How to deal with not 'fancying' food?

[roshi42]

I'm new to injections. I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice on how to food plan / decide what to eat when you're not hungry?

One of the things I was really hoping for with this was a reduction in 'food noise'. It's felt like an addiction my whole life. I'm constantly thinking about and planning my next meal / eating opportunity. That does seem to have reduced (it's early days) which I'm hopeful about. But now I'm finding myself a bit lost on what to eat when I know I should. Normally I'm hungry for something and am anticipating the taste - without that desire I feel a bit lost.

It could be a good thing and a chance to focus on food as fuel rather than pleasure, get the right macros etc, but I'd rather not spend ages meal planning as that just feels like another type of obsession. I want to be free of thinking about food for a while! Do something else with my life for a bit! But so far today I've only had a protein shake... I'm maybe going to force some toast once the baby wakes. No vegetables! But going to the effort of cooking something when I don't even fancy the end product seems really hard.

Any advice from others how you approach this? Have you had the same? Any recommendations for easy things to have in the house to go for that are healthy and no fuss.

I ended up doing cheese and biscuits and a few grapes. Sometimes a high fibre cereal with milk . Sometimes a yoghurt.

You need to look at what you are eating and meal plan for the week. Use an app to track, rinse and repeat so you only do it once. It makes food boring, but that's no bad thing. The app will do the breakdown so you know if you are eating too much of one thing or not enough.

Thanks both! I guess I know the answer is to plan properly, I'm just reluctant after so many decades of obsessing over food. Good point though, about planning once and then letting it be boring in the repetition!

I meal plan my evening meals. Half the time it's things I've batch cooked with the rest being freshly prepared.I've been meal planning and batch cooking since my DCs were tiny so it's an ingrained habit. Sometimes it's a struggle to get the enthusiasm but most of the time i know when it's time to have some food. The difference is that now I'll just eat what I planned to eat and then stop. I don't carry on eating whatever's in reach.

Hunger is not your enemy, cravings are...

You SHOULD feel hungry when it is time to have a meal. That is what hunger is for - it is the body telling you that it needs fuel.

So many people on MJ are chasing hunger suppression which is a completely different thing from Food Noise. Hunger suppression will eventually wear off after a few months, but the freedom from food noise will carry on. Trust this.

This is the opportunity to learn to eat like a normal person. If you are hungry, then eat something. When you have had enough, then stop. Learn to trust that the drug will allow you to eat a tasty, calorie counted, nutritious meal and to feel full and satisfied when it is finished. Food is also not your enemy and you can learn to enjoy it rather than be terrified it will take over your life again.

It takes a bit of time to learn that you can eat without that eating turning into a non-stop binge. Aiming to suppress hunger will not help, and once past the first few giddy days of starving the scales down it will simply leave you feeling constantly nauseous, sick and wretchedly weak.

Right at the beginning you can lose your appetite completely for a week or two, until your body adjusts. So during this time you need to be in charge and make sure it gets the nutrients it needs. You can take the time to enjoy the fact that eating, planning what to eat etc etc, does not turn into obsession and does not become overeating and bingeing.

That is what freedom from food noise feels like. It is not the same thing as the absence of hunger.

If you have a smaller appetite then what you do eat really needs to count in terms of health. Perhaps whoever prescribed the medication has some sort of leaflet/website with suggestions?

Excellent post.

People will lynch me for saying this because UPFs but high quality (read high calorie high protein) protein shakes really help when you don’t feel like eating/can’t face any food. Don’t make a habit out of it, certainly, but having a few shakes on hand helps massively.

So true. Some people basically want to have their hunger totally suppressed to the extent that they forget to eat. That is not good or healthy and will not lead to forming healthy habits long term. I don’t get hunger suppression. I have a good appetite and can’t really relate to people saying they have a few bites of their dinner. However I am now in control of food rather than the other way around. I may be hungry but I’m able to wait for an hour or so until dinner. I am hungry but decide not to have dessert as I have reached my calorie goal for that day. I choose healthy stuff over junk food. If you are getting suppression to the point of not wanting to eat you should try to avoid going up doses because it sounds like it’s too strong.

A big dollop of peanut butter in a protein shake.

Absolutely agree, I really like Huel black, it also has a lot of added vitamins. And helps me get my cals in.

I've struggled with this and it's always evening meal I don't fancy

So I just have a bowl of granola or some ryvita with cream cheese or some fresh fruit with a piece of cheese

I usually have Huel black powder for lunch. It’s just so easy. It’s a complete food with lots of protein, not just a protein shake.