Fatigued and hangry. Are my calorie goals set ok?

veronikamellon

Hello,
I have been using MFP on and off for the past couple years. Recently I came back because of 10 unwanted pounds. Ok, more like 20 in the long term. I am a 31 year old female, 5'1, 126 currently. I selected 0.5 lbs loss per week and MFP set my goal at 1280. However, I am feeling very fatigued, light headed and often hangry ever since I started watching my calories. What's going on? Is it too low?

I selected my activity level as sedentary because of a desk job. I do, however, try to get up and walk 300-500 steps every hour, so I average at about 7K steps a day. I also do Fitnessblender workouts for about 30-40 minutes 5-6 times a week. Those mostly give me anywhere from 150 to 300 calories burned.

I actually eat around 1300-1400 cals a day, but still feel super exhausted lately. It is mostly homecooked meals, and an occasional mindful fast food binge (salad instead of fries etc, trying to keep it under 600 a meal if I go out). With this in mind, I lost only 1.5 pounds since March 20th. Not much at all.

So can anyone give me an insight at what is going on? Why do I feel so sluggish? No low carb diets please, you can pry the carbs out of my cold dead hands lol.

Thank you for your input

janejellyroll

It's unclear from your post -- are you eating back exercise calories?

enterdanger

Your calories sound about right to me for your height/activity. Maybe it's what you are eating? I too adore carbs and wouldn't give them up ever...but maybe something else it off balance. Are you getting enough fat and fiber?

Oh, and it's spring here and that gives me allergies...which makes me feel lethargic. Could it be unrelated to your dieting at all?

veronikamellon

janejellyroll wrote: »

It's unclear from your post -- are you eating back exercise calories?

Not really.
I sync my calories burned from Fitbit flex. It usually shows about 1800 burned, so I end up with 200-300 deficit.

srk369

It seems like your weight loss is right on track at 1.5lbs in 2 1/2 weeks. If you are still feeling tired, maybe try eating 100% of your exercise calories (it looks like you are maybe only eating a portion that is taking you to 13/1400?) It may slow weight loss, or if you are less tired, you may have more energy to walk more/burn more/eat more!

janejellyroll

veronikamellon wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

It's unclear from your post -- are you eating back exercise calories?

Not really.
I sync my calories burned from Fitbit flex. It usually shows about 1800 burned, so I end up with 200-300 deficit.

Your weight loss sounds like it is right on track (you wanted to lose .5 a week and you've lost 1.5 pounds since March 20th), so I would play with your macros to see what helps you feel fuller. Many people find they feel better when they increase protein in their diet. For others (including myself), fat is what does the trick. Also, are you getting enough fiber? For many people, it can help with hunger.

veronikamellon

I am going to look into the macros, thank you for the suggestions. I usually try to get some sort of protein in me, perhaps I should take a closer look.

Geocitiesuser

For some reason this is a highly debated topic, but my stance is that hunger is normal while in a calorie deficit, and yes, feeling run down sometimes too. I believe it's all normal. You get people who claim "Oh but I am never hungry or tired etc etc" ... well, I'm happy for them, but they need to write a book on how they did it because they will be rich.

reachingforarainbow

If you've lost 1.5 lbs since March 20th that's more like .75 lbs a week. You said "Not much at all"
You said you set your calories to lose .5 lb a week. So you are hitting your weightloss goal of .5 lb a week.
If you are fatigued and lightheaded: first off, are you getting enough sleep. Second, are you drinking enough water.
If everything checks out that way, then maybe ensure you are eating back all of your exercise calories.
If that still doesn't work, head to your doctor and make sure you aren't low on iron or have something else going on medically.

PrincessMel72

I get hungry from time to time while in a deficit and usually either drink more water or have some green tea to get me through to the next meal. If I'm really hungry after a half hour, I'll eat a few almonds and that usually does the trick. I don't get to the point where you are though, so I'd do as others have suggested and maybe look into finding foods that keep you fuller longer and still fit in your plan. You're doing great and are right on track!

veronikamellon

Geocitiesuser wrote: »

For some reason this is a highly debated topic, but my stance is that hunger is normal while in a calorie deficit, and yes, feeling run down sometimes too. I believe it's all normal. You get people who claim "Oh but I am never hungry or tired etc etc" ... well, I'm happy for them, but they need to write a book on how they did it because they will be rich.

No kidding! I have no idea how they are doing it.

nightengale7

Echo what others have said: check your protein, fat, and fiber to make sure you are getting enough. Figure out what makes you feel full. I'm a bit of an oddball, so for me it is high carb, high protein that makes me feel full and satisfied.
Also, drink LOTS of water and make sure you are getting sufficient sleep. If none of these things helps, go see your doctor to see if you have a deficiency somewhere.

veronikamellon

nightengale7 wrote: »

Echo what others have said: check your protein, fat, and fiber to make sure you are getting enough. Figure out what makes you feel full. I'm a bit of an oddball, so for me it is high carb, high protein that makes me feel full and satisfied.
Also, drink LOTS of water and make sure you are getting sufficient sleep. If none of these things helps, go see your doctor to see if you have a deficiency somewhere.

