Hungry all the time, obese.

[Roish]

I am not currently dieting, am eating plenty, weight stays the same +/- a couple of pounds. I don't want to do weight loss injections, am looking for advice and suggestions on how to eat better so I don't feel hungry all the time. I hear a lot about eating lots of protein, not sure how effective thst is ? I just feel incredibly confused about how to eat better, to shift quite a bit of weight and not feel ravenous all the time.

based on her description of how she feels and her weight - statistically most obese people are insulin resistant - a proportion will be pre diabetic and some will have already developed T2 diabetes.

This picture comes from my country’s official nutritional guidelines. They’ve worked very well for me for several years now. It’s important to think about vegetables first and compose the rest of the meal around them.

Also, being realistic about the hunger and learning to accept it. It’s normal to be hungry and if you don’t eat immediately after you feel hungry you are very unlikely to starve to death. If you stop eating when you feel full, you’ve likely eaten too much - it takes circa 20 minutes for our stomach to communicate to our brain that we are done eating, so it’s much better to stop when you are 80% full and after 20 minutes you will realise that you have eaten enough.
It sounds difficult/scary at first but takes around two weeks to get used to, then you just maintain good habits.

Ditch the bread, pasta, apple, peanut butter, crisps, chocolate, mayo and banana.
Keep eggs, tuna, chicken and ham. Plus canned sardines if you like them.
Add green veg with a knob of butter, but not green beans or peas. Later on you can add more coloured veg
No need for low cal spread or skimmed milk, go full fat, it keeps you feeling fuller.
You can make a hot protein drink for snacks. I buy pea protein, add a crumbled oxo cube and stir in boiling water, just like a thick soup.
More protein for pud? Silken tofu, I sprinkle mine with Canderel., pretend it's Panna Cotta. You could even save the pudding to eat before bed.

I keep food simple when dieting, the less I dwell on it the better. Dieting can take you over. The science, the calories, weighing it out and always thinking of what the next meal is.
If I made beautiful dishes as some do, I couldn't confine it to one portion, I'd eat the lot.
Wine, two glasses a week is nothing, enjoy it. Just don't get so relaxed you eat the jar of peanut butter!

All Hell for a few days, but the scales will surprise you and you will start feeling less hungry.

I think many of you are being harsh.

carbs are fine as part of a balanced diet.
as are high calorie dense foods like avocado or peanut butter. though it is easy to under estimate their calories.

don't restrict yourself too much, that's a way to failure. look up alternative options, like a hot chocolate instead of a bar.
or having chrisps as the main meal with crudities & dips.
or time restrictive fasting (16:8, 5:2)

whatever you do. make it sustainable so you can give your body what you need

I agree with this, there’s nothing wrong with carbs and good fats. What works long term is portion control. So 100-120g of cooked brown rice instead of half a plate.

I measure my fats with a spoon, I don’t use any spreads for bread (because I don’t eat bread, gluten intolerant), I don’t eat mayo, and add a teaspoon of peanut butter to my overnight oats and I still easily manage to get 30% or more percent of my daily calories from fat.

Quick update. It's been a week. I am definitely feeling better already.

I upped my vegetable intake a bit too fast at first, was rather windy! Stomach has settled now, thankfully.
I'm aiming for having half a plate of veg at lunch and dinner. I even tried an omelette with spinach and peppers at weekend. I am definitely less hungry.
I checked how much water I'm drinking daily and it's usually around 2 litres. I don't care for soft drinks but do like my tea and coffee, Next step is to improve carb choices, likely to be more of a challenge!

I forgot to add, some posters have suggested I may have T2D. I have annual blood tests at GP and my hba1c is usually around 30. Apart from the hunger, I have no symptoms of T2D, and after my experiment this week I'm now fairly certain the hunger was caused by eating poorly balanced meals.

I'm type 2 diabetic, OP, and hit the highest hba1c I've had last year. My Dad had not long passed away, and as a vegetarian I was eating way too many carbs like huge baked potatoes, large bowls of pasta. So I joined the low carb program online and have since lost nearly 3 stone. I wasn't eating anywhere near enough protein, and now my diet consists of around 80% veg and the rest is protein. I genuinely never go to bed hungry, I've just stood and made a huge pan of creamy cauliflower soup for work lunches and try to cook most meals from scratch. Once you lose that cycle of craving carbs/sugar, it's a lot more instinctive to listen to your hunger. Someone on here recommended the Full Diet the other day and I've just bought both books - they'd be a good starting point.

