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?

We all know this but it bears repeating: insatiable hunger can also be a blood sugar issue. I know @flowersintheatticus said your blood test results were fine but could it be worth revisiting this symptom at the doctor's? Do you know your HbA1c and if it was at pre-diabetic levels?

Not really. It was one of my main aims when I realised I had to watch what I ate. I didn't want to feel hungry all the time.

I get normal hunger approaching a meal, but not really hungry ( shaking, not able to focus). And I am not hungry at the end of a meal as I eat lots of veg to fill up.

It's definitely a blood sugar thing for me. Once I ate in a way that balanced that out it was ok.

In my experience (mid 50s, no diabetes/ blood sugar issues) the trick is not to snack. Our culture "medicates" hunger and remedies the first pangs, or even boredom, with snacks. I've seen posts on here requesting weight loss advice and asking what snacks they could have after dinner. The truthful answer would be "nothing". We don't need to feel permanently full.

TBH I lost 7 and a half st without really feeling hungry! I rarely feel it now and if I do feel a twinge I usually have a coffee and if that doesnt work a snack like popcorn or sesame snaps.
Feeling snacky just now and cut up a pepper and a carrot to munch on.

I gave myself big portions of whole foods though so I wasnt really missing anything. Huge bowl of porridge with lots of fruit and protein powder for breakie, big chunk of home made bread with peanut butter or hummus for lunch, then tea normally a heavy veg based meal with a portion of tinned fruit.
Then I always fit in a bowl of berries with soya yogurt and granola and a packet of crisps in the evening!

I will say though not all feelings of 'hunger' is from reduced calories. Dealing with food noise can be extremely difficult. I used to eat for many reasons and thought about food constantly until I hit menopause, which weirdly worked like a weight loss injection for me!
Now I dont obsess over food, just eat regular meals.

That's very helfpul to me, thank you.

I am not overweight, I am toned and slim but I have to work at it and I find that if I lapse in any way from my lifestyle for a bit, weight comes on quickly. It's fine if I have a meal out once a week, or have a day off where I eat junk, but any more than that and it creeps up. I catch it before it is a lot, but I think it might be related to what you're saying.

Try to hit your protein (1g per kilo of weight) and fiber (25-30g) daily goals first, and then think about calories. Chicken breast contains only 30g of protein per 100g (steak is 25g prr 100g of meat), and 100g of apple only yields 2.5 (two point five) grams of fiber. Most days I struggle to eat everything I have to eat - it’s a lot! Zero hunger and I am size 8 (but I do workout 3-4 times a week though).

Yes, I have hungry days, same as anyone else. Sometimes our bodies need more fuel than others.

I keep my intake to ideally 1600 or 1700 calories per day. This means I'm not starving myself and less likely to a) feel hungry in the first place and b) spiral when I get do have a hungry day.

I spent years of my life trying to stick to 1200 calories, only to put it all back on if I went 200 or 300 over and getting so hungry after weeks of months, I'd binge an struggle to regain control.

My BMI is generally between 18.5 and 19.5 - some fluctuation is completely normal.

Yes as when I feel hungry I burn fat I can eat more calories per day and lose weight if I have 6-8 hrs between eating and feel really hungry than if I eat a lots less and snack and don’t get the feeling of hunger !

@AmICrazyToEvenBother Do you mind me asking how tall you are? I've been sticking to 1200 calories but not losing the few pounds I want/need to lose. I've been wondering if I should slightly increase my calories? I'm a 'healthy' weight/BMI but am quite short and every extra pound is really showing on my stomach.

I think there is a feeling of 'thinking' you feel hungry which is different to actually being physically hungry.

Intermittent fasting was really helpful for me to help me differentiate between the two. Often my brain will try and tell me I'm hungry but if I focus on what it feels like and where in my body I am feeling it I can tell if it's more of a boredom/ urge to snack/ craving for sugar or carbs than actual empty stomach hunger pangs.

I think occasionally being actually hungry is a good thing, learning not to eat the first thing at hand the moment you feel a hungar pang, drink some water, distract your mind and don't let the snacks get you!

@flowersintheatticus what happens if you don't eat when you feel hungry?

what happens if you drink a glass of water at that stage?

