Constant craver

Ooci

Anyone else seen the wonderful Horizon programme in the UK? It's called the Right Diet - I'll get a link. It looks very carefully and scientifically at why we overeat and conducts a range of very revealing experiments, showing the overweight volunteers to fall into three groups - Constant Cravers - Emotional Eaters - Feasters.

I'm a Constant Craver. Genetically, I produce too many chemicals telling me I'm hungry all the time and I never stop thinking about food. For me, dieting is actually torture as I feel like I'm starving all the time. I often feel like I might faint or cry and the awfulness of this feeling of starvation makes me break my diet and go over calorie and gain.

Nevertheless I have amazed myself with losing 40 lb over a year and getting to a UK size 12.

As I am now suffering very very much on 1400 cals, and rarely sticking to it, I am plateauing. I'm thinking of the 5/2 diet as this is the diet the scientists identified as suiting the constant cravers better.
Has anyone else got the same issues and tried it with any luck?

I should point out I'm 41 yrs old and extremely active, I play tennis most days, cross train, do a lot of gardening. I'm also very short at just 5ft and half an inch.

Another significant factor is I rarely get enough sleep, I don't sleep well because I am hungry and fretting about all this. 20lb to goal and a UK size 8.
Any help much appreciated.

sijomial

You may well be interested in my thread in the 5:2 group....

community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10053546/im-a-constant-craver-what-are-you#Item_15

I've been doing 5:2 for two and a half years and found it far easier and more successful for weight loss and then maintenance than anything else I've tried in my long life!
I came out as 55% Constant Craver, 38% Feaster, 7% Emotional Eater from the Horizon quiz posted on the BBC web site.

bbc.co.uk/guides/z2csfg8#zt83b9q

Cacheola

Limit bad fats and refined sugars and you should find that cravings decrease. I sure do, like clockwork. That stuff is poison.

Numberwang22

Hi, I also saw the programme. I took the quiz and came out as craver, but doing the 5:2 sounds horrific! The hanger!

I'm doing ok netting about 1270 after exercise and losing half a pound per week (on a good week). If I fill up on veg and the odd treat I can mostly keep things under control. I'm on last 6-7 pounds so planning to stick with this.

Good luck with whatever approach you choose!

Eleanorjanethinner

My aunt is 70 and has happily lost and kept off two stone using the 5:2 thing. She finds it quite achievable.

Personally I think I'd struggle too much on the 2 days and be likely to binge on the 5 days so I'll stick to aiming to eat healthy every day, but each to their own!

PS - another thing they mentioned for constant cravers is eating filling foods and eating slooooowly. Things like eggs, salmon, baked beans are great for filling you up. Things like bread, wine, popcorn etc. give you a hit of energy then fade quickly leaving you wanting more. I know wine is lovely, but if I were you I wouldn't waste my food calories on it while I was dieting.

Best of luck with it all!

Ooci

sijomial wrote: »

You may well be interested in my thread in the 5:2 group....

community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10053546/im-a-constant-craver-what-are-you#Item_15

I've been doing 5:2 for two and a half years and found it far easier and more successful for weight loss and then maintenance than anything else I've tried in my long life!
I came out as 55% Constant Craver, 38% Feaster, 7% Emotional Eater from the Horizon quiz posted on the BBC web site.

bbc.co.uk/guides/z2csfg8#zt83b9q

Thank you so much for this and the very supportive thread. It helps to know at last why I am so different at meal times to those around me - utterly starving and looking pretty quickly for the next one!

Thanks for the other replies too. I should point out I don't really crave sugar and fat especially. I try to avoid unhealthy food if I can. I crave meals. Hearty meals - they can be healthy. I only feel full if I have around 2300 a day, and I'm so short. That's why I got to 12st 7

Thanks for the help.

Ooci

Eleanorjanethinner wrote: »

My aunt is 70 and has happily lost and kept off two stone using the 5:2 thing. She finds it quite achievable.

Personally I think I'd struggle too much on the 2 days and be likely to binge on the 5 days so I'll stick to aiming to eat healthy every day, but each to their own!

PS - another thing they mentioned for constant cravers is eating filling foods and eating slooooowly. Things like eggs, salmon, baked beans are great for filling you up. Things like bread, wine, popcorn etc. give you a hit of energy then fade quickly leaving you wanting more. I know wine is lovely, but if I were you I wouldn't waste my food calories on it while I was dieting.

Best of luck with it all!

That's really helpful, thank you. On Monday I'm going to shop for exactly the things you mention, it is much much better to have a little bean salad than the Curly Wurly caramel bar!

I used to drink 1/2 bottle of wine a night when I was 12.7. Now I have it just twice a week. Give up more? Very very hard!

Cheriesaurus

Oh boy I'm a craver and so is my mother and grandmother lol

I find skipping breakfast and fasting till noon or going low carb is the only way to stop me from craving. Breakfast just makes me starving all day! It depends on your body, it took me a while of testing a few diets to find what worked for me.