I’ve radically changed my diet. What should I expect in the near term?

Deleted member 19844 · May 19, 2018

Basically I went from fast food and junk food, totaling about 3500-4500 calories per day to 1600 calories plus as many veggies as I can stomach. The 1600 calories are coming from Soylent, which I enjoy drinking.

So far the biggest issue is hunger and fantasizing about Taco Bell.

The plan is to do this for the next 130 days, culminating around my birthday, where I hope to celebrate with friends playing basketball (I haven't been able to play for a year due to my weight and the strain on my knees).

SO, my question is what should I expect after a week or two? I've done 2000 / day diets but never 1600. Should the hunger subside as my body adjusts? Will vegetables ever feel filling? Right now they leave me with a full / yet not full feeling.

-----
Latest update! (May 21)

1. Starting weight: 286.3
2. Current weight: 280.1
3. Pounds lost: 6.2
4. Days completed: 4
5. Days remaining: 126

Thankfully the cravings have started subsiding (meaning they're happen 3-4 times a day as opposed to 8-10 times a day). I've also started taking pictures of the tempting foods I've encountered - it's like a "victory album," where I've successfully chosen the right path. So far in this album there are cheddar cheese crackers, nacho chips at the movies, and nacho cheese doritos at the store. Thankfully I don't have too much of a "sweet tooth," or I would have also been tempted by the birthday cake at a party I went to over the weekend. I've also noticed that once I take a picture of it, I no longer think about it (perhaps the tangible action in response to the temptation is helpful).

Stray observations:
1. My energy level was low in days 1-2, but now I'm starting to feel more energetic (it also helps that I'm going to bed on time each night -- in fact I think that's been the biggest help toward maintaining the discipline)
2. At the outset I decided that corn was acceptable as a vegetable (plain corn, whole kernel), but the sense I get is that corn isn't like green beans or broccoli in that my body reacts to it in a "pleasant" way that tells me I can't eat it in bulk. Maybe it's the sweetness of it? I think I'm going to save corn for any real low moments.
3. Coffee does help with the hunger pangs in this period - thanks to everyone who suggested it! I can't drink too much of it, but it certainly helps in small doses. The rest of the time I drink water, which has been good for me in general.

Thanks again, everyone, for your comments and encouragement!

Surface of Me · May 19, 2018

Those taco Bell cravings are probably your body's addiction to it. No joke, fast food is designed to make you crave it again and again. It'll go away as more time passes.

staedtler · May 19, 2018

Vegetables will make you feel full if you eat more of them. You also don't need to be stuffed at every meal. You can also try adding beans\legumes to your diet as they help with that "heavy full" feeling as they are quite dense plus delicious. Good luck!

TarpitCarnivore · May 19, 2018

Cutting your calories in half may be a bit much for the first week. You're going to be hungry a lot and have terrible cravings.

xxracerxx · May 19, 2018

Drink more water.

iAmPossum · May 19, 2018

it's like mental muscle. keep it up and account failure into your progression

LightEntite · May 19, 2018

so i have no idea what Soylent is, doesn't sound healthy...but it depends entirely on what your body looks like. The bigger/heavier you are, the more drastic the changes are going to be. This is because large people naturally need more calories to support their weight.

Yes, you will eventually stop craving the junk food you were guzzling down before. Changing your diet alone will make this happen.

Eventually though, you'll start to notice your body changing, and at that point you'll mentally stop craving the unhealthy food you've been eating. The bigger and heavier you are (fat wise), the faster you'll notice changes, but they'll start to slow down as you begin reaching an acceptible weight.

hombremalo · May 19, 2018

Prepare to go to the bathroom.

Deleted member 19844 · May 19, 2018

TarpitCarnivore said:
Cutting your calories in half may be a bit much for the first week. You're going to be hungry a lot and have terrible cravings.

I think as long as I know that within a week or so my body will settle down, then I'm fine hanging in there until it adjusts. :-/

Deleted member 39214 · May 19, 2018

Expect runny poo's

LightEntite · May 19, 2018

TreadTalks said:
I think as long as I know that within a week or so my body will settle down, then I'm fine hanging in there until it adjusts. :-/

Unless something significant has changed about your mindset concerning junkfood....you're always going to want the food you're cutting out

But the cravings will vanish after a few days or so when your body starts adjusting

Deleted member 19844 · May 19, 2018

LightEntite said:
so i have no idea what Soylent is, doesn't sound healthy...but it depends entirely on what your body looks like. The bigger/heavier you are, the more drastic the changes are going to be. This is because large people naturally need more calories to support their weight.

