Unable to diet
Replies
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I'd seriously consider readjusting your macros and cut back on the carbs. You don't get a long of "bang for your buck" even with "healthy" carbs. You can eat a rather massive pile of veggies in exchange for 1/2 cup of, say, rice.
I tend to use my carbs earlier in the day, and dinner is usually protein, lots of veggies, and maybe a tiny bit of some carb based food (often in the form of a desert or wine). The veggies are what give me plenty of volume to make it until bedtime without being hungry. Also be sure you're getting enough fats in your diet.
Seems the calorie calculator is pretty close to where you should be.0 -
That also sounds like a reasonable suggestion. I eat about 250 carbs, sometimes more sometimes less, a day. I will try upping the protein, or just upping the veggies, and again, see if that works. My fat is around 60 per day, though varies a far amount, its about thirty percent of my diet. I tried eating 30 percent protein, but that left me doing to the loo all the time, and feeling massively moody, I did lose a pound, but probably from passing water (!!)1
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When I eat at night, I tend to drink some water, wait a while, and then eat something. If I get hungry again, I drink water, and wait half an hour. If it gets worse I eat, and repeat until I stop feeling hungry.1
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How much fat are you eating? It sounds like your protein and fiber are already fine, perhaps you're satiated by fat and eating low fat?
Set your goal to lose 0.5 lbs per week (which will require patience, because it won't always show up on the scale).
See if you can eat a little lighter earlier in the day and save 150-200 cals to eat as a late night snack before you go to bed.
If you are using any of your calories on beverages, consider trying to cut back on that and save all of them for filling food.
With your stats it's odd that eating 1800 cals would leave you so hungry it wakes you up. Is it possible something else is waking you up and then you happen to notice you're hungry. Have you had a physical recently?3 -
I am about 143 pounds about 10 stone 3. I don't mind being 140 pounds as long as I don't go to far into ten stone and end up more like eleven stone.
So best case, you want to lose ten pounds. But you'd be okay with losing 3. Set MFP to lose ONE HALF A POUND a week. Eat every calorie it gives you, and half of what it tells you to eat back. How many calories is that?
Aim for nutrient dense carbs (think vegetables, fruits, legumes rather than crips and biscuits). Eat plenty of healthy fats (nuts, seeds, avocados...) and eat protein. You should not be ravenous.1 -
Yeah best case I lose ten pounds, but realistically lets stick to three, and worry about the rest once I can start losing again, and I am not fighting my body so hard.
And I am hungry if I try to eat 1600- 1700, and that is what I need to lose 0.5 a week. I used to be able to eat that no problem, though occasionally I would have issues with night hunger. I will over haul the content of my diet, and I do drink 3 to 4 cups of coffee, perhaps just replace that with food, as you say (though I love my coffee).
After my binge last week, I have cut back on treats, though I have had a few things I have fancied, but nothing excessive.
On an active day, I have to eat at least 2000 calories etc. You get the drift.1 -
I will give you a low down on what I eat on a typical day in a sec.1
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Actually I will log on tomorrow (its nidnight), and give the run down of a typical day. Thanks for your help so far!!!1
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You could just make your diary public? Then you don't need to type out what you eat and people may be able to give you some more focused advice.3
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What worked for me was just eating straight out of a tub or bag of mixed salad greens(mostly spinach). No dressing or other vegetables, just grab handfuls and eat. Just graze on it slowly and steadily. I did it before every meal or while cooking and just randomly throughout the day if I happened by the kitchen and felt hungry.
I am the pinnacle of laziness and this was my way of using that against my overeating. I am the master of rationalizing away exerting even the slightest amount of effort but there was nothing I could tell myself to get out of grazing. A pound of greens has barely more than 150 calories, so no matter how much you eat you won't put a dent in your overall calories but you'll feel much fuller. If you can open your fridge and have hands you can do this. There's no prep or other items required at all, no excuses.
What's more is that this is strongly habit forming. You'll just start doing it all the sudden without really thinking about it and then find you're just making smaller portions of your intended meal and not feeling hungry all the time. I eat 1500 calories a day at a 1000 calorie deficit and I'm pretty much never hungry the way I used to be just a couple months ago.8 -
Ok, I will give the greens stuff a shot. Lol. I love exercise, but perhaps I am not bulking out my diet enough and its just killing me with the hunger.
Today, I have just woken up and eaten a bowl of porridge with raisins and honey, two boiled eggs, and half a pitta bread with a cup of coffee.
Lunch will be 100 grams of chicken with the other half of the pitta with tsp of humus,
then some yogurt 30 grams and pineapple, 40 grams, grapes, 40 grams
Dinner- 100 grams of chicken, half a tin of mixed beans (coop brand) about 140 grams, 100 gram of potato, half a bag of microwaveable veg from the coop about 140 grams. the same amount of humus and a little low fat cheese.I generally microwave all of the above for a few minutes, but perhaps I will just cook it normally, adding a little more fat to the day, and may make me feel a bit fuller.
dessert will be the same as lunch, yogurt with fruit.
