I don't think I can do it

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  • silentKayak
    silentKayak Posts: 658 Member
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    No one said you can't eat a waffle. Geez.

    Look, if I complain that I can't get out of bed in the morning, and then I tell you I drink a sixpack every night and then stay up til 2 am, and you say, maybe you should cut back on the beer and go to bed earlier, and I say, "but I don't want to", then the conversation has nowhere else to go.

    Give up if you want, but I can't see what you're looking for from this thread unless it's just to vent. If that's it, then yes, dieting sucks. Hope you have a better day tomorrow.

    But if you really want advice then:

    To control hunger, cut back on starchy carbs and sugar. They will increase your hunger, all else being equal.
    When you're hungry, reach for vegetables. Double your vegetable intake at meals.
    If you crave sugar, choose fruit.
    Choose high volume foods like rice cakes, salad, bran flakes, etc
    Find low cal alternatives: Splenda over sugar, margarine over butter, almond milk over cow milk, tomato juice over orange juice, etc
    Choose chicken over beef, and seafood over chicken
    Switch to a plan where you eat more on exercise days and less on non exercise days. That is, log and "eat back" exercise calories. MFP exercise estimates are high so be careful.
    Control high calorie foods like butter, nuts, and nut butters.

    I weigh almost 100 lbs more than you and I net 1450 calories or less on most days with very little hunger and enjoying the foods I like. My average deficit is over 500 cals/day. I never could have done that with the foods I was choosing before. You are not a snowflake, and you can do it if you want.

    Good luck!
  • ThePhoenixIsRising
    ThePhoenixIsRising Posts: 781 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    srcurran wrote: »
    If I eat, even healthy options, so that I'm not hungry I either gain or stay at an unhealthy weight. I've exercised religiously for almost 20 years and change it up frequently so it's just the food that's doing it to me. Protein and veggies does not fill me up. Ever. I have come to the conclusion that if I am going to hit and maintain a healthy weight I have to be hungry. All the time. It has to be my life. I eat whole grain carbs, but sparingly. If I ate to fullness I'd stall and a weight more than 25 BMI is not good for me. So, I'm hungry. I'm sorry you're similar to me. In my case it's not hormones. It's just how I'm built. I know I can do it....so can you.

    Thanks, it's nice to know I'm not alone... even if it sucks! I knew I'd have to be hungry to lose weight, I didn't think I'd have to be hungry to maintain. I'm just not sure *I* can do it. If you can, good for you though!

    There is a difference between empty stomach and hungry. If you are truly hungry 2hrs after eating you have a hormone issue. It may be the foods you eat that are triggering this, my bet is you have trained your body to cue at these times through habits, but you don't actually need to eat that frequently.
  • Laoch_Cailin
    Laoch_Cailin Posts: 414 Member
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    zarckon wrote: »
    But if you really want advice then:

    To control hunger, cut back on starchy carbs and sugar. They will increase your hunger, all else being equal.
    When you're hungry, reach for vegetables. Double your vegetable intake at meals.
    If you crave sugar, choose fruit.
    Choose high volume foods like rice cakes, salad, bran flakes, etc
    Find low cal alternatives: Splenda over sugar, margarine over butter, almond milk over cow milk, tomato juice over orange juice, etc
    Choose chicken over beef, and seafood over chicken
    Switch to a plan where you eat more on exercise days and less on non exercise days. That is, log and "eat back" exercise calories. MFP exercise estimates are high so be careful.
    Control high calorie foods like butter, nuts, and nut butters.

    Good luck!

    This is kinda what I was saying on your wall. I'm gonna try it myself. I know I'll be hungry for a few days, and probably crave the shite I love to eat, but it'll level out.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    zarckon wrote: »
    No one said you can't eat a waffle. Geez.

    Look, if I complain that I can't get out of bed in the morning, and then I tell you I drink a sixpack every night and then stay up til 2 am, and you say, maybe you should cut back on the beer and go to bed earlier, and I say, "but I don't want to", then the conversation has nowhere else to go.

    Give up if you want, but I can't see what you're looking for from this thread unless it's just to vent. If that's it, then yes, dieting sucks. Hope you have a better day tomorrow.

    But if you really want advice then:

    To control hunger, cut back on starchy carbs and sugar. They will increase your hunger, all else being equal.
    When you're hungry, reach for vegetables. Double your vegetable intake at meals.
    If you crave sugar, choose fruit.
    Choose high volume foods like rice cakes, salad, bran flakes, etc
    Find low cal alternatives: Splenda over sugar, margarine over butter, almond milk over cow milk, tomato juice over orange juice, etc
    Choose chicken over beef, and seafood over chicken
    Switch to a plan where you eat more on exercise days and less on non exercise days. That is, log and "eat back" exercise calories. MFP exercise estimates are high so be careful.
    Control high calorie foods like butter, nuts, and nut butters.

