Absutely starving all the time, where am I going wrong??

[WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo]

So I've finally decided to do something about my weight, it's spiralled out of control. I've done this before through SW but put it all back on.

I'm following basic, healthy eating and I am ravenous.

Here's what I've had over the last couple of days.

Friday

Large fruit salad (( melon, strawberry, banana, apple)) couple of spoons of full fat Greek yogurt. Flax seed and a drizzle of honey.

Lunch was home made carrot, and lentil soup. With 4 nairns oat cakes.

Dinner

Lentil mousakka (( I make the topping using a tub of philedelphia, splash of milk and handful of chedder)) with a large, green salad, olives etc and cherry tomatoes

Saturday

Two scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast

Lunch

Huge Greek salad with chicken breast

Dinner

Homemade beef and chorizo burgers topped with cheese. Potato wedges and salad

Today I've had

Breakfast

2 egg mushroom and spinach omelet with a sprinkle of cheese. Handful of spinach and cherry tomatoes on the side.

Lunch was homemade leek and potato soup with around a 1/4 bag of kale shoved in for good measure (( 1 large leek, 2 medium potatoes and an onion between me and my partner)) Around 4 oat cakes.

Snacks I'm just having fruit, I darent buy nuts as I end up necking the whole bag. I have around 4 cups of tea a day and plenty of water. (( at least 4 pints a day as I make a point of having one with each meal))

What the hell am I doing wrong? Portions are good, I'm not one for going hungry is it my body rebelling at not getting a packet of yum yum a few times a week as a scooby snack?

[WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo]

Torys pasta /lentils I do weigh.

Pasta I'd weigh out 100g each.

Lentils (( brown, green and red)) I'd weigh out 100g dry between 3 of us.

I know I had a fruit salad the other morning but that was mainly because it needed using up. I eat a lot more fruit than veg, usually I'd just have a couple of satsumas and a pear throughout the day or some melon and grapes.

I don't have anything low fat, I'd rather have proper butter and have less of it than have the low far version.

I've no idea what I even weigh........ I'm going to go into boots tomorrow and go from there but I feel better for making a start.

[WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo]

less

I eat a lot LESS fruit than veg.

[TorysSuckRevokeArticle50]

@WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo

I'm 5ft 8 and at the beginning of this month was 229lb (16st5) Wednesday I was 221.

I'm using MFP and have really cut down my carbs. My big problem is sweets, I would happily eat through 2 or 3 chocolate bars and a couple of packs of crisps a day, toast for breakfast, sandwich for lunch and was always hungry.

After about 3 days of no bread, potatoes, crisps, sweets.... I wasn't hungry and didn't crave sweets or crisps anymore.

A typical day now is:

scrambled eggs for breakfast

Sandwich meat with veg (cooked mushrooms, baby corn, green beans, cherry tomatoes) maybe a little chunk of cheese or some cottage cheese

Dinner of meat and veg or casserole

Snack of full fat Greek yoghurt with a few pecan halves and a drizzle of maple syrup or a bowl of berries.


I get my 5 a day mainly in veg form and try to vary the veg as much as I can stand but there are some things I really don't like.

[LirBan]

Eat more FAT.

The mince, did you buy the lean mince? Don't.

If you're trying to lose weight, ditch the fruit, just for a few weeks. You're not going to die if you ditch fruit for a few weeks.

Lentils are quite high in carbs, switch them for a few butter beans.


I'm not against counting calories but a lot of meals will spike insulin repeatedly during the day. You're better off having fewer bigger meals with fewer carbs and more fat.
Nuts ARE a good snack if you're starving though.
Or a babybel.

[LirBan]

ps, don't be afraid of nuts.
Get a bag of nuts and weigh them out in to mini bags of 20grams.
That's a snack (if you need one) of about 160 cals depending on the nut.

Macademia nuts or pecan nuts are lovely and really fill you.

[WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo]

Lirban the mince was 12% fat with chorizo pulped into it. The wedges were tossed in rapeseed oil then baked.

I'm very wary of low fat / fat free diets after having a lot of success with slimming World years ago and ending up very poorly after developing gallstones as a result. I also put the lot back on because it just wasn't sustainable.

[ListeningQuietly]

Ideally cut out all snacks and try to reduce all sugars

but if you need to snack, go for really strongly flavoured things
like a slice of really strong cheddar or stilton or biltong or jerky
as then you can nibble at it

[CodenameVillanelle]

@WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo

codename no not counting calories.

Just trying to be sensible, so not eating a pack of donuts as a snack and keeping protein up(( chicken/ eggs)) and fats. Mainly through cheese tbh. I like olive oil on salads too. I have a spray bottle for that.

Nuts I darent buy, anything like that is my downfall

Start counting then!!!

[WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo]

lirban I might get some of those pouches I've seen in Aldi etc.

I like porridge too, think I'm going to have that for my breakfast tomorrow and jazz it up with some pumpkin seeds and apple.

[dottiedodah]

I feel for you as I am trying to lose weight too. (clicked on your thread as I am sitting here starving as well!) Dont know if its going to work but just ordered "Pinch of Nom" cookbook all recipes under 400 calories.Looks good so far! Snacks Almonds are good ,also some low fat hummus with veggies .Hard boiled eggs, protein balls ,apple slices with almond butter .I am also having Ryvita for lunch, with some cottage cheese with sweet potato/salmon/lean ham as well .If you have managed to walk 10 miles you are doing pretty well! Although please take care in the heat as you can feel ill pretty quickly!

[Willow4987]

I’d echo what @Goongoon said. Work out your TDEE (just put this into google, there’s calculators on there) and take off 500 cals a day. Then use my fitness pal to track everything and stick to the TDEE (minus 500 cals) target.

You need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight, but you don’t have to starve to do it

Take a look at James Smith PT on Instagram or Facebook. His videos explaining all of this (and some other women’s hormone specific issues) are good as long as you don’t mind the odd expletive - he’s very straightforward and to the point

[WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo]

My fitness pal has been downloaded!

[daisypond]

Can you train your brain to ignore those hungry feelings? What are you doing in the day? Are you out and about? Are you eating out of boredom, or “because it is lunchtime”? I’m not trying to lose weight, but your menu as described seems quite a lot to me. I have been up since 8, and it’s now 2.45. I’ve had a bowl of porridge with maple syrup and sultanas at about 10am and a banana at about 1, and two cups of tea. I’m not hungry because I’ve been busy all day, including a walk of a few kilometres, and this is the first opportunity I’ve had to sit down. I haven’t thought about food at all. Until now - when I’m sitting down with nothing much to do.

[NoraEphronsneck]

Combination of Low carb, no fruit and 16/8 is the only thing that has ever cured my hunger pangs.

You definitely need to up your water intake - not only to keep you feeling fuller for longer but because it helps you to lose the glycogen in your fat which actually accelerates weight loss.

The heavier you are the more water you should be drinking - I am 16stone and drink 3.5 litres per day - I would suggest you need to drink roughly 4 litres a day not including your hot drinks.

If I were you I would look at the low carb bootcamp threads started by BIWI. They have transformed my eating habits.

[bumblingbovine49]

How much weight are you losing?

I have been close to your estimated weight and I am 5ft 7. when I am on a diet I am rarely very hungry, apart from just before meals but my sister who has similar weight problems says she always hungry when she is losing weight, so maybe it is just down to luck,. I m not sure

I find intermittent fasting works quite well for me to not feel hungry much but I have to have a good quantity of good fats in my eating window. A bit of protein as well sometimes but mostly lots and lots of veg and generous quantites of good quality fats. I find that I like to eat large meals so when I am done I am quite fiull and that lasts really well. I often (2-4 times a week only eat lunch because I am so full come dinner time and I pretty much always skip breakfast anyway)

My weight is going down very slowly though. It could go down faster but I just won't live my life hungry all the time.

