Is hunger just a part of remaining thin?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Now that I’m mid 40s yes. Before that I could eat whatever I want which was mostly deli sandwiches and pizza and cake and stay 125 5’6”.

I’m mid-40s and I still eat all of that, just smaller portions than before. And I run a lot. Works for me.

Do you have children who are teens and does your job stress you out?

I wonder about this too. My job stresses me out, my teens stress me out. My default mode is stressed out. So I overeat. On the rare occasions I have a low stress week, eating well is a lot easier. If I were a lady of luxury with no job, tons of money, someone handling college stuff...I'm sure I'd be thin.

Do you think as a middle age person with wisdom and experience you could find ways to manage your stress that doesn’t involve overeating?

No because there is no time. You are crushed by work, housework, kid events and parental care.

My friends who shipped their kids off to college lost weight because there was finally time for healthful meals and exercise.

+1. I only have so much time, energy, and executive function, and it gets spent on work and parenting with not much left over by dinner time. I've started skipping breakfast and only having a drink on the weekend, so there's not that much besides portion control that's in easy reach.

I lost weight as an empty nester because I was able to remove all the food from my house that I shouldn’t eat.

Also the foods my very large boys needed to eat to maintain their weight was very fattening and it was hard to not eat food. I was cooking for dinner.

This is so good to hear. I am heavier than ever now with two teens who are athletes exercising 5+ hours a day and constantly eat, plus their friends. The house is packed with food, and it's never enough. I indulge too much, stress about them, college, work...It's there and I eat it. I am really hoping that with a sparse fridge and pantry next year I will turn it around.

There’s definitely science behind having willpower. People who claim that they lose weight because of willpower have less times in the day that they have to say no to things. There’s just so many times you can say no.

When they come home, they are so sad to look at my fridge. I only buy for the dinners I’m cooking and then I tell them go get chipotle. They are not sad about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone who's easily thin truly like food?

Yep. I love food. I have coffee for breakfast most days, but enjoy filling and satisfying lunches and dinners, full of animal products, veggies, and a smaller amount of carbs/starches. Occasionally I’ll enjoy something like ramen for lunch, but I’ll make sure to eat it with substantial foods like eggs and pork belly, and balance it with a good dinner full of meats/seafoods and veggies. If I have a sandwich, I make sure it’s got a good amount of meat vs the bread. If I eat pizza, I take my time to enjoy a few pieces. Occasional fast food is also enjoyed, but not the super-sized meals of my youth. I’m happy with small fries and a cheeseburger. I feel like I’m enjoying the foods so many others are too scared to eat, so it doesn’t feel restrictive at all. I don’t snack and I’m not hungry between meals.

-42 years old-5’4”, 118 lbs.

You actually don’t sound like you love food.

I’m talking steak with twice baked potatoes.
Barata and bread
Muscles and cream sauce with crusty bed and homemade Caesar salad with a mound of Parmesan cheese.
Lobster ravioli with tomato cream sauce.
BulGogi tacos with yum yum sauce

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone who's easily thin truly like food?

Yep. I love food. I have coffee for breakfast most days, but enjoy filling and satisfying lunches and dinners, full of animal products, veggies, and a smaller amount of carbs/starches. Occasionally I’ll enjoy something like ramen for lunch, but I’ll make sure to eat it with substantial foods like eggs and pork belly, and balance it with a good dinner full of meats/seafoods and veggies. If I have a sandwich, I make sure it’s got a good amount of meat vs the bread. If I eat pizza, I take my time to enjoy a few pieces. Occasional fast food is also enjoyed, but not the super-sized meals of my youth. I’m happy with small fries and a cheeseburger. I feel like I’m enjoying the foods so many others are too scared to eat, so it doesn’t feel restrictive at all. I don’t snack and I’m not hungry between meals.

-42 years old-5’4”, 118 lbs.

You actually don’t sound like you love food.

