Hold on... is this how "normal" people feel all the time?

[Wildewheat]

I no longer think about food every minute of the day.

I eat a tiny cake then don't want any more.

I leave chocolate in the cupboard untouched for days or weeks - I don't want it.

I eat, notice I'm full then want to stop eating.

I only think about food when I'm hungry.

When I am hungry, I don't want junk food - I actually want "proper" food.

My mind is so quiet.

I've struggled with my weight since puberty. Feeling like this, I can totally see why so many people had no idea why it was so hard and why they'd say things like "just eat less and move more". They must have thought I was mad, just doing something that ruins my health for years when it's so easy not to.

This has also really annoyed me and I really wish I'd been able to experience this years ago. It also makes me wish I could explain how hard it is to people who've only felt this their whole lives.

ozempic has done me wonders, you should take some too!

Most of what's in the OP describes me pretty well, I've always been a healthy weight and never had to try. I don't think it's a question of willpower, I certainly don't need to and never have needed to will myself to stop eating. I've never really snacked much. I love and enjoy food though. I see it as luck, good genes, whatever. I simply feel sluggish and uncomfortable if I overeat and on the odd time I've done it I regret it so it becomes not worth it. I do love food and spend quite a lot of time thinking about it but more in terms of what shall I cook later, or ooh I've not had Thai food for ages.

I would actually love to just say fuck it and go out for a big meal but I can't do it any more (could eat loads when I was younger). I miss being able to eat three courses but I'd just feel bloated and horrid if I did it now. I know this will probably sound quite sanctimonious, but I do have to think quite carefully about how to use my calories for the day, eg if I'm with people who are getting pastries mid morning and I ate a whole pastry or scone, I then wouldn't feel hungry for lunch so it's got to be one or the other. I love just having a tiny piece of pastry or cake for this reason so that I can have a taste of it whilst still being able to eat a proper meal.

Dieting causes food noise. It’s a vicious circle

This is interesting. It makes me think of that chapter in Jason Chung’s book ‘why are there fat doctors?’ If fat people are lazy, stupid, weak willed, impulsive etc then how are there fat doctors as they have to be incredibly disciplined, hard working, are educated on health, rational. It cannot be that fat people are somehow deficient in these areas, it must be something else in addition, and that’s why it’s likely to be hormonal.

I am only borderline overweight aged 47, but for most of my life I have been lucky.to be slim. I struggle with what i perceive as a major chocolate addiction (people sometimes laugh when I say this). And I think about food a lot and get cravings for carbs. So I don't think what you're describing is what most people feel but it sounds truly liberating! Am happy for anyone who has struggled with their weight and is losing it this way.

So I’m currently on a cruise with family. Food readily available both free and paid for. Lots of overweight people here, probably 10% are in a healthy weight range.

Every opportunity there is to eat, everyone eats. Every offered snack is accepted. Every stop where there’s coffee and cake available, coffee and cake is consumed.

I thread to think what calorie counts people are hitting. Walking is avoided at all costs, buses even for short distances.

I have been questioned and criticised for only eating when I’m actually hungry, not eating if only UPFs available, and choosing to walk where it’s an option.

I don’t have food noise now and eat within my recommended intake, but I was raised to
a) always accept food when it’s offered
b) always buy food at food stops and eat really often, because ‘you never know when you can eat again’
c) always have food accompany socialising, eg if a neighbour pops over, you offer them a snack, if you’re sitting with your own family at home, snacks should always be on the table. And no, not carrot sticks! Chocolate and cakes daily

This seems totally crazy to me now. It’s like passing food noise on to the next generation from a young age, as opposed to having a culture that food exists to relieve hunger.

As a child, relatives would insist I have 2-3 slices of cake, and then berate me for being overweight. Literally the same person that criticises your body and appearance is the one making sure you’re always eating and snacking on UPFs.

I feel like it does start with things like constantly giving our children snacks like packets of crisps, and worrying that they’ll die of starvation if without food longer than 4h. Hint, they really won’t, it’s not a danger in modern society.

I truly believe that being raised differently, I wouldn’t have had weight related health problems in my teens and 20s 😢

@LindtCurves well done! Sounds like sheer gluttony with those fellow cruise passengers 😃

I find it quite comforting to hear that some slim people also experience food noise. The idea of 'everyone else' being effortlessly slim can feel terribly unfair and I find it demotivating.

At 5' 1" and 52kg, I think about food constantly.
I'm now 45 and need to be in a constant calorie deficit to maintain this. Any more weight and it really shows on my mid- section.
I wake up hungry and go to sleep hungry. I think most people are constantly thinking about their next meal- regardless of weight.
I'm glad you've found a solution OP

Because OP is asking what is normal and people are replying with what is normal for them. Are people not allowed to use willpower to keep their weight down in your opinion? Or are they just not allowed to talk about it? Why must we keep it a secret?

