Weight loss ideas

Food.

Not too much.

Mostly plants.

Satiation is quite individual, so it may take some experimenting on your part. Log your food, see how you feel, adjust your eating to dial in reasonable calories, decent satiation most of the time, good overall nutrition, etc. You can do that over a period of time: It doesn't need to be perfect instantly.

Many people find so-called "whole foods" more filling than highly processed (refined) foods. That would be things like lean meats, fish/seafood, veggies, fruits, whole grains. That doesn't necessarily mean totally eliminating processed foods (or even all fasts foods, snack foods, junk foods, etc.) Many people seem to do well with kind of an 80/20 approach, mostly simple foods but some convenience or treat foods.

Beyond that, some people find protein filling, others find fats filling, some need high volume foods (typically low-cal veggies, but it can be other things that are big in size but low in calories). Some people find specific foods especially filling; baked potatoes and oatmeal are common ones, but not everyone finds those filling . . . and it could be anything.

There's some research suggesting that certain high-fiber foods have a milder version of the effect of the new GLP-1 weight loss drugs - foods with "fermentable fibers". (https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/10/30/1208883691/diet-ozempic-wegovy-weight-loss-fiber-glp-1-diabetes-barley)

Timing of eating can also matter in feeling full more of the time, but that's also individual. People here have reported doing well on anything from one meal a day (OMAD) to all-day grazing on many small snack-sized foods, and everything in between.

It may take some experimenting, but if you log your food and pay attention to how you feel - noticing when you feel more hungry or less hungry - you can dial in your own right combination of foods and timing to feel more full.

I'd observe that one sure way to feel hungry is to cut calories too far, shooting for too-fast loss for one's current size. A moderate weight loss rate a person can stick with reasonably happily can get them to goal weight in less calendar time than an extreme approach that causes deprivation-triggered over-eating, breaks in the action, or even giving up altogether. Many people here recommend losing no faster than 0.5%-1% of current weight per week, with a bias toward the lower end of that range unless severely obese and under close medical supervision to avoid deficiencies or health complications.

Beyond that, note that other things can affect hunger/appetite: Fatigue and stress can spike appetite, so sleep and stress management are important. Some people struggle with emotional eating. Past habits may make us feel hungry at times or in circumstances when we'd usually eat, and that can require some self-retraining to change those impulses. Some people find that certain exercise modes make them especially hungry. Boredom can trigger impulses to eat. Being dehydrated can be mistaken for hunger, sometimes.

In general, it can take a couple of weeks for one's body to adapt to a new routine, and it may fight back against changing habits. If the routine is reasonable (not over-aggressive), then being firm with oneself for that couple of weeks may help: Giving in to habitual cravings (as distinct from the need for calorie "fuel") tends to perpetuate those cravings longer. Using some willpower for a couple of weeks may make the habit-triggered cravings wither away more expediently.

If you stick with it, you can figure out a new and sustainable eating routine, I predict. If you try something, and it doesn't work for you, that's not a personal failure. It's just that you've learned something useful about yourself: A thing that doesn't work. So, learn from it, and try something else for a week or so to give it a fair chance.

Only giving up is failure. Keep trying things until you find your personal best tactics, and you'll succeed. For me, it was kind of like a fun, productive science fair project for grown-ups. I wish I'd lost the weight decades earlier, honestly, the results were so positive in both health markers and improved quality of life.

Best wishes!

As well as looking at what you eat, consider eating slowly. I try to aim for each meal to take 20 minutes. It may not suit everyone but for me it increases the pleasure I get from eating and helps my mind and stomach register that I am full.

The biggest thing is when you first put yourself in a calorie deficit to not make it too drastic. Going from eating 3000 calories a day to 2000 is sure to make you both mentally and physically hungry. Try dropping 200-300 calories a day for a week. Also what you eat matters as well. You can eat a crap load of veggies which are dense and packed with nutrients and usually very low in calories. So eat! Space it out. Have those healthy snacks frequently like nuts, cucumbers, carrots. Especially if you’re working out, you don’t want your body to start eating away at your lean muscle, so ensure you’re hitting your calories but maintaining healthy food alternative for snacks. If you starve yourself you’re bound to break from the calorie deficit. Stay strong and I hope this helps!

There was a really good post I saw recently that shifted my thinking -- you can try to think of it as managing insulin!

I'm going to repost the comment here just so you can read it:

You don't need to be hungry all the time. You can lose weight without hunger, and without feeling tired and cold either. You don't even need an exercise regimen.

Elevated insulin levels make you store energy in the form of body fat. In order to lose body fat you need the opposite: you need your fat tissue to release its store energy back into your bloodstream. For that to happen you need your insulin to go down low enough, and for long enough.

So what makes your insulin level to be too high? There are four key factors, three of which are under your control.

First, the fatter you are, the higher your insulin level will be. That's why it is so hard for fat people to lose weight in the first place. Nothing we can do about that, but the next three factors you can improve.

Second, the amount of carbohydrates in your diet. Starchy or sugary foods, such as bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and sugar, are very rich in carbohydrates. Carbohydrates raise your insulin levels, so you want to reduce them as much as possible. In order to prevent hunger you still need to eat, so choose foods that will not raise your insulin as much. This means eating above-ground vegetables, eggs, meat, fish and full-fat dairy like butter, heavy cream, and cheese. Choose fatty cuts of meat, instead of lean cuts.

Third, eat less frequently. Insulin levels go down a few hours after each meal. The fatter you are, the longer they take to come down. Every night as you fast during your sleep, your insulin goes down. By having early dinners and/or skipping breakfast, you extend the number of hours a day in which you are in a low-insulin state. When you consume a meal do eat until you are satisfied. Skipping meals isn't about reducing your calories, it's about reducing your insulin. When you eat a low-carbohydrate diet it becomes much easier to skip breakfast because you aren't nearly as hungry.

Fourth, if you can, introduce some exercise into your daily routine. You don't need to go crazy: you can replace some or all of your commute with walking or cycling and it will help. It is not about how many calories you burn exercising in a particular day. Instead, it's about how over a long period of time exercise makes your muscles more insulin sensitive. This means they become more efficient at eliminating excess glucose from your bloodstream, which in turn makes your body release less insulin, and thus reduce the amount of time you will have excess insulin.

Sources: Dr. Benjamin Bikman, Dr. Jason Fung, Gary Taubes, and many others.

Source from the quote is from a nerdy site I frequent called HackerNews:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39423566

But I think that way of looking at it is really new and a fantastic way to think about it.