1700 calories, sedentary female, 5'5, 213lb and still hungry

judywoody

So I eat just over 1700 calories I am a sedentary female, 5'5 ft and weigh 213lb

I set my goal for 0.25 kg a week, I didn't want to starve or lose weight too quickly. I want to take my time this time. I lost 60lb in the past and plateaud at 150lb because I think I ate way too little during my first weightloss regime. I am sedentary at the moment, going on the treadmill maybe once to twice a week for 40 minutes.. that's an ectra 600 cals burned (uphill walking). But other than that I occasionally run for the tram to work but that's it, I have a desk job.

So why on earth am I still hungry? I know I still eat the odd biscuit every now and then but I eat afair bit of veggies and fruit, I am vegetarian and according to mfp I always reach my protein and carb goals.

In the beginning I was fine but my stomach got emptier and emptier and now I'm in a constant state of slight hunger. I drink nearly 3 litres of water a day, too.

Any ideas?

skbrodie

Maybe spread out your eating more. I found that small meals more frequently helps me a lot

heathengirl

I agree with spread out your eating more, and maybe add some additional protein. I know the more protein I eat the fuller I feel. I'm about 1500 cals a day and don't feel that hungry (I regularly go over MFP's protein goal).

TeaBea

Protein, fat, and fiber are all filling. Sometimes it just takes time to make the adjustments and figure out what combination keeps you full. Some people stay full on low-fat + fiber. Other people stay full on high protein + low fat. It won't be one-size fits all. I find I need fat with every meal.

Meal timing. Are you allowing for snacks. I bring breakfast and lunch to work. With lunch I typically have a fruit & veggie side. I generally save the fruit for late afternoon.

If you are exercising you are earning more calories. there is no reason you can't distribute those calories evenly throughout the week. There is a method TDEE less a percent that includes exercise up front and then gives you the average.

boogiewookie

I'm sorry, it's not a fun feeling. just try to do the best you can to minimize calorie dense food, but as a vegetarian you're probably ok. I agree spreading it out is a great idea but other than that you're probably going to be hungry sometimes. its hard but it will get better. I struggled with that so much in the beginning but after a while I got used to the feeling. your body and mind will adjust, just remind yourself why you are doing this.:-)

enterdanger

Are you hungry all the time or is there a period of the day/night that is worse? I struggle at night so I save about half of my calories for dinner and later. I also try to stay busy at night rather than watching tv because that is when I really want to snack.

AliceDark

Would you be willing to open your diary so we can take a look and make specific suggestions? If not, you're going to get a lot of generic advice that may or may not apply to you.

nesman89

How long have you been restricting calories? When I start restricting it takes my brain about 3 weeks to convince my stomach it doesn't need food all the time. Most of my dieting is mental.

megantischner

How long have you been eating at ~1700 cal/day? If you've only been doing this for like a week, you may just need to give yourself time to adjust, especially if you're used to eating much more each day. If you've been doing this for a while, then I agree that going with smaller meals so you can have snacks during the day may help. You'll probably have to try a few different things to find out what works for you.

Ashtoretet

Are you on any medications?

I think you may also need to double check the calories burned on the treadmill, 600 seems like an awful lot. By comparison, I basically "run" on an elliptical for 33 minutes (I go about 2.5 miles) and only burn 350.

GiveMeCoffee

Play with your meal timing. For myself if I eat breakfast I'm hungry all day long, so I prefer to eat 1-2 meals a day starting in early afternoon or just a big dinner.

Find what works for you

becknomad

Maybe you are not really stomach hungry. More bored/stress/lonely etc. If you distract yourself for 10 minutes does the hunger go away. Are you denying yourself foods that you love? These are for sure my triggers!

judywoody

thanks for all the replies. Regarding the treadmill: I meant 600 cals for two sessions a week combined :-)

I have only been doing this for 2 weeks. My stomach grumbles pretty much all day so it's not like I feel hungrier at certain times of the day. My stomach starts feeling hungry again an hour after I've eaten. Maybe it's really mind over matter but I could swear I didn't feel that hungry the first time round.. lol

I think I should eat more protein. I like my tofu and eggs and trying to stay away from dairy because it gives me the trots..

