Sick of being fat and hungry

[ruthonfire]

I am overweight. I eat too much of the wrong stuff. I binge on snacks. But I'm hungry always. Everyday I swear I'll try and improve my diet and eat more healthily but then I feel hungry and can't control my behaviours around food. I crave stodge and I just binge on it.

I need to seriously change my habits but how?

One of the big revelations for me when I successfully dieted and lost weight was that rather than trying to avoid feeling hunger, I could just accept that I would be hungry sometimes and that this was OK. It was mentally difficult at first but I did manage to shift my mindset.

Studying the intuitive eating book and
practising the principles (I did 1 a week) cured me of binge eating disorder

More protein. I also try and do 3 meals and limited snacks. Bulk out with lots of veg.
Eggs or Greek yoghurt and berries breakfast.
Lunch - soup, stew or omelettes with veg.
Dinner protein and veg. Some carbs but sensible portions.
Lots of water.
Eating enough protein was revolutionary for me I kept thinking I’m not hungry.

Sugar/ UPF makes you hungry, quit sugar and food keeps you feeling full for longer.

Oh me too OP. I feel so shit in myself after having my lovely baby and having a C-section. But I’m absolutely ravenous breastfeeding.

Calorie counting has been, in the past, the only thing that works for me.

Exercising too made me realise that, actually, calories take a lot of work to burn off. And I bloody hate cardio. But I had to strike the balance with exercise as too much cardio and swimming especially also makes me so hungry! Walking and Pilates are more my thing.

I also identified my problem area which was the evening and having a sweet tooth after dinner. So I’d keep most of my Cals for a nice dinner - something like a creamy pasta even - and go light for breakfast and lunch with cereal, fruit and soup or something like that. A salad in warmer weather instead of soup for lunch. I’d also brush my teeth shortly after dinner and perhaps a light sweet snack like a little chocolate bar. That’d stop the evening munchies. I’d distract myself with a good book too and that became my new thing to do in the evening rather than grazing.

Good luck!

Eat more. If you eat more healthy stuff you won’t need the unhealthy stuff so much.

Also walk. At least an hour per day. Does your job/ family life allow for that much time to yourself?

Are you getting enough sleep?

You eat too much. Another poster said it didn’t seem like that much. But it is. I’m the exact same weight & size as you. It doesn’t take that much extra food, in reality. I didn’t think I ate too much, until I ate a lot less. I slimmed down quite a lot. And it wasn’t that hard to maintain, TBH. Then I started snacking again, not keeping an eye on portions. Giving in to sweet things. And I got fat again really quickly.

So, I do agree with others that it’s the addictive nature of precesssed foods, sugar, bread, salt. I got totally hooked again…

@NotSuchASmugMarried someone was in the news two days ago having died doing exactly what you propose. She was one of I think 30 people that have died abroad as a result of botched bariatric surgery. There are better ways.

I started slimming world back around May and for the first couple of weeks on that I felt hungry all the time and constantly wanting to find "free" snacks. After a couple of weeks of pushing through that barrier things improved massively and now I follow the plan easily, have a couple of snacks on fruit between meals and rarely feel hungry.
Its really helped me stop eating crap all the time and think more about what I'm eating and when.

I think it's about finding the help out there that works for you.

It's awful to say it like this, but you just need to decide. Nothing ever worked well for me until one day I woke up and was ready.

Agree. Happened for me about 3 weeks ago. And unfortunately you have to just be "hungry" for a couple of weeks as you adjust (you're not, really).

All I am doing is eating approx 1400 calories and exercising enough that my fitbit says I'm burning about 2200 to 2500. It's slow but effective.

Don't do keto. Ketosis can be really dangerous for your organs, particularly kidneys, and blood pressure.

Intermittent fasting helped me. Feeling real hunger at the end of an 18 hour fast helped me recognise the difference between hunger and a desire to eat / emotional eating. Now I do 18:6 or 16:8 most days.

Having a timer on an app that says well done and gives you badges etc motivates me. Starting my fast just after dinner helps stop me snacking later in the day as I've already switched the timer into fasting mode straight after dinner and I don't like to 'fail'!

Read delay dont deny and fast feast repeat. Honestly changed my life. You are undoubtedly insulin resistent and constantly spiking your blood sugar with a carby diet of ultra processed refined carbs. Start intermittant fasting but read those books first as it really explains whats going on in your body and how to fix it. I started pushing breakfast back gradually and now generally only eat within a 5-8 hour window depending on my schedule and I promise I dont get hungry now. I used to be constantly snacking and reaching for sugar to keep my energy up. But now I feel better than I did a decade ago.

More people have died from the side effects of being overweight.

Another vote for intermittent fasting. Try and eat within an 8 hour window. More protein and try and switch to a protein risk breakfast.

