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I'm with you and riaelise on this, I'm determined to make it.
I'm confounded that I've never been overweight in my entire life up until a few years ago. I just found a log showing a healthy weight exactly 5 years ago, but I was around that weight a couple more years. My current problem started with an accident that left me out of commission for a couple months. I never resumed my exercise schedule (almost daily 1 hour walks) and apparently increased food consumption. A couple of years later I had gained 65 pounds. I was shocked a year ago when I discovered that about a year ago, shocked into doing something.
I just have to hack my way out of this plateau. I have little more to give up, and if I can get into the -1 pound per week area then I'll have to accept that.
Now I'm casting suspicion on my breakfast: cereal, milk, banana. (No lunch, Lean Cuisine or equivalent dinner). I'm thinking of finding a lower carb breakfast... Anything that will hold off hunger for dinner. (I don't get hungry mid-day. I eat breakfast fairly late in the morning, then work out at the gym late afternoon 3-4 days/week.)
It sounds like you may be undereating. Cereal, milk and banana is 400 calories for a huge bowl. A lean cuisine is 300-400 calories. That puts you at 800 calories and severely lacking fiber and veggies. I hope you eat more than this!
It sounds like you may be undereating. Cereal, milk and banana is 400 calories for a huge bowl. A lean cuisine is 300-400 calories. That puts you at 800 calories and severely lacking fiber and veggies. I hope you eat more than this!
Thanks for the advice. I'll review my diet and calculate the protein, carbs, fat, calories, etc. Note that I don't eat that every day. That is my minimum daily intake. I often cook full dinners, but within reason, and including larger vegetable servings.
I recently increased my work out routines (from 4 - 5 days a week to 7 days a week) with the goal being to lose weight without further restriction of calories. I think I eat well balanced meals, very minimal sugar, plenty of lean protein, veggies, fruits and as well as some "bad carbs" (occasional pizza, pasta, wine) but I try to maintain a good balance. That said, I hate restricting my calorie intake to lose weight, I much prefer to increase muscle (strength training) and cardio to burn calories. My challenge is, the more I work out, the hungrier I get. Today I did 60 minutes of high intensity cardio on my lunch break. Afterward I had a turkey/avocado wrap. Normally that would hold me until dinner but, because I worked out, I'm hungrier! So, how do folks lose the weight without being hungry? I've tried increasing veggies but I never actually feel satiated no matter how much vegetables I eat. Or is the reality simply, if you want to lose weight, you have to accept feeling hungry? Very frustrating...
Depending on how you feel about the "issue", it may be good news to you to hear that the answer is "NO!". I'm an older woman who only 1 1/2 yrs. ago felt hopeless about controlling my weight because I couldn't stand to feel hungry. I'd tried low-carb diets many times for the previous 20 yrs. and TBH I only experienced good results the very first time. Then, in part due to gallbladder problems that gave me terrible heartburn/indigestion every time I ate, I tried eating just vegetables with very little fat for a couple of meals and felt better and then because a sick friend was on a 30-day "vegan" challenge and I wanted to make him a meal I looked for a recipe of fried rice with tofu and found a good one and the result was very tasty. I had seconds and was full longer than when I had seconds of my "ominivore" meals so I decided to look for more recipes and ideas online and at first went one meal at a time, some of which included cheese because I had a ton of it. By the 2nd day I realized I was not missing meat and felt better.
After a few weeks I began feeling like I'd lost weight so I dusted my little scale and to my utter surprise and pleasure I'd lost a few pounds. I continued to weigh myself each week and I was losing 1lb. a week without the slightest effort. I was eating as much as I wanted of my chosen meals which always included a starch and at least every other day included homemade baked desserts or dark chocolate. The weight loss stopped after 3-4 mo. but looking back I believe it had to do with the warmer temperatures and increased humidity. I have a mold problem in my apt. and mold has always given me all kinds of problems. I was able to lose a few more lbs. earlier this year but now that it's hot and humid and other symptoms have returned idk if I'll stall again.
I also want to mention that there are a number of vegan athletes, including body builders, who switched to a plant-based diet and most say it has improved their performance and recovery. Here's a video showing a good number of them:
Thanks for the advice. I'll review my diet and calculate the protein, carbs, fat, calories, etc. Note that I don't eat that every day. That is my minimum daily intake. I often cook full dinners, but within reason, and including larger vegetable servings.
I also eat convenience food, one of my tricks since I know takeout and frozen meals do not have a lot of veggies, I keep a bunch of easy to eat veggies at home. Frozen broccoli, frozen greens, cherry tomatoes, carrots .... And I make those my sides. I also like the tomatoes and carrots plain. Good pre dinner snack.
I also eat convenience food, one of my tricks since I know takeout and frozen meals do not have a lot of veggies, I keep a bunch of easy to eat veggies at home. Frozen broccoli, frozen greens, cherry tomatoes, carrots .... And I make those my sides. I also like the tomatoes and carrots plain. Good pre dinner snack.
I love tomatoes for a snack, especially at this time of year. Here in NJ we are known for our tasty tomatoes, probably because of the toxic waste in the soil, but the growing season is short. When they're here, I eat them just about every day.
