I am hungry ALL THE TIME!

crazylizz

Ugh! What to do. I had been active here about 2 1/2 years ago. I was doing great, had lost 60 lbs with about 127 to go but felt it was doable and any loss was a good loss. I was tracking my food, working out with a trainer and just felt good.

Then BAM! I was diagnosed with uterine cancer, had surgery etc and was finally permitted to resume my weight loss plan. Got back into it for about 6 months and lost the 30 of the 40 lbs I gained post surgery. Then 9 months later, my husband has a massive heart attack, (the widow maker is what the cardiologist said) triple bypass and diagnosed diabetic with A1C of 12.6 and sugars of 500-600's. He came home, cut out sugar and he lost 60 lbs. He has been unable to return to work due to partial blindness related to his health. I have been stressed and my weght was back up, hanging at about -30 from my all time high. I was not eating sugar as much but carbs became a mainstay. Oh, I also have a-fib.

Now our internist and family doc encouraged us to exercise and we are. We do 50 minutes of cardio at Cardiac Rehab twice a week. We also do 45 minutes at the gym 3-4 days a week including 15 minutes of cardio and 30 strength training. We have started tweaking our diet, more natural, less processed and we were doing well.

However, in the last month I cannot get enough to eat. I am hungry all the time and crave, and often give into those cravings, sugar and carbs. It is both comfort food and old, bad habits.

HELP!! How do the rest of you handle the munchy monster, sugar savage and carb convetor?

Ninkyou

I work it into my calorie goal.

Also, make sure you have an appropriate calorie goal (for your age/height/weight) and are eating back at least a portion of your exercise calories back.

And lastly, protein and fiber will help you feel fuller longer, and may keep the munchies away.

NoelFigart1

I am more sated when I eat more fat. Given the health recommendations you're likely to get, I do not know if a doc would okay that or not, but you could ask, I suppose.

kjurassic

lots and lots and lots of water.....

jgnatca

Hiya lady! We're about the same age with similar weight loss goals. Luckily, I've dodged the big "C" so far.

I get really hungry the day after an exercise day. Maybe that's it. I see you are really good at analysing your situation and trying something new. Like me, you are also really good at picking yourself up after a setback. Here's some tips to try. If it works, you have a winner.

1. A dietitian advised to have a carbohydrate an hour to thirty minutes before the workout to fuel yourself up.
2. I alternate workout days with rest days so the muscles have time to recover. It looks like you do, too. I try and increase my protein intake on rest days and that seems to keep the cravings in check.
3. How about putting away the go-to foods and replacing them with something else? Just to shake you out of your comfort zone a bit. Maybe it's NOT carbs you need.

midasgirl2

I mix some benefibre in water and it fills me up. Sometimes I have a "superfood" breakfast with nuts, hemp seeds, pepitas seeds, chai seed, desiccated coconut, coconut oil a dollop of yogurt and a tiny bit of agave for sweetness. I add some water . It is really filling and the chai seeds swell up and keep you full. You must drink tons of water with it or you might bind up. Maybe also worm both you and your husband. It can't hurt ?

runningforthetrain

Sometimes I have hard candy if I want something sweet. More protein in the diet. Also, oranges fill you up- try to have one during the day BEFORE you usually get hungry and craving "bad" carbs.

brenn24179

sounds like a lot of stress, emotional eating. Geneen Roths emotional eating books is a big help to me. Made me realize we an get thru stuff without overeating.

Commander_Keen

Sorry to hear about your bad luck... but please remember tomorrow will always be better. There are somethings both you and your hubby can do. Cut out Sugars and Carbs as much as you can. Not that carbs are bad in general, but they do hold on to water. The other thing I would do is to eat more Protein. If your hungry all the time try eating more protein, or carbs a combination should help. I know I said drop the carbs, but some carbs do help your body function. My body (for example) needs 100 grams of carbs. If I have less, I have issues after working out. My body needs X amount of grams of sugar, If I go under, then I need to inhale all the candy, before I go to bed.

crazylizz

Thanks everyone! Some really good ideas here. As I read this, I think yeah, I have gotten out of the habit of drinking my water, I probably drink 1/3 what I was when I was losing. I am guilty of the more calorie deficit the better so will watch that and protein and fiber seem to be a common theme so will try those as well. Thank you all so much. I feel better already. I will keep you posted.

crazylizz

brenn, thanks for the tip on emotional eating books by Geneen Roth. I have looked some up and they look good.