I’m talking steak with twice baked potatoes.
Barata and bread
Muscles and cream sauce with crusty bed and homemade Caesar salad with a mound of Parmesan cheese.
Lobster ravioli with tomato cream sauce.
BulGogi tacos with yum yum sauce

I’m the PP you’re responding to and I’m laughing because I’ve been eating Caprese salads all summer, and just had mussels with cream sauce and ciabatta out for lunch the other day! Grilled steak with broccoli and a small loaded baked potato is one of my favorite meals. I just don’t shove inordinate amounts down my throat, and I prioritize the cheese, meat, seafood, etc., over the carbs. It’s the stuff that literally fills you up so you can’t eat more, and it’s the stuff some of you think is “unhealthy,” in favor of the grains and carbs that leave you constantly hungry. A love of food doesn’t have to equate to constant hunger or eating copious/disordered amounts of food.

[Anonymous]

After a while your stomach adjusts and you need less food. My spouse who is more disciplined than most dropped 80 pounds by moving to a 1200 calorie diet prescribed by his physician. After 2 weeks, he got used to the smaller portions and got so much personal satisfaction about his physical transformation that he's mostly stuck to it years later.

[Anonymous]

No i am not hungry all the time. Sometimes when I don’t eat enough for lunch I come home a bit ravenous from work at around 4:30 but that’s about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone who's easily thin truly like food?

Yep. I love food. I have coffee for breakfast most days, but enjoy filling and satisfying lunches and dinners, full of animal products, veggies, and a smaller amount of carbs/starches. Occasionally I’ll enjoy something like ramen for lunch, but I’ll make sure to eat it with substantial foods like eggs and pork belly, and balance it with a good dinner full of meats/seafoods and veggies. If I have a sandwich, I make sure it’s got a good amount of meat vs the bread. If I eat pizza, I take my time to enjoy a few pieces. Occasional fast food is also enjoyed, but not the super-sized meals of my youth. I’m happy with small fries and a cheeseburger. I feel like I’m enjoying the foods so many others are too scared to eat, so it doesn’t feel restrictive at all. I don’t snack and I’m not hungry between meals.

-42 years old-5’4”, 118 lbs.

You actually don’t sound like you love food.

I’m talking steak with twice baked potatoes.
Barata and bread
Muscles and cream sauce with crusty bed and homemade Caesar salad with a mound of Parmesan cheese.
Lobster ravioli with tomato cream sauce.
BulGogi tacos with yum yum sauce

I’m the PP you’re responding to and I’m laughing because I’ve been eating Caprese salads all summer, and just had mussels with cream sauce and ciabatta out for lunch the other day! Grilled steak with broccoli and a small loaded baked potato is one of my favorite meals. I just don’t shove inordinate amounts down my throat, and I prioritize the cheese, meat, seafood, etc., over the carbs. It’s the stuff that literally fills you up so you can’t eat more, and it’s the stuff some of you think is “unhealthy,” in favor of the grains and carbs that leave you constantly hungry. A love of food doesn’t have to equate to constant hunger or eating copious/disordered amounts of food.

It doesn't have to, but it often does. Just consider yourself lucky that you're relatively satiated after small portions. There is no "one size fits all" to a diet that can be extrapolated to everybody for success. Many people are constantly hungry for a number of different reasons, and they have to fight off that temptation to have a fighting chance. It's a battle that most who struggle with this end up losing because it's never ending.

[Anonymous]

For me, remaining *normal* weight (BMI 21-23) means that I need to be hungry for 5-6 hours a day. If I am very strict keto, then I feel no hunger.

I grew up thinking that hunger was a problem and that you should never feel hungry. But I think humans are supposed to be hungry every time they eat. I prefer ti intermittently fast, so I am hungry half the day and satiated the other half. Some people prefer to eat small meals, but that never satisfies me.

[Anonymous]

I'm skinny and I used to think hunger was necessary. But, I've cut out alcohol and eat a mostly raw, plant based diet now, and I feel like I am eating constantly to maintain my weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone who's easily thin truly like food?

