How do you guys endure the hunger pains while losing weight? I was told to eat more protein, but what kind of protein tricks my brain into feeling full longer that has low calories?
WFPB is a vegan way of eating focused on health. It recommends minimizing processed foods, especially added sugars and oils. Stricter versions also limit fattier foods like avocados and nuts.
When following WFPB closely, it’s necessary to count calories, because you are eating so much nutrient-dense food with lots of fiber and relatively fewer calories. So you get full without a lot of calories.
Read How not to diet by Michael Geger!
(I changed the link because it pointed to his best seller, which is also great.)
You linked to How Not to Die, which is by the same author as How Not to Diet.
He advocates WFPB. I have read How Not to Die and it was more interesting and funny than I expected. It’s a good tour of the scientific studies related to the foods correlated with the most common causes of death.
Studies about longevity have reached the conclusion that WFPB is best for long life as well. The Blue Zone diet focused on longevity also emphasis a plant-based diet with less processed food.
I'm not sure about proteins, but I used to consume a lot of soups to keep myself satiated. It's crazy how water + something vegetable-ey tricks ur body into feeling it's really full.
If you don't wanna feel as hungry, eat a larger amount of fibrous carbs and less starchy carbs, that don't make you feel as full.
For me its beans, broccoli, spinach / greens, edamame, mushrooms, etc. I still do eat plenty of starchy carb staples (pototoes, rice, bread), but for some reason these never make me feel full.
Also drink more water / liquids. Half the time when you think you're hungry, you just need more water.
Raw mushrooms are amazing for hunger, and they have a ton of potassium (helps if you are watching your sodium balance).
Are you vegan as well?
Yep.
I just stop getting hungry usually with enough intermittent fasting. Ime, eating early is what starts my appetite, so I often just don't eat until night.
Lentils, like in a daal, really does it for me.
But mostly I'm just used to feeling hungry before I eat. It's not painful, that's just what a healthy appetite feels like. I find having a regular regimen helps cut out the second guessing.
Disclaimer that I don't know what you're eating. Maybe you just aren't eating enough. Maybe you aren't drinking enough water.
Focus on fiber instead of protein
Will power, hunger will subside
I'm not sure exactly what you mean by hunger pains because I don't know if I've experienced them but what I have told my friends and what I tell myself is to make friends with the feeling of being hungry.
That feeling means you're making progress and you're working toward your goal and it's a good thing.
TVP is really good, easy to make and really affordable. It’d dehydrated soy but has more protein per calories than tofu.
Also, tofu is great and super versatile with a bunch of different ways to make it.
Lentils and other legumes are extremely nutritious and filling because they’re high in fiber and protein.
Any variation of the above three will be really good for satiety. Try to make sure each meal has a decent protein source and high in fiber.
They go away after a number of hours. So I tend to fast for a day or three at a time. Second and third day feels really good!
WFPB is so calorie-poor, you have to eat to complete satiation.
What's your calorie deficit per day? If it's too much, you'll constantly feel like you're starving.
If you reduce your calories by only around 200 or so per day, the weight will come off in a controlled way, but without feeling like you're not eating enough.
I lost around 30lbs earlier this year using a combination of calorie deficit and cycling. On long days riding, I'd often end up thousands of calories short, even while eating as much as I could. I never felt like I was hungry during those few months needed to reach my goal.
And the weight has stayed off.
I also used the advice found in Dr. Greger's "How not to diet", the audiobook version.
When I need a low calorie snack I eat things like pickles, hummus, grape tomatoes, watermelon, pineapple, nuts (though it's easy to eat too many calories from nuts).
Psyllium husks in broth. Great stomach filler, and you'll have amazing stool.
heavy amounts of fiber, fat and protein works for me and it has to be all three at the same time for it to work. i'm still transitioning into a plant based diet so this is easy to do with things like cheese (fat & protein) and legumes (fiber & protein)
and, speaking of legumes, peanut butter would probably be the closest vegan alternative to cheese, but it is high in calories so it's not great for weight loss; but it does has plenty of fat, fiber & protein so 2 tablespoons max works for me when i feel a hunger pang and you can mix it with things like jelly, or yogurt, or cereal, or honey; etc.
i treat peanut butter in the same way most would treat a protein bar: it's a quick snack that has all of the good things that you need to keep you going until you get your next meal.
also: this only applies to natural peanut butter; as in the kind whose oil separates if you let it sit for too long without stiring/using it. so stay away from the ones that have other oils (especially palm oil); or have sugar added; or are low/non-fat; or anything else besides peanuts and salt.
i love making keto cookies with it along with eggs and honey and they're even more portable that protein bars when i do. i used to keep a stash of them at my work desk before working from home was a thing.
I don't buy peanut butter in the same vein that I can't have chocolate in the house. I can't be trusted.
For me, I don't try to deaden the hunger pangs. I think I need to retrain my brain that being hungry is not necessarily a bad thing. At first, it was very distracting, but I think I'm getting used to the idea that I don't have to eat every time I feel hungry.
I'm usually only noticing it for the last two or three hours before my meal.