    I weigh almost 100 lbs more than you and I net 1450 calories or less on most days with very little hunger and enjoying the foods I like. My average deficit is over 500 cals/day. I never could have done that with the foods I was choosing before. You are not a snowflake, and you can do it if you want.

    Good luck!

    Yes but that's exactly the thing... all this worked great when I was losing and still overweight. It's much harder now because I'm hungrier, and I'm not sure I can realistically cut more on carbs and sugar when I already don't eat that much of them (really, I don't. My carb macro is 40% and I don't even hit 35% most days). If I have to maintain like this, well... as I posted in the title, I don't think I can do it, lol!

    You're telling me to double veggies, but I already eat close to 3 servings, sometimes 5, at meals. The other day I had a big bowl of potato leek soup (with really way more leek than potato), 4oz of pork (lean), and a bag of veggies... Hungry again 2 hours later. I try to keep baby carrots at hand and munch on those, and it typically helps for an hour, so there's that I guess.

    I do appreciate the advice though... but overall, what I eat really doesn't seem to make a difference. I mean, two of the days when I wasn't hungry lately were after eating a 1200 calories lunch - once Smashburger (burger and fries), the second time some lettuce wraps and a piece of cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory. Both times I ended up under my calorie goal and I was full all afternoon.

    Go figure. I knew that maintenance was hard, I never figured it would be because I'd get hungrier.
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    I've had blood work done, everything was normal. But it mostly happens when I ovulate or before/during AF (which is pretty much 2 weeks). I've always been very sensitive to hormonal changes unfortunately... Even the lowest dose pill was making me sick, and when I did IVF 9 years ago my body reacted way too strongly to the normal dose of hormones.

    I've been trying to delay my next meals more but if I overdo it, I'm just more likely to get ravenous and overeat.

    I'm stocking up on baby carrots as they seem to help some, but sheesh, seriously, it really upsets me. I feel like I'm making excuses but then I know that when it happens, if I don't eat, it just gets way worse.

    When was the last time you had routine blood work?
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    I think you can do it.

    In fact I think you already have done it.

    You are (judging by your OP) within 2-3 lbs of your goal weight. Is it possible this is a good weight for you? Is it possible that somewhere in your thought process there's a part of your mind that thinks this is a perfectly okay weight and that all this hard work and searching for solutions is unnecessary and so when you get hungrier than your cal goal it becomes easy to indulge, just enough so that you are essentially at maintenance? I'm not really referring to complacency but more like acceptance. And then at the front of your mind you only allow room to be "so frustrated" by those last few pounds? I am saying this because I remember another thread where you replied that you are not always happy with yourself or some topic like that and so I wonder if these last few lbs are just a way for you to beat yourself up even though you are already where you should be physically. Just wondering. Almost like if it were a distraction to keep you busy and not have to face, "hey I'm physically pretty much at my goal, it's totally okay to like myself now."

  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    So many buts...
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    Anyways, whole separate point...I've been considering FRing you for awhile based on that post I referred to and others. Feel free to FR me, I love myself even in spite of some here who clearly think I shouldn't. Maybe by hanging out on my wall and with my FL you can learn to fake it till you make it. If not you might have fun anyways. Lots of my FL are just happy go lucky people and might just put a smile on your face. Regardless good luck on achieving your goal, or just on accepting it if you reason out that perhaps you are already where you need to be.

    :flowerforyou:
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    So many buts...

    Because I typically try everything before posting, lol. I guess that's why I always end up saying 'thanks for the advice, but I've tried it and it doesn't work for me'. I guess I was posting more to see if anyone else is in the same boat than to get advice.
    I think you can do it.

    In fact I think you already have done it.

    You are (judging by your OP) within 2-3 lbs of your goal weight. Is it possible this is a good weight for you? Is it possible that somewhere in your thought process there's a part of your mind that thinks this is a perfectly okay weight and that all this hard work and searching for solutions is unnecessary and so when you get hungrier than your cal goal it becomes easy to indulge, just enough so that you are essentially at maintenance? I'm not really referring to complacency but more like acceptance. And then at the front of your mind you only allow room to be "so frustrated" by those last few pounds? I am saying this because I remember another thread where you replied that you are not always happy with yourself or some topic like that and so I wonder if these last few lbs are just a way for you to beat yourself up even though you are already where you should be physically. Just wondering. Almost like if it were a distraction to keep you busy and not have to face, "hey I'm physically pretty much at my goal, it's totally okay to like myself now."