Thank you all for the replies, a lot of food for thought (pun intended). I think there's a lot of (painful) truth in using food as a tool for boredom/stress or just something to do. I'm in a very high stakes stressful position at the moment and don't have time to eat properly during the day. As a result I'm eating rubbish, such as crackers and crisps. That Irresistable programme was very insightful, scary how wotsits type crisps have more fat per gram than a burger.
When I get hungry it's a real pain, nausea and I feel I could faint. My sugars have been repeatedly but apparently are fine. I think over time I've eaten more, my stomach has stretched and now unless I feel full I don't feel right. I also have trouble stopping when I feel nearly full.

I realised that I was confusing not feeling full with feeling hungry, so I was eating to feel consistently full rather than waiting to feel hungry, then eating. When I stated watching what I ate, I started to feel genuinely hungry again and, at that point, I would have a better understanding of how much food I actually needed.

We’re supposed to feel hunger, but not actually go hungry (IYSWIM).

Yes yesterday I was really reflecting and I think this is my problem. I have a lot of food noise, with very strong responses to certain foods, their smell etc. In many ways it is like an addiction I suppose. I'm really making an effort not to eat as soon as I feel like I should, and instead having a drink of water.

There is a mind thing in here

When you are feeling so hungry you could be sick/ faint it is illogical - your body can go days without eating ; and if you were to be sick it would be rather counterproductive!

I wonder if it's got used to you responding to that signal with treats of high fat high sugar food - so it gives it out when really you are not physically very hungry. It's the desire for food treats not real hunger you are experiencing ( that's why an apple rarely cuts it )

Maybes go cold turkey on junk food ?
Not that I have ever managed to do that !

Yeah, ravenous 🤷🏽‍♀️

I look good though and that's more important to me

@midgetastic yes I think it must be a mind over matter thing. I don't go for sugary things, more cheese, nuts, yoghurt and other high fat savoury things.

Just as a heads up, I bought some chia seeds a few days ago, soaked them in water and had two spoons in my yoghurt today and couldn't believe how full I felt. Nothing until dinner time, although I did have a few cravings. Definitely a step in the right direction.

I'm slim ish (10 stone). 5'5

I usually go to bed hungry ish, yes

I do find having three meals a day of proper food helps

So:

B - porridge
L - beans and fried egg on toast
D - pork fillet, gravy, veg, mash

Smallish portions, but good food

I'm slim and always have been. My body is used to feeling hunger and it doesn't bother me, it's a noice I have shut out as I know that the way I live is not dangerous for my body and it's not being deprived. I only eat for 8 hours a day, 11am - 7pm roughly, and outside of those hours I don't really think about food anymore. I often also forget meals within that period. For example today I ate breakfast at 11.30am and then I didn't eat again until 6pm because I just didn't think about it because my body doesn't crave food all the time anymore.

Finding whole foods , by which I mean non processed or minimally , is the key

I got up at 5 as normal today, but sat myself down and promptly fell back asleep and so was an hour late into work - empty tummy. It was 2pm before I had got in, done what HAD to be done and I could finally eat. A bowl of HM curried parsnip soup and half a cooked chicken fillet and a thick slice of good cheddar . Two years ago it would have been the soup and half a loaf of bread and Id have been hungry within an hour or two

This evening , air fried chips - hand cut not frozen, and a piece of breaded cod and a small side salad.. Thats it. thats all Ive consumed today and whilst I was hungry because of the morning mess up, its gone 10pm and Im still feeling full. Oh my brain is telling me a bit of chocolate wont harm cos Ive not ate a lot, but I know if I do take that line of chocolate, the bar will disappear - even though Im not hungry

We don't eat a lot of processed foods, I just need to be able to block out the noise telling me that eating something is the good thing to do, if I am hungry or not. I've been trying really hard to differentiate between genuine hunger and boredom/just enjoying the feeling of eating and I am closer to realizing that I have very strong positive associations with eating, which is probably a major part of the problem. When I was on saxenda I had no appetite and that made me quite depressed as I very much feel food is a joy, I genuinely feel sad for the people who say they eat for fuel only or they forget to eat. I do have a lot of non food related pleasures, but food makes everything so much better!

What's the "HM" in "HM curried parsnip soup", sorry? I can't think.

Home made :)

I find home made to be more filling than any shop bought soup, plus I know whats in it

Sorry but you don't need to feel hungry to be slim. The replies on here are worrying. Just eat three good meals a day. Exercise. Avoid junk food. If you eat the right things you and get portions right you are set. I am not skinny but a normal weight. I would never starve myself to be skinny thin. It's sad that anyone thinks the have to.