Earning Your Body’s Trust:

How to eat in a way that quietens hunger, lowers ‘food noise’, and helps your body let go of weight—without living in a deficit.

If you’ve spent years in calorie-cutting, starvation mode, you’re not alone. You lose weight, feel hungry, think about food constantly… and then the weight comes back.

It’s a punishing cycle we put ourselves through over and over again, hoping for a different outcome. But it doesn’t happen, and we know it.

It’s not because we’re silly or weak – it’s because the “eat less” story is the only script we’ve ever been given.

We need to write a new one.

The answer lies in feeling Full, Fuelled and Satisfied on what we eat — largely from foods rich in fibre, protein and healthy fats.When we prioritise food quality, cravings and energy balance become much easier to manage – they almost look after themselves. That’s how humans stayed largely free from widespread obesity for most of our history.

Let’s be clear: calories still count – but how we change them is what makes the difference. We don’t even put the word “deficit” in the manual.

Prioritising the Right Foods

This isn’t permission to gorge. Genuine fuel, fullness and satisfaction come from eating the right kinds of food — the ones that work with your biology, not against it.

When we understand which foods are optimised for our body systems (and how they influence hunger, cravings and metabolism), three things happen:

•We crave and overeat less

• We burn fat more easily

• We feel full on an appropriate intake of calories

Give your body what it needs, and it stops shouting for more.

Let’s break down the 3 core food goals.

Full — “My stomach has had enough”

Fullness is the physical side: your stomach has had enough volume, and fullness signals are triggered.

Full comes from:

• Plates of food that aren’t tiny or apologetic

• Enough bulk from fibre and staying power from protein and healthy fats

Eating more volume doesn’t necessarily mean more calories. Fibre adds bulk with relatively few calories. Protein is similarly satiating – not because of bulk, but because of the time and energy your body invests in breaking it down.

When you’re not full, your body stays on high alert for more food. That’s when snacking creeps in and it becomes easy to overeat without consciously choosing to.

Fuelled — “My body has what it needs”

Fuelled = meals that give your body the nutrients it needs to run well — not just enough volume (that’s Full) or taste(that’s Satisfied), but useful building blocks that steady hunger, energy and mood.

Core components

• Protein — supports and preserves muscle, switches on satiety signals, slows the return of hunger.

• Fibre + plants — slow digestion, stabilise energy, feed gut microbes that help regulate appetite.

• Healthy fats — support hormones and absorption of vitamins A/D/E/K, add staying power and satisfaction.

What about carbs?

You don’t need to chase carbs — they show up naturally in real foods. For example:

• Beans and lentils = protein + carbs + fibre

• Fruit & veg = carbs wrapped in fibre

If you want a clear “carb side” (rice/pasta/bread), add it last, and pick one that brings fibre (e.g., wholegrain pasta, brown rice, seeded sourdough). You’ll usually need less when protein and plants are plentiful.

What Fuelled is not

• A big plate of beige, ultra-processed, refined carbs that leaves you tired, unsatisfied and snacky soon after.

• “Just eat less of the screamy stuff.” UPFs are engineered to be easy to overeat — cutting portions alone often backfires.

When you’re properly fuelled, your body stops nagging for more. Food noise drops, snacking urges ease, and hormones stabilise instead of nudging you to graze all day.

Satisfied — “That hit the spot”

Satisfied is where enjoyment comes in.

You can be:

• full (physically) and

• fuelled (nutritionally)… and still feel, “That didn’t hit the spot at all.”

Satisfied means:

• You enjoyed the meal

• There’s a sense of “I’m done”, rather than “what’s next?”

This is where flavour, texture, temperature and pace come in:

• Taking time to chew (whole foods help here) rather than inhaling food in a few minutes

• Including enough fat, seasoning and crunch so it feels like real food, not a sad diet version

Satisfaction isn’t just your stomach saying, “I’m full”; it’s your brain saying, “I’m done.”

Summary: Full, Fuelled and Satisfied for Weight Management

Here’s the magic: when you’re Full, Fuelled and Satisfied on whole foods…

• Your body can access fat stores more easily when insulin isn’t constantly elevated

• You’re less driven to snack between meals

• You’re not constantly pulled towards quick, sugary, ultra-processed fixes

• Your overall calorie intake reduces naturally — a side effect of being properly fed and content

So What Does This Actually Look Like on a Plate?

Protein, fibre and healthy fats are allies in weight control

The Three-Part Plate

You don’t need a perfect meal plan, but a simple pattern your body recognises provides predictability, security and a blueprint for your meal prep.

1) Include Protein

• Builds and protects muscle alongside exercise – your calorie-burning engine, even at rest

• Triggers fullness hormones so you’re not starving an hour later

Examples: eggs, Greek yoghurt, fish, chicken, lentils, tofu, beans, lean meat, cottage cheese.

2) Fibre from Real Plants

• Slows digestion so energy is released steadily instead of in jittery spikes

• Feeds gut microbes, which in turn produce compounds that help regulate appetite and inflammation

• Adds chew, crunch and volume – physical signals that tell your brain, “That’s enough now.”

Examples: vegetables, salads, beans, lentils, fruit, whole grains, nuts, seeds.

3) Healthy Fats

Fat – a scary word for many dieters – is more than twice as energy-dense as carbs or protein, but it’s still essential and actually helpful for weight management. Its ability to drive satisfaction and slow digestion is worth the investment – so aim for mostly unsaturated fats, with small amounts of saturated fats from whole-food sources.

Examples: extra virgin olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, oily fish, full-fat yoghurt, a bit of real butter.

Closing Thoughts

The idea of eating well for weight management isn’t a 10-day reset. It’s a personal decision to stop building your life around “less” and start building it around Full, Fuelled and Satisfied.

For some people, this will feel deliciously familiar and totally doable – you already like many of these foods; you just need a workflow and confidence. Don’t overhaul all at once — bring in meals gradually and find how meal prep can sit within your inevitably busy agenda.

For others, this might feel completely alien. If real, fibre-rich, protein-rich, minimally processed foods are not your norm, this will take more time, more experimenting and a bit more hand-holding. That’s okay. Start small, build up recipes and confidence one plate at a time.

Over time, this way of eating helps your body settle closer to its own natural weight range – the place your biology is most comfortable. It won’t bring about overnight radical change or turn you into a “Perfect 10”, but it will move you towards the best, most sustainable version of you — your natural weight set-point.

Unlike a crash diet, it asks for time and consistency – and in return, it’s something you can actually live with and enjoy.

The main thing I want you to hear is this: Weight management does not have to come with constant hunger and misery. You don’t make progress by being hungry; you do it by creating meals that fuel, fill and satisfy using the macro basics of protein, fibre and healthy fats.

This isn’t a diet. It’s the beginning of you cultivating your own, personal Food Style – a way of eating that fits your life, your taste buds and your long-term health.

Watch this space for more on Food Styles – your unique way to work with the foods that work for you!

Sarah x