GaleHawkins

crazylizz wrote: »

Ugh! What to do. I had been active here about 2 1/2 years ago. I was doing great, had lost 60 lbs with about 127 to go but felt it was doable and any loss was a good loss. I was tracking my food, working out with a trainer and just felt good.

Then BAM! I was diagnosed with uterine cancer, had surgery etc and was finally permitted to resume my weight loss plan. Got back into it for about 6 months and lost the 30 of the 40 lbs I gained post surgery. Then 9 months later, my husband has a massive heart attack, (the widow maker is what the cardiologist said) triple bypass and diagnosed diabetic with A1C of 12.6 and sugars of 500-600's. He came home, cut out sugar and he lost 60 lbs. He has been unable to return to work due to partial blindness related to his health. I have been stressed and my weght was back up, hanging at about -30 from my all time high. I was not eating sugar as much but carbs became a mainstay. Oh, I also have a-fib.

Now our internist and family doc encouraged us to exercise and we are. We do 50 minutes of cardio at Cardiac Rehab twice a week. We also do 45 minutes at the gym 3-4 days a week including 15 minutes of cardio and 30 strength training. We have started tweaking our diet, more natural, less processed and we were doing well.

However, in the last month I cannot get enough to eat. I am hungry all the time and crave, and often give into those cravings, sugar and carbs. It is both comfort food and old, bad habits.

HELP!! How do the rest of you handle the munchy monster, sugar savage and carb convetor?

Lizz that is a load of things to deal with and I hope health issues are more stable at least.

Time changes all things we are told and now at 63 I know time as changed me too. I have abused carbs for many years. Because of major health concern from a new med the doctors wanted me to start taking I knew I had to cut the carbs. I tried to get off of them for all of Aug-Sept but I kept playing with carb fire and getting burnt. The first of Oct I got ticked and send the carbs packing 'cold turkey'.

I thought I was going to die from the sugar/carb cravings but after two weeks they started to fade away. That was over 10 weeks ago. While 13 pounds has went away during that time my pain level has dropped from a 7-8+ to 2-3 on a 1-10 scale.

Now that I have been off carbs (<50 grams daily) and on high fat and normal protein (not high protein) for going on three months I now understand how they were in control of my life.

Cutting the carbs seemed to have worked well for your husband and it has for me so you may want to give that try unless your doctor has another point of view. At some point we have to love living more than not living to do the things that seem impossible perhaps because it may seem like to do them will kill us at the time.

flabassmcgee

Work snacks into your daily budget. Are you eating enough for that crazy amount of activity?

dramaqueen45

Insulin resistance can cause relentless hunger. Have you been tested for that?

CinthyN

Hi Lizz, with the health complications, I would strongly suggest that you seek advise from a doctor. They would be able to regulate the micros per your current requirement. Take care

Cortneyrenee04

I don't know if this is true for you, but I had to learn what hunger was and was not. I realize now that when I wanted food, I equated that to being hungry which isn't the same. I also realized that when I drank my water, I didn't feel as hungry and didn't want to snack out of boredom.

It's hard at first to get used to less food, but it gets easier if you can stick it out for a few weeks.

Good luck

RodaRose

You could go very low carb. Eat 1. heathy proteins, 2. fats & oils, and 3. leafy greens. Oils make you feel satiated.

Sagenettle

I know several people have already said it, but I'm going to echo what they're saying about eating lower carb. When I was my strictest with eating low carb (still watching calories too, so I typically never went over 1500cal a day) I almost never felt hungry. Carbs really trigger that "hunger" feeling, more than I ever would have believed if I hadn't experienced both sides of it.

beautifulwarrior18

Well crazylizz, it's hard to offer assistance when your diary is not public. Some recommendations I would make is to make sure you're getting enough water, increase your protein intake (protein makes you feel fuller longer), and possibly reevaluate how many calories you need. Believe it or not, MFP does not know best. I could not live off 1200 calories a day. It's just not possible. I could eat 2100 a day and still lose weight. Also, I would suggest some weight training in there. What my doctor told me is for people who want to lose a significant amount of weight they should be exercising about 5 hours a week between cardio and resistance.

Pinkylee77

you could also keep a large bag of cut up veggies in the fridge. You get hungry you can munch to your stomach's delight. Don't be afraid to eat the health stuff. Cancer treatment can play with your metabolism. I have had weight issues due to lots of chemo. I also work in the cancer field. Eating is OK just eat good stuff to fill your self with good nutrients and don't be afraid of a bit of healthy fats either. Keep up the fight you can do anything!

wrenegade64

kjurassic wrote: »

lots and lots and lots of water.....

Without a doubt----GOTS TA HAVE PLENTY OF WATER!!!