How hungry are you, most days? Are you comfortable being hungry?

astrampe

I've lost almost 60lbs 8 years ago, and kept most of it off, except for the 15 that snuck back due to menopause....But that is gone again.

I was never hungry - peckish maybe, or had a craving for something....BUT...if I look at your diary, you are filling your meager 1200 calories with pasta, McDonalds and very little protein....

No wonder you are always hungry...Except for the day you had biltong sticks (which as a South African, I can recommend as the best and yummiest protein there is ) you get only about 50g of protein a day, and 150 carbs.... I will starve and eat my own hands...
Up your protein and fat, and the lack of hunger will surprise you.....

LivingtheLeanDream

On a scale of hunger out of 10 being starving, I'm never more than a 5 - usually its just lack of hydration or a notion. I eat 3 large meals per day and 2 snacks though so perhaps thats why I never feel hunger.

I'm not sure any of us really know the meaning of real hunger.

Soopatt

For those wondering and for those who suggest I relax my goals a little - here is where it is currently at :

I eat 1200 pretty rigidly (my diary is open if anyone wants to take a look) and I weigh all my food and that which is not weighed arrives in measured packs. I do not drink my calories, but I also do not ban any foods and satisfy my junk food cravings when they strike while staying within calories (weekends often include Macdonalds - one quarter pounder with cheese is almost my whole days eating, with a couple of cups of coffee to round it off). I have only been over calories 4 times in 11 weeks and only one of those times was significant - the others were numbers less than maintenance.

For anyone about to chide me for being too rigid, I have lost 6kgs in 11 weeks while being on MFP. That is 0.5kg a week. It is not dropping off me is what I am saying, so I would really hesitate to dial up the calories as I suspect I would stall completely. I am not one of you 25 year old gym bunnies - I would gain on 1600 - I am pretty sure, based on the numbers I am currently seeing. I want to get rid of this weight and the discomfort of hunger seems preferable to not making any progress or having to wait two years to lose 10kg.

I don't add any calories when I exercise, which is not all that often (a stationary bike ride a couple of times a week at most). I am 40 years old and 1.7m tall.

I don't feel the need to eliminate the hunger - as I said in my first post I feel it comes with the territory, but some days, like today it gets me down and I recognize that I might be able to make small changes to feel better.

It is interesting to read the experience of others and to see I am not alone.

abatonfan

brendak76 wrote: »

I've had to do some medical testing for my insulin pump over the last few weeks to make sure my rates are set correctly. The testing involves eating a low fat meal and then not eating anything for 11 hours. No caffeine even. Water and diet sprite and sf jello only. I've had to do this multiple days and I've learned a lot about hunger. The "hunger" I experience on a daily, 3 hours post meal basis is real, but very very mild. The real hunger starts at about 7 hours after eating and it is so consuming by hour 9 that I can't function (dizzy, weak, shouldn't be driving kind of bad). Hats off to those who do regular fasting. I'm trying to learn to be ok with the mild hunger after experiencing the crazy hunger several times now.

FINALLY! Someone understands how much of a pain in the butt basal testing is! I'm in the process of resolidifying my basal rates, and I'm really tempted to sell my basal testing diet as a new detox -the sugar free jello and diet coke/sparkling water detox.

Unfortunately, I'm retesting the overnight segment tonight (and might also bang out the early morning segment if I don't experience another 2:30AM hypo), and I'm not looking forward to it what-so-ever. At this point, I don't care if my dinner is high in protein -if anything, the high-protein meal might cause my 12AM starting number to be slightly higher.

From what I've noticed, I also tend to get super hungry if my BG is above 160-ish. It's gotten to the point where I need to test myself to see if I'm hungry because I'm high, I'm low, or if it's not related to my BG what-so-ever.

YolliB2014

YES... At times I do feel hungry and like I'm running on empty. I've been trying to plan my meals so I'm eating a little more frequently. I've been making sure to have washed, sliced and ready to go fruits available for those times when my mood makes it that much harder to resist. One thing I've also noticed is that on days when I have not come anywhere near my protein goal, is a definite contribution for hunger for me. So, after a workout, when I really get hungry, I have a small snack and I do add some protein powder to my water for no other reason than that it works to get rid of my hunger pangs and it helps me reach my protein requirements a little better.