Carrots I prefer raw, and I often use them to eat with hummus instead of pita or chips.
The biggest problem with hunger is the crankiness I get with it. If I start feeling as though I am going to have a hard time refraining from snapping at strangers, I'd better eat something.
The pokey tourists I have to wade through every day are going to go home talking about the giant woman in NYC who said "GTF out of my way" and aren't going to understand that it was hunger, not a stereotype!
My cereal is Kashi (I prefer the whole wheat biscuits variety) which has 43 grams total carbs, 24% dietary fiber: 1 gram soluble, 5 grams insoluble). I eat the recommended serving size or no more than 10% higher. I don't think the cereal or 2% milk is the problem. Kashi has made their reputation on being health oriented but that could be just advertising blather. I am disappointed that they have 7 grams sugar/serving (cane syrup). Gawd, I hope that isn't HFCS. I don't understand why a cereal needs sugar added.
I have tried eating Kashi several times and that stuff gives me horrible gas and makes me bloated, there's no way I could eat it and go to work. Breakfast is a huge challenge for me since most "healthy" foods tend to cause gas.
Kashi has made their reputation on being health oriented but that could be just advertising blather. I am disappointed that they have 7 grams sugar/serving (cane syrup). Gawd, I hope that isn't HFCS. I don't understand why a cereal needs sugar added.
I don't understand that either. Especially brands that claim to be healthy. I was happy when one of the cereal companys (General Mills?) started advertising that they were cutting sugar to make their kid oriented cereals healthier, but when I read the label it turns out to be only a small change in the right direction.
So I stick with my Fiber One Original and the occasional home cooked steel cut oatmeal which I eat unsweetened.
Just getting back to the topic's original question, "Must You Experience Hunger to Lose Weight," I think the answer depends.
Must you experience constant nagging hunger all the time. No, I don't think so.
Must you experience occasional hunger? I think yes to this. I don't think there is any need to experience serious hunger, but I have no problem with the occasional discomfort of minor hunger. I was thinking about this last night around midnight when I went to bed and I felt a small amount of hunger, not enough to make me want to have a snack, just enough to remind me it was there.
Remember, as far as I know all we members posting in this topic are not looking for a great, healthy diet that will maintain our ideal weight. We have all decided we want to lose weight but continue to eat a healthy diet in the nutritional sense. You can't lose weight unless you eat less food than you need to maintain a constant weight. (I think a decent exercise program is essential too.)
Small amounts of occasional hunger are simply an indication that your body is trying to maintain your current weight and is communicating to you that you are not eating enough to maintain weight. This is good. If you are satiated all the time you have probably not reduced your food consumption enough, or in any case could reduce it further to achieve your ideal weight sooner. This morning now before breakfast I'm not hungry yet. My hunger went away overnight. When I'm slightly hungry I'll eat breakfast.
So to conclude, I think experiencing small amounts of occasional hunger is a good thing. It is an indication that you are eating just enough less than required to maintain steady weight, exactly what we are hoping to accomplish, that is to lose weight by eating less than required to maintain weight. If you experience frequent or debilitating hunger then there is something wrong with your diet.
As long as we are losing weight I think we shouldn't expect to not experience occasional hunger. Remember that at some point in the future each of us will reach our goals and will be the ideal weight we seek. At that point it is reasonable to increase food consumption but no more than will maintain constant weight without gaining new weight.
Once you have reached your target weight if you still experience hunger then you need to change your diet or eating habits to address the problem, while at the same time not eating so much as to start gaining weight again.
So yes, I think it may become necessary to experience occasional hunger during the weight loss process. However if the hunger is frequent or debilitating then you either have too aggressive a diet or have the wrong diet and should change it.
I don't mind the occasional hunger. As long as it's occasional that tells me that I'm eating just the right amount less than a steady weight diet, enough to cause my weight to decrease. Losing weight is not easy. A little hunger is part of the price required. The inconvenience and loss of time and maybe a small amount of muscle pain caused by your exercise program is also required because diet and exercise go together and you will not lose weight in a healthy way without both.
Just remember that when you reach your weight goal you will still have to control your diet and still have to continue your exercise program. Maintaining a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet, and getting a reasonable amount of exercise are all lifestyle choices. If you make the right lifestyle choices you will probably live longer, have better health, feel better and have more energy.
Lifestyle choices: We are discussing a sub-set of all the choices we make in life. Those choices are how we vote to have a longer or shorter life, to have good or bad health, to feel good or feel bad. There are vast numbers of choices and remember to vote as if your life depends on your choices, because it does.
I'm glad to see that we have all voted to have the goal of reaching our ideal weight. That's a good start on making the right lifestyle choices.
In response to the topic question, between meals I feel sated. Not stuffed, not hungry. Enough to function. As I get closer to my next mealtime, I do feel hungry and then I eat and return to a sated state. Feeling stuffed is definitely not good and neither is being constantly hungry. If you are truly hungry, then maybe more calories are needed.
The challenge I faced (before vacation) was actually feeling comfortable eating more. With my activity level, I was still in a deficit even with my blowout day. I've now upped my daily calories by 150 which seems to do the trick.
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, but the growing season is short. When they're here, I eat them just about every day.
