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I once lost 17kg (50 pounds) by caloric restriction (500cal deficit per day). I’ve got news for you: you will be slightly hungry most of the time. Meals will be

I once lost 17kg (50 pounds) by caloric restriction (500cal deficit per day). I’ve got news for you: you will be slightly hungry most of the time. Meals will be the highlight of your day.

Broken_Hippo 4y ago
You only know that you were slightly hungry most of the time. For you, meals were the highlight of your day. But you didn't need to go hungry. Folks lose weight by caloric restriction and fill up on a lot of fruits and (non-starchy) vegetables. Some folks have luck with legumes and beans and filling foods. Some folks snack and don't have meals. And the experience of hunger changes, too! Sometimes, in the same person and definitely between folks. Examples: I used to smoke. Nicotine is an excellent appetite suppressant, and honestly made it easier to lose weight. High stress can make me lose most of my appetite or do the opposite. I menstruate. A few days each month, I have indescribable hunger. It is hormone driven, and unlike other hungers I've experienced. Suddenly, I feel like I've skipped meals. It consumes me. I can't do anything about it, but if I eat a little, I can go back to paying attention to other things. Not me personally, but there are a number of drugs that increase your appetite, too. Again, the point really is that hunger isn't as simple as "you'll be slightly hungry most of the time".
- gilded-lilly 4y ago
  Interesting. You may be right - in fact, I’d never considered filling up on broccoli or other calorically thin ingredients to suppress hunger. I was just working on the assumption that hunger is the body’s response to caloric deficit (in the absence of drugs).
  - otabdeveloper4 4y ago
    True hunger is a feeling of deep fatigue, not a craving to eat something. What we call "hunger" is just habit of eating food regularly. You can untrain yourself, just like with any other habit.
hakfoo 4y ago
I've lost about 15kg in the last year. (109 to 95 or so). While I'm not explicitly counting calories, I've definitely scaled back snacks, desserts, and "eat until I'm fed up" lunches. I wonder if it's worthwhile to find some compelling distraction-- the equivalent of "I'm grudgingly coming to the table and slamming the least amount of food possible so I can get back to my task" sort of thing. If I'm at my desk away from food sources, I'm not consuming calories.
hnfong 4y ago
> 500cal deficit per day Does this assume the body expends a constant amount of energy, or do you actually work out until the deficit level is achieved? Because for most people trying to lose weight, the struggle is not only to reduce calories in, but in preventing the body from being more thrifty with those calories...

I once lost 17kg (50 pounds) by caloric restriction (500cal deficit per day). I’ve got news for you: you will be slightly hungry most of the time. Meals will be the highlight of your day.

Broken_Hippo 4y ago

You only know that you were slightly hungry most of the time. For you, meals were the highlight of your day. But you didn't need to go hungry. Folks lose weight by caloric restriction and fill up on a lot of fruits and (non-starchy) vegetables. Some folks have luck with legumes and beans and filling foods. Some folks snack and don't have meals. And the experience of hunger changes, too! Sometimes, in the same person and definitely between folks. Examples: I used to smoke. Nicotine is an excellent appetite suppressant, and honestly made it easier to lose weight. High stress can make me lose most of my appetite or do the opposite. I menstruate. A few days each month, I have indescribable hunger. It is hormone driven, and unlike other hungers I've experienced. Suddenly, I feel like I've skipped meals. It consumes me. I can't do anything about it, but if I eat a little, I can go back to paying attention to other things. Not me personally, but there are a number of drugs that increase your appetite, too. Again, the point really is that hunger isn't as simple as "you'll be slightly hungry most of the time".

gilded-lilly 4y ago
Interesting. You may be right - in fact, I’d never considered filling up on broccoli or other calorically thin ingredients to suppress hunger. I was just working on the assumption that hunger is the body’s response to caloric deficit (in the absence of drugs).
- otabdeveloper4 4y ago
  True hunger is a feeling of deep fatigue, not a craving to eat something. What we call "hunger" is just habit of eating food regularly. You can untrain yourself, just like with any other habit.

hakfoo 4y ago

I've lost about 15kg in the last year. (109 to 95 or so). While I'm not explicitly counting calories, I've definitely scaled back snacks, desserts, and "eat until I'm fed up" lunches. I wonder if it's worthwhile to find some compelling distraction-- the equivalent of "I'm grudgingly coming to the table and slamming the least amount of food possible so I can get back to my task" sort of thing. If I'm at my desk away from food sources, I'm not consuming calories.

hnfong 4y ago

> 500cal deficit per day Does this assume the body expends a constant amount of energy, or do you actually work out until the deficit level is achieved? Because for most people trying to lose weight, the struggle is not only to reduce calories in, but in preventing the body from being more thrifty with those calories...