For healthy eaters out there who had to make a change to get there: did adjust to the healthy diet and learn to like it / stop feeling hungry, or did you simply adjust to the constant pain of being hungry for burgers all the time?
I’d like to hear about what your diets were like, what they are now, the difference it has made and how it feels.
Some background on me to give some context: I’m 38, 6’1”, 200 lbs. throughout my life I’ve always preferred to balance out my reckless burger and ice cream diet with large amounts of exercise. It worked pretty well through my 20s and 30s, and I could keep my frame at a muscular 175-180 lbs, but now I’m a little overweight and feel the jig is up.
I’m well passed my self-imposed deadline to start caring more for my health in my 30s, and my 25 year old girlfriend has been on a junk food kick for like a year now (somehow it doesn’t catch up with her) so it’s on me to regulate my own intake of shit if I want to remain passably attractive.
Talk to me fellas. Tell me what you’re eating, how it’s working and how much it hurts. Again, I’d like to hear from some people who love pizza, burgers, ice cream and candy. No need to bring alcohol into the conversation, I’m 4 years sober. Thanks.
13 comments
Pushing 50 here. As the metabolism slows it’s harder to control that wild eating.
I cut out as much sugars and carbs as possible. Splenda in my iced tea instead of sugar. Eat one cookie with my lunch instead of three. Whole grain breads instead of white.
Also, I switched to intermittent fasting during the week. Finish eating in the evening by 6 or 7 and don’t eat until lunch the next day. That took some adjustment but now it seems normal.
With all that and exercise 1-2 days a week I can just maintain my weight at about 190 on 5’11”. One bad holiday weekend and I’m up 5 lbs and it takes all week to burn it off. Your 6’1 200 lbs doesn’t sound that bad. Depends on how you carry it.
Your gf needs to start making better choices with the junk food now while it’s easier. If her metabolism slows and she puts on weight, it’s gonna be harder to break that habit.
I focus on eating foods with a high ratio of protein to calories so I can eat a higher volume. In general, I try to eat a high-protein diet because it takes more energy for the body to digest. This works really well when my mental health is good and stress is low, but not so great when life gets hard. That’s when the candy and takeout starts and I lose discipline. I’ve lost and regained the same 10lbs so many times.
tldr: sub everything for greek yogurt 😛
Once you keep track of calories and macros, it becomes much simpler and easier to maintain. General substitution tips and fads can work for some people, but it’s always the macros doing the real work.
I eat burgers and pizza somewhat regularly, but I make them all, so I know what food I’m getting. You can fine-tune ingredients and timing so you know exactly how healthy your habits are. Those foods aren’t a huge deal if you aren’t desperately ordering them from a shitty chain; burgers are beef, pizza is bread and cheese – it’s easy to count those things.
So to answer the question in the title – no, I’m not living with any pain due to a healthy diet, and no, I’m never hungry. Taking food for what it is, planning for efficiency, and accommodating desires in a controlled way takes away any stress.
I used to be someone who made up for food with exercise, but after 30 I started earnestly looking into the science. All these years later, it’s a simple and stress-free experience for me to simply maintain body weight.
When I eat healthier I’m not hungry. It’s the cravings for certain foods that is hard to resist, not hunger itself. That’s how it is for me.
I aim for 2400 calories with 25% of that coming from protein. The rest is split between fats and carbs. It makes no difference to me how much I have of which one. As long as I reach my protein goal and don’t go over my calorie goal, I feel like I can have whatever I want.
Despite that, I mostly eat whole foods and nothing that comes from a bag, box, or can. I’ve never cared much for candy. I drink a beer with my dinner every night and I do have ice cream about once a month. My staples are rice, potatoes, beans, eggs, cheese, nuts, oats, spinach, yogurt. I can (and do) eat those things every day. I also like chicken, turkey, and lean beef, but I don’t eat meat every day.
I grill my own burgers at home and I make my own pizzas. Unlike what you might get when eating out, my burgers are not served on a butter soaked bun, my fries are not deep fried, and my pizzas are not topped with 3,000 calories worth of cheese.
If I wanted a donut right now, I could have one. If I wanted a dozen, I would need to make a better choice. Same with a beer. One is fine. Six is not. A scoop of ice cream is fine. A half gallon is not.
In addition to making sensible nutrition choices, I move every day. That can be any combination of stretching, mobility exercises, walking, weight lifting, and jump rope. A quick 20-30 minute weight lifting session followed by a mile or two walk is my favorite exercise.
I’m in my 50s, wearing some of the exact same clothes I wore in my 30s. I am still 5’9″ tall, 155 lbs with a 32″ waist.
I’d say having some type of awareness about nutrition and how much of what you are eating is critical. Combine that with some light to moderate exercise a few times a week and you will be fine. Consistency is key for both your eating and your movement.
Everything in moderation, even moderation itself.
My diet hasn’t really changed in the past two decades.
Lots of veggies, some rice, and occasionally indulgences in pizza.
