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?

I haven’t RTFT so don’t know if it’s been mentioned but look up How Not to Diet by Dr Michael Greger. He’s got a couple of books and cookbooks and also a website (nutritionfacts.org) but it basically boils down to calorie density - eat lots of foods (ie fruit & veg) which low in calorie density. They are filling as high in fibre and water, low in calories so you basically can eat as much as you need to feel full, and obviously good sources of vitamins & minerals as well so it’s a win-win. He also has some specific recommendations based on various studies as well about things like specific foods which can help you lose weight (iirc cinnamon was one for example) and other lifestyle changes like timing your eating, weighing yourself daily etc.

The thing is you can eat really healthily and feel full but still not feel satisfied

[quote Scottishnewbie2022]@Wannalivewithcommonpeople might sound obvious but you do still need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight on 16/8. People talk about it like the only change you need to make is eating within the window but of course you still need to be eating less than you already were. It’s just the window is supposed to help you do that.[/quote]
Intermittent fasting isn’t just about consuming fewer calories because you’re eating less of the time. It’s meant to affect how your body processes the calories. I can’t remember the explanation now but it involves insulin! Anyway I don’t think anyone is saying you can consume 8000 calories a day and lose weight on 16/8 but it’s not just about a calorie defecit.

*deficit sorry typo

Stir fry veg keeps meals interesting. It is also good to have a cup of slim a soup or similar before a main meal.

Definitely OP
I find I need to drink things like peppermint tea or eat low calorie high water content salad like cucumber to ease the hunger pangs and allow my body to get used to few calories. I also find it helps to step it down gradually. First I replace unhealthy snacks with fruit/salad, then I gradually tweak my meals to be healthier/lower calorie.

The easiest way I’ve found to lose weight without feeling that hunger is to avoid eating between dinner and breakfast.
Once I eat breakfast I’m starving for the rest of the day, but the longer I can stretch the time out before breakfast the easier I find it.

Also drinking water whenever I start to feel hungry.

The hunger sucks but you’re right OP, it will get better in a few weeks!

I have to make sure I've got things like celery, carrots, cucumber, peppers, lots of fruit, rice cakes, frozen peas and sweetcorn to have as snacks

I am doing a whole foods plant based diet, and it is the first "diet" where I have not been hungry. I eat a LOT of potatoes (unprocessed carbs), brown rice and whole grains. I have done every lower carb doet under the sun, but this is the first one where I have really good stable energy levels, fewer sugar and salt cravings and NO hunger. Basically, it is hard to consume higher calorie levels when eating low calorie veg and carbs.

Water does make me not hungry to some extent.

I believe the reason is that some of us are not very good at figuring out the difference between 'I'm hungry' and 'I'm thirsty'. I am definitely one of these people. Now we live in an age of abundant high calorie snacks I hear 'I'm thirsty' and am likely to respond by eating a biscuit.

If I change to having a glass of water first every single time then I cut out a load of random snacking straight away.

I need to go hungry if I want to lose weight (or the grief of losing a close family member - I was to heartbroken to eat)
I accept it, and I actually start to enjoy the empty hunger feeling (this enjoyment doesn't last long 😂)

Being hungry and feeling hungry aren't necessarily the same thing

I think this is an important point. I am on a migraine preventative called pizotifen, also marketed as an appetite stimulant.

I put on a stone in a my first month of taking it. I put on another 10lb before finally wresting control back.

I can now tell the difference between a feeling of hunger (you can feel it physically in your stomach) and the carbohydrate cravings caused by the drugs. I am constantly craving food, but I am rarely hungry.

I don't think you need to go hungry.
Personally I think protein and complex carbs go a long way to keep hunger pangs.
I also think that sometimes you need to change routine as our body expects certain things at certain times. I notice I become hungry if I set myself a regular eating time and around that time I start to expect food.

Boredom can also cause the feeling of hunger. If you are busy and engaged in something enjoyable you can ( IME) go without eating and feeling hungry.

Agree with the low carb approach. I lost 2 stone and now maintain eating low carb & lots of veg & healthy fats.

I also disagree that everything in moderation is key. If I start eating biscuits or chocolate, I get a taste for it & can’t stop. I’ve cut them out now & don’t have an issue with it as I feel & look 100% better.