Then before bed I intend to have some more porridge with raisins, might skip the honey.
I also have had a naked bar (mostly dates and cashew nuts), as a snack before breakfast, and I am trying to stick to two cups of coffee.
The above is about 1810 calories. I am not going to exercise today, as I did loads this week and need a rest day
and a break from endless hunger.
I ate so much last night it was incredible. I am slightly worried I am actually pregnant or have some sort of phantom baby coming (its impossible for me to be with child).
I am going to the shops to buy more beans, veg, and greens. I am not a fan of nuts. I will try grazing when I get hungry, on greens instead of pitta, naked bars, humus, chicken, etc, which have been my night snacks.
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Oh and I have a little honey on the fruit and yoghurt...maybe I need to cut down a little. Just love honey, way better than sugar.1
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So if you logged that, what are the macro ratios?0
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Ok I will make my diary public and people can critique at leisure.1
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My macro ratios for today are 52 percent carb, 26 percent protein, 22 percent fat1
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if I increase my fat, what should I eat exactly?1
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You could increase your servings of the hummus or the cheese you're eating, add oil to your vegetables, have some avocado.
Be patient and hang in there. I generally find that playing around with macro balance/dietary choice helps most people when it comes to satiety.2 -
You could try to just eat the calories you need to maintain your current weight, but not more. Try to do that for 3-4 weeks, until you feel completely comfortable at that level. Then, try to lower your intake by 50 calories/day for 1-2 weeks. When you feel comfortable, lower your intake by 50 calories more. Remember, weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint
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My fitness pal is set to 1810 calories on average, and I have tried not to eat back calories burnt from exercise, but failing. It should be 1860, but I have reduced it by 50 calories, and will try and reduce it again by fifty calories next week etc.
My fit bit says I burn about 1800 - 2100 calories a day, and I generally eat bang on whatever I have burnt, which is interesting.
Is this your total burn from FitBjt (1800-2100 cals?). If so, and you are eating what you’ve burned then you aren’t eating at a deficit. You’re eating at maintenance.
Are you logging all your foods, using a food scale for accuracy?
Reading further it sounds like you’ve seen some long term slow weight gain and then one week (where you were on your period, ate more, and changed other habits as well) where you saw a spike? That’s likely mostly water weight from all those other factors. You need to be patient, and work to find a combination of foods that enable you to stay in a calorie deficit (to lose 0.5 lbs/week you need a 250 cal deficit from your total burn so you should be aiming for around 1550 and then eat a little more on those active days.
Play around with different combinations of macros and foods, satiety is a very individualized thing. But accurate logging is key with not too much weight to lose.
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I bought some seeds to add some 'fats' in there, and a whole bunch of vegetation and salad stuff. One hundred grams of salad is about 20 calories....???...that is insane. My grazing days have begun.1
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You like eating at night.... Have you tried not eating first thing in the morning, and waiting until later in the day to eat your first meal? This way you can save calories to use when you "need" them.
I feel more hungry all day when I eat first thing, and if I ate your breakfast, I'd be wanting to eat my arm off in about 30 minutes. Id echo the suggestions to increase protein, and maybe fat, to help with satiety.6 -
Thanks guys all good advice. I am munching on a bowl of salad, and I am going to try and have a bowl for lunch, dinner, and general snacking, see if it helps with feeling full and staying that way. Dieting definitely is a life long commitment. I think once I am comfortable with my food combinations and the hunger is more manageable, I will see about lowering my calories a little more. I don't mind a little hunger when dieting, its just when it effects your sleep too much its hell and maybe there is something going on with the macros as you guys have been saying.
I go by measurements as well as weight, so when I gained a couple of pounds and got to ten stone, my measurements went down, so I didn't sweat it too much. Since I gained a couple over one week, I have gained a few inches. It is true that it might just be a lot of water, I was originally 10 stone 4, and I basically decided there was no way I had gained 4 pounds of fat in one week. I might have gained 2 pounds of fat, and I have been ill a lot between February and March, so that probably hasn't helped.
I looked back on the weeks I had gained the weight between 9 half and ten, and I definitely over ate to the point of 3000 calories, it probably was fat, but just wasn't showing or something, very odd.
I am tracking and measuring everything as much as possible, and didn't stop after finishing the diet (though it is mind numbing and my colleagues give me a hard time over it because they don't think I need to lose weight, or they just want to eat a lot of chocolate cake and not care!).
Thanks again guys.
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You keep referring to this as a diet and talk about dieting. I’m the same height as you, lost >30 lbs and have been maintaining the loss ever since - and never once considered myself to be on a diet.
