Now That I Can Eat...Always Hungry

Francl27

DoreenaV1975 wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

DoreenaV1975 wrote: »

arditarose wrote: »

DoreenaV1975 wrote: »

Just for fun I calculated my TDEE w/ the following stats:
Female
39
5'1"
107lbs
Sedentary (because I have an office job)
Workouts per week: 4 x 30mins

Guess what it told me? 1350 are my maintenance calories.
TDEE gives me LESS than MFP! MFP doesn't even include exercise and it still says I can eat more! WTH?!

which calculator did you use? And are you really sedentary? I mean you may have an office job but do you walk a lot/have active hobbies?

http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

Yes, I'm sedentary.
Unless I actively pursue exercise, I'm not really doing a whole lot.
Unless you just count every day life like running errands or doing household chores.
My hobbies are all "sit-down" hobbies.

IIFYM underestimates my TDEE by 250, for what it's worth.

Really? That is worth knowing...
But how do you know that it underestimates it?

Sorry didn't read the other posts...

I log everything, weigh everything, so I know pretty much how much I eat, and I just do the math.. how much of a deficit I have every week and how much I should expect to lose (if at all) that month. I've been maintaining for a year and pretty much been able to predict if I would lose or maintain every month, and by how much. Of course it's not always completely accurate, because I go out 1-2x a week and I have to guess, but it's been pretty consistent with a 2200 TDEE so far (provided I don't get lazy on the workouts, then it's closer to 2100).

But it's relatively easy for me as my lowest weight is always 10 days after my period ends, so I can just compare from month to month. There was a freak month where I skipped a period and was under my goal the whole time and should really have lost 3 pounds and I never did, but I skipped a period, so who knows what really happened, but other than that, it's been pretty much what I expected every time.

DoreenaV1975

cwolfman13 wrote: »

DoreenaV1975 wrote: »

Basically what my title says....
I'm at maintenance, new to it...just started a few days ago, and now that I can eat more I'm always hungry!
The sad thing is my maintenance calories aren't much more than my deficit calories since I'm only 5'1" 107ish pounds.
(deficit = 1200 maintenance= 1370 per MFP)

Anyway...anyone else experiencing this?
If you aren't now but have before, how long did it take for it to go away?

I'm still staying w/in my calories/slightly below so weight gain is not really a concern (I worked way too hard to go back!) but the hunger is driving me crazy! Ugh!

TIA for your responses!

it's hormones...your hunger ques are derived from hormonal responses...when you diet, your hormones actually regulate your appetite down...this is why anorexics can easily and correctly state that they're only eating 500 calories but aren't hungry...they're probably not.

when you start upping your calorie intake again, these same hormones adjust your appetite up.

it's a primitive feast or famine hormonal response.

@cwolfman13
Sounds reasonable.
I did experience that when I dropped my calories... that I eventually got used to it and wasn't hungry most of the time even on days where I hardly ate anything... actually forcing myself to eat just to get to at least 1000.

DoreenaV1975

heybales wrote: »

DoreenaV1975 wrote: »

heybales wrote: »

DoreenaV1975 wrote: »

Just for fun I calculated my TDEE w/ the following stats:
Female
39
5'1"
107lbs
Sedentary (because I have an office job)
Workouts per week: 4 x 30mins

Guess what it told me? 1350 are my maintenance calories.
TDEE gives me LESS than MFP! MFP doesn't even include exercise and it still says I can eat more! WTH?!

But you aren't sedentary if working out 2 hrs weekly.

That is clearly Lightly Active.

Be honest with yourself.

And that site has been found by many that know their TDEE's based on weight loss amounts - to be underestimated, by decent amount sometimes.

Might try this for better estimate, which includes questions about daily life, and what the workouts actually are.
2 hrs walking doesn't match 2 hrs running and 2 hrs lifting.

Just TDEE please, better than 5 level TDEE charts.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G7FgNzPq3v5WMjDtH0n93LXSMRY_hjmzNTMJb3aZSxM/edit?usp=sharing

@heybales ...
I did sedentary because of my office job.
Thinking that my exercise data wouldn't count until I got to the part about exercise; where you enter those stats.
So I wasn't being dishonest just going by how I thought I was supposed to enter it.

Ok, sounded like you skipped that at first, which your post while I was doing mine confirmed you did miss it.

You got kids at home though? Daily life isn't just the 8 hrs at work. There's another 8 in there besides sleep too. 1 may be exercise, is the other 7 bump on a log or active doing stuff?

@heybales Yes I have kids but they are 13 and 20 so taking care of them doesn't require as much physical activity as it once did. So that's not going to help me unfortunately.
But I think I may invest in a FitBit, as someone suggested earlier, that should give me a more accurate measure of my everyday activity.

heybales

Ya, that age I guess it could actually be more driving around time.

Fitbit can indeed help.

pkw58

I find that the days I am least "emotionally hungry" meaning "hungry" for no real reason are the days 1) I didn't drink enough water early in the day, 2) didn't get enough sleep the night before , 3) didn't meet my activity calorie burn goal and 4) neglected my minimum amount of protein at any one meal. So the basics are the basics for me to feel good about my physical side which keeps the emotional side in balance.

Patttience

You are probably having what DR Amanda Sainsbury Salis calls a famine reaction. That is when yo'uve been dieting for a long time, you start to get really hungry and you can't control it. The best thing for you to do is eat until you are satisfied and after a while you appetite will settle down. But it is vital you eat mainly healthy nutritiuos food and not just any old junk. The dr advises eating as much as you need. But she also advises against eating until you are full.

My experience with her advice is that it works.

DoreenaV1975

Thank you EVERYONE for your advice big or small. Since starting this thread I've been feeling better...not (as) hungry... So although I will still work on figuring out what my true maintenance is I think l'll be okay...
And I'm definitely getting a Fitbit!

What's funny is I kinda started this thread as just an "lol" post because I was just so amazed at the difference in appetite after moving from deficit to maintenance... I never expected so much helpful advice. I appreciate everyone who chimed in on the subject! I received lots of information that I will use!! Thank you, thank you THANK YOU!