I find there is a difference between the ‘normal hunger’ many of the posters have mentioned, the ‘lunch is at 1pm and I am conscious of feelings of hunger from 12-1’ and being so hungry that you can’t focus on anything else.

Over the last two years when I was in somewhat of a bad place and (looking back) was using extreme control over food as a coping mechanism, I went down to a size 6-8. During that time I was very very hungry all the time and thought about food constantly. I was often quite light headed and faint. I’m in a much better place emotionally now and have (pre Christmas cheese fest) settled at more like a size 8-10. At this weight I feel hungry in the hour leading up to meals but feel full after and satisfied with my food intake.

I would absolutely second the posters who talk about ensuring there is high protein (2 boiled eggs is THE BEST breakfast and I eat that 6/7 days a week), soup containing healthy fats and proteins (red lentil and bacon, butternut squash with coconut milk and spinach, chicken and veg etc) and drinking lots and lots. I have a ginger or mint tea on the go almost always and drink sparkling water, Diet Coke etc lots too.

The other thing I would recommend is having a sort of 80/20 split of days in the week when you eat treats and stick to the days. Broadly speaking on Saturday and Sunday I eat refined carbs, crisps, a cake etc whilst in the week I never do. I don’t binge at the weekend but if I fancy a slice of cake with a coffee then I’ll have one and enjoy it. On a Tuesday I won’t. It’s helpful for me as it stops me having to exercise willpower every time there is a food choice.

Low cal snacks for hunger pangs between meals good also. Can recommend chopped veg, handful of almonds, low fat jellies and ice lollies (mini twisters are 37kcal and my regular midweek ‘on the sofa after dinner’ little sweet snack). As another poster said, preparing these things in advance and having them almost as your ‘snack lunch box’ for the day can be helpful.

Good luck! And remember to be proud of yourself whatever you do and don’t eat. There are lots of good reasons to want to lose weight (wanting to be more active, your health etc) but it’s not at all connected with your self worth, your value or anything like that and it’s so so important to remember that you are so much more then a number on a scale

@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.

That’s true for maintenance, but if you’re trying to lose weight then you need to be in deficit, and that will almost certainly lead to a feeling of hunger, because you are eating less than you used to. It’s basic maths.

@deadlanguage

I haven’t RTFT so don’t know if it’s been mentioned but look up How Not to Diet by Dr Michael Greger. He’s got a couple of books and cookbooks and also a website (nutritionfacts.org) but it basically boils down to calorie density - eat lots of foods (ie fruit & veg) which low in calorie density. They are filling as high in fibre and water, low in calories so you basically can eat as much as you need to feel full, and obviously good sources of vitamins & minerals as well so it’s a win-win. He also has some specific recommendations based on various studies as well about things like specific foods which can help you lose weight (iirc cinnamon was one for example) and other lifestyle changes like timing your eating, weighing yourself daily etc.

The Volumetrics Diet was based on calorie density with amazing images, still have loads of them on Pinterest. Lots of fruit, veg and soups. Also, the GI (Glycemic Index) lists of foods helps a lot of people with insulin resistance. And the GI list is also good for low carbers. There is so much info out there, and a different diet for every day of the week. Only you know what works best for you.

The only diet that’s ever worked for me was fast800 and I definitely felt hungry, but seeing the results every day kept me on it for 4 weeks, I lost almost a stone.
I’m about to try and lose the remaining stone but on a much more sensible diet which has been set up for me by a PT combined with exercise. Hoping not to feel too starving as this time of year is depressing enough as it is.

You need to log your food on my fitness pal and eat lots of protein. Like 140g per day and less carbs

You’ll feel full.

I think there's different types of hunger.

Hunger from not being satisfied, and hunger from not being 'full'. I've found at times when I'm eating really large portions, I find a reduction in portion size leaves me feeling hungry but after a week or so I got used to the portions, which were perfectly adequate.

When I was hungry because I felt deprived or unsatisfied, I found that changed by changing what I was eating, not how much.

And hunger can definitely be mental/ psychological and no mount of food will change that!

Yes I’m always starving on a diet but exercise helps to drop it off quickly too

Protein and lots of veg really works for me. So skyr & berries.scrambled eggs and mushrooms, salmon & stirfry. I’m a big fan of kvarg flavoured quark too.

More protein and good fats for breakfast and snacks will keep hunger at bay

@Blossomtoes

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

Not at all , you can lose weight in a calorie deficit of any kind