About ten years ago, trainer Denis Sorokin concluded that his clients' weight problems were less due to a lack of willpower and more to the products they consumed. Before this, he observed how clients, despite eating healthy, felt intense hunger by mid-morning, constantly thought about food, and could experience nighttime hunger pangs. This prompted him to re-evaluate his training approach.

In 2016, Sorokin decided to exclude five specific products from his students' diets. The results exceeded expectations: in the first month, clients lost 4 to 6 kilograms. The key, according to the trainer, was not so much weight loss as the disappearance of constant cravings and hunger pangs. Examples include students: Alexander lost 34 cm from his waist in 4 months, Sergey lost 40 kg in 7 months, and Pavel lost 33 cm from his waist. Sorokin emphasizes that these individuals were not "broken" or "lazy," but rather their diets contained products that disrupted the natural hunger regulation mechanisms.

Rethinking the "Calories In, Calories Out" Formula

The traditional approach to weight loss, based on simple calorie counting ("eat less, move more"), doesn't always reflect the full picture. Excess weight, according to Sorokin, is a symptom, not the root cause. The problem can lie in hormonal regulation, inflammatory processes, and appetite control mechanisms. Instead of fighting oneself with willpower, it's more important to create conditions where the body itself begins to better regulate appetite, energy levels, and body weight.

A 2019 study by Kevin Hall of the U.S. National Institutes of Health supports this idea. In the experiment, 20 adult participants were fed two types of diets for a month: one consisted primarily of ultra-processed foods, the other of minimally processed foods. The calorie content, as well as the amounts of protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, sugar, and salt, were comparable. Participants could eat as much as they wanted.

The results showed that when eating ultra-processed foods, people consumed an average of 500 more calories per day and gained weight. When switching to a diet of minimally processed foods, weight began to decrease. This happened not due to suddenly appearing willpower, but thanks to changes in eating patterns, hunger, eating speed, and satiety signals. The study emphasizes that not only calories themselves are important, but also the impact of specific foods on appetite and eating behavior. Many participants didn't even realize they were eating more, as their bodies continued to seek satiety, which didn't come.

Five Foods That Trigger Overeating

Modern foods can be specifically designed to make you want to eat them again and again. Resisting this with willpower alone can be difficult. Humans, being the smartest species, are capable of creating foods that they themselves cannot later refuse.

1. Liquid Sugar

This category includes carbonated drinks, sweet teas, fruit juices (including 100% natural and freshly squeezed), smoothies, sports and energy drinks, as well as sweet coffee drinks with syrups. The problem with liquid calories is that the body perceives them differently than solid food. Consuming 300 calories from a sweet drink does not necessarily lead to a reduction in solid food intake by the same amount; often, these calories are simply added on top without providing adequate satiety. Research by Richard Mattes and large-scale observational studies like the NS Healthy Study confirm the link between regular consumption of sugary drinks and increased overall calorie intake and weight gain.

Recommendation: Eliminate liquid sugar from your diet. Instead of sweet drinks, opt for plain or sparkling water with lemon. Try giving up sweet drinks for two weeks and observe changes in your appetite and cravings for sweets.

2. Ultra-Processed Bread and Flatbreads

Modern supermarket bread often contains dough conditioners, emulsifiers, vegetable oils, syrups, and preservatives. Such products are created primarily for long shelf life, not for satiety. Consuming such bread can quickly raise blood glucose levels, leading to increased insulin levels and a subsequent crash, causing a need for more food. This phenomenon is known as the "next meal effect," where what was eaten earlier can affect appetite several hours later.

Recommendation: If you want to keep bread in your diet, choose options with simple ingredients, such as sourdough bread or sprouted grain bread. For faster results, you can completely eliminate bread from your diet for 30 days.

3. Ready-Made Pasta and Other Processed Comfort Foods

This category includes ready meals from boxes, frozen convenience foods, chicken nuggets, and other products that are prepared in minutes. They are very tasty, easily digestible, and convenient to prepare, which encourages their consumption in large quantities. Such products often have "hyperpalatability"—a combination of salt, sugar, fat, and starch that makes them extremely appealing. The brain can find it difficult to stop, as real food requires more effort to digest and provide satiety. These products can stimulate pleasure centers in the brain but contain little protein and fiber, which are necessary for long-lasting satiety.

Recommendation: Eliminate ready-made pasta, convenience foods, and other ultra-processed comfort foods from your diet. Replace them with more natural and satisfying meals.

4. Sauces, Dressings, and Components with High Amounts of Vegetable Oils

Most store-bought sauces, dressings, and mayonnaise contain large amounts of refined vegetable oils (soybean, corn, sunflower, canola, etc.). It is important to carefully study the ingredients of products, not just rely on the front of the packaging. These seemingly minor additions can accumulate a significant number of extra calories throughout the day.

Recommendation: Choose fats wisely, opting for avocado oil, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, butter, or ghee. Carefully read the ingredients of sauces and ready-made dressings.

5. Alcohol

Alcohol contains calories and often increases appetite, leading to the consumption of more calorie-dense foods. The body prioritizes processing alcohol, putting other processes, including fat oxidation, on the back burner. Alcohol can also reduce control over the amount of food consumed.

Recommendation: Eliminate alcohol from your diet for at least 30 days to assess its impact on well-being, appetite, sleep quality, and weight loss.

What is there instead? The Role of Protein

After eliminating trigger foods, the question arises as to what to replace them with. A key factor in appetite control is adequate protein intake. A protein-rich breakfast positively affects satiety and reduces cravings throughout the day.

Sources of Protein:

• Meat (beef, poultry: chicken, turkey)
• Eggs
• Fish (red, fatty, white)
• Seafood (squid, shrimp)
• Dairy products (if well tolerated)

Protein Intake Guideline: 1.5 g per kilogram of body weight per day. For example, for a person weighing 90 kg, this is about 140 g of protein.

If it is difficult to get enough protein from regular food alone, protein drinks (isolate or hydrolysate) can serve as a convenient supplement, but not the basis of the diet. It is important to choose proteins with a minimal amount of additives.

Expected Results

Excluding the five specified products and increasing protein intake can lead to a weight loss of 4 to 8 kg in the first 30 days. It is important to understand that a significant portion of this initial weight loss may be due to water loss resulting from dietary changes, reduced carbohydrate and salt intake, and the degree of food processing.

However, beyond the numbers on the scale, more significant changes occur:

• Disappearance of constant cravings for snacks.
• Cessation of late-night trips to the refrigerator.
• Reduction in sharp energy fluctuations.
• Decrease in obsessive thoughts about food.

These changes indicate the creation of conditions that allow the body to transform quickly and painlessly. Instead of fighting against oneself, it is more effective to change the food environment by removing products that trigger overeating.

For those who need assistance with creating a training program, diet plan, or supplement selection, Denis Sorokin offers personal consultations via the second link in the video description.