So hungry all the time.

dootdootdoooo

Hey guys! So, I'm a 22 y/o 5'4" female, looking to lose a bit of weight. I'm currently 135 and I'd like to get to 125. I'm fairly active, I run 5-6 miles 4 times a week and I can easily walk 15k steps at work 4 days out of the week.

I have not been dieting for very long (a couple weeks) but I am not new to dieting. I lost 90 pounds a couple years ago to get down to 125 but --full disclosure here, I did not have a very healthy relationship with food by the end of it.

I'm just curious to hear how many calories you guys think I should be eating? I am eating between 1600-1800 right now, but honestly, there are some days when I can't stop thinking about food and feel very tired and run down and my head hurts. I would like to not think about food every second and have a bit more energy. I've lost 2ish pounds since I started this? I try to weigh most everything I eat that isn't prepackaged, though sometimes if I'm in a hurry, it doesn't happen.

I'm considering upping my cals to 1900 daily. I'm fine with this being a slow process of weightloss. But I dunno, maybe I'll gain if I do that?

GottaBurnEmAll

When you plugged your stats into MFP, what rate of weight loss did you select?

Are you eating back exercise calories? I run and it would be very hard for me to do so without eating back some of what I run off.

dootdootdoooo

I set it as .5 lbs/week and said I was 'active' which gave me 1940 cals a day. But I have not been eating that much every day, usually closer to 1700 (though the past two days have been over 2000 because I have been feeling so hungry). I haven't been eating back exercise calories.

Blitzia

It may be an issue of what you're eating instead of how much you're eating. You seem to be going about this in the right attitude - slow and steady over huge deficits that just make you likely to binge - so in my opinion, your calorie number is probably not the issue. (Though you might be on track with switching to 1900 instead of 1700.)

For me, I'm on 1200 and some days I can eat under my goal and feel great and sufficiently full. But other days, if I maybe start out with a big breakfast, or eat something with a lot of added sugar, I'll hit 1200 and still feel starving. Satiety is different for every person so what works for me (starting to eat later in the day, picking foods with high fiber and/or protein, etc.) may not work for you. It might be helpful to open your diary and get suggestions from some seasoned pros.

kimny72

dootdootdoooo wrote: »

Hey guys! So, I'm a 22 y/o 5'4" female, looking to lose a bit of weight. I'm currently 135 and I'd like to get to 125. I'm fairly active, I run 5-6 miles 4 times a week and I can easily walk 15k steps at work 4 days out of the week.

I have not been dieting for very long (a couple weeks) but I am not new to dieting. I lost 90 pounds a couple years ago to get down to 125 but --full disclosure here, I did not have a very healthy relationship with food by the end of it.

I'm just curious to hear how many calories you guys think I should be eating? I am eating between 1600-1800 right now, but honestly, there are some days when I can't stop thinking about food and feel very tired and run down and my head hurts. I would like to not think about food every second and have a bit more energy. I've lost 2ish pounds since I started this? I try to weigh most everything I eat that isn't prepackaged, though sometimes if I'm in a hurry, it doesn't happen.

I'm considering upping my cals to 1900 daily. I'm fine with this being a slow process of weightloss. But I dunno, maybe I'll gain if I do that?

Why are you eating less than MFP gave you? You've lost 2 lbs in 2 weeks, so 1 lb per week. And you are eating less than what MFP gave you for losing .5 lbs per week.

So eat the 1940 calories, give it 4 weeks and see if you have lost a couple more lbs - success!

In general, protein, fiber, and fat are the things that can make you feel more full. Which one works is different for different people. So look back at the days you are really hungry and see if you are low in any of those categories and experiment with your diet to see if correcting that helps. For more specific advice you'd need to open your diary, but I know not everyone is comfortable with doing that.

Good luck :drinker:

sambonfante1

Try intermittent fasting.

Instead of eating small meals throughout the day & never feeling satisfied, try fasting 4-8hrs after waking up (drink lots of water & 1 or 2 cups of black coffee to blunt hunger... this fast is actually very enjoyable once your body adjusts). Break the fast with a big meal, about 1000-1300 calories. Then an hour before bed, have a small meal (400-700 calories). You can also have 1 or 2 snacks of fruit (under 100 calories each) to help push your first big meal later in the day, or in between your meals.

That's it.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

dootdootdoooo wrote: »

I set it as .5 lbs/week and said I was 'active' which gave me 1940 cals a day. But I have not been eating that much every day, usually closer to 1700 (though the past two days have been over 2000 because I have been feeling so hungry). I haven't been eating back exercise calories.

If you are hungry, eat your exercise calories. You're supposed to.

Lillymoo01

If you are losing weight that quickly and are experiencing all the symptons of not eating enough then up your calorie intake by 100 or so. I'd be surprised if you stopped losing with that and if you did then you would then drop it back a bit. It can take awhile to get the balance right, especially when we don't have much to lose. Also, look at the types of food you are eating. Refined carbs and food high in added sugar can cause those hunger feelings not long after a feed. Some find fat and protein to be much more filling, others complex carbs. Again trial and error until you find what works for you.

GottaBurnEmAll

On the days you don't work, what's your step count like?

It does sound like you're eating too little. Even if you didn't move at all, your step count averages to around 8500 a day, which is enough to be active. You're not even eating the 1940 for that, let alone even a portion of the calories burned during your runs.

AnnPT77

In addition to suggestions above about eating more, consider experimenting with the timing & composition of your eating, to see if you can find a more satiating routine. Satiation is very individual: There's no one thing that works for everyone.

As far as timing, intermittent fasting is one possibility, as mentioned above. That helps some people. For others, multiple small meals/snacks works better; some do better with a big breakfast & smaller meals later; some do best saving up most of their calories for evening; there are countless variations.

For variations in composition of your eating, try different foods or a different balance of macronutrients (keeping them within a healthy range for each). Some people find protein more satiating, some feel full with more fats, others seem to need a good amount of high volume food (usually this would be low-calorie/high-fiber veggies). Some people find that eating carbs causes more carb cravings, while others need complex carbs (whole grains or white potatoes, say) to feel full.

So, try some variations within your calorie goal, and see if that helps.

For me, what worked best was a solid breakfast with plenty of protein, then protein throughout the day, plus at least one meal with a high volume of low-cal veggies. Your formula will be different, but experimenting with alternatives, trying each for a couple of days to get a fair idea of effect, is a good strategy.