    It's the weight my twin sister is pretty much at too. And I agree that I changed my goal to maintenance with the mindset of 'I'll get there when I get there' a few months ago when I was starting to struggle with my goal. But at this point really I'd be glad to maintain without having to be hungry most days... which I'm starting to realize, might not be possible for me.
    I just thought of something that I figured out for myself. For me, I have to eat a huge dinner or I'm hungry all the next day. If I don't eat enough at night, I'll be starving all the next day and it doesn't seem to matter how much I eat for breakfast. I'll eat a huge breakfast and a huge lunch, with snacks and still be hungry. If I eat enough at night, that doesn't happen. I don't pretend to understand it, but that's the way I work. So...I generally plan my dinners first and use 40-45% of my calories there. Then, I spread the rest of my calories throughout the day and I'm fine. Maybe this will help. I don't know. I'm sorry you're suffering. :\

    That's very possible. I need to figure out how to try this out LOL. At this point, on days when I have extra calories at night because I'm not that hungry, I just end up saving them to make up for the day I will (or did) inevitably go over.
  • marciaholland77
    marciaholland77 Posts: 85 Member
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    Drink more water, the headaches and hunger pains could come from dehydration. Exercise is also important, even at maintenance, because it can give you extra calories to eat with...
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    ...But at this point really I'd be glad to maintain without having to be hungry most days...

    I think the key to that might be stealing some cals from your meals and having them as snacks in between your meals. For a total of 3 meals and 3 snacks.
  • sdavies1984
    sdavies1984 Posts: 18 Member
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    Quick oats and egg white omelets keep me full.
  • longtimeterp
    longtimeterp Posts: 623 Member
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    without reading everything...if you add in a little extra activity, you can always eat more...
  • aubyshortcake
    aubyshortcake Posts: 796 Member
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    maybe.. you just need a break? it's clear that your current situation is stressing you out, & I do think that can be manifested through hunger.

    obviously I'm no expert and it's just a suggestion, but it may be something to look a little deeper into.
  • britishgirlm
    britishgirlm Posts: 1 Member
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    Maybe you have heartburn? or gastritis? I've read a few articles where there's a burning/gnawing feeling in your stomach and it feels like hunger but it's not. I used to have a similar problem so maybe it's something worth looking into.
    I'm not an expert though just my experience :) x
  • Maitria
    Maitria Posts: 439 Member
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    How's your blood pressure? You mentioned drinking a lot of water and eating a lot of veggies. Are you getting enough of your other electrolytes? You may want to try a couple of packs of Emergen-c or something similar when you start getting faint.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
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    Is there anything else particularly stressful going on in your life right now? Could it be the fact that the weather is turning colder and the days are getting shorter? I don't know if it's all in my head, but that definitely seems to make me hungrier and feel less like exercising. You say you work out early in the morning... Any thought of changing up your routine at all? I'm not a morning person--I mean, I will work out at 7 am if that's the only time I have, but I honestly prefer working out at 3 in the afternoon because that's when I tend to binge--if I'm out running I cannot be in the kitchen grazing. Or, have you given any thought to 'taking a break'? Not going crazy or anything, but scaling back to maintenance and just going with it in a couple months?
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    I hear you on the "it's been working and now I'm stuck and I'm just hungry ALL the time and I don't mind being hungry if I'm getting results"


    the suck comes from suffering with no results. it's like being miserable for nothing.

    girl. The struggle is REAL.

    Sometimes you just need to dial it back and realize realize it's okay to have those 3 pounds. eat at maintenance for a while- then try again. I've been hovering on the same weight since early october- or even before- and I've been pushing all directions to get it to budge- sometimes I just can't do it. and that's okay. I take a break- eat a little "looser" and then crack down again. sometimes you just need a refeed- and a mental refresher.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
    edited November 2014
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    But I've been eating at maintenance... that's the thing :( And yeah I typically need a refeed day once a week or so (which is usually factored in my maintenance calories). And no, nothing has changed in my life lately, but this has been going on for a few months. My blood pressure is good, on the low side but good. You got a good point though, maybe I should take a multi vitamin more often... Will start doing that.

    For exercise usually I just go after I drop the kids off at school, so typically 2-3 hours after having breakfast, which is about right to me (but I'll need a snack before that if I had breakfast at 6am, so that's when I had the Clif bars lately). I try to delay breakfast as much as possible, but sometimes it's just not possible because I'm just so hungry (typically I don't eat after 6pm, sometimes earlier - I guess I'm more a 'hungry in the morning, eat less in the evening' person, which is why going out for dinner sucks, lol).

    I did have heartburn before losing weight, but haven't got any symptom for a year, but who knows?
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
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    @Francl27 I'm too lazy to go back and find the quote but I noticed you said you increased your fats but only to 65g/day - for me, personally, I was having many of the same hunger issues as you and have had to SIGNIFICANTLY increase my fats. My preferred diet was leaving me under 50g/day, and I struggled hard to get it up past the 60s and it still wasn't enough. My cousin is an RD fortunately for me - and has personal experience with weight loss as well - when she suggested I take it up to 80g a day or more I about died but I did it and it has mostly solved my hunger troubles (except for about 3 days before, and the first day or two, of my period - but I know I can expect that to end and I can handle 5 days of craving/hunger). So even though you've increased your fats already it might be worthwhile to increase them even more for an experimental period and just see what happens.