I'm always so hungry!
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1,500 seems too low. When you first started MFP, did you tell it you wanted to lose 1 or 2 pounds per week? If you put 2, it gave you a 1,000 calorie deficit which may have put you at 1,500 per day. I would change it to 1 or 1.5 pounds a week loss. Go to Home > Goals > Edit Daily Nutrition Goals.
ETA: I am a 5'6 female and can lose on 1750 cals/day.
I said 2 lbs/week. I know it might be a lot, but I am so sick of being fat.
So let's see. You know that your goal is aggressive, that's what YOU chose, but you still come here to complain that you're hungry.
I just don't get people sometimes. 'hey look I'm starving myself but I'm SO HUNGRY, how can it be?'7 -
It's just my preference, but I use a low carb high fat diet. I find it to be more satisfying on fewer calories and lots of people use it as a way to deal with hunger. It's especially helpful if you are insulin resistant, pre diabetic, diabetic or have PCOS.1
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I agree with everything @diannethegeek said. I would like to add that I've observed getting my full RDA of fiber also helps with hunger.
1 lb/week has been pretty good for me.0 -
Trader Joe's has an awesome Kung Pao Chicken that is very low in calories. I have it about once a week and get a rather large portion. Find some low cal rice or quinoa and you're all set. (hint: my wife uses riced cauliflower)0
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I would suggest upping your calories by switching to 1.5lb loss per week. I'm a 29 male, 5ft 10 currently 236lb and started at 308. I walk 6 to 10 miles a day for work and hit the gym 3 times a week for weight training. Losing at a rate of 1.5 to 2lb a week and eating between 1900 and 2100 calories a day.
I would never have lasted if I'd been eating only 1500 cals a day, I'd have probably eaten my co-workers!3 -
1,500 seems too low. When you first started MFP, did you tell it you wanted to lose 1 or 2 pounds per week? If you put 2, it gave you a 1,000 calorie deficit which may have put you at 1,500 per day. I would change it to 1 or 1.5 pounds a week loss. Go to Home > Goals > Edit Daily Nutrition Goals.
ETA: I am a 5'6 female and can lose on 1750 cals/day.
I said 2 lbs/week. I know it might be a lot, but I am so sick of being fat.
So let's see. You know that your goal is aggressive, that's what YOU chose, but you still come here to complain that you're hungry.
I just don't get people sometimes. 'hey look I'm starving myself but I'm SO HUNGRY, how can it be?'
I get what Franc is saying. The OP is wanting to have the cake and eating it, too.
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...Now that many posters have addressed the issue of your daily caloric intake (I agree, too low for a male), may I suggest that you mix up your exercise routine? If you go to the gym (yay, good for you!), varying the equipment can help with the redistribution of your body weight as you are losing. For instance, try the treadmill and use the incline feature and speed feature. It's a bit harder, but you can burn more calories in a shorter period of time. As to feeling hungry, you may not be eating food with enough fiber in your diet plan. Fiber makes you feel full, and that's why I eat bread, potatoes, lots of leafy greens, etc.0
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You could be dehydrated. What may feel like hunger could very well be thrust. Anyway, for your height, age, and starting weight, 1500 calories is too low even with the 2 pounds per week loss you input on MFP. You should be eating around 1800-2000 calories per day.0
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Drink more water, and eat more fats and proteins.
I find that if I eat something low in calories, but high in sugar (like a piece of fruit) that I get hungrier faster than if I eat an equivalent amount of calories in meat or fish.0 -
A few tricks I've learned:
Use drugs. Folks will scoff, but it's hard to argue with results. I dropped from 286 to 200 pounds from February to October of last year. I used prescription phendemetrazine under the supervision of a physician.
People above mentioned fluids and I totally agree. I regularly drink water and lemon juice with artificial sweetener when I want something besides water. But water definitely helps.
What's important to you? Dating? A nice new suit? Running a triathalon? Whatever it is, try to stay focused and tell yourself, "This is important to me."
Keep busy. If you're like me, your mind with dwell on food unless it's otherwise occupied. (Ties into the previous suggestion.)
Finish the drill.
Seriously, I went from a high of 317 pounds to my current 200 pounds. YOU CAN DO THIS. What you're trying to do is possible.
I believe in you.1 -
Ugh, sorry, one more thing...
The hunger will subside. It'll get easier, ok?
Until then, tell yourself that being hungry means your body is burning through all kinds of fat!1 -
+1000 to everything @diannethegeek said . . . she is a wise, wise woman.
I especially want to underscore, in your case, #5, "Play around with your meal timings." This played a big role for me in making my deficit workable for me.