Date nights once a week where we have a couple of glasses or wine or cocktails and order dessert.
My biggest temptation is snacks but those I can manage within reason.
Redline “hungry.” If you wouldn’t eat a cabbage leaf right now and enjoy it, you’re not actually hungry.
Eat nutritionally dense foods and your body will quickly learn how much better things are that way. You will be maybe more hungry before meals but less hungry between. You will start to crave veggies, CRAZY EH?
Eat slower and savor every bite.
Have you finished an honestly nutritious meal and are still hungry? Do something else and don’t think about it for ten minutes. You probably ate too fast and your body hasn’t had time to take inventory and tell you that you’ve supplied it well.
Nutritious doesn’t mean cabbage leaves every meal, by the way – we all know what good nutrition is but it’s EASY to grab the things that make happy chemicals in our brain but don’t give the body the kind of stuff it actually needs.
To get full on burger/fries/shake, you eat until stuffed and your stomach tells you that the happy brain chemicals aren’t worth it anymore. To get full on healthy food, it might be a mere 500 calories but your body will recognize the nutrients and if you listen, you will feel better.
All I do is avoid sugar, especially drinking it, and fast once in a while. I’m healthy and I enjoy my life.
I eat 80% healthy 10% neutral and 10% unhealthy. It’s helpful to group foods into these categories and try different diets.
Hey, some of us are merely “middle of the road”. There’s no kale salad or Kashi or plain greek yogurt in my diet. But I make sure I get fruits & veggies twice a day, 9 days out of 10. I try to favor rice over pasta or potatoes, and portion the latter appropriately when I have them.
Most importantly, I cook everything from scratch, myself. Part of that – a big part – is budget. There simply isn’t even one extra penny anymore for luxury food. I’m talking my entire household budget – including cleaning supplies, paper goods, and toiletries – is $50 a week, no exceptions. That means meal costs need to be under $3 max, with breakfast carrying a lot of weight by simply being a bagel with peanut butter a lot of the time, well under $1.
I seem to recall a TED talk in which a nutritionist advised that you can eat pretty much whatever you want, so long as you cook it yourself, from scratch. The theory was that ultra-fattening and super-high-calorie foods are labor-intensive for the home kitchen, but easy to mass-produce in restaurants and factories. So if you make it yourself, you’ll cut way down on how often you eat those foods.
Not having any extra pennies also means no dessert, no candy, no ice cream. Ever. An occasional cup of coffee is my dessert now, but I have to stretch it so the pound (nope, 14 ounces now, because nothing is sacred anymore and American commerce boils down to “eff you, pay me”) so it lasts 6 months or so…
My present occupation is sedentary enough that exercise is sporadic, at best, so I’m sure this diet could stand a few extra calories with a more active lifestyle and still have stable weight (very close to yours, same height). Now that chicken, ground beef and butter have all mostly come back down to reasonable prices, the next thing I might have to give up are eggs.
I did the whole “eat small meals regularly thing” through my 20’s and half way through 30s and all it did was give me a dad bod.
Moved to IF, lost all the weight, healthier, more energetic. I like to eat pretty healthy but now I don’t obsess about what to eat, I just substitute breakfast for a black coffee, go to the gym and eat after.
I look younger now than I did 5 yrs ago. Can’t recommend highly enough. Just start pushing your breakfast back further slowly and you’ll get there. “Breakfast is important” – absolute BS
I learned what real hunger was in prison. From this experience I became comfortable with having to eat for sustenance and not pleasure. I ended up switching to the religious diet to avoid the “meat” they served in prison. I was given kosher beans and cabbage 2x a day for the rest of my time. With no shitty starches, I found that this kind of food would actually keep you from being hungry a lot longer than the regular junk carb food. It’s all in your head. The only time hunger should concern you is if you are eating way to few calories and you have a “jessie spano on uppers” like fainting episode. You are stronger than hunger paings. And yes that shit fades away over time. Drink a full glass of water
Check out Renaissance Diet Book. I was always heavy and always working out like crazy bc I ate like crap. I would eat reduced calories then binge and it never added up. The RP guys have showed me if I eat a minimum amount of whole food calories, 50% from healthy carbs I would not get hungry. And my workouts got better. If you swing between starving and burgers like I was just try hitting whole food minimum calories for a week. I was shocked I ate more than ever before and lost 30 lbs (225-195). I tried the low carb thing but the RP guys showed me I can’t perform like I want to without them. Now, after a year of just maintenance where I just ate at 80% discipline I didn’t gain, I had a moderate workout routine and I didn’t gain. Seems like your burger binge might be a symptom of wanting to binge from eating reduced cals and being active. Also the Ethan Supplee American Glutton Podcast was vv helpful as well as my current routine from Mike Matthews Bigger Leaner Stronger. HMU if you have questions. I’m not perfect but studying food as fuel and learning about how much I put in and how my body responds has been a game changer for me.