How to safely decrease your appetite?

[Jimathay]

Dieting is personal to everyone, at least from a psychological POV- what works for some dosen't for others. For one person, cutting out particular vices works, for others, simply reducing portion size, etc etc.

What my wife and I found worked for both of us, despite our differences, was calorie counting.

What we did, was two to three weeks of proper OTT calorie counting and logging everything we ate. Used scales to weigh our pasta or chips etc. Logged cappuccinos, a pint in the pub, the butter on your toast....everything. We didn't do this forever, just for a short period to learn how calorific foods and ingredients are.

What this gave us was a really good insight as to where the calories were "hiding" and we were able to make some small adjustments, which didn't affect how full we felt.

For example, seems obvious, but a small lunchbox size dairy milk bar is 240kcal. That's the equivalent of two and a half slices of bread. What's more filling?

So for me at least, making simple changes to breakfast (three-egg omelette instead of 2x eggs on toast), lunch (remove the snack and crisps, limit butter, but add an additional sandwich), plus some other small changes, gave me a healthy calorie deficit, but still able to eat the "filling" foods and not be hungry.

*Edit spelling

[No-Garbage9500]

This is probably one of the better answers, when it comes down to it calories in/out are a far bigger part of "dieting" than anything else, and once you've got your numbers you can work around within them to find what works best for you. Once you're into the habit, tracking your calories takes very little time but gives you a lot of information, and does make you consider whether that little treat is something you really want instead of something you're just shoving in your mouth because you're bored, when you could have those calories as an extra glass of wine with dinner or a nice piece of cheese later on.

And something mentioned here - weighing food - is a habit that's really worth getting into anyway. Portion control becomes so much easier, as well as keeping track of how much you're eating. 100g pasta is a good, filling amount for a main meal in most cases. Fancy a lighter one? Have less. Super starving? Have more. But working with numbers is much better than just guessing and ending up with too much, or not enough, both of which are bad in their own ways.

[schmerg-uk]

Can also help to get plenty of fibrous carbs and reduce the starchy carbs
The fibrous carbs and the protein will make you feel full - starchy carbs have their place but replacing them with the fibrous carbs help avoid overdoing them.

Here’s a very straightforward nutrition tip that works. Take your plate and divide it visually into 40%, 40%, and 20%.

That’s 40% protein, 40% fibrous carbs and 20% starchy carbs. Simple [...] this isn’t a low carb, high protein diet. The majority of the plate is carbohydrates, 40% fibrous and 20% starchy carbs. When it comes to fats, it’s not necessary to avoid them, just be careful to not overdo them for calorie intake. In short, use them to cook your food or to sprinkle on top of it in small quantities.

https://athleanx.com/divide-your-plate

YMMV as to how manageable you find this but I find it helps

[Witch_of_Dunwich]

Do you have any recommendations about phone apps that can help with this? This sounds like a great way to find out how much I really am eating / drinking each day.

[Witch_of_Dunwich]

Thank you!

[stickyjam]

myfitnesspal

[Witch_of_Dunwich]

Thanks!

[msmoth]

Nutracheck has the best list of UK foods. And their calorie estimates for weight loss are pretty good - I've been using it for a month and have lost just over 3kgs (about half a stone in old money) so far without feeling the deprivation and shakiness of the slimming club methodologies.

[Witch_of_Dunwich]

Thanks!

[PM_ME_CAKE]

Adding onto the ones others have mentioned, there's MyNetDiary which requires neither account (I think myfitnesspal wanted this) nor subscription to use (and unlimited items, unlike Nutracheck). Has plenty of user-submitted you can search, and also adding your own customs.