My snacks are nuts and cheese, or a banana and a handfull of nuts, or a yoghurt with the nuts mixed in and a swirl of honey. I too eat far too many nuts too I buy them in controlled portions or weigh them out in small bags so I can just just grab one bag to eat at a time.

Also if you weight close to 20 stone, your TDE will be to 2,500+ calories a day so you could probably lose weight for a while on 2,000 calories a day, so maybe you are just very low on calories.. That will need to reduce as time goes on but it will get your apetite to adjust slowly

[WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo]

daisy I'm fairly busy during the day.

I had my breakfast at 7am after getting up at 6.

Lunch was around 1.

So far I've cleaned the kitchen, mopped the floors throughout the house, cleaned the bathroom, washed 3 loads of washing and hung out 2, put washing away and dusted my living room. Made my lunch and prepared the veggies for dinner later.

[BertiesLanding]

I think that your feeling "absolutely ravenous" is simply that you are not used to feeling hungry. It will be a shock to the system at first. Give it a couple of weeks.

[Ihaventgottimeforthis]

You're doing quite a lot of new exercise OP, so your body WILL be hungry.
Plus, you've only been doing this for a short time.
My decidedly amateur answer is that you WILL be hungry for a while until you adjust to this new lifestyle.
It's not going to be easy - embrace the hunger pangs. Your brain and body WILL adjust. Get through a week or so, and reassess.

[WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo]

Oh and hoovered upstairs.

I had planned a walk out today but I'm letting a massive blister heal a little that I got thanks to a pair of trainer socks.

I'll be out tomorrow and will walk at least 5 miles, I can do that just walking around as I don't have a car. I stopped using buses a while ago as part of my slow steps thing. Walking on flat I can do for miles, it's the hills I got a shock with but I'm factoring those in. Even taking different routes so I can't avoid hills or steps. Basically making sure I'm out of breath for a good chunk of my walk.

[ListeningQuietly]

Feeling hungry is fine.
Its good for people to feel hungry for a few hours every day.

[CodenameVillanelle]

Fruit is not a good snack as it's just sugar and surprisingly high in calories.
You need to eat ENOUGH though. You can't go to 1200 calories or whatever from 3000 calories and not expect to be starving and almost definitely fail to keep to it.

[LirBan]

@WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo if you are uncomfortably hungry and not due to have a meal for hours, eat a babybel, that's 70 cals. That will get rid of hunger pangs. It won't spike your insulin.

[HillyRunner]

You absolutely need to count your daily calories so you will know you are eating enough and then deal with the hunger. Eat high protein, very low carb, good fats and no fruit if you're trying to lose weight. And never eat you exercise kcals, this is such a common mistake!

And I'll be brutally honest, I've never lost weight without some hunger, albeit temporarily - usually you will get used to smaller weighed-out portions and less kcals.

It doesn't sound like you drink enough water, try drinking a glass of water before you eat a meal. A lot of hunger can habit/mental; break it up by going for a walk instead of giving in to hunger pangs, read a book, do some housework...distract yourself!

Best of luck, it does take willpower but you deserve to feel healthier :)

[TheMumblesofMumbledom]

The only way I can lose weight and not be starving is doing the 16:8 way of eating. So I'll only eat between 12 and 8pm or 1 and 9pm depending on when I take my lunch our at work.

And massively reduce the carbs, eating carbs makes me ravenous.

[daisypond]

Can you be busy, be out and about during “lunchtime”? So, skip that meal altogether. Not every day but sometimes? I would often skip lunch at weekends, for example. Not by design, but because I’m not at home. Push breakfast back till a bit later, be out during lunchtime, and then an evening meal later. I don’t need three meals a day really. On work days I may just have lunch and dinner. At weekends it’s more often breakfast and dinner. I don’t think about eating.