And as soon as I start cooking dinner, every night, the smell of food stirs my appetite up ferociously. In the past I would have munched on the easy stuff while cooking and never realized just how many calories I was consuming. Now I have stopped doing that completely and stick to my water. It can be uncomfortable at times but had it been an easy process, I'd have been able to do this years ago.

It's still a huge learning process for me but I'm very happy to say that I have been losing the weight slowly and steadily and know that I can keep it up at this pace.

andylllI

When I'm in a deficit I'm hungry. Except for about the first hour in the morning and for the first hour after a meal. I go to bed hungry. When I eat at maintenance I'm not hungry. When I was in adeficit I had a 30p30f40c ratio and ate a ton of fibre and I was still hungry. I don't get this insistence that you can be in a deficit without hunger. But I also think that hunger is like pain - how it is perceived is related to coping, thresholds and meanings placed on it. There are probably variabilities in people's hunger tolerances and certainly variabilities in ability/ tools to cope with discomfort. I suspect mine are poor!

Soopatt

@astrampe - I am sure you just randomly viewed a couple of days of my diary (understandable), but in this week (and any other week) I am much more likely to be over on protein and fat than over on carbs on the average day.

When asked for opinions before, many people assume that I am trying to go high protein (I am not, I just like meat some days and pasta others.. but meat MUCH more often).

I appreciate you taking the time though.

Soopatt

@andylllI - yep - that all resonates.

Some people feel that intuitive eating is the ultimate healthy state - if I was to intuitively eat, I would know I was staying in a deficit if I was hungry every day (as I currently am), know that I was maintaining if I was never full and never hungry either and know that I was gaining weight if I was full more often than anything else.

I am not going to be doing that any time soon though. I hate guesswork (even guessing based on hunger as moods and hormones come into it far too often too) and I love solid information and data.

afat12

So, I was a longtime MFP member (I think I logged every day straight for 2 years then was gone for a year or two and then came back and logged for 1.5 years straight) but then I moved to a new city and got a new job (I ended up losing a lot of weight due to stress and just the physical act of moving and packing) so I fell off the bandwagon. I tried starting back up and it just seemed overwhelming- how did I do this with such ease in the past?

Every time I've started and stopped I slowly drop my calories. People may disagree with me but this is what works best for me.

First two or three days I eat normally and log what I eat. Then for a week I'll lower it 200 calories, then 200 more, and then to whatever my caloric goal should be.

I guess like other people have said it is uncomfortable and maybe I just slowly move into the full uncomfortableness and it is less of a shock.

I drink A LOT of water and coffee and it helps. I also take a good vitamin, fish oil, and calcium.

Good luck, you can do it

tcosenza

I feel the same way .. the worst for me is around 2 pm.... I have stocked my fridge with carrots and other veggies I do not mind snacking on. I used to be really bad and have muffin around then but trying not to anymore.
I have been looking into doing a protein shake with a banana as well .. that could help; Also look to eat several small meals through out the day.

Karen_DisneyFan

@Soopatt , have you tried drinking more water? A lot of the time when we "think" we're hungry, it's actually thirst. If I get hungry, I'll have a glass of water and wait for 15 minutes or so. If I'm still hungry, I'll eat something - usually the hunger goes away. I drink at least 8 cups of water during the day (zero calories) along with a few cups of tea (about 50 calories total from milk and a little sugar). Good luck to you & congratulations on your loss so far (and not giving in to your hunger)!

whmscll

I'm often moderately hungry. I'm on 1200 calories a day, so I try not to eat the second I feel hunger. If it's 11 am and I'm hungry I try to wait until noon to have lunch, for example. The trick is to not get TOO hungry and then eat everything in sight. I always have a snack on hand just in case, and also if my blood sugar plummets and I start feeling jittery.