Diets are temporary. Eating in a way that you enjoy, that provided good nutrition, fills you up, and enables you to eat at a calorie level appropriate for your goals - short, medium and long term - that’s a permanent change and a mindset that you should consider.
Maybe semantics but I think it’s an important distinction.13 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »You like eating at night.... Have you tried not eating first thing in the morning, and waiting until later in the day to eat your first meal? This way you can save calories to use when you "need" them.
I feel more hungry all day when I eat first thing, and if I ate your breakfast, I'd be wanting to eat my arm off in about 30 minutes. Id echo the suggestions to increase protein, and maybe fat, to help with satiety.
Same here! Is that your photo?0 -
Well this probably isn't too surprising, but after a week of doing nothing and eating a high carb high sugar diet, I gained some weight (about four pounds if that is possible). I was dieting up until six months ago, and have gained five pounds (on top of the four pounds) since then, probably due to life style changes, and some over eating (I went from teaching to a desk job). I have tried dieting again, but I have found that I can not eat less, I will stay up at night until I have eaten 1800-200 calories, it doesn't matter what I do at the moment. I used to be able to eat a lot less...what gives??
...eating more or less is not an issue if you wanna go for Diet..,BUT "SMART Eating, i think is more important that really give me a result to loose 3 kgs within 2 weeks...., well, people may think need to eat a rabbit food if wanna go for diet, actually note at all...., your Metabolic system is what you should pay attention.
I am now 40 years old but my Metabolic age equivalent to age 35 years old..., meaning my metabolic system still function just okay...., same thing if you focus on Metabolic age...,eat more or less will become eat Smart that you no need to reduce anything at all.
what i suggest is to do 4-4-12 with some Genome supplement and science exercise .., then you will see result within 60 days and surely weight loss will be side effect of better metabolic reboot.
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If you think of it as a diet, it makes it a lot harder. It sounds like you're eating things that make you hungry - lots of refined sugars. Eat more mindfully and figure out what makes you feel full and good after you eat it. Also, pay attention to how good things taste and eat things you like. I find if I really savor what I'm eating, I'm satisfied a lot faster and put less food in my mouth.
Plus double check your protein and fat. If they, together, aren't 60% of my diet, I can't lose no matter what.1 -
Well I am on day one of upping my leafy green and vegetable intake, and I was actually able to go to sleep early (after a bowl of porridge with seeds, honey and rasins) and not eat about 50 calories that my body apparently burnt more than I ate. That is an impressive result considering how I have been struggling to cut out even fifty calories from my diet.
If this keeps going then sure, weight loss might be a variable option again.
During the day I was a lot less hungry between meals having the salad around the snack on.
I always hated salad...but I think I can see a reason to start really loving it if this trend keeps going and it prevents night hungers.
I am going to skip honey for a while, or just lessen it. Lower my sugars only a little, and see if that will also help. My sugar looked on the high side.
I think veg are a good option, low in calories and bulky, and fairly cheap. I am amazed I didn’t realise this before.
Don’t know if upping the veg will continue to help, but fingers crossed!
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JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
I do this too, sort of naturally. I like to roll on into the early evening with 1,000 cals on the board still.2 -
metinselman3 wrote: »Now I’m not a nutritionist by any means but I have a lot of experience with dieting and exercise and myself have lost almost 70 pounds and have maintained it. Sugars and carbs make you feel hungrier as they are processed and not very filling in the first place.
1. Find out your caloric needs to maintain either using this app or a TDEE calculator, the amount of calories you ate before you lost weight varies vastly than now. Find out and try to not go over that.
2. I would suggest trying intermittent fasting as it gives you self control at what times you can eat and prevents over eating in a day.
3. Lay off the carbs that are heavily processed, stick to whole grain and fiberous foods.
4. Avoid snacks that are processed, if you do snack let it be a healthy snack like carrots celery or an apple but dont go overboard everything in moderation.
5. Remember a diet is a lifestyle not a one time fix. When you get older your metabolism is slower and you can’t eat the same.
6. Try to add in exercise to your lifestyle it will take your mind off food I personally jump rope a lot.
7. Lay off sugary drinks, try to drink only water and tea and sometimes coffee you drink a lot of calories than you think.
Just my two cents feel free to ask any questions
Nope. Please disregard this non-factual post7 -
Sadly, our bodies fight to regain the lost weight, and some people have bodies that fight harder. I’m not sure how much total weight you’ve lost, but significant weight loss can result in sustained decreases in leptin levels, which means you’ll be hungrier than you were before dieting. Unfair, but a reality for many. And it’s not a hopeless situation. This article is a great review of what we know about weight maintenance. Hopefully there’s some pearls in it you can use.
http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/9/5/468/pdf#page156
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