I have been contemplating writing a post on this topic, mainly because hunger with weight-loss is controversial and subjective.
However, I became compelled to create this post based on what I have seen recently on the internet regarding hunger associated with being in a calorie deficit. Many online sources say that if you genuinely eat healthier foods and incorporate sufficient fiber and protein, i.e., eating "clean," then you should have minimal hunger, even when on a calorie deficit.
As someone who was obese, lost 80 pounds, and has been in calorie deficits for months, if not years, I could not find such a statement farther from the truth.
I always notice that these individuals on social media preaching this information about never feeling hungry have never been obese at one point in their lives. They merely recite theoretical information from a textbook or journal post or apply their anecdotal experiences regarding losing 10 or 20 pounds.
They never understand what it is like to try to lose weight when you are starting from being obese or truly overweight, trying to alter years of bad eating and exercise habits. Overall, they don't understand that hunger has different manifestations psychologically in obese and overweight people. The exact reason many Americas got obese is because of improper hunger perception.
As someone who has lost 80 pounds and went from obese to a normal BMI, my calorie deficit experience has taught me that hunger and the overall urge to break your diet will inevitably be there. No matter how clean you eat in terms of consuming enough fiber, vegetables, and micronutrient-dense foods, in some way, shape, or form, you will undoubtedly be hungry, dreaming about your favorite cheat meal.
If we think about it logically, when you are in a calorie deficit and trying to change your overall eating habits, you are depriving your body of the nutrients and energy it would typically need daily and working to resist years of accumulated habits. You are bound to feel hungry at some point.
After much reflection, I've realized that the actual mental battle of weight loss is this internal struggle with hunger. Weight loss is hard—really hard. That's why the majority of diets and people's attempts to decrease body fat ultimately fail—they struggle with dealing with hunger and cravings.
On the surface, people think that seeing the number on the scale change or their pants fitting looser are accurate signals of improvement. However, in reality, battling these cravings and hunger, exercising even if you are tired, and fighting the years of buildup of your foregone ways of living are where actual progress is made regarding weight loss.
Therefore, if anything, hunger through a weight-loss lens is good—it's a signal that you are actually in a proper calorie deficit and are on the way to losing weight. If anything, if you felt minimal to no hunger on an alleged calorie deficit, as many social media influencers say, you should be concerned as you may actually not be losing body fat.
So, if you are reading this and are struggling with hunger during your weight-loss journey, don't worry; it is normal, and you should be proud of yourself! Now, what we can control is the degree of hunger, and when you want to feel hungry.
One way I minimize hunger is to make sure your calorie deficit in terms of calories per pound of fat is not over 1 percent of your body mass per week (ex, if you weigh 200 pounds and 1 pound of fat is ~3500 calories, you shouldn't be aiming to lose more than 2lbs a week). You don't want to be in too steep of a calorie deficit where you are actually harming your body's ability to function properly.
Furthermore, from my journey, I have found that eating more protein, fiber, and micronutrient-dense foods helps diminish hunger to some extent. Moreover, when doing my semi-intermittent fast, as seen in my daily weight loss eating routine, black coffee, and any caffeine really blunt my hunger and delay it so I can eat when I feel hungry in the afternoon.
But, as I said, in some way, there will be hunger when trying to lose weight—it's inevitable. The next question is trying to decide when you want to be hungry. For example, let's say that I have a big exam coming up in a few days, and I am studying for several hours, from the morning to the evening. Let's say I really want to focus and maximize productivity when studying, and I don't want to think about the lingering hunger I may face. Therefore, I will shift my diet and frontload my calories so that I will eat a large proportion of my food for the day during or around that study period, and then at night, when I am not studying, deal with whatever hunger is present.
Let's provide another scenario. Say I have trouble sleeping at night when I am hungry. In this case, I would shift my caloric consumption closer to bedtime, i.e., in the evening. I would deal with the hunger associated with the calorie deficit during the morning/afternoon.
In my typical routine, I typically deal with hunger early on in the morning/afternoon, as typically, I would not say I like going to bed when feeling hungry. However, at the end of the day, it is about finding what works for you best; as long as you can make consistent and sustainable progress with strategy, keep doing it!
Additionally, in the short term, when dealing with certain stressful periods, such as a big exam week or a lot of homework, I often decide to just increase my calories so I don't have to deal with even more stress or discomfort associated with hunger, and so I can maximize my performance during these times. Remember, this process is a marathon, not a sprint, and you should find ways to work in weight loss into your life, not the other way around.
So, the next time you feel hungry and are fighting your cravings, take a second to reflect and be proud of yourself. If you have been doing it for the past few weeks and have lost a few pounds—pat yourself on the back. You are doing what 99 percent of others can't do with weight loss.
Additionally, just as a side note, I have learned that I should be grateful for my ability to induce hunger through intentful caloric restriction synthetically. Unfortunately, many individuals worldwide in lower-resource settings have no choice but to be hungry as they struggle with food security. Being in the position to induce hunger to lose weight is a privledge, and I have learned to be humbly grateful for being in this position.
Have any thoughts or comments? Feel free to share them down below in the comments section. Thanks for reading
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