Super hungry, should I change my macros?

Marchmallow

Hi guys, looking for a bit of advice. I'm on a gentle calorie deficit at the moment (have about 40ish pounds to lose) and I'm trying to work my macros into my calorie allowance, which I just about manage most of the time (1500 calories: 150g carbs, 50g fat, 113g protein) but on some days I just get outrageously hungry, even ten minutes or so after a meal. This isn't all the time, and tends to suspiciously coincide with monthly hormone fluctuations, but I just wondered if I could juggle the macros a bit to fix it because I don't want to go over my calorie allowance all the time as it'll stall my fat loss.
I eat mostly clean and whole foods with the occasional treat (pretty much 80-20). I usually work out every day, and find exercise suppresses my appetite, but this week I haven't been able to for about four days now and the hunger has returned with a vengeance. I'm 5'2, have quite a lot of muscle mass and I'm around 170lbs (I'm guesstimating that as I swapped the scale for a measuring tape quite a while ago).

Thanks for the help!

Alyssa_Is_LosingIt

Marchmallow wrote: »

Hi guys, looking for a bit of advice. I'm on a gentle calorie deficit at the moment (have about 40ish pounds to lose) and I'm trying to work my macros into my calorie allowance, which I just about manage most of the time (1500 calories: 150g carbs, 50g fat, 113g protein) but on some days I just get outrageously hungry, even ten minutes or so after a meal. This isn't all the time, and tends to suspiciously coincide with monthly hormone fluctuations, but I just wondered if I could juggle the macros a bit to fix it because I don't want to go over my calorie allowance all the time as it'll stall my fat loss.
I eat mostly clean and whole foods with the occasional treat (pretty much 80-20). I usually work out every day, and find exercise suppresses my appetite, but this week I haven't been able to for about four days now and the hunger has returned with a vengeance. I'm 5'2, have quite a lot of muscle mass and I'm around 170lbs (I'm guesstimating that as I swapped the scale for a measuring tape quite a while ago).

Thanks for the help!

Upping your fats a bit may help you feel more satiated. Maybe bring your protein down closer to 100 g and your fats up to around 60? Do you eat any of your exercise calories back?

*Edited to add that it helps me to look at both fats and protein as a minimum rather than an upper limit. Fat is satiating, so more of it in your diet is going to make you feel fuller.

jesper6666

When are you having your meals?

Unknown

This content has been removed.

CrabNebula

Try to eat things high in fiber along with items high in protein. For example, I eat 20g of protein and 12g of fiber for breakfast every morning. This combo keeps me going for a long while.

monikker

Lower your carbs to 100 g, up your fats to 64 g and protein to 133 g.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Marchmallow

To answer the questions, I have breakfast around 8-9am (I try not to have it before then, I get hungry again too long before lunch otherwise!), lunch is around 12-1pm, dinner is around 6, sometimes later.

I've been eating 1500 for a few months, I upped it from 1400 when I became more active. I don't weigh myself but I've been losing inches fairly regularly and people have commented that I've lost weight, so I guess it's working.

I weigh everything, except for uniform things like slices of bread and babybel cheese. It's become a habit now!

I try not to eat the exercise calories back. I'm doing P90X3 and part of the programme is to stick to your calorie allowance. Working out actually suppresses my appetite, but I haven't been able to since Friday (back on it today).

Thanks for the help!

RodaRose

Add more fiber to each meal: frozen, fresh, or canned veggies: broccoli, swiss chard, kale, spinach, romaine, cabbage, mushrooms, asparagus, avocados, okra, cauliflower, bell peppers, snow peas, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, winter squash, brussels sprouts, cucumbers, green beans
Other suggestions including lowing carbs and increasing fats/oils: sour cream, butter, full fat salad dressings, nuts, olive oil, chia seeds, flax seed, salmon, tuna.