I started doing MyNetDiary this week. It's really good as you can record your food through the day. It works out your carbs, protein etc for you. It may help you understand your eating patterns. I have been trying to focus on more water especially before eating. Perhaps try a week of logging your meals and see if you can get an insight into your true eating habits.

With regard to crisps I have been having lentil crisps (from Lidl) as snacks on occasion. They are a healthier alternative if you can't be without. :)

great to hear @Roish

I think your approach is sensible.
you could also try to visualise a toddler plate for proportions: big compartment for veg or salat, each small compartment for complex carbs (whole meal, skin of potatos) and protein & sauce

It doesn't really matter what you eat... in order to lose weight you need a calorie deficit over time. Most plans restrict your eating or times of eating which can put you in a deficit but the only way to really find out how many calories you are consuming is to track your calories! There are lots of apps ( I use nutracheck)
Obviously there are health implications to what you eat, so a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and veg is going to be beneficial compared to a high fat ultra processed food diet. But it's eating less calories than you're using that will lead to weight loss.
Any other plan is just a complex ( and usually money making ) way of achieving this simple equation.
Fewer calories consumed than you use up = weight loss
More calories consumed than you use up = weight gain.

Just a quick update as over Christmas I slipped back into bad habits somewhat. Not enough protein, nowhere near enough fibre, too much 'grab' food e,g mini pork pies or party food type nibbles. After a week of eating like that I found I was back to square one as far as being hungry, feeling ravenous and unsatisfied. I'm only just now getting back to where I was,it's been a struggle.
It's absolutely clear to me that I need to keep to well balanced meals as far as possible. I also need to plan my meals and snacks better, so that when I do need to grab something, it's something healthy!

I wasn't trying to diet or lose weight but in the 6 weeks before Christmas on my new plan I did lose 7lbs, Gained a couple back over Christmas and am currently just 1lb over where I was before Christmas. So 6lbs off.

Congrats @Roish you're doing great... Do keep updating us! It's inspiring to see how you are learning what suits your body and what doesn't

Eating 3 high protein meals a day has made me feel very full.

No snacking required. I've even lost the after lunch energy slump.

I joined the low carb boot camp on here which is really motivating.

Sleeping properly too, because you have done physical exercise is also a massively helpful way to avoid feeling hungry simply because you are tired.

Aiming to drink 3litres of water every day here...This helps in several ways:

• Increasing metabolism: Drinking water can increase your metabolic rate, which can help you burn more calories 

• Suppressing appetite: Drinking water can make you feel full, which can help you eat less 

• Reducing liquid calorie intake: Drinking water instead of higher calorie drinks can reduce your overall calorie intake 

• Helping with digestion: Drinking water can help with digestion and prevent constipation 

• Clearing toxins: Drinking water helps your kidneys function optimally, which helps clear toxins from your body

Good luck OP 💪🏽

Just looked at your diet post... Sugar creates energy crashes... carbs are turned into sugar... so cut out the fruit and the bread op.

Eat more cheese, avocado, meat, fish, tofu, veg, ff greek yog.... you WILL have more energy.

It really DOES matter what you eat!
Focus on Protein, good fats and get your carbs from veg.

Drink more water.
Exercise.
Get enough sleep.

That’s great, OP. I find I do well by swapping half my pasta, rice or potatoes for tinned pulses. More complex carbs, more fibre and more protein. Might be worth a try.

Protein does make a difference. They’re is a lot of research into animals and people which shows that if people don’t get enough protein in a day there body will keep releasing the hunger hormone until you eat enough protein even if you’ve had enough calories. Having enough protein is essential to being healthy. The British heart foundation have a good article on it with a formula to work out how much protein you need.

Being over weight it complicated though and it’s area which until recently hasn’t been researched well. There is also research which concluded that for people who have been over weight and have lost weight their bodies will continue to release the hunger hormone until they regain their highest weight.

I would consider adding more protein rather than reducing carbs first because increasing protein will probably make you automatically reduce carbs.