I don't think I can do it

WinoGelato

Hi - not much to add here other than I also wondered after reading through this if you could eat more and stay in an acceptable maintenance range since you said you were ok with not losing the last 3, you just wanted to not gain weight. You seem pretty confident of your TDEE, but is that because of a calculator or because of your experience that if you eat more than that you do start to see the weight climb? And I think you are probably weighing/measuring your food and logging accurately from what I recall from other threads, but I do agree that you might be able to add 100 or even more cals to what you think is TDEE, address your hunger issues, and still not lose weight.

Good luck!

fitdiver

Francl, I am nowhere as smart as the folks that have given you the medical advice. I will say that you are beating yourself up over a few pounds. I think I read you have been at this for two years. You are not a person losing weight you have become an athlete. Take pride in that. Instead of making weight loss as your primary goal set you sights on athletic achievement; road races, triathlons, body building, and etc. You already have the discipline in the gym, have fun with it. It may allow you to change up your work outs and your diet for your athletic endeavor. I honestly believe the stress you are feeling is affecting your goals. Take solace that you are not alone. Good luck

ThePhoenixIsRising

Just a thought, the days you "go over" may be triggering your body to increase it's metabolism by resuming the activities it slowed while in a deficit to conserve energy (faster cell turnover, hair growth, nail growth...). You then drop to a deficit and your body calls for energy that you are refusing to give it.

I think you should really try to up your cals to find your upper maintenance range instead of trying to maintain at your lower end. Most people have a few hundred cals between the low and high end.

I remember when I went to bulk I upped my cals from 2000 (where I was maintaining) to 2300 and gained 2lbs, but then began to lose .5lbs a week till I upped to 2400. It was only then That I began to gain at about 1lb a month.

Try to find the high end of your maintenance range. It is scary to Up the cals but it may truly help.

canadjineh

ThePhoenixIsRising wrote: »

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.

If you have past hormone issues that haven't been resolved I would have your dr take a closer look. Being dizzy if you don't eat every 2-3 hours is not something to let them brush off as normal hormone fluctuations especially with your sensitivity.

Don't forget insulin is a hormone as well - Get them to properly check all your thyroid panel as Hashimoto's also has serious swings between hypo and hyperthyroidosis.
Good luck, keep on that doctor as dizziness is NOT normal. Get a second opinion if you need to and get the actual numbers from them, as just telling you it's normal tells you nothing. What is normal for one person may be too far near the edges for another.

Francl27

Yes I'll definitely talk to my doctor about it next time I see her!

For my TDEE, I've just done the math with my losing pattern, but I'll have to adjust it obviously (my exercise is pretty consistent).

Thanks everyone for the replies.

ThePhoenixIsRising

Francl27 wrote: »

Yes I'll definitely talk to my doctor about it next time I see her!

For my TDEE, I've just done the math with my losing pattern, but I'll have to adjust it obviously (my exercise is pretty consistent).

Thanks everyone for the replies.

But your losing pattern is while your body is in energy conservation mode. I'm gonna bet your true tdee is 200-300 cals higher than you have calculated.

Qskim

Francl27 wrote: »

Yes I'll definitely talk to my doctor about it next time I see her!

For my TDEE, I've just done the math with my losing pattern, but I'll have to adjust it obviously (my exercise is pretty consistent).

Thanks everyone for the replies.

You'll solve it. This far into it you know there's an answer for everything.

Heartisalonelyhunter

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.

I just wanted to add something. You are blaming 'hormones' without specifying which one out of the many your body produces (including insulin). I work in a fertility clinic, and suffering from hyper stimulation during IVF is not uncommon (especially in younger women) and doesn't mean you are 'very sensitive to hormonal changes'. Nor does feeling ill on the pill (which is why many women use the progesterone only pill). Definitely get your blood work redone - this does sound like a blood sugar problem

Francl27

Heartisalonelyhunter wrote: »

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.

