How do you control your appetite?

[NotAnotherUserNumber]

I gained weight when ill with covid during lockdown and want to get back to my usual weight but just can’t seem to manage to not eat, as I seem to be endlessly hungry.

According to BMR calculators my BMR is around 1200 to 1300 depending on the formula used, so as I don’t do much activity (and will struggle to change this due to disability), I use about 1500 calories a day.

So I need to eat around 1000 calories a day to lose about 1lb a week. I want to lose 10lbs so the plan was to do this over about 3 months (assuming my BMR would drop slightly during weightloss).

I have been trying really hard to do this for the last two weeks, but my daily average is still close to 1500, so not losing any weight. I just seem to be so hungry and then cave and have something else to eat as I can’t stand it.

Other potential problems are that I have artificially induced menopause to treat a gynaecological condition and I take steroid medication for an autoimmune condition and this tends to cause weight gain and increased appetite. I also can’t really do very low carb as I have to do a low fat diet due to hereditary hypercholesterolaemia.

Any tips on controlling hunger would be very much appreciated!

You're hungry because 1000 calories isn't enough. No one should be eating below BMR, it's the amount of calories your body uses up just staying alive. Try a tdee calculator instead to get a more realistic and safer calorie allowance.

If your BMR is that low, it doesn't sound like you weigh very much and a pound a week might be too harsh. Perhaps modify your goal to half a pound a week and plug your stats into my fitness pal

I am using my fitness pal. If I change the goal to 0.5lb a week it updates my recommended intake to 1300, which I think I am still going to struggle to manage and then I will have to keep it up for twice as long to get back to my usual weight.

You are right though, 1300 is probably more realistic, it’s just depressing to realise that means it will take me 6 months to lose my covid weight gain.

Try time-restricted fasting such as 16:8. This means you only eat in an 8 hour window e.g. skipping breakfast. I’ve done it for a month now and generally eat 12-8pm. The first week was hard but after the first couple of days I don’t get light-headed or hungry. I think it’s because my blood sugar has stabilised. It’s a lot easier to not eat in the evenings if you’ve had a decent dinner and in the mornings, I just tell myself that I can eat in an hour or so.

It’s been a revelation that one doesn’t get hungrier and that the hunger can just go away

I buy Ryvita thins and Snack a Jacks. I eat one mid morning and one mid afternoon. Stop eating sugar and so many carbs and your cravings will settle anyway.

I know how you feel.I'm 9.5 stone. I've lost 7 stone over the last 5 years or so but the last 3 I lost too fast and my hair came out in clumps.

I put about a stone back on just before lockdown and I dropped down to 1200 to try and get it back off again. It triggered the hair loss again and so I've reluctantly had to take it slower. Half a pound is a bitter pill to swallow, but it is what it is when you don't have much to lose

@Eyewhisker I think I will give 16:8 a try, it sounds like it could help. Thank you.

Do you eat enough protein? Protein will fill you up.

@MrsSnitchnose thanks for your help. I think you are right that taking it slowly is the way to do it. It is just so frustrating that it is so much easier to gain weight in a much shorter time than you can lose it!

No problem @NotAnotherUserNumber just don't like to think of anyone else making the same mistakes I did. Good luck

Doing 16:8 fasting has helped my appetite whilst dieting

16:8 helps. In my experience, low carbing is the best way to curb appetite, but it's a pain in the arse and the weight goes back on very quickly if you reintroduce carbs. Most diets will work if you stick to them, but the vast majority of people can't long-term. The key has to be finding the least painful and inconvenient (for you) way of restricting what you eat. Sticking to 1000 cal a day is not sustainable.

I lost two stone with 20:4 and jsut drinking black coffee on til 4 on weekdays when I was working (too busy and stressed to take a lunch break usually.) I've put at least half a stone on since lockdown despite taking up running and body pump, I think I've just screwed my metabolism. I also have had thyroid issues previously and I suspect they might be back. Don't do what I did!

@mynamesmrdiggety if you have taken up running and body pump, could some of your weight gain be muscle?

I used to do something akin to 20:4 naturally when I was younger and was a very busy student. I think I would find it much harder now a few decades later.

@moveandmove I am constantly trying to get more protein in my diet, but it is made harder by the fact that I have to eat very little fat (especially saturated) because of having genetic high cholesterol.

I try to add protein whey powder and egg whites to my diet wherever I can and also eat fat free cottage cheese and yoghurt, which are good protein sources. I also eat some very lean meat and fish, but these tend to be expensive. Quinoa is another protein source I often eat.

Have you got any other suggestions to increase protein in my diet, staying below around 1300 calories a day and keeping fat content as low as possible?

I tend to eat my daily fat allowance in a small quantity of various seeds and then the fat that is naturally in fruit and vegetables (plus the occasional bit of cheese which I know I shouldn’t eat).

I might be wrong but I think you need the fat versions of yoghurt etc. Also drink lots of water. If you are hungry have a big glass then tell yourself you will eat in half hour if you still want whatever it is. Sometimes you don't! I do low carb and 16 8 and my pre menstrual cravings have disappeared.

@Witchofzog Unfortunately I can’t have the full fat versions due to my genetic cholesterol condition. I need to minimise fat in my diet as my body can’t process it properly.

I use glucomannan capsules to make my stomach feel a bit fuller and drink a lot of coffee and Coke Zero, that seems to help a bit. But in general the first week or two of restriction is hard then your body adjusts to the lower intake and it gets easier.

Ah fair enough op