Hmmm, I’d eat it if it was part of a Sunday roast. I could eat some alongside the fish/chicken and rye bread, if that’d help?
Ah okay, fair enough.
When I was cutting down binge eating I experimented with it. I boiled up a huge pot of florettes and ate them once cooled. They stuff your stomach to the absolute max and due to the fibre content, keep you full for hours. I’d then not have the binge signals coming from my brain later that day, so could focus on downing some normal food (bit of meat, veg etc).
Helped me a lot, I guess it’d work for most calorie negligible vegetables.
Well, then, why not just drink loads of Huel? It’s also really filling I find.
But the emotional cravings are a different sort of hunger, especially when it’s something deeply conditioned since childhood. “I must have sugar right now to numb me to the pain of existence just like it did when I was 13 years old.”
Loads of Huel = Loads of calories = Weight gain.
With brocolli, I could make my brain switch off to cravings until it was time for a meal, at which point I’d consume either a conventional meal or a Huel.
If you’re certain these cravings relate to ‘the pain of existence’ rather than ‘bloody hell, that flapjack was yummy’, I think you’re in the wrong place for help. I’d maybe advise mental health assistance or counselling?
As I said in my first post, I’ve spent 5 years going to Overeaters Anonymous. 12-Steps is more effective than counselling/therapy to tackle addiction, that’s why an alcoholic won’t just get a therapist. Yes food is one manifestation of a lifetime of addiction problems for me. OA is a very female fellowship though, it’s not much use if you’re a heterosexual male. So, here I am. I do go to meetings of another fellowship where I can work the steps/meet people/end the isolation, etc.
Anyway, I’ll try the fruit/fish/chicken/rye bread/Huel idea next week and see how I get on.
Boiled beans and boiled whole grains. You also need to soak them for a few hours before boiling. Canned beans are sold already soaked and cooked for your convenience. Whole-grain bread is also good from practical point of view. Even white bread is healthy enough for your purpose.
Same thing for veggies. They have often to be washed and cooked. Best cooking method is vapor. But it’s just an hassle. But even these are sold already prepared for convenience.
And the same for fruit. It’s boring to peel them but they’re also sold already peeled.
I think you can see the pattern overall. If it grows out of the ground and it has been processed like you would process it before eating, then it’s ok. Everything else is not ok. 
About snacking in general, there are different opinions. Some people recommend to go hungry until you feel “true hunger” and then get a full meal. Some others (like the authors of the previous article) recommend that you keep healthy snacks always available. I think there is some merit in both ideas.
I think you can start by snacking healthy products and then see how it goes. If you’re still eating too much, then you may have to commit to eating only 3 times a day.
P.S: Others recommend counting calories. It’s the least pleasant to do. This is your last resort. Anyway it’s reassuring. At worst, you’ll lose weight in this way. The problem of counting calories is that unhealthy food gets a free pass. It becomes all about quantity of calories instead of quality of food.
2nd P.S: If you cut out animal products completely, then you need a vitamin b12 supplement. I think it makes sense to cut out animal products completely from an health point of view, but it’s not necessary. If you don’t cut them out, then eat only very small portions. Remember that you’re not a carnivore, you’re not a calf and you’re not a growing chick either! Remember that primates eat 95-98% of their calories from plant food.
There is so much carb bashing over the net because if you cut carbs, you can lose weight fast. You get short term results at the expense of long term health. And it becomes very easy to regain back the weight you have lost. This is your previous experience. I think you’ve already seen it doesn’t work.
You should look for the “diet” that you can eat for the rest of your life.
Carbs are the preferred fuel for the body. For optimal health and performance you may even have to eat 80% carbs. Fat are the reserve fuel for endurance sports and for famines. Low carb diets are simulated famines. They cause long term damage. Your body tries desperately to save energy during famines.
If you follow news from Venezuela, you can see a famine and people having to go on a “low carb diet”:
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-> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOojt1CbvF8
You may find something useful there. It’s just a short interview.
One thing that helped me drop a couple of sizes was attending Sura Detox - it was the combination of a 5 day fast PLUS education about why we eat and what we are designed to eat. I eat reasonably freely of certain foods (Raw food, plant-based) for the next year and lost weight naturally. I think Huel is consistent with that diet.