I just wanted to add something. You are blaming 'hormones' without specifying which one out of the many your body produces (including insulin). I work in a fertility clinic, and suffering from hyper stimulation during IVF is not uncommon (especially in younger women) and doesn't mean you are 'very sensitive to hormonal changes'. Nor does feeling ill on the pill (which is why many women use the progesterone only pill). Definitely get your blood work redone - this does sound like a blood sugar problem

Not specific but it's way worse just before AF... so I'm just assuming that it's related. And every time, the second day of AF... no problem at all for a week.

MyChocolateDiet

amusedmonkey wrote: »

I don't think many people realize what hormonal hunger feels like. It's so overwhelming to the point where you can't see straight. You can't just muscle through it, distract it or trick it with water or some kind of low calorie filler. You need to eat until you are stuffed and gagging for it to finally leave you alone.

Have you considered PCOS? You can have regular periods and normal blood work and still have it. I do. May be something worth checking.

I know you said you would never try it, but sporadic IF is the only thing that worked for me to manage this hunger. On days when my appetite is not too great I have a fast day and eat around 500 calories and it feels easy since I'm barely hungry. Just that manageable empty stomach kind of hunger, not the "I want to climb up the walls" kind. It takes about 5 fasts of this kind for it to get easy. On hungry days I just eat enough not to be hungry even if that's over my maintenance.

My pms hunger makes me feel like a werewolf. Its a different kind of hunger to be sure.

Michifan

Consult a dietician - but my very personal 'trick' is to gorge myself with green vegetables / salads. I eat a pound of vegetables every evening - mostly broccoli, green beens and asparagus when it's available (the broccoli and green beens aren't as bad frozen).

It takes me longer to eat, not a lot of calories and the fiber is good for you. My calories per ounce of food are pretty low - which for me - helps me consume fewer calories without feeling hungry.

MyChocolateDiet

CupcakeCrusoe wrote: »

Just to second what's been said once here, as you seem to have tried everything-- increase your cals until you see clear gain, then cut back just short of that. Maybe you can maintain on more than you think?

You're doing great. I believe in you.

^this

MyChocolateDiet

ThePhoenixIsRising wrote: »

Just a thought, the days you "go over" may be triggering your body to increase it's metabolism by resuming the activities it slowed while in a deficit to conserve energy (faster cell turnover, hair growth, nail growth...). You then drop to a deficit and your body calls for energy that you are refusing to give it.

I think you should really try to up your cals to find your upper maintenance range instead of trying to maintain at your lower end. Most people have a few hundred cals between the low and high end.

I remember when I went to bulk I upped my cals from 2000 (where I was maintaining) to 2300 and gained 2lbs, but then began to lose .5lbs a week till I upped to 2400. It was only then That I began to gain at about 1lb a month.

Try to find the high end of your maintenance range. It is scary to Up the cals but it may truly help.

^this too

MyChocolateDiet

Kruggeri wrote: »

Hi - not much to add here other than I also wondered after reading through this if you could eat more and stay in an acceptable maintenance range since you said you were ok with not losing the last 3, you just wanted to not gain weight. You seem pretty confident of your TDEE, but is that because of a calculator or because of your experience that if you eat more than that you do start to see the weight climb? And I think you are probably weighing/measuring your food and logging accurately from what I recall from other threads, but I do agree that you might be able to add 100 or even more cals to what you think is TDEE, address your hunger issues, and still not lose weight.

Good luck!

^also this

cebreisch

A couple of things. Keep in mind it's got nothing to do with willpower. It has more to do with discipline and the selection of foods that's going to get you through this.

Also, make sure your fiber numbers are up. I remember having the same conversation with my dietician once that it wasn't like the foods I ate were that bad - but GOSH I WAS HUNGRY!! She said to increase my fiber. When I did that, my fiber shot up, the sugars plummeted, and I lost 12 pounds that month.

I started getting Chocolite protein bars from www.healthsmartfoods.com They are about 100 calories, have about 10g fiber and about 10g protein, and are gluten/sugar free. You can usually find coupons on www.retailmenot.com

Just keep at it. You'll get there.

Francl27

I love the chocolite protein bars! I remember not to eat two the same day though... very bad news LOL.