I am on the verge of being diagnosed diabetic type II and that is what has motivated me. Have a look at Michael Mosley Or the Glucose Goddess x

I've just dropped from size 16 to 12 in a year. I did it not by calorie counting or any special foods, I just cut out all the crap I used to eat such as cakes, biscuits, chocolate. I also eliminated rice, pasta and cheese and most processed foods such as crisps and ready meals. I still ate as much as I wanted of the other stuff - fresh fruit and veg (including potatoes), plain (no added sugar) yogurt, fish, smaller amount of meat and bit of seriously wholegrain bread and butter. I didn't eliminate wine, though. It's also important to do some moderate exercise, at least 20 mins walking (or gardening or hoovering) daily.

Edit: I honestly haven't felt that hungry on this regime. Although I've lost the weight now, I'm still carrying on avoiding the sugary processed foods and also eat much less pasta and rice than I did before.

And got an airfryer, so I make 'chips' out of celeriac which feel as fun as potato ones but are much healthier.

Agree with pps the problem is addiction to carbs and sugar. DH and I had a wake up call when our annual healthchecks showed we were both prediabetic. We both had several stone to lose as well.

DH does the cooking in our house - he now uses Tesco vegetarian recipes from their website, the Jamie Oliver ones are especially nice. We've replaced bad carbs with complex good carbs which make you feel fuller for longer, also cut back drastically on the quantities of carbs, and eat lots more veg. We have meat occasionally but we really don't miss it now.

We also stopped buying chocolate, cakes and biscuits, which we snacked on most nights after tea. After 4 weeks the sugar cravings were gone.

I've lost 16 lbs/7.4 kg since January 1st and its showing no signs of stopping! I don't often feel hungry but as a pp said your attitude to hunger changes - ATM I'm feeling slightly hungry after reading this thread, so I might have an apple, but TBH I'll probably forget once I stop reading about food. Last year I would've raced into the kitchen long ago for some toast and jam.

The only downside is all these fresh vegetables take longer to prepare, but its well worth it for the benefits.

Apart from chicken and eggs, what else do you eat using the glucose goddess method?

Keto. Weight drops off crazy fast, which is a real boost to keep going. And you almost never get hungry, which is great. When I did it, I went from being hungry often, as you describe, to literally forgetting to eat. People will say it's not a healthy diet, but like anything it depends how you do it really. You can have loads of organic chicken salad, with toasted almonds and a small portion of berries afterwards if you're fussed. Or just eat pork crackling for every meal lol. And being overweight isn't healthy either. Personally I don't have the patience for Slimming World type stuff, and hate being hungry all the time!! Hungry all day thinking about food... but not being allowed food...

Cut out the crisps and biscuits replace with hummus and carrot or celery sticks. Stop the takeaway and have roast once a month. Everytime you feel hungry have a drink first squash or tea or coffee. By the time you've had it you'll know whether it was hunger or thirst.
Look up healthy snacks and don't buy the biscuits or crisps etc. Just don't let them be in your house. Eat Lillie and often and plan what you eat so you don't have tomrely on quick fattening things to eat.

Since cutting out ultra processed food I'm amazed how much less hungry I am and how quickly weight has dropped off. There are some v interesting studies about ultra processed foods being designed to make people overeat in order to make more money.

Great ideas for what else to eat but how do you not eat the things you crave. I mean in that moment when your body and mind desperately want a biscuit and a part of your brain says no you shouldn't but the other part of you wins because your urge for the biscuit trumps your logic thoughts. And this isn't once a day, or at certain times. This mental dance goes on and on for most waking hours maybe at 20 min intervals. That's a lot of 'just say no' moments. Even if you are strong enough to say no the first 20 times and give in on 21st then you are no better than just giving in on the first urge. It's absolutely mentally exhausting. I think a lot of people don't get the extent of it. Pls if anyone has mental techniques to help will power do share.

I’m currently considering whether to go to Overeaters Anonymous. I’m not sure it’s for me, but I do think certain foods can be addictive and that I am addicted to some of them..

Have you tried intermittent fasting, @toadasoda ? If you eat during an 8-hour window, you won't get the insulin spikes that make you crave food.

The Glucose Goddess, Dr Becky Gillaspy, Dr Mark Hyman explain this really well. Look them up 9n YouTube. For me personally Harman's The Sugar Solution was a turning point. It's quite long and detailed but makes total sense.

It's important to eat lots of vegetables and a fair bit of lean protein, as well as small amounts of healthy fats, complex carbs and dairy.

This is what worked for me: get the Nutracheck App (you can do a weeks' free trial) its great, very easy to use and it has a helpful and supportive forum/community. Start by just calorie counting your food and drink intake for a few days - it's an eye opener seeing where your calories are going. Aim to GRADUALLY reduce your calories to within the target cals to enable weight loss, whilst eating plenty of healthy filling protein, less carbs and a good balance of foods - veg is your friend, and served in the right ways can be delicious. Do not cut out any food groups! Just use the app to educate yourself as to how much you can really have of any food/treat without gaining weight. Try and see it as an adventure to discover new foods/recipes. Try to move a bit more, but concentrate on your overall diet as the priority.