Calorie intake

Godsgifts9398
Godsgifts9398 Posts: 3 Member
in Getting Started

still trying to figure out how to eat and not still feel hungry

Answers

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,514 Member

    Do you mind sharing your current stats and how many calories you're trying to eat? Are you exercising, and if so are you eating those calories back or not?

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,645 Member
    edited April 27

    It's a complicated issue, isn't it.

    It mostly has to do with hormonal dysregulation mainly caused by hyper palatable and processed foods which really mucks with our microbiome and make people overeat even when they're full which can and does effect a few important neurotransmitters in the gut and brain that not only effect and signals our eating behavior but also has an effect on our mental health which can easily lead to stress and anxiety and create some pretty serious depression, emotional eating patterns and bad habits.

    The gut is the primary influencer in shaping our cravings, hunger signals and even emotional responses as it relates to food. There's also the body craving certain nutrients and not getting them in certain diets, like the SAD for example which send signals to both the gut and brain that are interpreted as hunger, which is compounded when in a caloric deficit, making those people especially vulnerable. Try experimenting with different foods and suggest animal proteins if your not eating very much, which I also suggest that protein intake constitute about double the RDA, try and reduce sugary and refined carbs when you can, hopefully that might lead you down a road that is laid with small successes that further inspire investigation, because it's not all about calories when it comes to weight loss, even though that is the ideology that primarily exists imo. Hope you figure it out, most don't.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 36,377 Member

    Two additional comments to reasonable advice above:

    1. From reading posts here for almost a decade (yes, really), it seems like what keeps people mostly full and happy varies quite a bit from one person to the next. That implies that experimenting can be helpful. Notice days/times when you feel more full or more crave-y, and consider what the cause might be. Repeat the things that might explain "more full" to see if they work on repeat. (Give them more than one try, maybe at least 2-3.) You can find your personal best approach, and it may be a combination of food choices and food timing. If there are some slips along the way, don't beat yourself up, just try something different and keep going. You'll figure it out.
    2. You don't say how long you've been at this. My experience was that the power of habits and expectations meant that it took time to adapt to a new eating routine, and that there might be more appetite/cravings in the short run. Do your best to stick with the new routine long enough to give it a fair try. How long can vary individually, too. In my case, I'd say it was a couple of weeks, but I didn't make an extreme change in my eating. Someone here compared it to training a puppy: Being consistent with "training" ourselves in a new way of eating can work better or faster than giving in to the cravings in the early days. I'm not saying "tough it out forever if it's unpleasant", more like "give it a solid chance for a couple of weeks to see if the body adapts".

    I'd also double down on the idea that if you're doing the all-too-common super-deep calorie cut to lose weight fast . . . don't. That only makes the process harder. Make it easier. In fact, a slow loss rate can potentially get a person to goal weight in less calendar time than some extreme theoretically "fast loss" approach that causes bouts of deprivation-triggered over-eating, breaks in the action, or even giving up altogether because it's just too hard. My advice: Look for sustainable habits that gradually lead to goal weight, then help you stay there long term. It's a different mindset.

    It's even OK to cut calories gradually: Slowest loss rate at first, find your groove, then if it seems doable, maybe cut a few more calories . . . still not crazy-extreme, though.

    While - as I said - what's filling tends to be individual, some things that are fairly commonly found filling:

    • Protein foods - yeah, meat/fish/dairy but also any other protein sources
    • High fiber foods like whole grains, veggies, fruits
    • So-called "whole foods" like meat, fish, dairy, whole grains, veggies, fruits (instead of highly processed or refined foods)

    I'm not saying to go flat-out absolute on just those things, but maybe try some out for a few days, find ones you like, see how it goes.

    In some research, one of the foods most commonly cited as very filling is . . . potatoes. Plain old white potatoes, yup. A food many people swear off when trying to lose weight. They actually have solid nutrition, fewer calories than most people think. What makes them not such a great choice isn't the potato, it's how it's cooked or what we add: Fry it, add things like full-fat cheese, sour cream, etc. - high calories.

    A whole medium potato, baked or boiled with skin, under 200 calories. Cooking, cooling, can make some of the starches slower-digesting, loosely speaking, and maybe even make them somewhat more filling. Even reheating, some of the effect remains.

    I'd also point out that certain foods cause the body to produce a substance naturally that's similar to the active ingredients' mechanism in the new prescription weight-loss drugs. The food-based approach doesn't last as long in the body as the prescription drugs, but this is one thing that may make shifting more toward less processed foods help with satiety.

    You can figure this out. Try things, don't beat yourself up if there are failed experiments, just learn from them and go on. Keep at it persistently, you can find a workable approach and succeed.

    Wishing you success: The rewards are worth the effort!

Categories