I think the number of people who are truly effortlessly slim are few and far between.

Maybe because it’s a holiday environment and people like to let loose for that week/weeks, I know I like to eat more on holidays as it’s part of the break.

Exactly, it’s not a judgement on people who don’t have willpower, it’s just stating that many of us have to use it. Surely it’s better to hear that than most slim people can just eat whatever they like.
It’s fucking hard work stopping myself binging. People on injections will experience it once they come off and then we’ll all be in the same boat.

@Disturbia81 I agree that it’s better to be honest so that the OP can prepare herself for when she stops the injections.

I think she already knows well enough, that's kind of the point of her post. She's well acquainted with food noise and she's commenting on how different life on injections is without it after spending her life fighting against it and losing.

I'm very sorry for everyone struggling against the urge to binge, whether slim or otherwise. I wonder what it is that's different for those on the thread who say they've never experienced it and can easily not think about food or be tormented by hunger and cravings. If it's to do with never having dieted, or something metabolic or both? The injections seem to be able to induce that state in the body, which clearly some people have naturally and many do not. The drug manufacturers and health services will be keen to find a maintenance dose - it's the holy grail to find a way to keep the weight off once lost as it's so rarely achieved successfully. It will be quite amazing if this is the thing that works long term - and maybe there will be a micro dose or similar for those healthy weight people who suffer so badly with food noise too.

@LightningInABottle In her first post though, the OP assumes that the way she feels on injections is the way that people who aren’t overweight feel all the time - and that’s not the case judging by several responses.

Nah they eat like this all the time. If anything they eat less on holiday because it costs money.

Obesogenic environment.

It’s compulsive, they enter any room where food is present and must eat said food. Or if no food in the environment, they must immediately get food. They buy food even if the fridge is full.

there is no ‘am I hungry?’ or ‘do I want this food?’, it’s ’let’s eat food just because it’s here’.

that seems to be prevalent in wealthy economies now, everywhere is constantly offering food, every activity you do is also a food activity, having a snack is hobby, food is a treat, a replacement for a cuddle when it’s neeeded, a reward for achievement, a social obligation, eg drinking with friends whether you actually like a drink or not. Saying no to food/ drink is frowned upon.

Obesogenic environment, and while some people fare ok in it by genetics or self control, most people become obese or overweight as British and American stats show.

i used to be like that and I feel so free now that I no longer am. It’s so incredibly liberating - side effect, saving tons of money and avoiding food waste.

I was always underweight until I hit menopause. I do love food so think about it a fair amount but feel full quickly so don’t eat lots. I do feel for your struggles OP, incredibly difficult to eat “sensibly” if your craving food all the time.

Her first post is asking about 'normal' people - which doesn't necessarily mean healthy weight people - she's not assuming. She's asking for people's experiences, there's been a range of responses. She might have expected more healthy weight people to say that no, they dont get food noise but in all of her replies she has acknowledged the responses she's had from those who do.

This thread shows some people of all different weights suffer with food noise and some don't. Maybe those who don't are 'normal' in that they don't have a challenging and painful relationship with food and diet. Or maybe it's those of us who do find it hard that are normal! Either way, my point was that you don't need to 'prepare' her for what food noise will be like if she comes off the injections. She knows what it's like! She's lived with it her whole life pre-injections; that's why she's marvelling at what life feels like without it.

@LightningInABottle Fair enough.

The difference is she’ll be a healthy weight and feeling great plus food noise, it’s different. Instead of thinking “fuck it I’m big anyway so I’ll give in” she won’t want to ruin her hard work or lose the good feeling so she’ll work harder at trying to ignore the noise. When you don’t give in it’s hard at first but does get easier.

Most obese people have lost and regained the weight - usually multiple times. We've all been in that situation of getting down to a healthy weight and feeling determined to make this be the time that it works long term. But almost everyone who has been obese and loses weight regains it within 3-5 years.

Obese people have a great deal of experience of 'not giving in'. There is a patronising tone to some posts which seek to criticise fat people for not having such strong willpower as lower weight people, but a lot of fat people have exercised enormous discipline and willpower to lose a lot of weight over the course of the years. There are many things in life where two people may try equally hard but achieve different results. Please don't assume that fat people just haven't tried as hard as you; it isn't a competition.

100% this!!

it’s a bit like someone who likes a drink but has never had a drink problem telling an alcoholic that stopping drinking is just a case of will power.

Over eating is an addiction in exactly the same way as alcohol and drugs are. There are complicated factors- susceptibility- genetics, upbringing, trauma, emotions. It’s just as complicated to manage and the relapse-remission cycle is no different.

Sorry to jump on this but I’ve just started mounjaro today. Is there support/info thread? I can just see loads of threads about money off, anyone know if there is a support one?

Go to topics then under big/slim whatever and you will see the Weight loss injections board (not the promos board)