Yes, you will eventually stop craving the junk food you were guzzling down before. Changing your diet alone will make this happen.

Eventually though, you'll start to notice your body changing, and at that point you'll mentally stop craving the unhealthy food you've been eating. The bigger and heavier you are (fat wise), the faster you'll notice changes, but they'll start to slow down as you begin reaching an acceptible weight.

Thank you, I appreciate the insight, and it's encouraging to know that my body will adjust. I should've included in the original post that I started at 287 pounds.

Nikus · May 19, 2018

w...why did I read "dick" in the title? Had to do a double take.

Anyway, good luck OP, I've started a diet too and it's freaking hard, I want sugar.

cognizant · May 19, 2018

Intermittent fasting. I'm all about this in 2018. Try the 16:8 method to start with. 16 hour fast, 8 hour eating window. So you could just skip breakfast and start eating at 12pm, finish at 7pm. Eat what you want, within reason. (I also cut out junk food and candy). During the fast, drink water, coffee, green tea, etc.

I've lost weight doing this, and have re-evaluated my relationship to food. I'm like Neo at the end of the Matrix, I can see how our society works, constantly bombarding us with food, telling us we need to eat eat eat, all the time, eat this eat that, gorge yourself!

But then you realise humans can survive almost a month without eating, so 16 hours is nothing. You give your body a chance to rest and rebuild, something called autophagy occurs. You won't feel like you're starving anymore, when you go without food for half a day.

Try it out.

I Don't Like · May 19, 2018

Good for you. I expect for a while you'll continue to have those cravings and feel hungry a lot but once you've trained your body to expect a certain intake at certain times you'll be fine.

Are you exercising? You should definitely accompany the diet with being active.

Also not sure if you've considered it but a protein powder can help with the full feeling. Not many calories and a couple of scoops will make you feel like you've had a small meal.

XaviConcept · May 19, 2018

Cravings will go away, thats basically your stomach bacteria that feeds on junk food demanding Taco Bell as its dying.

I dont think Soylent diets are great, tbh, but its important to be consistent because what you are doing is changing your body so that it looks for energy elsewhere and that takes a little while ... and that can be unpleasant.

cognizant said:
Intermittent fasting. I'm all about this in 2018. Try the 16:8 method to start with. 16 hour fast, 8 hour eating window. So you could just skip breakfast and start eating at 12pm, finish at 7pm. Eat what you want, within reason. (I also cut out junk food and candy). During the fast, drink water, coffee, green tea, etc.

I've lost weight doing this, and have re-evaluated my relationship to food. I'm like Neo at the end of the Matrix, I can see how our society works, constantly bombarding us with food, telling us we need to eat eat eat, all the time, eat this eat that, gorge yourself!

But then you realise humans can survive almost a month without eating, so 16 hours is nothing. You give your body a chance to rest and rebuild, something called autophagy occurs. You won't feel like you're starving anymore, when you go without food for half a day.

Try it out.

IF (which I do and advocate) is NOT a diet though, its just rescheduling when tou eat. Many ppl overeat on IF and gain weight so its important to make the difference.

Deleted member 19844 · May 19, 2018

PlayALLTheGames said:
Are you exercising? You should definitely accompany the diet with being active.

Also not sure if you've considered it but a protein powder can help with the full feeling. Not many calories and a couple of scoops will make you feel like you've had a small meal.

Oh - yup - three times a week, 45 minutes on the elliptical and then a weight training routine that alternates. I've been doing this since the beginning of the year, but I was eating so damn much that i was still gaining weight. :-(

Luchashaq · May 19, 2018

Can literally take 2-3 months for a diet change to not feel weird and fucked up. Stick with it.

Deleted member 19844 · May 19, 2018

Raging Spaniard said:
Cravings will go away, thats basically your stomach bacteria that feeds on junk food demanding Taco Bell as its dying.

