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?

[CodenameVillanelle]

[quote Oopsadaisydoddle]@BIWI

Absolutely it's true.

If your body is physically hungry, it usually needs food

It's only when we try to restrict calories/carbs/sugar/fat that our body craves stuff.

If we honour our body's hunger and fullness signals and listen to what it needs, it generally knows what to do. [/quote]
Oh stop it. You can't say things like that to someone who weighs 20 stone.

[CodenameVillanelle]

@Shedtheload

Right so you think it’s a good idea to eat way below basic metabolic rate? Why when she can lose weight steadily eating quite a bit more? You do realise that low carb doesn’t have higher success stats than other diets and that the only thing that will lead to long term weight reduction is a permanent and sustainable change in lifestyle that can be kept up for life? As I said, she can do lower carb if she wants to (she doesn’t have to if she doesn’t like eating that way) but at the moment she is eating four oatcakes and a bowl of soup for one of her meals. Of course she’s hungry.

It's TDEE you need to pay attention to, not BMR

[ListeningQuietly]

Eating at the TDEE of your happy weight works a treat
and lasts forever

[managedmis]

Eat:

A 3 egg omelet with sautéed spinach, cooked in butter for brekkie

An enormous bowl of homemade lentil and veg soup, maybe some cheese on the side for lunch

Big chicken salad for supper

Snacks - veg sticks, cottage cheese, homemade apple sauce

Water, coffee/tea with only a splash of milk for drinks

[managedmis]

I've said it before and I'll say it again :

IF YOU ARE ALWAYS HUNGRY YOU ARE EATING THE WRONG KINDS OF FOODS. EAT SOME THING ELSE

[Shedtheload]

@CodenameVillanelle yes TDEE is important but so is not allowing calories to fall below the BMR. If the OP is active, her TDEE will be high so she can eat quite a bit until her weight drops. If you go too low at the beginning a) it will be too hard to keep up and b) there will be no room for manoeuvre once the weight loss slows down.

[CodenameVillanelle]

[quote Oopsadaisydoddle]@CodenameVillanelle why can't you?
[/quote]
If you can't work out why intuitive eating doesn't work for a morbidly obese person I have nothing else to say to you

[ListeningQuietly]

intuitive eating
utter bullshit that contradicts millennia of human evolution

[jamaisjedors]

Wow lots of different viewpoints on this thread!

I can see why it's so hard to lose weight as the information seems so contradictory.

The only (not very useful) thing I have to say is that my initial reaction to your daily menu was "wow that's a lot". That would be a "big" day of food for me.

Maybe working on willpower could be something that helps? I am new to meditation but finding it helps hugely with increasing my willpower, in my case stopping scratching my eczema but could also be resisting the crisps!

Good luck OP you seem determined to get healthy which is great.

[sixlemons]

@purplecorkheart

Bear in mind most fruits are basically 80/90% water.

And almost all the rest is sugar.

[Shedtheload]

The only (not very useful) thing I have to say is that my initial reaction to your daily menu was "wow that's a lot". That would be a "big" day of food for me.

Here we go. What crap. What exactly is so much about three meals (one of which is very light)? Why do you think your advice is of any help or use to someone who is 20 stone and has said she is struggling with hunger?

[Izzy30]

I would be really wary of advice telling you to eat more fat and eat more in general as this will make you put weight on. It really is a case of calories in, calories out. There’s no magic formula of eating lots of fat etc. I tried eating more fat and just put weight on. The only thing that is finally working is calorie counting and being really honest. I wasn’t losing and finally included the fruit I was eating (masses) and that was adding 400 calories a day.

Regarding hunger, could you try and start your eating window a bit later in the day gradually so that you can have a larger lunch and feel less hungry but still be saving breakfast calories?

A really good book to read on weight loss is ‘fat logic’.