How would I open my diary?

One of my problems is that my day starts really early. I'm trying to delay breakfast till I'm in the office so it's not too long till lunchtime. I get up at 5.30, start work at 7.30 and have lunch at 12. So I'm awake a lot longer than I used to be. Also, I make my own lunch but sometimes, when I still get hungry there aren't many options for me. So I resort to a biscuit or anything I can get hold of. Fruit makes me even hungrier.. lol

judywoody

becknomad wrote: »

Maybe you are not really stomach hungry. More bored/stress/lonely etc. If you distract yourself for 10 minutes does the hunger go away. Are you denying yourself foods that you love? These are for sure my triggers!

does a grumbling stomach mean I'm hungry?

amusedmonkey

Here are a few tricks:
- Sunflower seeds for snacking, in shell. Takes long to shell them and you feel like you've been eating for hours.
- Soup and/or green salad before your main meal(s). Low calorie, filling.
- More protein
- Filling fiber like oatmeal or chia seeds
- Play around with meal timing. Notice how your day goes. When do you get the hungriest? When are you not so hungry? Maybe when your hunger is "behaving" you could get away with a small snack or even skip the meal all together and allocate more calories to the time you're most hungry.
- If all else fails you may want to look into intermittent fasting. The idea seems intimidating at first, but after a couple of weeks you get used to fast days/periods and get to have days/periods when you are pleasantly full without going over.

MrsMES10

Could you need to add more fat? It's very satiating.

JustChristy79

Make water your new best friend. Drink, drink, drink! It really helps with that empty feeling.

BJD56

Have you had a chance to try any of the free guided imagery (aka hynosis) apps? I shared an experience on my recent post and find they help me feel better about myself. For me I needed to face the fact that I know what I need to do... it is just a matter of holding myself to the standards I know work.
And no just because your stomach is grumbling doesn't mean your hungry.. Try to wait 20 minutes, and spend the time you would be munching doing something else healthy-- a short walk, jumping jacks... deep breaths... sharing concerns with friends.

kamack1215

I feel hungry all day while sitting at my desk and would eat all day everyday if it wasn't for my tea! I have all kinds, with and without caffeine. I find it helps to take my mind off of all the food I want to eat as they are quite delicous

jgnatca

Here's some ideas to try.

• A slightly larger breakfast with a little more protein as you are suspecting.
• Pack a breakfast and eat it when you get to work.
• Lighter lunch with greater volume; i.e. a salad.
• Drink water throughout the day to keep down the grumbles. Perhaps start with tea or coffee in the morning.
• Try cheese and crackers as a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack, or edamame beans.

judywoody

i think i will definitely try and look into getting more protein, especially in the morning. will just need something to take to work...tea helps me too and I should defo try and drink more hot beverages. I like drinking caro 'coffee'.

jgnatca

Report back if it works! I continue to fight the grumbles to this day.

neecewa1

I know it sounds extreme but the only way I could shrink my stomach back to normal and get my cravings under control was a three day water fast. If you don't have a lot of health problems look up the benefits and how to do it. They use it to help chemo patients build up their immune system. My friend lost 150 lbs and got her eating under control for the first time in her life using a plan called omnitrician, one phase limits you to 900 calories a day and it was Dr. supervised. It's really shocking how many calories we don't need but our body craves. Fitbit app has helped me most because it actually shows calories burned vs calorie intake, instead of adjusting up for any exercise. Helped me figure out I was consuming way too much. My cravings and hunger is now under control. Also helped knowing our bodies freak out whenever there is a deficit and tell us to eat more even though we shouldn't. It's a survival thing from way back.

judywoody

So this morning I made myself some protein pancakes and when looking at the nutritional chart it was almost perfectly balanced. It hardly touched my stomach and it came up to 420 cals. I no longer feel like I am reasonably full (not stuffed).. shouldn't I feel full after this???? the recipe was: 2eggs, 1.5 bananas, 30g oat flour, 100ml soy milk and an extra 150ml for my coffee.. waah!!

