I am constantly starving! Any advice?

bethanywink

I just recently got a gym membership, upped my workouts and now I am starving. My fitness pal had me at 1440 calories before and suddenly when I tweaked my goals it went down to only 1200 a day! I went ahead and tried to make some changes back... changed me from not moving at all (office job) to "slightly active" since I am on my feet alot during the day and I work out typically 4-5 days a week for 30 minutes. But, still it gave me a whole 1380 to eat. I feel like I am constantly hungry and not getting enough with only 1380 but at the same time, I dont want to not follow the plan and gain. Not sure if I should just listen to my body with me upping my workouts or if I should stick to the 1380.

SuggaD

You should be eating back some of your exercise calories.

shadowofender

MFP tends to guess low. Have you ever figured your TDEE? And what are your goals? If you have them set too agressively, that effects it. If you're that hungry, you need more.

shadowofender

Oh, and you should be logging your 30 minute workouts, you'll gain calories from that.

Tony_Von_Stryfe

If you are weight training you should up your calories to 1500-1700. Also food with a higher fat content will make you feel more satiated. Best wishes

RobDowney

Hi @bethanywink
Make sure they are quality calories. Make sure you are eating the right proportions of food groups. Get your proper amounts of protein and "good carbs". ie brown rice, tuna, chicken etc.
If you are just starting out your body will start to make the adjustments and you will eventually start to get hungry around meal times. Having said that, I think its OK to add in an extra 100 cals for a protein shake on high intensity workout day, especially if your body is screaming hungry.

harieta

Are you eating enough proteins? I found them to be more filling. Perhaps you could try tracking those as well (your diary was open so I had a quick look) and see if more proteins make a difference.

pplastics

If you were losing weight and happy at 1440, that's where I would stay unless the workouts make you hungry (then add back exercise calories). If you are eating at 1440 and not losing, then I would tweak down until I hit a number I lose at.

I could NEVER eat only 1200 unless I were sick or something!! I would be miserable; everyone around me would end up miserable too!

Sherryidic

Be sure you are getting enough quality protein (use a protein intake calculator) and fat then eat a lot of vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, celery, etc, (not root veggies) they have very low calorie counts and they fill you up. You can do fun and tasty things to make then more interesting.

LindyMopLoo

The calorie intake the site gives you is before doing ANY exercise. Log every workout. Any exercise adds to the calories you can still eat - see the bottom of the food diary page before and after logging a gym workout. You get to eat more! This is how I use the site for planning. E.g., I know I want to have a dinner with higher calories, so I can do some more gardening, or go for a walk or bike ride. Try it and see.

Espressocycle

As others pointed out, if you have MFP set at sedentary AND you're not logging exercise, you are indeed going to have too small a calorie allowance. I will note though that I have been doing a form of intermittent fasting in which I only eat in an 8 hour window each day and it's making it much easier for me. By eating fewer larger meals, I feel full more often.

frankieenticknap

annoying advice, sorry - but just make sure you're seeing WHERE your calories are coming from. you could eat 6 chocolate bars and eat up your 1200 cals but of course you would be hungry! so for example i have:

Breakfast -- egg white and spinach omelette
OR two weatabix mixed with 30g of branflakes and almond milk

Snacks -- strawberries, melon, blueberries, rasberries (or other low sugar fruits)
OR popcorn
or rice cakes with philly
or a mix of veggies

lunch -- rye bread with avocado, and and some cold veggies
or sweet potato mash and veggies

Another snack

Dinner -- meat like chicken or pork, or fish like salmon or makeral and veggies

thenw henever you're hungry in between have some precooked broccoli or kale (or whatever your fave veggies are) ready to snack on.

then personally i treat myself to some cake or chocolate once a week :-) xx

Edwardshar

EAT!

diannethegeek

These are my really general tips for hunger:

1. Make sure that your calorie goals are actually set appropriately. DON'T SKIP THIS STEP. A lot of people set goals that are too aggressive and then wonder why they're having a hard time. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

2. Look for foods higher in protein, fat, and fiber. These help us stay full and more satisfied longer. If you're using MFP's default settings, try to consider protein, fat, and fiber as minimums to reach every day rather than maximums to stay below.

3. Drink plenty of fluids. Some people really do confuse thirst and hunger.

4. Get plenty of rest. This includes sleeping enough and taking rest days from the exercise. Sometimes our bodies look for food when they're exhausted.

5. Play around with your meal timings. Some people do really well on 5-6 small meals a day and others feel like they want to gnaw their own arm off eating like that. Skipping breakfast, eating breakfast, 16:8 fasting, 6 small meals, 3 larger meals, snacks, no snacks, meal timing won't make a big difference to your weight loss, but it may help your hunger levels, mood, concentration, gym performance, etc. throughout the day. Don't be afraid to try a different way and see if it helps.

6. Wait it out. If you know you're eating enough and the other steps above aren't helping, you may just have to wait it out. Our bodies send out hunger signals partially out of habit. If you eat at a certain time every day your body will start to get hungry at that time. The good news is that these signals can be retrained to stop telling you to be hungry all the time. The bad news is that you may just have to be hungry for a little bit while that happens.

mrod7557

Eat more protein, it will curb your hunger

Panzer87

I have been working out at the gym for almost a month now. I found that trying to eat a snack between meals or around every two hours helps even if i am eating carrots. Healthy options are always a positive and I drink water whenever I am not eating. It has helped me so perhaps you can find a routine for yourself that works wonderfully. Good luck!

0somuchbetter0

I read your profile and it sounds like you don't really want to lose much more weight. Like someone said, if you're lifting weights you need to eat a lot more. MFP seems to default to 1200 cals if you tell it you want to lose 2lbs a week no matter who you are. Ignore that. You can set your calories manually. I like this calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ Good luck!

ttcbelieve

intermittent fasting is great