4 ms·

> But the reality for other people is very different. "Food noise" is the term people use nowadays. Basically I'm always thinking about food. Always. It's a s

> But the reality for other people is very different. "Food noise" is the term people use nowadays. Basically I'm always thinking about food. Always. It's a source of dopamine for me - I have others, but food is a constant. It's like trying to get off a drug, but you still need to take that drug 3-5 times a day to not die. Then there are people for whom food is just fuel. They can just ... stop eating. Or eat less. Food doesn't give them any pleasure, it's just a thing they have to consume to not die.

arp242 1y ago
> Food doesn't give them any pleasure, it's just a thing they have to consume to not die. There are very few, if any, people like that; almost everyone enjoys nice food. The major exception being people with eating disorders.
anon373839 1y ago
Changing the composition of your diet will do much to quiet this noise. If you’re eating a high protein diet with lots of fibrous vegetables, you will likely end up eating more food with fewer calories overall. And this type of food is very satiating - sometimes to the point that lack of appetite can be an issue.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 1y ago
  No, unfortunately. I eat a very healthy diet and still struggle.
  - anon373839 1y ago
    Hm. A "healthy" diet is a somewhat slippery concept. There are lots of diets that are healthy, but not optimal for supporting fat loss. Are you building each meal around a significant lean protein source, with a total protein intake somewhere in the vicinity of 0.8+ g/lb. of your goal body weight? And then for the remaining calories that are not protein, are you minimizing high calorie density foods (oils, butter, sugar, breads, pasta, etc.) and maximizing low calorie density foods (quinoa, oats, sweet potato, etc.)? And then finally, are you at a calorie intake that is 80-85% of your TDEE, and not lower? Usually, this kind of diet plan results in eating a large volume of food that alleviates physiological hunger. Granted, it's not the kind of food that lights up most people's reward pathways. If you're fending off cravings for sweet treats and stuff, there are different strategies you can try to help with those. Sometimes it is best to just cut them out for a time, until the "addiction" breaks. But you can also try penciling them in at infrequent, scheduled intervals in highly regulated amounts.
    - Fire-Dragon-DoL 1y ago
      I like everything you mentioned, no concern for me. Usually what kills me is my wife being very good at cooking (a blessing and a curse), along with infinite hunger when I sleep 6 hours instead of 9 (it happens). The other thing is variety. If I keep eating the same stuff over and over, it becomes a problem. Right bow I eat the following at most meals: 1 avocado (150g), 2 tomatoes, lettuce, 60g of greek yogurt, mustard, 200g egg white. That's 450 calories for lunch and 450 for dinner. Very filling. For snack I eat 1 nectarine + 60g of greek yogurt and 20g of honey (1 spoon). This is very sweet and basically stops any craving for sweet, which is why I made the exception. It's high quality raw honey. I do have 3 snacks per day usually, but it depends, sometimes one. When I mess up big usually I eat very out of the line (e. g. A party) and then I'm still hungry after eating easily 3000 calories in one meal. This happens quite easily on the weekend unfortunately. I have been losing weight with the previous diet though. I discovered it 3 weeks ago. It's about 90g of proteins per day, but I'm 80Kg, so under the numbers you reported. Oh, at breakfast I eat 1 cup of milk with quinoa puffs (17g), which is about 180 calories total
      - anon373839 1y ago
        Good info. A few thoughts come to mind: - Great job with the measurement precision. That's a bit of lifestyle change people tend to avoid, but it really helps calibrate your understanding of calories and portion sizes. - Do you actually enjoy the meals you're eating? I would have a hard time repeating that lunch/dinner meal, but I know everyone's taste is different. - If you don't enjoy what you are eating, then Priority #1 is coming up with a different menu that you enjoy. It would also be good to have a LOT more variety than this, which you can do by coming up with a few different meals or meal components that you select and combine in a modular way. - Your diet lacks carbohydrates, except for sugary snacks (honey + fruit). I suspect that this, combined with the fact that you're eating the snacks up to 3 times a day, is sending your blood sugar up and down repeatedly rather than allowing it to stabilize. I would consider redistributing these snack calories to your lunch and dinner meals, making them more balanced and larger, and NOT eating in between. It seems counterintuitive, but eating more frequently can actually result in more hunger and cravings compared to eating less frequently. - An example of a balanced meal could be a bowl with 100g of grilled chicken breast, 200g brown rice, 150g avocado, a generous heap of steamed carrots, broccoli, spinach, etc., and some soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, or other seasoning. That works out to about 630 calories, 34g of protein, 26g of fat, and 66g of carbs. - I only count ~1500 calories in your set menu (assuming 3 snacks). Assuming you are an adult male, that is aggressively low! It's not surprising that you feel an urge to overindulge on weekends. Have you calculated your TDEE?