But yeah I'm focusing on protein, fiber and fat at the moment. This week has been pretty easy but it typically is when I have my period, after the first couple days. I've managed to keep an overkill deficit for the last 4 days, but that's probably going to be negated on Thursday... but it's ok, just glad I have that buffer! Just wish it was always that easy.

gothchiq

It took me three months of ignoring my hunger before it stopped being a ravenous lion making me crazy. I'm serious. After that period I had become accustomed to my allotted portions and only occasionally have bad days. That said, how do you feel about sweet potatoes? They are low cal, high fiber, super nutritious and filling. They stay with you unlike apples, bananas, salad, and what not. Just put some cinnamon in there for extra zing. So you eat a high protein food for staying power, in the allotted portion, then a big old sweet potato, and you're foof, full!

gothchiq

Another idea is that you may be one of these people like me: Eat breakfast, no matter what it is, feel starving all day. But if you just have coffee for breakfast, a small snack at ten, lunch at noon, piece of fruit at like three, dinner at 6, bed at ten, you do all right? I don't care what people claim about how breakfast is important and this and that and the other, my body does not respond well to it. Have you experimented with that any; changing your eating schedule like that?

CynthiasChoice

Someone may have already said this, so sorry if I'm repeating.
You may want to try eliminating added sugars, such as in flavored yogurts, "health" bars, etc. just to see if your hunger patterns change. Also, try to hit your protein and fat macros every day, and keep eating lots of fiber.

I used to have hunger cues when I shouldn't have been hungry. Then I cut out table sugar and white flour, white rice, etc. and as a result, now I only get hungry when my body truly needs to be fed. Having that false hunger out of my life has been such a relief!

Francl27

Well for an update... It's been 5 days now since it happened last... It's definitely linked to my cycle - I remember last time I had my period I wasn't that hungry either. I've managed to keep a pretty steep deficit the last few days (I have 900 calories banked for Thanksgiving already). Even if I get hungry, it's totally fine and isn't 'physical' and urgent like it usually is. And no carb cravings whatsoever.

I'm guessing however that it won't last. So we'll see. Good news is I'm back to my lowest weight and my period isn't even over (and I always lose another pound or so after), so my weight is actually down from last month... I probably won't see the scale tip down much more because of Thanksgiving though. But it means a lot of you are probably correct, my TDEE is probably a bit higher... Guessing 2200 or so. I'm going to stick to my goal of 2000 and try not to sweat it if I get hungrier some days and go over.

Thanks for all the help.

Wheelhouse15

Because of Thanksgiving? Why is would that be an issue? :huh:

Francl27

Wheelhouse15 wrote: »

Because of Thanksgiving? Why is would that be an issue? :huh:

Welll... LOL. I have a lot of 'banked' calories though so I'm not even sure I'll be over my TDEE that much this week.

Wheelhouse15

Francl27 wrote: »

Wheelhouse15 wrote: »

Because of Thanksgiving? Why is would that be an issue? :huh:

Welll... LOL. I have a lot of 'banked' calories though so I'm not even sure I'll be over my TDEE that much this week.

Sounds like a good plan, and you will likely not eat as much Friday anyway -- plus all the Black Friday sprinting will definitely burn a ton of calories!

Francl27

Of course I used all my banked calories today, lol! But totally my fault (all the pie cooking got the best of me and I had one piece of junk apple pie and it was pretty much over for my willpower) but whatever, it's just two days, worst case I gain half a pound and it takes me a week or two to lose it, as long as the hunger doesn't come back, lol.

astrampe

I just looked at your diary, why so much carbs? If you bring your protein up to 150, and carbs down a bit, you won't get as hungry......

Francl27

astrampe wrote: »

I just looked at your diary, why so much carbs? If you bring your protein up to 150, and carbs down a bit, you won't get as hungry......

Eh not really. Most days my carbs come from fiber and veggies (counting potatoes), with typically 30g maybe coming from bread, oatmeal or whatnot. Plus I need some carbs before my workouts, otherwise they suck.