Yep. I love food. I have coffee for breakfast most days, but enjoy filling and satisfying lunches and dinners, full of animal products, veggies, and a smaller amount of carbs/starches. Occasionally I’ll enjoy something like ramen for lunch, but I’ll make sure to eat it with substantial foods like eggs and pork belly, and balance it with a good dinner full of meats/seafoods and veggies. If I have a sandwich, I make sure it’s got a good amount of meat vs the bread. If I eat pizza, I take my time to enjoy a few pieces. Occasional fast food is also enjoyed, but not the super-sized meals of my youth. I’m happy with small fries and a cheeseburger. I feel like I’m enjoying the foods so many others are too scared to eat, so it doesn’t feel restrictive at all. I don’t snack and I’m not hungry between meals.

-42 years old-5’4”, 118 lbs.

You actually don’t sound like you love food.

I’m talking steak with twice baked potatoes.
Barata and bread
Muscles and cream sauce with crusty bed and homemade Caesar salad with a mound of Parmesan cheese.
Lobster ravioli with tomato cream sauce.
BulGogi tacos with yum yum sauce

So it’s only valid to “love food” if someone eats just like you?

Anyway. You don’t sound like you love food. Where is the ice cream? Pulled pork bbq? Pizza? Baked goods like homemade waffles, cookies, and muffins? I guess you don’t actually love food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I wonder about this too. My job stresses me out, my teens stress me out. My default mode is stressed out. So I overeat. On the rare occasions I have a low stress week, eating well is a lot easier. If I were a lady of luxury with no job, tons of money, someone handling college stuff...I'm sure I'd be thin.

This was me when I was in my early/mid-40s. My DD put us through a LOT during her teen years. Not only could I not get through the stress while being hungry, I needed some sort of vice. It was sugar, but I supposed it could have been drinking or something else. I made my peace with it and didn't feel bad about myself at the time. I was unbothered by the extra weight.

Fast-forward to age 48, both kids in college. I was ready to make a change and it only took 7 or 8 months to lose the weight I had put on over a decade (and then some). I have exercised 6 times per week since then, eat way better and have kept all the weight off for several years now. I just needed enough time and energy to make it a routine and I just didn't have it when my kids were teens. Kudos to the perpetually size 00 4 am exercisers who haven't had carbs for 25 years, but that just wasn't me. I had to let something go.

One upside of letting things go - because I never did any yo-yo dieting over the years, I didn't mess up my metabolism. I can eat 2000+ calories a day for maintenance which is enough to keep me from going hungry.

Do you have a full time professional job as well? Hard to imagine going from not working out to working out 6 times a week while working 45 or 50 hours a week.

If I didn't have teens at home I could totally do it. I'd work out from 7-8 a.m. every day and be online before 9. If I had to commute, I'd add in a lunch workout and stay longer at the end of the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No i am not hungry all the time. Sometimes when I don’t eat enough for lunch I come home a bit ravenous from work at around 4:30 but that’s about it.

You come home from work at 4:30? Try this if you’re gone from home 50 hours a week due to work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm skinny and I used to think hunger was necessary. But, I've cut out alcohol and eat a mostly raw, plant based diet now, and I feel like I am eating constantly to maintain my weight.

This is such a boring diet and not enjoyable for most people

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm skinny and I used to think hunger was necessary. But, I've cut out alcohol and eat a mostly raw, plant based diet now, and I feel like I am eating constantly to maintain my weight.

This is such a boring diet and not enjoyable for most people

DP and I eat a mostly plant based diet (not raw), and it is not boring and is very enjoyable. I like the foods I eat, look forward to eating them, and do not get ravenously hungry between meals.

[Anonymous]

I do OMAD because it's easy for me in the sense that I'm just not hungry anyway before 4-5pm. I only drink coffee with a little heavy cream before then and I'm fine. The problem comes with the hunger pangs at night and that's really the only way I can keep weight off. If I'm full, I gain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm skinny and I used to think hunger was necessary. But, I've cut out alcohol and eat a mostly raw, plant based diet now, and I feel like I am eating constantly to maintain my weight.

This is such a boring diet and not enjoyable for most people

DP and I eat a mostly plant based diet (not raw), and it is not boring and is very enjoyable. I like the foods I eat, look forward to eating them, and do not get ravenously hungry between meals.

I like carbs. Not carbs from veggies lol.