How can an obese person deal with hunger when losing weight?

[hatt730]

I am Male, 27, 5 feet 7 inches and 227 pounds. I always have the most trouble keeping my diet the first few days. They are the hardest. I know that its going to be impossible to go from obese to skinny/in shape without feeling hungry. How do you guys do it? Will fasting help?

[Redfish225]

Willpower, that’s it.

[hatt730]

Willpower, that’s it.

Elaborate

[bowtourking]

Elaborate

How can you elaborate on saying "willpower"? Literally just don't eat.

[MrCarrot]

Starving and torturing yourself is never going to work - whether it's a day later or 3 months later, you'll end up giving up.

My advice would be to learn about the nutritional value of different foods, and fill up on foods which are low in calories. Still enjoy the high calorie foods but eat less of them and excerise portion control.

A bowl of strawberries and yoghurt is less than 200 calories. A 90g bar of chocolate is over 500 calories. So eat a bowl of strawberries and have 3 squares of chocolate, not the other way around.

Also, plan your meals and stock up on foods so you don't end up ordering take-out because you have nothing planned. Once I learned to cook tasty, nutritious meals I no longer needed willpower because I was enjoying my foods, losing weight and not feeling guilty or deprived.

[hatt730]

Starving and torturing yourself is never going to work - whether it's a day later or 3 months later, you'll end up giving up.

My advice would be to learn about the nutritional value of different foods, and fill up on foods which are low in calories. Still enjoy the high calorie foods but eat less of them and excerise portion control.

A bowl of strawberries and yoghurt is less than 200 calories. A 90g bar of chocolate is over 500 calories. So eat a bowl of strawberries and have 3 squares of chocolate, not the other way around.

So you think its realistic for an obese person to lose weight without ever being hungry?

[spradish]

I was obese (a bit over 200 at just under 5'6") and lost over 50 without being constantly hungry. Yes, I got hungry at mealtimes but that's NORMAL. This fear of ever feeling hungry is something that people make up as an excuse to stagnate. Eat in a moderate deficit with minimal junk (it's less satiating/cal) and find a hobby (lift weights) and you'll be fine.

[hardyboysare]

So you think its realistic for an obese person to lose weight without ever being hungry?

In my opinion no you will be hungry at some point. I haven't been massive overweight for a long time but I know I am hungry when I bulk so cutting is torture. I agree with Redfish its all about your will power. You can try all the tricks you like but someone who obese doesn't just eat because they are hungry they eat for comfort so you have to learn to accept hunger as part of the process. It does get less significant overtime but I find most days I am damn hungry doesn't really matter how much I eat.

What do you want more to loss weight and [insert reason here] or eat excessive food and stay fat.

[Tucane]

Stay busy doing ACTIVE things so that you forget about hunger.

It's easy to eat when bored or watching TV... aka being PASSIVE. Ate about 2000 kcal of pastry in about 15 minutes this evening^^

[RapidFail]

So you think its realistic for an obese person to lose weight without ever being hungry?

No, everyone gets hungry at some point, but that's a good thing. I actually LOVE being hungry, because when I'm hungry I enjoy my food so much more and I LOVE to eat. It's also worth noting that hunger is greatly influenced by hormones and is not linear. I did 16:8 intermittent fasting for almost a year to lose some fat, eating between 11am and 7pm. I was always at my hungriest from 8-9am, then from 9-11am I was busy with work and my hunger would go away. Once I was able to eat at 11am, I was less hungry than I had been 2 hours earlier.

I've stopped doing IF as I've found I can control my hunger just as well with my food choices. Earlier this year I went on a mini cut, where I dropped my calories from 3100 to 2000 (my maintenance is around 2800). I made sure I was getting adequate protein, and eating highly satiating (filling) foods. Despite eating over a third less calories, I felt no hungrier than usual, although I did notice having a little less energy and strength for my workouts.

Foods high in protein, fibre and water are very satiating. Think:

Protein - chicken breast, turkey, pork fillet, white fish, cottage cheese, egg whites
Fibre - many fruits and vegetables, grainy bread, oats
Water - soups, many fruits and vegetables, potatoes, sweet potatoes

Chilli is good too, as I find it makes me eat slower. Coffee is also good for keeping hunger at bay.

