If you are thin and watch intake, do you get hungry?

[flowersintheatticus]

I need to lose weight, I like the wrong things but get so incredibly hungry when I limit calories. Looking on instagram at fitness experts their portions are so tiny and I wonder if they are genuinely satisified or ravenous and just have great willpower to carry on until the next meal.
I need high fat foods such as yoghurt, hummus, cream cheese, read meat and so on, but I'm no where near satisfied when I restrict to the calorific ration. Salads/green veg does absolutely nothing for me, neither does pasta/rice/bread, so although my stomach is full I'm still hungry, if that makes sense?
I see these yoga women who eat a tiny chicken breast for dinner and 3 cashews as a snack and just cannot relate at all. I used saxenda back in the day and it's the only time I ever lost weight, but don't want to continue on injections as I know as soon as I stop it will be straight back on.
Any advice?

Once you get into it, the hunger becomes a bit of a reward. I have treats every day so I don’t crave things for ages then totally binge on them. Once your stomach starts to shrink, you do become less hungry and more easily satisfied. xx

Get into what? Hunger isn’t ever a reward, that reads like a pro ana comment.

op, you don’t need the high fat foods you’re saying you do, you just think you do.

you need to work out the optimum calorie intake on an average day and then devise a menu to suit that, breakfast, lunch, dinner, maybe a snack, and focus on enough protein And complex cals, and watch the fat intake.

Yes often. But looking good and feeling healthy matters more to me than not being hungry. Most of the time anyway.

Are you looking to be Instagram thin, or just a normal healthy weight?

How do you eat normally?

i am a good bmi but not insta-skinny and I don’t eat tiny portions or anything like that

for example I will be having Spaghetti Bolognaise tonight. I will not have garlic bread with it, just a nice portion of old fashioned spaghetti (about 100-120 grams dry pasta) and a ladle of bolognese made with mince, tomatoes etc

A Chicken breast and 3 cashews sounds somewhat disordered eating imo

What are you eating when dieting? I tried fast 800 and although it wasn’t for me as it caused low mood I found that waves of hunger only lasts 20 mins max.

There is research from Australia which says your body is also releasing hunger hormone until to reach back to your highest weight.

I used to follow an influencer for her healthy eating recipes. Finally got the chance to see her speak and, in person, she so clearly has an eating disorder it was quite shocking.

She was very skinny, her hair was thin and looked dry and brittle. Take no notice of these influencer types, some will have eating disorders, others will fall off the wagon but not show that.

I am not thin but am healthy bmi and toned. I watch intake - ( have you worked out your TDEE? ) and do occasionally feel hunger.

I focus on high protein (at least 30 grams per meal), healthy fats, some carbs, lots of fruit & veg, water. I eat chocolate or sweets every day but only a small amount. I rarely drink alcohol. I try to do 16:8 too. I also exercise a hell of a lot!

The key for me is consistency & making a lifestyle change, otherwise it would never work long term.

There is evidence that stress & sleep make a huge difference to weight/loss, so these need to be as good as they can be if possible.

Yes, these days I’m conscious of what I eat and right now my stomach is rumbling. I have planned my lunch to eat after 12 and I won’t eat again til dinner time. My portions are good but if snacked every time I got peckish none of my clothes would fit!

@Dietingfool I’d rather go to bed feeling a bit hungry than go to bed feeling overly full / disappointed in myself! Quite a jump to pro-ana, a fact of losing weight is you probably will feel hungry sometimes (unless you’re naturally able to maintain) but if you want to look a certain way something has to give.

Then say that, not when you get into it hunger is a reward. I don’t know you. I only go on what you wrote.

The trick is to not see the hunger as a negative thing. Treat it as a sign that you're losing weight, and then ignore it.

I'm mid healthy BMI. I eat enough at meal times that I don't get hungry until an hour before the next meal, so most days I'll have steadily increasing hunger an hour before lunch and an hour before dinner. If I'm hungrier than normal I have a coffee with milk and that eases it slightly. I don't often snack unless meeting someone socially etc.
I find an hour of hunger twice a day to be normal and reasonable. The trick is making sure your meals fill you up. I'm the same as you in that I need fat to achieve this. Porridge will have me hungry again in an hour, but put a blob of peanut butter on the porridge and I get three hours hunger free! For some people porridge alone is really filling though, so it's all about finding what works for you.

Yes I suppose I do. But I agree with the PP who said that feeling slim is a reward.

If i ever do put on weight, I can sustain 1200 cals quite happily for a month or so.

I don't generally eat after 6pm as I'm not bothered about dinner and I'm an early riser,, then I eat when I get to work about 8am.

I don't like sugary stuff, so don't generally eat biscuits or processed cake (I make an exception for home baked sponge if I'm offered it).

We live rurally so food deliveries are not possible.

I love vegetables and find that imaginative veggie dishes with some added protein keeps me happy.