Soopatt

I could certainly do with drinking more water @Karen_DisneyFan

I get about 5 down a day currently and I have to admit to including my coffee and tea in that. It is a winter thing. Water is cold and wet! hehe

sofaking6

I try not to be hungry because I get hangry and nauseated and headachy when I am.

discretekim

Well I am sometimes hungry. But I usually eat about 1600 cals so my deficit is pretty low. I've found at night time it is often a fake hunger. I just want something more for some reason. But during the day if I'm hungry it's usually because I am. Still in my experience it isn't too bad if you stick to modest goals. On old diets when I had my eating disorder I only considered the day a success if I was hungry when I went to bed. I don't really like that feeling though.

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Shreshy

I'm always hungry i used to be able to control my unhealthy cravings until I lost my discipline. Now its just so hard. I keep telling myself I'll work it off but I always procrastinate

astrampe

LOL, no problem....I did not read every day in your diary, you are right....But my overall impression of what you eat is (after scanning a few more random days) is that I will starve to death if I have to live on digestive biscuits and coffee for breakfast, and just the general low protein that is on every day....

I am in my late 40's, pre-menopousal, lift heavy or play with kettlebells a minimum of 3 times a week, have a seriously low metabolism (BMR is only 1300 and I am 5'8 and 82kg) and I lose weight on 1300-1500 cals a day....

BUT....I try to never eat less than 100g of protein per day - and fill up on lots of veggies... An omelet made with 1 whole egg, half a cup of egg whites and a tablespoon of coconut oil, filled with a load of shredded and sauteed spinach, bean sprouts, onions and mushrooms, has about 300 cals, but fills me up from 7am till noon....

Whereas 2 digestive biscuits and coffee for breakfast, or a cup of low fat yogurt and fruit will have me chewing off my fingers by 10am.... Maybe try replacing the low fat yogurt with a low fat Greek yogurt? Have 50g of biltong on a slice of toast and some cheese for breakfast instead of cookies, or grab a protein shake if you are travelling....
Good luck with your program!

Shreshy

SergeantSausage wrote: »

When I run, I'm tired.

When I lift, I'm weak (lift to muscle failure) and sore

When I eat for health, diet fatigue (where's my donuts and pizza!?)

When I eat for weight loss, I'm hungry.


These are the facts of my life... and yet I do all four simultaneously.

If it were comfortable, everyone would be doing it, right?

The more, uncomfortable you can be, the farther ahead of the Average Schmo you will be. In everything. Everything.

This was like a motivational speech for me lol

belinda_73

drink lots of water, have black olives, avocado, almonds handy. when I am dying i'll pick one of the 3, either 1/3 an avocado, 6 olives, or 15 almonds.

gothchiq

For the first several months I was always hungry. Then my doctor told me to eat more protein and fewer carbs, and to never eat a carb without a protein paired with it. (within calorie allowance, of course.) Once I started doing this, I stopped feeling hungry all the time. The purpose was to keep my blood sugar stable. It does that well and helps avoid energy crashes during the day.

TaurianDoll

At the beginning, I was hungry all the time. I would inhale my meals in like 5 minutes. But eventually my body learned to do more with less. Now, if I try to eat a huge plate of food, I'm struggling at the end with a lot of food still left.

When we ordered Indian food, I could eat the entire container full of food in one night. Now, it takes me three days to finish a dish. I prefer to eat when I'm hungry and it's usually a little bit here and there with lots of water in between. You will get used to it and you will feel better, less weighed down.

Soopatt

I have been meaning to pick up almonds.. love them

nyponbell

When I plan out my meals and make sure that I have food that will be tasty and nourishing and make me feel full, I don't generally feel hungry (it might also depend on my activity level over the past few days and how much I've slept, as I get hungrier then). But when I eat without a plan, and log after the fact and realise towards the end of the day with several hours left to go that I'm hungry - but I've not got enough calories for a "proper meal" and I try to eat the best option available, I can and do sometimes feel hungry.

