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?

@ToastCosILoveIt

Android - play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bodyfast.zero.fastingtracker.weightloss

Apple - apps.apple.com/us/app/16-8-intermittent-fasting/id1498018285

Apologies, the name I gave in my post above is different to how it comes up in play/apple store but that's definitely the one

The only thing that works is fairly strict no carbs most of the time. Which once I get used to it is great and I eat full fat everything and lots of protein so I only feel hungry when I'm actually hungry.

Last week I had a carb heavy day - pancakes for lunch, pizza, garlic bread, chips and popcorn for dinner and I was starving through the day and all the next day.

For me - carbs seem to make me hungry. And the more I eat the hungrier I feel.

What I register as hunger is actually my blood sugar crashing. I don't like that feeling - it's a pain in the arse so very low carb and high fat (plus loads of vegetables) keeps me full.

Agree 100% with shannith
It's a daily effort to keep my weight from a slow long term increase and limiting carbs is easiest for me. I also fast from evening meal until lunchtime next day most of the time

I had an accident late June and was in hospital for almost 4 weeks though and I ate every pudding and piece of toast put in front of me. It was bloody lovely! I reckoned I had enough on my plate to deal with being immobile and in pain and I enjoyed every sugary mouthful!

What does lifting weights mean? What do you actually do?
Pick up heavy things and put them down again. Usually in a gym where they have a lot of heavy things.

I weight lift 5-6 days a week and it seems to do absolutely piss all to my weight. I'm still fat despite trying haha.

Cardio makes you hungry. That’s why I don’t do it. I do tabata (short intervals) and lift weights

So you do do cardio tabata involves cardio.

@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?

If you have a BMI of 22 then you are a very healthy weight and you have nothing too worry about.

Cardio makes you hungry. That’s why I don’t do it. I do tabata (short intervals) and lift weights.

Depending on the person. Cardio makes me thirsty, not hungry.

I find if I haven’t eaten I lack concentration, get irritable, can be prone to headaches and light headedness. None of which are conducive to my ability to perform or general feelings of wellness*. SAME. I am not good hungry.
No carb, high fat, lots of water is the only thing that works for me as I don't get hungry.

I supplement with pysillium husk fibre to keep 'regular'.

@Blueleah

What does lifting weights mean? What do you actually do? Pick up heavy things and put them down again. Usually in a gym where they have a lot of heavy things.

Well obviously. I meant what size weights, how long etc

I haven't been in a gym for 30 years.

Is it even possible to reduce carbs when you don't eat meat? Tofu, eggs, fish? That might work. I'll try it for a couple of weeks.

If you have a look in the Low-Carb Bootcamp section, you'll find a thread of vegetarian low carb recipes.

And fish and seafood.

It's important to increase your fat as well as reducing your carbs though. I realise it seems counter-intuitive! My first week doing it I was having coffee with cream, veggies cooked in butter, loads of meat, cheese and eggs...it seemed completely mad and I was convinced when I weighed myself at the end of the week that I'd have gained weight.

I'd lost 8lbs...

I know what you mean, @AliceAbsolum, I started intermittent fasting (a mix of both 5:2 and 16:8) last year and lost the stone I needed to lose. I was shocked when I took my eye off the ball a bit (Christmas - I'm looking at you) and I put on 7 lbs. I've since accepted that I need to, essentially, accept a bit of hunger as part of my life if I want to stay slim. And I do... I choose being slim over rabid indulgence (which is my other setting) so I therefore have to accept hunger/denying myself things I want sometimes. It's quite liberating to me to accept this.

So, I find fasting helps with this (you said in a PP that it was a relief, and you could just accept it and get on with your day. This totally sums up the benefits of fasting to me) - I do two 500 cal fast days (approximately... I'm at the stage of totally guessing it, I haven't used MFP for about 9 months) and I skip breakfast every day. Other times (ie afternoons and non - fast days) I'm fairly relaxed, although some days I'm a bit careful if I feel I need to rein it in a bit. I find this system works for me because I've become very accepting of the hunger I feel on my restricted times (I really don't miss breakfast anymore, and fast days are actually surprisingly easy) because I know that I'll have other times when I'm fairly indulgent. I'm almost certain that I wouldn't cope with the sort of diet where I had to constantly monitor myself and/or cut out certain foods all the time. This would be piss me off. I also don't exercise (I do need to sort this out).

So, yeah, I've accepted that hunger is fine in fairly small doses with the pay off of a) maintaining slimness and b) fairly frequent indulgence thrown in. I'm with you, but I also have accepted that it's actually OK.

This is an easy fix - you are simply not eating enough. What you eat sounds good. Listen to your body, you are hungry because your body needs it. You say you don’t feel stressed, but you are putting your body under immense stress by both under-eating, and over-exercising. You’re raising your cortisol, which in turn will raise grehlin the hunger hormone. You can significantly reduce your cardio and replace with weights; eat more protein and healthy fats (e.g. avocado, nuts, coconut & olive oil). Btw, most fruit has too much sugar & causes a blood sugar spike, stick to a few berries. Do some nutrition research (not the food pyramid, it is so out of date and unhealthy it is criminal).

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal

And fish and seafood.

It's important to increase your fat as well as reducing your carbs though. I realise it seems counter-intuitive! My first week doing it I was having coffee with cream, veggies cooked in butter, loads of meat, cheese and eggs...it seemed completely mad and I was convinced when I weighed myself at the end of the week that I'd have gained weight.

I'd lost 8lbs...

Cool! OK I'll check that out thanks.

@shiningGonnaShine Thanks for your experience. I feel you!

Feeling inspired to mix it up and try new things.

@Carpedimum

This is an easy fix - you are simply not eating enough. What you eat sounds good. Listen to your body, you are hungry because your body needs it. You say you don’t feel stressed, but you are putting your body under immense stress by both under-eating, and over-exercising. You’re raising your cortisol, which in turn will raise grehlin the hunger hormone. You can significantly reduce your cardio and replace with weights; eat more protein and healthy fats (e.g. avocado, nuts, coconut & olive oil). Btw, most fruit has too much sugar & causes a blood sugar spike, stick to a few berries. Do some nutrition research (not the food pyramid, it is so out of date and unhealthy it is criminal).

I can't be undereating because I'm not losing, in fact I've put on a few pounds this year!

My bmi is 18.4 but to maintain it I have to eat fewer than 800cals at least five of the seven days. A couple of days I might have more like 1200 but then I have to offset that by having fewer than 500cals for a couple of days.
It’s just how it is. If I ate 1500 calories a day id put weight on really quickly.

I’ve not RTFT, just your posts @AliceAbsolum, have you tried protein shakes? I’ve just started using the icon choc whey protein, 1 serving blitzed with half a frozen banana and 1:1 milk and water and it leaves me feeling pretty full for a while, think it’s 125 kcal per serve plus the banana and a splash of semi skimmed.

[quote Sparklfairy]@ToastCosILoveIt

Android - play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bodyfast.zero.fastingtracker.weightloss

Apple - apps.apple.com/us/app/16-8-intermittent-fasting/id1498018285[/quote]
Thank you so much @Sparklfairy.

My slim male friend says he always walks away from a meal before he feels full, when he could still eat a bit more. Which says it all really. You have to feel hunger throughout the day, yes.

It's basically 1400 cals per day to remain at around 10 stone and 5'5. That's not even that slim! Just healthy.

It sucks ass, man.

Low carb does work, it really does.

But it does get boring, I can tell you that.