, then wait until the next meal.

Obviously you are supposed to be hungry as the next mealtime approaches!

That's very old fashioned. I run fasted every morning and don't feel hungry until the afternoon. I force pasta down the night before a marathon but otherwise eat very few carbs. Hydration however, is very important.

with only a few refined carbs
I meant unrefined!

Carbs like white rice, white pasta, potatoes etc are just turned into glucose and have no nutritional value other than calories.

Not sure what you eat OP, but you might find it helps to swap white rice and pasta for brown rice, wholewheat pasta, white bread for wholemeal, swap potatoes for sweet potatoes, and a portion is your fist size.

Chicken and broccoli are excellent weight loss foods! Low calorie and filling

I'm always hungry unless I've had potatoes/rice/pasta with my meal.

This sounds like an emotional/ habitual response. Craving carbs is a bit of an addiction, really, as it's all broken down into sugar.

If you ate a 12 oz steak for example (not saying you should) with a salad, you would be no hungrier than if you'd had less steak and a pile of spuds with it.

That's very old fashioned. I run fasted every morning and don't feel hungry until the afternoon. I force pasta down the night before a marathon but otherwise eat very few carbs. Hydration however, is very important.

Well yes, that is actually what I said.

That works for you. It's not working for OP and it doesn't work for me. I also don't know any serious runner who doesn't eat until afternoon. I won my race this weekend BTW, so I can't be getting it all wrong

@Heliachi

My dad was always slim and once I mentioned it; he shrugged and said "you have to get used to being a little bit hungry most of the time."

I think we fear hunger pangs when we should be welcoming them for our health's sake.

The feeling of being hungry is so unusual to me now, yet I remember at school as a child and teen that I would be absolutely ravenous for large portions of the day, every day. Somewhere in between is probably healthy.

More protein and veg works for me. So skyr or 0% Greek yoghurt or kvarg. Eggs most days - omelettes, scrambled, boiled added to salad. I also eat oats several days a week.

This is my life now I am in menopause.
You don't say how old you are. Everything changed when I crossed 45. My BMI is 23 or so but it fluctuates.
I eat a lot of oatmeal which helps me fill up..

It works - drink more water.

I do wonder sometimes if I got 'trained' into being fearful of hunger pangs via childhood associations with being 'naughty'? If I was really hungry, I'd probably have missed a meal or been unable to finish my sprouts, which meant I'd been shouted at and sent upstairs ... and I may or may not get a smack shortly.

And yes, that's smack not snack. Good job I checked the autocorrect!

I maintain a healthy BMI and I win local running races. Why are people determined to tell me my diet is all wrong?

I think I'm going to try and do low carb. Not keto.
Eat a babybel (joylessly) when I'm starving and would otherwise succumb to toast.

I feel your pain, OP. I’m the same

I had a really awful year in 2019 and ended up on an inadvertent crash diet through stress
But it was the only time since my teens I’ve been able to achieve and maintain a BMI of around 21/22
My daily calorie intake was comfortably below 1000 for 5 or 6 days a week, I was running 15 miles a week and was going to bed at 9pm most nights

As the stress lifted and my appetite came back slightly, I was able to eat a bit more but the weight piled on and I had to up my running and weights to stay below 10 stone, despite only ever having eating 1 or 2 meals a day

I blame my thyroid condition but it’s incredibly frustrating to know I’ve got to chose between clothes fitting or going to bed with gnawing hunger every night

@CampaignToo

I maintain a healthy BMI and I win local running races. Why are people determined to tell me my diet is all wrong?

The two are not mutually exclusive. :)

You could win races on eating Mars bars all day and still be a healthy weight, and win races.

The point being taken up is the fact you said you didn't feel full unless you ate carbs with every meal.

That's just a nonsense and is all in you head :)

I can eat a huge stir fry with loads of veg and chicken/ prawns and feel completely stuffed- don't need the rice.

@CampaignToo

I maintain a healthy BMI and I win local running races. Why are people determined to tell me my diet is all wrong?

Most people aren't about to start incorporating long runs in to their life.

The reality is that most people can only get behind the level abstinence required to lose some weight in the long term if its the few tweaks here and there that are easiest for them. What's easiest for me is not what's easiest for somebody else. I can do a 36 hour fast but I can't do keto.

I stopped cardio other than my daily dog walk and started lifting weights. I can now eat so much food it's ridiculous. I eat more than my dh and don't put on weight. I do drink alcohol but cut out all biscuits/cake etc.

Obviously you all know my body better than I do. I most definitely would not maintain my weight if I lived on mars bars and my running and general energy levels dip significantly when I don't have enough carbs.

I've tried many things over the years to stay a healthy weight without costing performance (and I mean performance in day to day life as well as running) and eating real food, including unrefined carbs, at regular mealtimes is what works for me. Silly me thought it might help OP, as "your" way isn't working for her.

I only run 5k every other day and on run days I am starving.
5 miles every day is a lot op, you ideally need a rest day in between. It might even reduce your appetite, your body is demanding to be fuelled!

You are still missing the point @CampaignToo

It wasn't about if your diet is healthy it was about your insistence that you need carbs with every meal to feel full.

@CampaignToo

That's very old fashioned. I run fasted every morning and don't feel hungry until the afternoon. I force pasta down the night before a marathon but otherwise eat very few carbs. Hydration however, is very important.

Well yes, that is actually what I said.

That works for you. It's not working for OP and it doesn't work for me. I also don't know any serious runner who doesn't eat until afternoon. I won my race this weekend BTW, so I can't be getting it all wrong

Whatever works for you. I'm obviously not a serious runner, I only run 50 odd miles a week but it's enough for me to win local races too in my age category and run a marathon in under 3h30

To stay a healthy weight I have to be hungry and avoid any junk.

@CampaignToo

Obviously you all know my body better than I do. I most definitely would not maintain my weight if I lived on mars bars and my running and general energy levels dip significantly when I don't have enough carbs.

I've tried many things over the years to stay a healthy weight without costing performance (and I mean performance in day to day life as well as running) and eating real food, including unrefined carbs, at regular mealtimes is what works for me. Silly me thought it might help OP, as "your" way isn't working for her.

This isn't about YOUR body.

It's about the bodies of people who are trying to balance losing weight with not feeling unbearably hungry.