eat more filling meals to lose weight

Over the years I’ve noticed that one of the traps that a lot of us (me included) fall into in during a diet is having meals that are too small. Either too small as in too little calories, or too small in volume, or a little of both.

I mean I get it, when we’re trying to lose weight we’re afraid to eat more thinking it’s gonna go against our goals. But what actually happens when your meals are too small is that you have to deal with all kinds of hungers and cravings until your next meal which is usually when uncontrollable snacking occurs.

That’s the thing that’s most dangerous on a weight loss journey in my eyes, uncontrolled eating. It’s totally fine to eat more and be in control, but when you lose self control and give in to random snacks that doesn’t even really satisfy you but you eat anyway cos you’re so hungry, that’s troubling.

So how do you fix that?

Simple, stop fearing food and eat bigger meals.

Like if you’ve planned to eat 500kcal for a meal, spend the 500kcal fully. Don’t eat 200kcal and be like “ohh I’m kinda full, I can use this chance to eat even less and lose more fat.”

That’s almost guaranteed that it’s gonna back fire.

The goal of losing weight is to eat as much as possible while in a calorie deficit. Not try to starve yourself whenever you see the opportunity to. Those that say, “is it ok if I eat only 500kcal a day? I feel fine, I don’t feel hungry” are actually usually just straight up lying. I mean sure, maybe a day or two you feel fine, but it’s just a matter of time before the hunger and craving kicks in and you start eating uncontrollably and end up back in square one.

How am I so sure? 

Cos I’ve seen countless people go through it. Not only that, I’ve made those exact same claims myself and have it backfire in my face. 

Losing weight is a long long process where the goal is to be in a calorie deficit consistently for as long as possible. The quickest way to achieve that is to not eat less, but more while in a calorie deficit. If you planned to eat 500kcal for lunch, eat that full 500kcal. The fulfillment from that meal will likely last you till your next meal and make hunger and cravings little to non existent in between. 

You ever think to yourself “why am I always thinking about food?”

I did too.

Looking back I know exactly why now. I was just being way too restrictive. Back in my 123kg days diet meant suffering, diet meant trying to outlast hunger and starvation, which is probably the worst possible strategy for sustainable weight loss.

Look, hunger and cravings there’re gonna happen from time to time. That’s normal. But they’re not indicators of success or failures. The goal is to minimize hunger and cravings within the bounds of eating less than your body expends consistently. Not maximize them.

If you’re finding yourself having trouble dealing with hunger and cravings, or have a snacking habit you’re finding hard to quit, try having larger more filling meals. Larger meals may mean instead of 3 meals a day, you have 2 meals a day.

Remember feeling full does not mean you’re gaining fat, and feeling hungry doesn’t mean you’re losing fat. They’re not at all indicators of weight loss progress. Be less restrictive, let yourself feel full and fulfilled during your journey. Sometimes that’s really all it takes to help you be more consistent over time. 

And with that consistency well, results kinda become inevitable.

— Po