To think you need to go hungry on a diet?

[username30473]

I didn't want to use the word diet it was just for the title. The last couple of years my diet has been appalling to say the least. I have always been a size 10 but now a size 12 touching 14. From the way I have eaten I actually think I could be a lot larger.
Anyway I am now trying to change my diet back to what it used to be and lose weight.

I actually started on Boxing Day so I am a week in and I am hungry all the time. I am not massively restricting myself either. Yesterday I have had yogurt/fruit for breakfast, beans and scrambled eggs on toast for lunch, fruit for afternoon snack and steak and chips for dinner with a couple of Jaffa cakes for dessert. I just think I am so use to eating so much now I just have to get use to be hungry until my body gets use to less food again.

Do others find this to be the case?

Yes , I’m trying to eat healthier, had banana and yoghurt for breakfast , salmon , rocket, spinach and watercress for lunch and porridge for tea. I was still hungry. Im sure there are healthy options that do fill you up though , I just need to put more effort into looking up the recipes and cooking them !

You need to run a calorie deficit to lose weight so a degree of hunger is both desirable and necessary. It’s not the end of the world. When I was losing weight I had a big bowl of raw veggie sticks in the fridge, (eg carrot, pepper, celery, broccoli stem) and a pot of salsa for snacking on which worked well.

No, absolutely not.

Going hungry is pointless, it's not sustainable and is just starving yourself.

Fill up on better foods - raise the protein levels, add lots more veg to that diet, keep bread to one meal a day and you'll not be hungry at all.

You have a lot of carbs in your diet. You might feel more full if you increase the ratio of fat and protein and drop the refined carbs especially- they really don't keep you full.

That’s a diet? What on earth do you eat normally? Chips, toast, Jaffa Cakes all need to go.

You should always be starting to feel hunger before meals. You shouldn't starve yourself to the extent that you're ravenous all the time, but hunger immediately before mealtimes is normal.

Yes. I lost about 18lbs recently (although I've gained 4 back over Christmas) and I did it by accepting that I'm going to feel hungry for a lot of the day.
Back on it as of Wednesday.

You could probably avoid feeling hungry et eat lots of vegetables but you can't avoid boy felling satisfied

I always feel hungry in the hour or two leading up to my meals. I assumed that was normal for most people.

Sparkling water (or just water) helps me to fill up.
As does homemade broths which are quick and easy and super cheap
Natural yogurt with seeds/ nuts are good.
And I find protein shakes a good filler

You don't have to go hungry. Just fill up on less calorie dense food. It is a way of life unfortunately and breaking old habits. I've 3 stone to lose so it's a big change for me as I'd happily eat crap all day but it's starting to have a huge negative effect on my mental well-being

Good luck op

@Blossomtoes

That’s a diet? What on earth do you eat normally? Chips, toast, Jaffa Cakes all need to go.

I'm not on a diet I am trying to gradually change it. I will never stick to something if I limit everything. That is how I use to eat.

Those saying that’s not a diet - you don’t need to eat salad to lose weight. You just need a calorie deficit

@SilverHairedCat

No, absolutely not.

Going hungry is pointless, it's not sustainable and is just starving yourself.

Fill up on better foods - raise the protein levels, add lots more veg to that diet, keep bread to one meal a day and you'll not be hungry at all.

My issue is when I was a size 10 and ate a lot less I wasn't hungry. Now I am so use to eating so much I feel I just have to get use to it until my body is use to less food again.

@Blossomtoes

That’s a diet? What on earth do you eat normally? Chips, toast, Jaffa Cakes all need to go.

No they don't. Everything in moderation. This "advice" is recipe for failure.

Yes. Your body is used to eating alot more so now you're eating less, it's going to feel hungry. Give it a week and your body will get used to it. Keep going. If you are staving in-between, just eat an apple and drink water.

I agree! If you’re used to snacking all day (I am) then you WILL need to be hungry to lose weight but you’ll probably eventually get used to it as you were eating too much in the first place.

All the protein in the world won’t replace grazing on crisps and biscuits all day.

I do 16/8 and am very rarely hungry - only a little hungry just before I break my fast and a black coffee kills the hunger. Apart from that, I'm always satisfied. This is why I've stuck at 16/8 for 6 years. The weight falls off without hunger. 16/8 great is also great for maintaining.

Yes it will take your body a while to adjust. I used to snack lots in the evening. I now mostly don't eat from 6.30pm until breakfast and don't really notice it. I've also been eating terribly the last few years and need to get it under control. Munching on raw veg helps me feel I am eating something and limits my reaching for the biscuits again!

That’s a diet? What on earth do you eat normally? Chips, toast, Jaffa Cakes all need to go.

No they don't! All you need to lose weight is a calorie deficit and 400-500 calories a day definitely is enough for a 1-2lb loss a week (obviously depends on your own personal metabolism but you learn as you go where your 'right' level is). You could eat 1600 calories worth of McDonald's every day and so long as it didn't put you over your calorie allowance you would lose weight. As my GP once put it when I was on 1000 calories a day but only eating junk - "1000 calories of crap is still only 1000 calories".

Cutting out all the foods you enjoy or foods you consider nice and swapping for things you don't think are nice is a recipe for disaster, no one is going to stick to that for long. It is much more sensible to still include the foods you like and just eat smaller portions of them.

Are you drinking enough, OP? I sometimes feel hungry and I'm actually just thirsty so I make a deal with myself that I'll have a glass of water and wait twenty minutes, if I'm still hungry after then I eat because being hungry is miserable.

I lost three stone last year. I was sometimes bloody ravenous. I drank a lot of cups of tea, when ready to chew my own leg off, which seemed to help.

You don't have to eat a lot of calories to stop feeling hungry. I'd rather eat a bowl of lettuce or low cal veg to keep the hunger away than nothing. If you're hungry to the point of light-headedness, shakes, etc then you're not getting enough calories

400-500 calories a day

That should say 400-500 deficit rather than 400-500 calories. Don't have 400-500 calories a day, it won't end well.

If you haven't already I would run your info through a TDEE calculator to work out roughly how many calories you need each day and how much to reduce to put you in a deficit. Increasing protein in your meals and snacks also helps keep you feeling fuller for longer. You don't have to be hungry all of the time, I find that I can maximise my calories by eating the right combo of foods. Make sure your drinking plenty water too.

I think you need to distract yourself from what you think is hunger, but is actually boredom and acknowledge the fact that you are supposed to be hungry in the run up to a meal.

Dieting actually makes this harder because you're thinking about food all the time.

Also don't go lower than around 1200 a day as you need this just to keep your body running, as a PP has said - you don't need much of a deficit to lose.