[xsquid99]

Its less about willpower and motivation and more about discipline. Hunger is just your body telling you that you're winning.

Of course there are things you can do to help yourself out, like not keeping snack/junk/processed food in your house when you're trying to lose weight. Or not going out to eat at restaurants until you've looked at the menu ahead of time and figured out what dishes they have that fit your goals. Eat large volume, low calorie food (lots of fluffy vegetables, like broc, cauliflower, etc).

[gbullock32]

So you think its realistic for an obese person to lose weight without ever being hungry?

Lot of veggies like broc, cauliflower, spinach, lettuce, cabbage, brussels sprouts, ect can be filling and relatively low in calories; good micro-nutrients too. Egg whites are also filling and low calorie, mostly protein as well. Add some hot sauce/salsa (low in calories) and you can flavor them up.

Also, just deal with it at a certain point. Sometimes you just have to be hungry.

[Tommy W.]

You are obese because of poor food\drink choices. You need to first work on that. Stay away from processed foods, fast food and alcohol as much as possible. Just doing that alone will cause a big drop in weight. Lean protein and veggies as the basis of your diet and you'll be well on your way. Those foods have low calories and satiate well and those are the 2 most important factors when attempting to lean out.

[bowtourking]

You literally have to be hungry it's just the way it is.

[Ukiyo3k]

Elaborate

Use your cognitive strength to control your eating.

[rdf1988]

Having a plan for everything you're going to eat each day helps. Take the time to build a repertoire of enjoyable, satiating meals that fit within your energy requirements. If you know what you're going to eat later and it's something that you look forward to, the desire to have that meal will help temper random desires or opportunities to deviate from the plan. Also plan specific, reasonable times to eat and try to stick to those times. Your appetite is triggered in part by the patterns of when you eat. If every day you eat at 7am, 11am, 3pm and 7pm, you will probably get into a rhythm and your appetite will adjust to eat at those times.

You asked about fasting. Fasting can help, but it does take a fair amount of mental conditioning to pull off. Being mentally comfortable with your body feeling hungry can take quite a bit of patient practice. These days I can comfortably go 16-18 hours without any food and feel fine the entire time. The first time I tried intermittent fasting, it was psychologically excruciating. People who fast for days on end often stop feeling any appetite after a few days, but the body does still need nutrients to maintain health, and I wouldn't recommend strenuous training in a fasted state. All this being said, fasting is a tool, not a rule. Many people have successfully shed fat without doing anything close to a fast-based intervention, and while fasting is useful for some people, it's an unnecessary stress for others.

[BRIAN10197]

I went from the 290s to currently 220s pretty comfortably by just eating lots of high filling foods. Always made sure to stop at the calorie intake goal.

-Lean meats (Turkey/Chicken/93/7 Beef)
-Tons of Vegtables / Salads
-Red potatos/Sweet Potatos/Brown Rice
-Lots of coke 0 / diet Mt Dew and Ice tea / Lemonade flavored BCAAs in a gallon water jug.
- Vegtable soup when I'm super hungry and have no calories left.

Also I believe I personally built alot of willpower and discipline through fasting. Experiencing hunger and learning the patterns of it helps, I started at 4 hours and now I can go 40 hours+ without eating and not feel lightheaded or nauseous or feeling like i want to binge.

[NoCarbsNoSugar]

You have lots of good advice in here already. Take some of it and start applying it. Talking about it won’t do anything for you.

Losing weight won’t always be a comfortable thing. The same thing could be said about building muscle, by the way...

If you want to lose weight, you can. Period.

Start by eating at a 20% caloric deficit daily. Adding some moderate exercise will help lots and also increase your health in general.

The choice is yours to make. You can be one of those visitors that show up and and ask a “desperate” question, receive answers they don’t like, and are never heard from again, or you can actually do something about it.

Learn what you need to do and execute.

[hatt730]

Thanks everyone. I keep telling myself that I need to get past the first few days and get to at least a week so my body will start to get better suited to having much less food.
I know 1500 to 1800 calories is kind of low at my weight. I'm only 5 feet 7 inches and I'm not very active at all. I do light walking with my dog. And I do some bodyweight circuit exercises now and then.

