I'm always so hungry!

TheLegendaryBrandonHarris

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!

AnnPT77

+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.

pebble4321

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.

Shana67

jattardi wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I will keep up the fight!

For sure, keep it up! I was so sick of being fat, too... you can do this I will say that eventually I got used to that "hungry" feeling. It's just a very minor background annoyance to me now. You'll get there!

fit4itall

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).

Jleigh225

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!

DisneyDude85

jattardi wrote: »

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!

ClosetBayesian

Jleigh225 wrote: »

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.

phyllis731

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.

Brandolin11

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!

Brandolin11

I should have mentioned that I have never once used fitnesspal's calculator. I use one I found online. Then I manually enter my daily goal calories into my profile, which over rides mfp's numbers.