That's a great mental image - thank you (not sarcasm). Die, bacteria, die!!

joecanada · May 19, 2018

If you've done research in advance my advice is don't listen to any advice about the million fad diets out there. Keep it simple like it appears you are .
Have healthy food with you at all times for cravings like veggies nuts etc ... drinks too like water or a flavoured water if need be

subpar spatula · May 19, 2018

Hunger is about it until your body balances out need and desire. Your cravings for certain foods will diminish quick enough, but your hunger will remain for a bit which will cause you to want any food even the things you don't crave anymore.

Deleted member 14730 · May 19, 2018

TreadTalks said:
Will vegetables ever feel filling? Right now they leave me with a full / yet not full feeling.

You shouldn't feel full after every meal. You should only eat enough that you can last until your next meal

PoppaBK · May 19, 2018

Not sure how sustainable your diet will be. You have drastically altered to such an extent that it is hard to believe that you won't slip and gorge on pizza or steak or something at some point. I'm guessing that you don't like cooking based on your past and current diet which is a shame as there are so many great recipes out there.

TarpitCarnivore · May 19, 2018

I'm also not a fan of Soylent as a sole form of calories as someone else noted. I would highly encourage looking into the meal prep subreddit and learning to cook meals for the week.

Deleted member 19844 · May 19, 2018

runningjoke said:
You shouldn't feel full after every meal. You should only eat enough that you can last until your next meal

Sorry, what I mean is that the veggies aren't making the hungry feeling go away - i feel both not hungry, yet somehow still empty / hungry.

Deleted member 19844 · May 19, 2018

TarpitCarnivore said:
I'm also not a fan of Soylent as a sole form of calories as someone else noted. I would highly encourage looking into the meal prep subreddit and learning to cook meals for the week.

I'm a big fan of Soylent. The fastest way to make my approach fail is meal prep. I've tried it in the past for a few months and inevitably i don't have time or i forget to get something at the grocery store and it just all goes to pot.

ArkhamFantasy · May 19, 2018

You're going to lose alot of water weight in the first week or two, after that you should be consistently lose 1-2 lbs a week. Make sure you tweak your diet to where its sustainable forever, keep looking up healthy recipes online that fit your new diet, you will find healthy meals that you enjoy.

The last thing you want to do is drive yourself crazy by eating food you dont like and then falling off the wagon again.

Deleted member 19844 · May 19, 2018

PoppaBK said:
Not sure how sustainable your diet will be. You have drastically altered to such an extent that it is hard to believe that you won't slip and gorge on pizza or steak or something at some point. I'm guessing that you don't like cooking based on your past and current diet which is a shame as there are so many great recipes out there.

I do hate cooking, but my wife enjoys it. A reason I like soylent, though, is portion control and calorie counting are made really easy.

TarpitCarnivore · May 19, 2018

TreadTalks said:
I'm a big fan of Soylent. The fastest way to make my approach fail is meal prep. I've tried it in the past for a few months and inevitably i don't have time or i forget to get something at the grocery store and it just all goes to pot.

I know you like it, and I think meal drinks can work as an occasional meal replacements but I don't think they should be the go to for everything. Meal prep doesn't mean 21 different meals for the week. In fact that subreddit is about making the same thing for lunch, and another thing for dinner. So you're instead buying everything you need upfront for the prep versus "Oh shit, I needed this for meal A on Wednesday".

At a minimum have you considered something like Kettlebell Kitchen? It can be a bit costly but they at least do all the prep & cook, so you're just heating it up.

Optional Objectives · May 19, 2018

Deleted member 19844 · May 19, 2018

TarpitCarnivore said:
Meal prep doesn't mean 21 different meals for the week. In fact that subreddit is about making the same thing for lunch, and another thing for dinner. So you're instead buying everything you need upfront for the prep versus "Oh shit, I needed this for meal A on Wednesday".

Yup. I did it for 2.5 months earlier this year. I didn't enjoy the process at all, I'd forget an ingredient, or simply didn't have the time, and inevitably I said forget it. :-)

Oh - I would try Kettlebell Kitchen but it seems expensive. :-(

PoppaBK · May 19, 2018

TreadTalks said:
I do hate cooking, but my wife enjoys it. A reason I like soylent, though, is portion control and calorie counting are made really easy.