Yes! I'm a meat and potatoes kinda gal too I try to drink about 8-10 cups of water a day, is that enough? You know, it might just be crazy Indiana weather. Temperatures are all over the place

CealR

I'll add one more thing - after you've checked everything else, if that still hasn't helped, check your iron levels. If you're anemic, that might be contributing to the fatigue, and would easily be fixed with some more protein, a fortified cereal, supplementation, or some combination depending on your specific needs.

stealthq

Geocitiesuser wrote: »

For some reason this is a highly debated topic, but my stance is that hunger is normal while in a calorie deficit, and yes, feeling run down sometimes too. I believe it's all normal. You get people who claim "Oh but I am never hungry or tired etc etc" ... well, I'm happy for them, but they need to write a book on how they did it because they will be rich.

I think most of the people who say that still have a decent amount of body fat to lose or have a very small deficit.

I really didn't have any problems (after the first week of adjusting to the reduced amount) until I got to mid-range BMI. Then reducing my deficit by 100 cals took me from feeling like I'd been run over by a truck to feeling totally normal.

leanjogreen18

eating breakfast for me makes me hungrier throughout the day. Also a carb/fat/protein with each meal helps along with somewhere in the neighborhood of 48 oz of water.

Also 7-8 hrs of sleep. Less can cause stress hormones which cause increased hunger.

veronikamellon

So I went to my reports in MFP and was shocked to discover my net calories are in 900 to 1000 range. That seems pretty low. I am very confused now. When I check my daily logs the calorie difference doesn't look that drastic. For example, yesterday I ate 1,366 cal and burned 1,759 (fitbit steps and workout). I see 393 remaining. However, the graph in reports shows net 887. I am very confused now. Can someone clarify this for me please?

AnnPT77

Geocitiesuser wrote: »

For some reason this is a highly debated topic, but my stance is that hunger is normal while in a calorie deficit, and yes, feeling run down sometimes too. I believe it's all normal. You get people who claim "Oh but I am never hungry or tired etc etc" ... well, I'm happy for them, but they need to write a book on how they did it because they will be rich.

OP said "hangry and fatigued", not just "hungry". "Hungry" may be OK, "hangry and fatigued" is more worrisome.

The only time I got fatigued/weak while losing was when my deficit got too high (calculators underestimated my calorie needs).

OP, the idea of considering nutrient problems is good (not just protein & fat, but also micronutrients - how's your veggie/fruit intake?) Sleep deficit and stress can also contribute to a problem.

If the situation persists, blood tests could be useful (iron, vitamin D, B vitamins are some of the things I've seen people mention; and hypothyroidism is also a possibility (I'm hypothyroid, but treated; even if untreated, the effect on weight loss rate isn't necessarily huge, but fatigue is a symptom)).

As far as feeling hungry being a necessary part of the process: I'm in the "it's not" camp . . . though I can accept that differences in our individual wiring (hunger & satiation hormones, & their responses to eating) may make it unavoidable for some. For me, experimenting with macros (protein, fat, fiber/volume) and timing of eating was pretty magical, after a couple weeks adjustment period - even when losing 2 pounds a week while at the lower border of a weight where that's a sensible thing. Others' mileage may vary.

happysherri

Get enough sleep, mother nature about to visit, getting enough fat, etc. There could be numerous reasons. The calories seem correct. BTW - I love fitnessblender workouts.

Last week I was Super tired for days, but it was because I had interrupted sleep patterns.
Also when mother nature is about to visit I get really tired and hangry.
There was a time where I was not consuming enough fat and I felt tired.

Your weight loss sounds great - that is over 0.5 lbs a week! I would love that. It's harder the closer to goal you get; I only have 10 lbs to go and it's slow going. (slow is fine with me because nobody wants to see me hangry ha)

Keep going, it sounds like your doing a great job.

cmriverside

veronikamellon wrote: »

So I went to my reports in MFP and was shocked to discover my net calories are in 900 to 1000 range. That seems pretty low. I am very confused now. When I check my daily logs the calorie difference doesn't look that drastic. For example, yesterday I ate 1,366 cal and burned 1,759 (fitbit steps and workout). I see 393 remaining. However, the graph in reports shows net 887. I am very confused now. Can someone clarify this for me please?

Yes, you are supposed to be eating that 1759. The deficit to lose weight is built into that number.

Eat until REMAINING = 0

veronikamellon

This explains a ton. I completely spaced on the fact that mfp automatically subtracts the recommended deficit and I don't have to worry about that. I am going to up my net calories and see if that helps with general well-being.