This. If I've over eaten, when I wake up I feel so cross with myself that I gave in and ate too much.

I'm a size ten, mid bmi, and believe that to sustain that, some control must be exerted.

Did I miss something? Someone said feeling hungry was a reward, not feeling slim, very different things.

There is nothing wrong in being hungry for your next meal, I think we are a bit scared of feeling hungry which leads to constant snacking. I am slim, not skinny and toned, I do exercise daily. I tend to push my first proper meal to lunchtime as I've never been a breakfast eater and don't get hungry in the morning, although most mornings I have a piece of fruit and definitely a coffee or two! By lunchtime I'm hungry.

I limit sugar although have a lot of fruit and love a hot chocolate before bed but no sweets or cakes really, and eat whole foods mostly, low UPF. I don't like processed foods, don't eat supermarket bread (I make my own), pasta (never liked it) or cereals. I'm trying to have a lot of protein and fairly high fat foods.

From what you've said, high carb foods are not filling you up or satisfying you, but do you always have some sort of protein with them? For example, tomato pasta is not the best on it's own.

Not in my mind. When I feel hungry I feel slim. My stomach feels smaller.

Ive lost 10kgs over the last few months by eating more than I ever have but now eating the right things.

i never ate breakfast now i have a breakfast smoothie everyday (protein power, spinach, blueberries, chia seeds and water )
lunch is at least 30g of protein with veggies, carbs and fat ie 100gish cooked chicken with 150g stir fry veg 60g wholemeal rice, 1 egg and soy sauce
dinner is again at least 30g protein with veggies, carbs and fat ie air fried marinated chicken, homemade flat bread (Greek yogurt and flour), mixed salad, avacado, tzatziki

and snacks are usually Greek yogurt with fruit

3 x strength work outs a week and 7-10k steps a day

In my case , I realised it was almost always about sweet stuff , although I don’t eat sugar at all, craving were about sugar ( carbs)alcohol etc
my trick
was cut out all sweet food ( even fruit etc)
for two weeks, it resets me ,
then afterwards did oats for breakfast it helped
also no processed food , whole almonds are my go two when hungry still

If your stomach is full and you are still wanting food, that is not hunger, it is something else.

Actual hunger- where your tummy rumbles or perhaps hurts a bit- is a signal to eat, but equally if you don't (or only eat until you are 80% full) it won't do you any harm.

I’m thin and the only reason why I watch my intake is to make sure I’m eating enough (marathon training). I’m also plant based so my portions tend to be huge

Hunger is natural, it shouldn't be feared, its how you fuel that hunger thats a problem

If the minute you feel hungry you are reaching for the snacks - on top of your meals - you are going to gain weight.

As a PP , I ensure I eat enough at meal times so that the hunger doesn't over whelm me making me make the bad choices. Ive just had brunch ( I work early mornings so dont take anything till I get home again ) and now that will keep me going till around 5, when tummy will start sending me the hunger signals and send me into the kitchen to start on dinner. Even though Im hungry, I know holding on till dinner wont kill me. I make food that I enjoy and I eat my fill.

Like PP's I ensure I eat lots of protein and veg, most of my carbs are from veg, I eat little in the way of rice, pasta or bread. I do eat it, but not to the extent I used to when I was battling with my weight

Sure its hard when you first start limiting your calories but as you go along, you learn to make the best use of your calories so do dont throw them away on a glass of wine when sitting hungry. I dont waste mine on fast or UPF , I use mine on home cooked from scratch which means I eat very well and those early days of feeling constantly hungry are long gone

I have stayed at my target weight - give or take a kg for a year now and Ive high hopes of staying there moving on because I have learned what works for me and Im enjoying the food Im eating

Oh and it goes without saying, there has to be exercise. Mines walking - not strolling - proper short of breath walking, at least 5k a day ( thats my minimum its usually 5 miles )

The key for me is being able to reframe my hunger as something normal, rather than something that needs to be fixed by eating food immediately.

Learning to live with feeling a bit hungry sometimes is important. In some ways it’s a bit like tiredness - if I’m feeling tired mid afternoon I don’t suddenly panic and have a nap. I just accept tiredness is natural sometimes and plan eg to go to sleep a bit earlier that night.

Hunger is similar - yes you need to avoid being so hungry that’s it’s massively uncomfortable and you have a headache, feel faint etc. But being a bit hungry sometimes is entirely normal.

I found cutting down on sugar helped me, I still eat fruit but no cake, chocolate etc stopped me wanting to binge, has made a huge difference to my shape and how I feel. Trying to have little bits so am not denying myself but I don’t always want/am interested in having chocolate sweets/desserts etc now just need to kick the Diet Coke habit and I’ll be happy.

Yes, for sure, but not to excess. If I ate whenever I felt hunger, I'd go back to how I was before. Sometimes you also have to distinguish true hunger from boredom, stress, thirst and so on. Getting enough protein is important for feeling satiated as well.