Maybe you can transition in meals as you go along, a life of drinking calories plus vegetables just won't last for someone who enjoys food.
As for what you can expect, one thing you may notice is reduced energy levels. If you go to sleep late you may find that all of a sudden you are falling asleep hours earlier. If you are active you may actually feel a little flu like but without the fever or aches.

nasirum · May 19, 2018

Expect some possible insomnia. When I dropped from 2kcal to 1.6kcal (and did intermittent fasting) I had some interesting insomnia.

I ended up just needing less sleep. Once I introduced cardio, for the first week I was sleepier.

Then everything evened out.

Anthony Hopkins · May 19, 2018

1600cals seems very low.

Did you calculate you daily calorie use based on your weight and bodyfat percentage and activity level?

E.g you are going to need more calories if you walk to work and tidy the house as opposed to playing games all day or doing computer work.

As for hunger issues, you are going to expirence some hunger, its unavoidable.
To experience less hunger issues I tried and eat filling foods like a meat protein, carbs like potatoes and lots of veg and salad.

As for cravings, if you want tacobell why not make some beef chilli on home fries with loads of cheese on top

If it fits into your macros and calories its fine.

E.g
Breakfast:small cereal with 1% milk, banana and a black coffee or tea

Lunch: 3 egg, and cheese omlette with a tomato and cucumber salad with a drizzle of olive oil and hot sauce on the salad

Dinner: tacobell inspired home made oven fries with beef brisket chilli and 30g of cheese and salad.

Snack(can have whenever): 3 clementines

Dessert: 250ml semi skimmed milk and 20g dark chocolate.

deepFlaw · May 19, 2018

Best of luck to you, as someone who really needs to start on a similar path myself.

cognizant said:
Intermittent fasting. I'm all about this in 2018. Try the 16:8 method to start with. 16 hour fast, 8 hour eating window. So you could just skip breakfast and start eating at 12pm, finish at 7pm. Eat what you want, within reason. (I also cut out junk food and candy). During the fast, drink water, coffee, green tea, etc.

I've lost weight doing this, and have re-evaluated my relationship to food. I'm like Neo at the end of the Matrix, I can see how our society works, constantly bombarding us with food, telling us we need to eat eat eat, all the time, eat this eat that, gorge yourself!

But then you realise humans can survive almost a month without eating, so 16 hours is nothing. You give your body a chance to rest and rebuild, something called autophagy occurs. You won't feel like you're starving anymore, when you go without food for half a day.

Try it out.

This is also helpful, as I need to schedule my meal times much better than I am currently.

nasirum · May 19, 2018

Use MyFitnessPal. Log every calorie and exercise. It will help you determine if you need to add caloric intake on certain days depending on activity.

Deleted member 19844 · May 19, 2018

Anthony Hopkins said:
1600cals seems very low.

Did you calculate you daily calorie use based on your weight and bodyfat percentage and activity level?

Yup. I calculated and projected it out to confirm I would hit my weight goal around birthday.

I don't want to cook - i hate cooking - and i want easy calorie counting and portion control. And i like soylent's taste and texture. So I'm good there.

Thanks to folks pointing out the low energy / sleepiness stuff in the near term. That'll help manage expectations!

sirap · May 19, 2018

Sugar withdrawal is going to hit you hard, especially if you're used to consuming massive amounts of soda from fast food.

Headaches, dry lips, lack of energy etc. They usually subside after 3-4 days.

xxracerxx · May 19, 2018

TreadTalks said:
Yup. I calculated and projected it out to confirm I would hit my weight goal around birthday.

How soon is your birthday? Is this an aggressive push just for the birthday or are you planning on the long run doing this?

Deleted member 19844 · May 19, 2018

xxracerxx said:
How soon is your birthday? Is this an aggressive push just for the birthday or are you planning on the long run doing this?

Oh, it's in about 4.5 months. The plan after that is to only eat my wife's cooking and soylent for lunch at work. I'll need to combine that with some incentives for maintaining the weight loss, though I'll define those as the date approaches.

Deleted member 19844 · May 19, 2018

sirap said:
Headaches, dry lips, lack of energy etc. They usually subside after 3-4 days.

I do have a bit of a headache! :-/ I hope 3-4 days is it... :-)

Kobe · May 19, 2018

i'd recommend entering what you are eating into cronometer.com to see what your nutrient intake is for a few days. naturally, you want to eat enough to get all your vitamins, protein, etc. etc. as already mentioned, you want eat a variety of foods (eat the rainbow) to get all the good stuff

copelandmaster · May 19, 2018

Are you only taking this soylent stuff? You might go a bit insane.