Which really means that I should plan out my days better, all the time!

CSARdiver

I used to feel hungry; however most of this was eating out of boredom. Since I started logging and aware of what I'm ingesting I rarely get hungry, except after long workout sessions.

Sunny_Bunny_

I have been running a 20-30% deficit consistently for 6 weeks and have no issues with hunger. Most of the time I have to purposely add calories to not be too low. MFP has even warned me of eating too few calories and wouldn't let me complete my diary for the day until I ate more food. Which I do when I get that warning. That tends to happen when I'm preoccupied most of the day and not paying attention to what I'm eating and only eating once I do feel hungry.
There have been times I've gone over my goal, but it's never due to hunger. And even then, I'm still technically in deficit, just a slight one. It's mostly been due to eating at a restaurant or weekends when I want to have drinks.
I have found the way of eating that works for me because it's no struggle at all to keep calories low and my average loss of more than 1lb a week is working out just fine for me.

brendak76

abatonfan wrote: »

brendak76 wrote: »

I've had to do some medical testing for my insulin pump over the last few weeks to make sure my rates are set correctly. The testing involves eating a low fat meal and then not eating anything for 11 hours. No caffeine even. Water and diet sprite and sf jello only. I've had to do this multiple days and I've learned a lot about hunger. The "hunger" I experience on a daily, 3 hours post meal basis is real, but very very mild. The real hunger starts at about 7 hours after eating and it is so consuming by hour 9 that I can't function (dizzy, weak, shouldn't be driving kind of bad). Hats off to those who do regular fasting. I'm trying to learn to be ok with the mild hunger after experiencing the crazy hunger several times now.

FINALLY! Someone understands how much of a pain in the butt basal testing is! I'm in the process of resolidifying my basal rates, and I'm really tempted to sell my basal testing diet as a new detox -the sugar free jello and diet coke/sparkling water detox.

Unfortunately, I'm retesting the overnight segment tonight (and might also bang out the early morning segment if I don't experience another 2:30AM hypo), and I'm not looking forward to it what-so-ever. At this point, I don't care if my dinner is high in protein -if anything, the high-protein meal might cause my 12AM starting number to be slightly higher.

From what I've noticed, I also tend to get super hungry if my BG is above 160-ish. It's gotten to the point where I need to test myself to see if I'm hungry because I'm high, I'm low, or if it's not related to my BG what-so-ever.

I started pumping in September and haven't done official basal testing until now - with my new endo. All I have left is the 12-5pm segment. It's ruining my summer but it's so valuable. It took me 4 tries to get the evening rates right. My diabetic 15 year old I'm sure will never basal test after watching me go through this!!! Good luck tonight. I went to the dr yesterday and weighed a few pounds less than I did on her scale a month ago. We should market this as the basal detox diet.

nooie19

Since starting MFP in January, I have not felt hungry throughout the day. But I have felt what you are feeling many times in the past 25 or so years of dieting on and off. Here's my list of what has been most helpful:

-Eat mindfully. Read the book Eating Mindfully. It makes a huge difference when you start to eat slowly, mindfully, without distractions.

-Reduce sugar/simple carbs/alcohol. All three mess with my blood sugar levels and make me feel hungry and cranky (hangry). Trying to eliminate completely just increases my cravings so I have just learned to limit the amounts.

-Increase fiber/protein/water. Protein especially helps reduce sugar cravings and hunger in general.

shrinkingletters

I'm only ever hungry right before my usual meal times. As soon as I lost at least 5lbs and was working out more than I started, I adjusted my calorie intake so I could have the energy I needed to not be exhausted and hungry.

That being said. I eat plenty of protein and fat to keep me satieted, and eat plenty of veggies, which can be pretty voluminous.

allaboutthecake

I eat a boatload of protein so I DON'T get hungry. I highly recommend doubling your protein macro. I also tend to be ravenous after cycling. So, I eat a majority of my calories right then and there. Sometimes I save some cals for later, sometimes not. The bottom line tho, is protein packed foods will keep me from gnawing out the fridge walls.