[backinthegymbro]

Eating smaller meals / snacks every 2 hours. I eat 1600 calories a day and i never go hungry.
Whenever i want to eat food, i'll eat a slice of bread without crust with some turkey deli meat and it's only 60 calories.
I make sure i save 200 calories for night so i never have to go to bed with hunger either.

It's all about meal timing and of course what you eat.
If you eat food that's low in calories, you can eat more. But if you eat unhealthy stuff, you'll reach your daily calories real fast and then you're stuck being hungry unable to eat anything unless you want to go over your limit.

[thehardg00dbye]

Whenever you're cutting, if you're doing it right, you'll be hungry. Be strong. Fill up on lettuce. Drink a lot of water.

[hatt730]

Eating smaller meals / snacks every 2 hours. I eat 1600 calories a day and i never go hungry.
Whenever i want to eat food, i'll eat a slice of bread without crust with some turkey deli meat and it's only 60 calories.
I make sure i save 200 calories for night so i never have to go to bed with hunger either.

It's all about meal timing and of course what you eat.
If you eat food that's low in calories, you can eat more. But if you eat unhealthy stuff, you'll reach your daily calories real fast and then you're stuck being hungry unable to eat anything unless you want to go over your limit.

Good points. Thanks man. For motivation I sometimes think about what I could look like in only 6 weeks or so. I now just have to buckle down and make it happen.
What do you think of 5 300 calorie meals a day within an 8 hour eating window? (If that matters)

[backinthegymbro]

What do you think of 5 300 calorie meals a day within an 8 hour eating window? (If that matters)

I think it's fine although personally i like to have dinner which is usually more than 300 calories.
Also if you eat all your calories within 8 hours, you'll be hungry with the remaining 8 hours, assuming you sleep the other 8.

In the end, you can fast 16 hours and eat a gigantic meal, or you can eat several smaller meals and snacks during the day.
All that matters is that you don't go over your calorie limit.

Find out what works best for you.

[hatt730]

Whenever you're cutting, if you're doing it right, you'll be hungry. Be strong. Fill up on lettuce. Drink a lot of water.

Thanks. I am going to have to suck it up and deal with the fact that I'm going to be very hungry for at least the first 2 weeks. No way around that. I've been overweight all my life. This will be a shock to my body

[hatt730]

Also, what's the best way to find out my bodyfat percent?

[xsquid99]

Also, what's the best way to find out my bodyfat percent?

Post a photo in the "Whats my Bodyfat Percentage" thread at the top of the forum.

But its really irrelevant, especially for an obese person, you need to lose a lot of weight and fast. Is it going to make a difference if someone says you are 32 or 35 or 38 percent? Not really....

[Tommy W.]

Also, what's the best way to find out my bodyfat percent?

BF% is a meaningless number just look in the mirror and clothes fit for progress

[aestheticshaz]

I am Male, 27, 5 feet 7 inches and 227 pounds. I always have the most trouble keeping my diet the first few days. They are the hardest. I know that its going to be impossible to go from obese to skinny/in shape without feeling hungry. How do you guys do it? Will fasting help?

yes everyone gets hungry on a cut lol. occupy yourself and eat foods that are low calorically but still fill you up

[aestheticshaz]

I'd say split your meals to 5 a day and drink water between those times to keep hunger at bay, and of course make sure each meal is much less than you would normally have on a 3 a day meal plan, calorie wise.

water, zero calories drinks, 5 calorie jello packs, fruits and veggies all help stay full. However, if its food, and you notice youre eating a decent amount of fruits and veggies esp, you should start tracking tht as well to make sure youre losing weight

[aestheticshaz]

I am Male, 27, 5 feet 7 inches and 227 pounds. I always have the most trouble keeping my diet the first few days. They are the hardest. I know that its going to be impossible to go from obese to skinny/in shape without feeling hungry. How do you guys do it? Will fasting help?

find low calorie substitutes and cook your own meals at home. I use 40 calorie bread slices, 45 calorie tortillas, 40 calorie cheese, sub nonfat greek yogurt for sour cream etc, all the little calories you take out but still feel like youre not missing out will add up