I'm essentially on month 11 of my own forced turn around - its one of the hardest things I've ever done. 6 months in, I couldn't help but eating dried fruits, eating several dates, a whole Endangered Species Panther chocolate a day, and a Larabar on the daily after I started. You are going to be craving things for the whole 4.5 months, because the bacterial die off takes months, without supplemental assistance. Today, I'm on my last day of a 2 month period of doing so. I have now reached a point where I can't attain a sense of satisfaction in the few things I can eat - its a living nightmare. If it wasn't a life or death serious situation for me, I would have fallen off the wagon long ago.

You will get the urge to fill the cravings with "healthier" alternatives that might actually have just as much or more sugar that will feed the bacteria - pretty much most things do, see above. When I couldn't eat those anymore, I drowned my guts in roasted sunflowers seeds, pumkin seeds, and cashews. My stomach hates me now (but my intestines feel pretty good, thankfully). You need to be careful - even most regular raw fruits have enough sugar to feed the bacterial cravings.

Variety is important, not just for your mind - but also for nutrition. Get into the habit of meal prep, but its good that you're wife is helping. There's no real substitute.

Even though its short term, keep a diary. If this is more of serious thing, I would recommend a personal nutritionist, someone to keep moderating your progress.

The Almighty Tria · May 19, 2018

Whenever I change up my diet, results vary. I've had insomnia, mild depression, intense cravings, extreme fatigue, headaches, etc. It's hard to say, but it's good to know that it's not permanent (assuming you switched to a healthy diet) and it'll be over with before you know it.

But man, those first few weeks can be roooouuuggghh. The worst was when I had insomnia, mild depression, severe migraines and wanted to sleep all the time. I was a mess, but it got better.

Z-Beat · May 19, 2018

The fever...the junk food addiction that drives men mad

ghostemoji · May 19, 2018

I'm starting to think about this a little bit. I've been on a cook all of my meals on Sunday, keep every day at 2000 calories and just do my normal workouts and I've seen great results, but as the weight has come off, my "maintenance" calories are dropping, and the effectiveness of my diet will decrease. I've settled into equilibrium with my 1800-2000 calorie a day diet, but I'm not sure how to approaching dropping more.

I'm thinking of just eating less, but more often might work. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Sampson · May 19, 2018

I seriously hope you can stick with it, but going from 100% fast food to basically a liquid diet..I'm really skeptical.

If you do fall off the wagon, and still don't want to cook, you can eat out for every meal and still lose weight. It's not as good as cooking at home, but it's entirely doable. You just have to be careful about what you order.

For example, you can go to Whole Foods and get some of their prepared salads. You can get the protein boxes from Starbucks. You can get a Chipotle bowl with no sour cream or cheese. You can get chicken noodle soup and a salad from Panera bread, etc. Eating out doesn't have to mean gorging on 1500 calories at Taco Bell. You can figure out 1-2 "good" meals at the various places you like to eat at, and then be deliberate about what you order.

Here's a sample menu for a day:

Breakfast, Starbucks Eggs and Cheese breakfast bowl 460 calories
Lunch, Chipotle bowl with steak, brown rice, black beans, fajita veggies, pico, hot salsa, 565 calories
Dinner, Five Guys double cheeseburger lettuce wrapped with all veggie toppings, about 700 calories

That's a little over 1700 calories and would keep most people full.

SugarNoodles · May 19, 2018

PoppaBK said:
Not sure how sustainable your diet will be. You have drastically altered to such an extent that it is hard to believe that you won't slip and gorge on pizza or steak or something at some point. I'm guessing that you don't like cooking based on your past and current diet which is a shame as there are so many great recipes out there.

It seems weird that you're referring to a single slip up as though it entirely compromises a lifestyle change

Hokahey · May 19, 2018

Your new diet is unsustainable long term, which will be needed to avoid ballooning back up, which is terrible for your health.

Find your 1600 calories elsewhere. Hell, I eat Taco Bell sometimes and still easily maintain 1600 a day. Start learning how to look at the calories both in store bought foods and on restaurant menus online.

CherryWoodFuton · May 19, 2018

Yea 1600 calories seems low. That's like a super cut.

I’ve radically changed my diet. What should I expect in the near term?

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