How to keep the weight off?

[midsummercat]

I've lost a fair bit of weight but I am hungry ALL THE TIME. The past week I've eaten so badly, about 3000 calories a day as once I eat I find it hard to stop. I feel like I'm never full and I'll never be full.

I think this is my body's way of trying to get me back to my old size I Am so scared about gaining weight but I can't seem to control my eating.

Do you log your food on My Fitness Pal or similar?
I’ve continued to log, even after hitting target weight, because I’m too worried I will go back to where I was.
I have times where, for days in a row, I can’t seem to fill myself and do eat massively over but I don’t beat myself up about it I just get back on track and my weight has managed to remain steady (give or take 2-4 lbs I go up and down by) for over 12 months.

What are you eating that is leaving you hungry all the time? Maybe you need to make different choices so you aren’t hungry.
What is a typical days choice that is leaving you hungry? Maybe if you post someone will have some suggestions of swaps you could make.

Try fasting? Not eating in the morning? Sometimes having a rule helps. Also, are you drinking enough water / squash?

I think you need to address why you feel hungry all the time. Are you actually hungry or are you unhappy or bored? Are your portion sizes so big that when you eat a regular portion, you feel deprived?

Most diets seem to fail because they are too radical (cutting out sugar, carbs, replacing food with shakes etc). We don't put on weight because we eat three regular portions a day, We snack, have seconds, puddings etc and eventually we loose sight of what normal eating looks like.

This is my issue too, OP. I'm a lifelong yo-yo dieter. I'm good at losing weight - I've done it several times. I go between 15 stone and 9 stone. I'm now just under 10 stone after nearly a year on a weight loss plan. This time round I tried 'maintenance fortnights' in the last few months of weight loss, to try to accustom myself to a way of eating/way of life that I could sustain long-term. But, like you, I now feel hungry all the time. It's like I'm physically programmed to go back to 15 stone. I don't think it's psychological. I'm not bored or unhappy. I know what I should eat, I know what my portion sizes should be, but it's like I have a hungry monster inside that won't be satisfied with normal meals. That feeling of never being full is so familiar to me. Like you, I've been at about 3000 calories a day for the last week. I just don't know what to do.

Blood sugars surges and dips is why you’ll be feeling hungry. If you eat food which doesn’t cause a spike in your blood sugar, you will feel full and satisfied and not overeat.

Lots of recent books explain why calorie counting does not work long term. You need to change what you’re eating.

Eat full fat natural foods and don’t eat anything with added sugar or ultra processed food, including bread.

I've just read " Why we are fat". Somebody on here recommended it.

I've also been a yo yo dieter and now 5 years later and 1 stone heavier than ever I completely understand why it doesn't work and why I always regain the weight in the end.

It's definately worth the read.

So when you want to lose weight, you can't say I'm on a diet until I lose this extra weight. You have to tell yourself you are changing the way you eat forever.

3000 is a shit tonne of food. There are not many people who could eat that in a day without gaining. You have to find out your maintenance, how much you are going to exercise a week and stick to it.

You have to look at what you're eating, and fill up on healthy stuff.

I feel with 3000 calories you must be eating a lot of white carbs or sweet food like chocolate and biscuits. They totally create a desire for more - I turned down a biscuit this morning not because I was bothered about the calories in one biscuit but because it really triggers a desire for sweet stuff which doesn't fill me and just makes me want more and more!

How about not counting calories but allowing yourself to eat until naturally full on "real" food - salad, soup, oily fish (these are good because good for you, tasty, but really hard to over eat on), meat, and so on. A lovely big steak with a load of green veg with butter on would be really nice and filling and wouldn't leave you starving later but would still come to less calories than a smaller meal but then toast or cake later on.

@Elzbells do you mean the book “Why we eat (too much)?” Although I love your alternative title

I read it too and it’s transformed how I view food and weight loss. Crash diets are no longer for me.

Now I know that calorie counting and diets actually made me gain more weight. I downloaded the NHS app and can see it in my weight records over the years. Increased weight due to dieting. I wish I had read this book at 18.

Yeah basically it’s really difficult to overeat ‘good food’. If you eat poorly nutritious food (and I’m including all bread products) you are very likely to overeat and not feel satisfied.

[quote Ifyoubelieveyouwill]@Elzbells do you mean the book “Why we eat (too much)?” Although I love your alternative title

I read it too and it’s transformed how I view food and weight loss. Crash diets are no longer for me.

Now I know that calorie counting and diets actually made me gain more weight. I downloaded the NHS app and can see it in my weight records over the years. Increased weight due to dieting. I wish I had read this book at 18.[/quote]
Yes! That's the one! I agree, completely changed my views on what to eat and finally losing weight without feeling deprived or cutting out food groups

Blood sugars surges and dips is why you’ll be feeling hungry. If you eat food which doesn’t cause a spike in your blood sugar, you will feel full and satisfied and not overeat
Exactly this. If I eat a diet high in processed carbs so bread, pasta etc I am ravenously hungry all the time. I can eat massive amounts. When I eat a diet that's high in protein and fats and get my carbs from fruit and vegetables I just don't feel hungry and feel.much healthier, sleep better, lots more energy. Makes a difference of a couple of stone to me

@Elzbells yes I heard about the book on mumsnet too. Didn’t think it was going to have the impact it’s had on my mindset but it’s totally changed what we eat in our family and it feels sustainable- unlike all the calorie counting diets I’ve been on. I’m slowly losing weight and trying to have no expectations of what my final weight will settle at. Not feeling cravings and hunger like I used to eating lots of processed food, sugar and carbs.

@Ifyoubelieveyouwill yes same. I think generally you are chasing that fast weight loss you get at the beginning, it feels alien to actually be comfortable with a slower loss and not be so obsessed with the scales.

But, for 20 years I have done every diet under the sun and gradually got fatter. My set point then used to be 9.2 stone and now it's 11.7. His theory just resonated with me as it made so much sense.

I would do a diet, lose a bunch of weight, plateau at about 3 weeks in, give in as it wasn't working, binge for a month and then start another diet 🙄

Firstly, has your thyroid been checked, if not ring the GP and get them to do bloods

Secondly - experiment for 3 weeks - It’s important to eat food that fills you up - which is protein, fat and fibre. Focus on those and ditch sugar and refined carbs. Do have a bit of fruit but have it with protein. Fill up on fibre-y veg and up the protein portions by quite a bit. Have protein at every meal. Focus on meals rather than snacks but have a snack if you have a long break eg between lunch and dinner.

Log everything you eat for 3 weeks on nutricheck or an app like that. Aim to keep carbs under a 100 and protein giver a hundred.

Don’t worry about calories for this 3 weeks but don’t eat more than you need. If you aren’t hungry then gradually reduce your calories to a point where you are loosing weight, and then keep it slow and steady - a pound a week is 4 stone in a year, or a bit less is 3 stone.

If it doesn’t work, go to the GP explain what you’ve tried and ask for a referral for appetite suppressants - gps can’t prescribe.