[SchrodingersImmigrant]

It took me couple of weeks to get used to smaller portions. As pps said, make sure you eat lots of nice protein. I start my day with eggs and toast or omelette. If I started with yogurt and fruit, I would be famished by lunch. Yogurt and fruit is my snack (obviously accounted for) as it helps tie over, but doesn't really fill up for long. I found that whole food, not highly processed is the most filling one. So some diet bisquits with fat free yogurt just don't do it for me.
I am on 1400 cal, usually finish on 1200 and am not starving. Just normal hungry before meal.

You will get it right for you soon!

[CodenameVillanelle]

@jamaisjedors

Wow lots of different viewpoints on this thread!

I can see why it's so hard to lose weight as the information seems so contradictory.

The only (not very useful) thing I have to say is that my initial reaction to your daily menu was "wow that's a lot". That would be a "big" day of food for me.

Maybe working on willpower could be something that helps? I am new to meditation but finding it helps hugely with increasing my willpower, in my case stopping scratching my eczema but could also be resisting the crisps!

Good luck OP you seem determined to get healthy which is great.

It might be a lot for you if you weigh 10 stone and are not particularly active. Remember that heavier people use a lot more energy to function that lighter people and it's not a moral failing to eat enough to fuel your body. As long as you're in a calorie deficit it's better to eat more than eat too little and lose motivation/overeat to compensate/lack energy for exercise.

My TDEE is around 2500 average. I'm 14 stone and exercise several times a week. A woman who is a few years older and a few stone lighter might only burn 1500 a day. I can eat 2000 and lose weight - she would gain it. It doesn't help overweight people when lighter people tell them they are eating a lot, when they are in a calorie deficit already.

[CodenameVillanelle]

@Izzy30

I would be really wary of advice telling you to eat more fat and eat more in general as this will make you put weight on. It really is a case of calories in, calories out. There’s no magic formula of eating lots of fat etc. I tried eating more fat and just put weight on. The only thing that is finally working is calorie counting and being really honest. I wasn’t losing and finally included the fruit I was eating (masses) and that was adding 400 calories a day.

Regarding hunger, could you try and start your eating window a bit later in the day gradually so that you can have a larger lunch and feel less hungry but still be saving breakfast calories?

A really good book to read on weight loss is ‘fat logic’.

I agree with you WRT calories in and out but it's a fact that some food is more satiating than others therefore it's better to eat for the calories than others. You could eat 3 100g dairy milk bars in a day and lose weight but you'd be starving and feel like shit.

[Goongoon]

Just to add to pp - the ‘eating more calories’ mindset is about just eating enough to be in a slight deficit over a longer period of time, rather than attempting 1,200 kcals a day and then having weekend Binges which take your weekly average over your TDEE and thus not loosing or even gaining.

[SchrodingersImmigrant]

@Goongoon

Just to add to pp - the ‘eating more calories’ mindset is about just eating enough to be in a slight deficit over a longer period of time, rather than attempting 1,200 kcals a day and then having weekend Binges which take your weekly average over your TDEE and thus not loosing or even gaining.

Similar works for me though. I have lower 6 days on 1400 or below (depends on if I am hungry or not) and then 1 day "off" where it's closer to 3000. It helps me keep on track and I lose a kilo a week. But! I know it wouldn't work for everyone because some people would extend the off day.
It's the same like people keep shouting "no snacks! 3 meals only! Otherwise you will never lose". I have 3 meals and 2 snacks which are essentially meals since they are at same time each day. They keep me from prepping main meals with "hungry eyes" and... I like cheese😂 So sometimes I just have piece of cheese and a small apple as a snack. Again though. It wouldn't work for everyone.

[jamaisjedors]

@Shedtheload

Why do you think your advice is of any help or use to someone who is 20 stone and has said she is struggling with hunger?

I'm not a nutritionist (but neither are the majority of posters I'd say).

My point was that it did not seem "normal" to me to be hungry after that amount of food, and so, as some other posters have also suggested, maybe one thing to look at is whether the OP is really hungry or just "hungry" out of habit.

@CodenameVillanelle

Some really interesting points, I don't think it has occured to me that a lighter person needed fewer calories. Which why if I ate what the OP described I would definitely put on weight, despite being very active (and a generally fidgety person).