You may also want to play around with your macros, staying within a healthy range of each. Different people find different foods satiating. For some, healthy fats do the job best. For others, protein. Yet others need high volume/low calorie foods (usually fiber-containing veggies). Some are satiated by healthy carbs (potatoes, whole grains, more), while others find that carbs make them crave more carbs.
I suggest trying to think of your MFP protein goal as a minimum, your fat goal as a target (emphasizing healthy fats) or minimum, then adjust the carbs for balance & satiation. (I'm oversimplifying, on this point, but I think it'll do for now.)
Experiment with timing & macros, trying a variation for a couple of days to see how it goes. Review your food logs, and adjust until you're feeling more satisfied.0 -
I'm female and older, shorter and lighter than you, and I lose weight eating 1660 cals a day.
And I'm not surprised you are hungry eating only 1500 cals a day.
For me it's much more important that I am doing something that I can keep up for the long term and cutting cals to such an extreme that I'm hungry every day is just not sustainable.
My best suggestion is to stop aiming for fast weightloss and instead, find the point that lets you lose weight but that you can keep up for the long term.
Because this isn't a short term thing, you can't just eat 1500 cals every day for a month and then go back to eating the way you were before. Trust me, I'd love to think it worked that way but it doesn't. You have to make changes that you can keep up for the long term. It's depressing but true.
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Try snacking on a few raw, very low calorie foods that are higher in fiber between your meals (bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, small apples, celery) almonds-- they're not very low calorie, but one serving is pretty filling IMO. Drink more water. Green tea sweetened with Stevia seems to help me a little. This and some of the other things might help a little, but it takes a while for you to adjust. If you're eating less, you will feel hungrier than you're used to, but it DOES get better! I think it took a good month before I wasn't feeling constant hunger. Some days are worse than others, but as long as you're eating enough it will get better (I wouldn't just pick a random number to increase to, but I agree with starting off no more than 1lb/week so you can ease into the portion changes).0
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I know others have already said it 1500 for a man is starvation. Scientists in Minnesota did a starvation experiment for men to see how it effected them and guess how low the calories were? 1570. You will not get used to 1500 calories, you will probably binge because your body will make you. Slow and steady wins the weight loss race, even though we want the weigh off now! I totally get it but going really low and then binging and then going really low cal and then binging is not a fun cycle for anyone. The only way for sustainable long term weight loss is slow and steady change that doesn't stress you out a ton. It's still hard but not enough that after a week you want to quit. Sometimes it's helpful to track a day where youre eating just enough that makes you feel satisfied, not stuffed, but not hungry throughout the day and then just substract 500 calories from the amount that feels very comfortable for you. That will help ease you into eating lower calorie and you can adjust from there when you stop losing. Good luck!0
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kristieshannon wrote: »I believe that 1500 is the minimum calories for men. You may be eating too little. How did you determine that this is the correct cals/day for you? What's your age, height, and starting weight? Are you getting in any activity and do you eat back any of your exercise cals?
These were the values that MFP gave me. I'm 34, 5'7", and my starting weight was 254. I go to the gym 2-3 days a week and usually burn about 350-400 calories (10 miles on a stationary bike and some weights).
I am 30 (31 in 2 weeks, mark your calendars
), 5'7" and started at 265. When I put 2lbs/wk it gave me 1630, and I couldn't do it. I switched it to 1.5lbs/wk, and bumped me up to 1880, and that has made a huge difference! Try reassessing your rate of loss. I'm sick and tired of being fat, too. But, after years of trying to lose, I realized that my previous aggressive attempts are what did me in and led me to failure. You can do it bro! 1 -
I know others have already said it 1500 for a man is starvation. Scientists in Minnesota did a starvation experiment for men to see how it effected them and guess how low the calories were? 1570. You will not get used to 1500 calories, you will probably binge because your body will make you. Slow and steady wins the weight loss race, even though we want the weigh off now! I totally get it but going really low and then binging and then going really low cal and then binging is not a fun cycle for anyone. The only way for sustainable long term weight loss is slow and steady change that doesn't stress you out a ton. It's still hard but not enough that after a week you want to quit. Sometimes it's helpful to track a day where youre eating just enough that makes you feel satisfied, not stuffed, but not hungry throughout the day and then just substract 500 calories from the amount that feels very comfortable for you. That will help ease you into eating lower calorie and you can adjust from there when you stop losing. Good luck!
Sorry, no. 1500 is not starvation for a man. It is minimum recommended (and quite possibly too low for OP), but it is no more starvation for a man than 1200 is for a woman.0 -
1500 seems low. I'd recommend looking into lower calories and negative-calorie foods. There are ways to eat a lot of food without the calories. It's going to take some time, but I'm sure you'll find what works for you.0
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I just worked up your numbers using the calculator i used to lose 65 lbs, and you should actually be eating 2,110 for your bmr. That's to lose 2 lbs a week. Enjoy!0
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