Food is no longer satisfying

princeofmind

Does anyone else have this problem?
I've been losing weight for a few months now and obviously I used to like food.
But even though some foods still taste better than others, I no longer get any real satisfaction from eating it.
Perhaps this is how thin people feel about food and why they haven't gotten fat so maybe its a good thing?
Still its a little depressing to order a take away and be left thinking "I could have bought a cheap version of this at the shop, I would have been just as satisfied, and it would have been less calories".

Sabine_Stroehm

I lost about 30 pounds about 15 years ago and have kept it off +-8 (and working to get that to the low end after menopause).
I LOVE eating. I won't eat anything that doesn't taste good.
I love trying new delicious foods.
I love eating as much now as I did before I became conscious of what I was putting in my body.
What I enjoy has changed, but I don't consider that a bad thing.

I think enjoying eating is great. I hope you can find that pleasure again, with foods that work with your goals.
Good luck.

slaite1

This happens to me sometimes. I think it's just a mental thing, maybe from spending so much time/effort thinking about food? Once you get used to it (I've been using mfp for years, for example) it takes less of a toll on your "eating experience".

If I get too aggressive with losing, that's usually when I'll lose my pleasure with eating. Again, this is why I believe it's purely psychological. It's can be kind of depressing to pick apart foods that used to be fun, and break them down into calories. Instead of enjoying the food, I see a waste of calories (or money, as you said). Plus I tend to hyper-focus on goals, and I'm sure this effects my perception. Perhaps you're the same way? Either way-it passes, and you'll get over yourself and enjoy food again. All the weird mental *kitten* is just a normal part of creating a healthy relationship with food (and calorie counting).

Jthanmyfitnesspal

Learn to cook. So much better.

skymningen

For me it's guilt. I think about that tasty treat, I want it. But when I eat it I feel guilty, I feel I set myself back on reaching my goals and make things harder for myself.

I think it's just a phase, of adaptation. And also aggravated by general life stress.

tjones0411

I remember when I would/could eat something without thinking about it - without calculating the number of calories, without thinking first if it fit my numbers for the day/week. I miss that! But now I find that I enjoy food more - it's earned through brutal workouts, through choices of this over that. Because it's not mindless, it's more enjoyable to me. And those when I do add those treats in...heaven!

CattOfTheGarage

Maybe you need to explore better food options. I can totally identify with being disillusioned about takeaways - in most cases they are basically a lie which do not taste as good as you imagine but benefit from a kind of "feeding frenzy" effect. Once you slow down and really concentrate on how things taste, most takeaways are rather disappointing, and yes, the supermarkets often do better for less money! It's sad to find out the foods you always loved are not All That.

However, plenty of foods are All That. This is the joy of the foodie - seeking out the real food experiences. Not necessarily fine dining, either - the pizza place with the touch of genius, the Chinese place that really cares, the little explosions of taste that exist in unexpected places. And the recipes you can try out for yourself that taste better than stuff you're paying a fortune for.

Congratulations. You've started really noticing that some things are great and others are only so so. An adventure awaits!

kommodevaran

I have had the opposite experience.
I used to believe I loved food, well, it's easy to think that because I was overweight.
But I also didn't like food very much. I preferred snacks, sweets and junk food.
I believed normal weight people didn't like to eat, or just didn't care about food.
Alternatively that they posessed supernatural willpower to resist everything they liked.

After losing 50 pounds, and maintaining that loss for 2 1/2 years, I think differently.
I have realized:

I used to overeat boring food, and eat indiscriminately. Food was just food, but I was both terrified of eating too much and at the same time afraid I wouldn't get enough, and I felt pressured to eat more than I wanted and other foods than I wanted.
But I didn't know what I wanted. I didn't understand that that was my decision.
People with a healthy relationship with food have a normal, healthy weight for their height.
People with a healthy relationship with food eat what they like, but they don't eat all the time, and they don't eat everything at once.
They make an effort to eat well, but they don't eat anything just because it's supposed to be "healthy". They eat well to feel well, to be strong and energized, not just to "fill up", or not gain weight.
They will rather pass up an eating opportunity than eat something they don't like, or just don't want right then or right there. They never eat just because there's food, someone else is eating, it's free, or any other reason than that they are hungry and/or want to eat.
They don't feel guilty for eating or for getting pleasure from eating.
They don't use food to pass time or ease emotions.
They don't fear getting hungry, because they feed themselves reliably, by making sure that they eat enough and regularly.

mangofish44

I've also had a different experience. Since beginning dieting, I've cut out al sodas, processed foods, and most refined grains.

I used to never eat vegetables / fruit and am finding so much flavor / richness in food I used to find dull.

Syneea

I go through periods of that too...sometimes I lament my past view of mindless eating (lol).....it IS sometimes like MAN when I HAVE to think of everything in my food and modify/ration.. because I have short term goals that I'd like to reach now rather than later, it's necessary though....but like others have said, you will (may) eventually appreciate food more..quality over quantity....that's where I have been for a while, it has to be GOOD for me to eat it.

gothchiq

That's how my dad claims he is. I have never had that experience.