arp242 1y ago

> Food doesn't give them any pleasure, it's just a thing they have to consume to not die. There are very few, if any, people like that; almost everyone enjoys nice food. The major exception being people with eating disorders.

anon373839 1y ago

Changing the composition of your diet will do much to quiet this noise. If you’re eating a high protein diet with lots of fibrous vegetables, you will likely end up eating more food with fewer calories overall. And this type of food is very satiating - sometimes to the point that lack of appetite can be an issue.

Fire-Dragon-DoL 1y ago
No, unfortunately. I eat a very healthy diet and still struggle.
- anon373839 1y ago
  Hm. A "healthy" diet is a somewhat slippery concept. There are lots of diets that are healthy, but not optimal for supporting fat loss. Are you building each meal around a significant lean protein source, with a total protein intake somewhere in the vicinity of 0.8+ g/lb. of your goal body weight? And then for the remaining calories that are not protein, are you minimizing high calorie density foods (oils, butter, sugar, breads, pasta, etc.) and maximizing low calorie density foods (quinoa, oats, sweet potato, etc.)? And then finally, are you at a calorie intake that is 80-85% of your TDEE, and not lower? Usually, this kind of diet plan results in eating a large volume of food that alleviates physiological hunger. Granted, it's not the kind of food that lights up most people's reward pathways. If you're fending off cravings for sweet treats and stuff, there are different strategies you can try to help with those. Sometimes it is best to just cut them out for a time, until the "addiction" breaks. But you can also try penciling them in at infrequent, scheduled intervals in highly regulated amounts.
  - Fire-Dragon-DoL 1y ago
    I like everything you mentioned, no concern for me. Usually what kills me is my wife being very good at cooking (a blessing and a curse), along with infinite hunger when I sleep 6 hours instead of 9 (it happens). The other thing is variety. If I keep eating the same stuff over and over, it becomes a problem. Right bow I eat the following at most meals: 1 avocado (150g), 2 tomatoes, lettuce, 60g of greek yogurt, mustard, 200g egg white. That's 450 calories for lunch and 450 for dinner. Very filling. For snack I eat 1 nectarine + 60g of greek yogurt and 20g of honey (1 spoon). This is very sweet and basically stops any craving for sweet, which is why I made the exception. It's high quality raw honey. I do have 3 snacks per day usually, but it depends, sometimes one. When I mess up big usually I eat very out of the line (e. g. A party) and then I'm still hungry after eating easily 3000 calories in one meal. This happens quite easily on the weekend unfortunately. I have been losing weight with the previous diet though. I discovered it 3 weeks ago. It's about 90g of proteins per day, but I'm 80Kg, so under the numbers you reported. Oh, at breakfast I eat 1 cup of milk with quinoa puffs (17g), which is about 180 calories total
    - anon373839 1y ago
      Good info. A few thoughts come to mind: - Great job with the measurement precision. That's a bit of lifestyle change people tend to avoid, but it really helps calibrate your understanding of calories and portion sizes. - Do you actually enjoy the meals you're eating? I would have a hard time repeating that lunch/dinner meal, but I know everyone's taste is different. - If you don't enjoy what you are eating, then Priority #1 is coming up with a different menu that you enjoy. It would also be good to have a LOT more variety than this, which you can do by coming up with a few different meals or meal components that you select and combine in a modular way. - Your diet lacks carbohydrates, except for sugary snacks (honey + fruit). I suspect that this, combined with the fact that you're eating the snacks up to 3 times a day, is sending your blood sugar up and down repeatedly rather than allowing it to stabilize. I would consider redistributing these snack calories to your lunch and dinner meals, making them more balanced and larger, and NOT eating in between. It seems counterintuitive, but eating more frequently can actually result in more hunger and cravings compared to eating less frequently. - An example of a balanced meal could be a bowl with 100g of grilled chicken breast, 200g brown rice, 150g avocado, a generous heap of steamed carrots, broccoli, spinach, etc., and some soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, or other seasoning. That works out to about 630 calories, 34g of protein, 26g of fat, and 66g of carbs. - I only count ~1500 calories in your set menu (assuming 3 snacks). Assuming you are an adult male, that is aggressively low! It's not surprising that you feel an urge to overindulge on weekends. Have you calculated your TDEE?