Not trying to preach at all to anyone, just this thread reminded me of previous threads about whether thin people deprive themselves all the time or not.

I would not see the Op's diet as a weight loss regime at all, quite the opposite. But I see from some of the information here that I obviously have no clue.

Will leave the thread.

[Neolara]

OP - Protein is apparently digested further down the digestive system than other kinds of food and in doing so, releases more of the hormones that tells your body you are full. For this reason, eating more protein is likely to reduce hunger. So it's not surprising that you feel hungry in the afternoon if you only had no-protein soup for lunch.

[CodenameVillanelle]

[quote jamaisjedors]@Shedtheload

Why do you think your advice is of any help or use to someone who is 20 stone and has said she is struggling with hunger?

I'm not a nutritionist (but neither are the majority of posters I'd say).

My point was that it did not seem "normal" to me to be hungry after that amount of food, and so, as some other posters have also suggested, maybe one thing to look at is whether the OP is really hungry or just "hungry" out of habit.

@CodenameVillanelle

Some really interesting points, I don't think it has occured to me that a lighter person needed fewer calories. Which why if I ate what the OP described I would definitely put on weight, despite being very active (and a generally fidgety person).

Not trying to preach at all to anyone, just this thread reminded me of previous threads about whether thin people deprive themselves all the time or not.

I would not see the Op's diet as a weight loss regime at all, quite the opposite. But I see from some of the information here that I obviously have no clue.

Will leave the thread.[/quote]
Thing is, really overweight women are told by diet companies and apps and clueless people that they should cut down to 1200 calories because that's what women should be able to eat on a diet. Fat women (like me) burn a LOT more calories than that even when not particularly active and will feel extremely hungry on 1200, even unwell. A slim woman who wants to lose 6lb would be fine on that because her body doesn't burn so much.
Then the fat women feel dreadful on 1200 but feel embarrassed to try eating more because of slim others who say things like 'that's loads of food! I can't even manage my 1200 calories!' Etc and then drop out of the whole weight loss thing because they feel they will never be able to eat 'diet calories' so why bother.

[WhatWouldYouDoWhatWouldJesusDo]

I've just snapped a pic of my tea...... Looking slightly dodgy because of my love of pepper.

That's chicken, mushrooms, onions and peppers. Garlic, chilli 1 chicken stock cube, around 1/3 of a tub of creme fraiche ((175 cals divided by 3)) obviously broccoli and brown rice.

I didn't finish all the rice tbh, it isn't on a plate its in a pasta bowl.

[Sparklfairy]

[quote Oopsadaisydoddle]@BIWI

Absolutely it's true.

If your body is physically hungry, it usually needs food

It's only when we try to restrict calories/carbs/sugar/fat that our body craves stuff.

If we honour our body's hunger and fullness signals and listen to what it needs, it generally knows what to do. [/quote]
Oh do shut up.

You never see a fat person leave a prisoner of war camp, and I'm pretty sure their captors weren't bothered about basic metabolism.

[Turquoisesea]

Intermittent fasting is absolutely great. I do 16:8 and only eat between 11am and 7pm. No coffee/tea etc only water from 7pm. I can honestly say it has massively reduced my appetite, I’m genuinely not hungry in between and because it’s a shorter period of time I eat in it’s stopped me snacking as much. I’ve done slimming world before, would have breakfast early when I wasn’t really hungry, mid morning snack, lunch, mid afternoon snack, dinner and possibly a couple of snack in the evening. Filling up on ‘free food’ makes you think it’s ok, but it’s still food and I would be constantly starving, I find IF really regulates your appetite. Also if I do snack it’s on nuts etc which keeps me fuller than having something sugary which makes me starving again 10 minutes later. Plus I don’t feel guilty now eating full fat stuff as I realise now good fats are not the problem with weight gain, it’s all the sugary things that make you hungrier. I’m not particularly slim or overweight, size 12 but I don’t really deny myself anymore, just watch the times I eat more than anything.