SongDragon

I like pancakes, but I would ship them in favor of eggs and whole wheat toast if you're struggling to feel full. I used to like eggs with cheese or ham on toast. Approximately 400 calories depending on toast and meat or cheese used plus two eggs.

Sarri93

Ashtoretet wrote: »

Are you on any medications?

I think you may also need to double check the calories burned on the treadmill, 600 seems like an awful lot. By comparison, I basically "run" on an elliptical for 33 minutes (I go about 2.5 miles) and only burn 350.

Well running at an incline greatly increases the calories burned. But also, if you're going based off of the treadmill for the calories burned, that's typically a pretty inflated number. I don't remember numbers as to how inflated it is, but I'm sure you could find something on it.

oh_happy_day

judywoody wrote: »

So this morning I made myself some protein pancakes and when looking at the nutritional chart it was almost perfectly balanced. It hardly touched my stomach and it came up to 420 cals. I no longer feel like I am reasonably full (not stuffed).. shouldn't I feel full after this???? the recipe was: 2eggs, 1.5 bananas, 30g oat flour, 100ml soy milk and an extra 150ml for my coffee.. waah!!

It might be helpful to aim for satisified as opposed to full. This is a hunger scale that might help. Considering that you've only been at this a few weeks you might still be learning your body's signals. https://medical.mit.edu/sites/default/files/hunger_scale.pdf

The other thing that might help is volume eating. Sometimes I have meals that I eat our of mixing bowls because the volume of low calorie food is so high. Usually they're huge salads with a bit of protein. For snacks I'll use things like air popped popcorn, berries, cherry tomatoes, capsicum etc. For my lunch and dinner I just keep adding vegetables until I'm full. Particularly things like green beans, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower etc - they're very filling. I flicked through a few days of your diary - I think you'd benefit from adding more vegetables.

Traveler120

I eat about the same 1600-1700, I'm 126 lbs and I'm always so full that sometimes I don't eat all the planned food. The only difference is that I don't eat dairy and eggs as my diet is mostly whole foods plant-based. I also avoid processed foods, so I'm eating potatoes, whole grains, brown rice, oatmeal, lentils, beans, quinoa, fruits and veggies. I eat a lot of lentils and beans. So my food is very high in fiber which keeps me full for the majority of the day. Usually for dinner I eat a few plates of brown rice with lentils and beans plus a veg and I won't be hungry until the next afternoon and at most snack on fruits like strawberries which are also very filling but low in calories.

Your cheeses and nuts are high in calories from fat but not as filling. Try cutting back and replacing those same calories with a high fiber whole foods like starches and legumes.

acpgee

I find restricting carbs, especially early in the day helps control my appetite. If I have more than 50g at a single sitting, my blood glucose spikes causing an insulin spike. This results in blood glucose that is too low 2 or 3 hours later. When my blood sugar is low I feel ravenous and crave carbs. If I want a high carb treat, I try to have it in the evening so that my blood glucose doesn't end up yoyo-ing all day with dreadful hunger during the dips.

KimsSerenity

KimsSerenity

Over the years, whenever I had some weight to lose, my greatest success was calorie counting. Today I'm on MFP because I know calorie count is the best way to achieve long range success. I think we want the same ending result which is long range success. But that requires a sacrifice... Your going to be hungry. It's part of the process of learning to cut down your portions and giving your tummy time to shrink where you want it. It may be uncomfortable but what change isn't? As time goes by, it will get easier as you adjust and smile at the change in yourself and enjoy the new you. I tell myself often, we are suppose to eat to survive... Not live to eat. Life is about discipline. :-) Just be sure your getting all the vitamins your body needs to be healthy. Being low will make your body hungry. Good Luck!