So hungry by day 3-5...halp

fitbethlin

My goal is to eat 5x per day, around 300 cals a day. I aim for 30% carbs, 40% protein, 30% fats per day.

About every third or fourth day, I'm drowning in hunger. I cave to the cravings, I eat and drink terribly, and I wake up satisfied the next morning (albeit hung over on some occasions). My weight loss is about 1 lb/wk, and I'm barely in my "healthy" BMI at 5'3".

To lose that much, MFP says to eat even less (1350 vs my current goal of 1500), but I'm not exactly feeling satiated most of the time. Day 1 is fine, Day 2 is fine, Days 3-5 are progressively worse until I give in to the hunger. Then the cycle restarts.

Any thoughts? I am ok living like this if that's what gets it done, but it would be nice to choose the cheat day/meal, rather than have it chose me. I hate that I am out of control some times...

L1zardQueen

Change your goal down to .5 pound per week. That will give you a little more calories per day.

fitbethlin

Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »

Change your goal down to .5 pound per week. That will give you a little more calories per day.

That's actually what it's set at. 1350 cals is 0.5 lbs per week for a short person with an almost-normal body weight.

usmcmp

1. What is your goal set to? If it's two pounds per week lower it. If you have less than 20 pounds to lose you might have to lower it to .5 pounds per week.
2. You don't have to eat 5x per day or 300 calories per meal. Some people feel more satisfied skipping breakfast to have two big meals later in the day. You can play around with meal timing and sizes to see what works best for you.
3. You might want to stay away from nuts and condiments. They're not typically filling for the amount of calories.
4. Macros are not absolutes. Try changing them or only focusing on protein and not worrying about the other two.

L1zardQueen

You are losing 1 pound a week, you can slow it down some by eating a little more. Add 250 calories per day.

fitbethlin

usmcmp wrote: »

1. What is your goal set to? If it's two pounds per week lower it. If you have less than 20 pounds to lose you might have to lower it to .5 pounds per week.

Done. the system says 1350 at that level, but I eat 1500. And still I'm unsatisfied.

usmcmp wrote: »

2. You don't have to eat 5x per day or 300 calories per meal. Some people feel more satisfied skipping breakfast to have two big meals later in the day. You can play around with meal timing and sizes to see what works best for you.

This meal size works for me, in that I don't like to eat more and bigger meals make me nauseous. I just get hungry in the afternoon and evening if I wait a full 3 hours between meals. I tried a smaller breakfast and a bigger breakfast, but the same thing happens in the afternoon.

usmcmp wrote: »

3. You might want to stay away from nuts and condiments. They're not typically filling for the amount of calories.

Nuts actually seem to work at delaying meals, but I track carefully on condiments and don't love them, so I don't use a lot. I should probably actually consider 100 cals of almonds between meals sometimes. They destroy my cal numbers, but seem to help with satiety.

usmcmp wrote: »

4. Macros are not absolutes. Try changing them or only focusing on protein and not worrying about the other two.

I do focus on protein and often end up 40-50% protein, with the rest split but weighted a little to fat over carbs...but that seems to be the problem. I am still left very hungry after a few days. Any suggestions on a different goal?

usmcmp

My suggestion is to not worry about a goal and just experiment with macros.

You're losing at a decent rate, so you could possibly add another 200 calories daily.

fitbethlin

usmcmp wrote: »

My suggestion is to not worry about a goal and just experiment with macros.

You're losing at a decent rate, so you could possibly add another 200 calories daily.

I hate the idea of slowing down because I have a bathing-suit vaca in mid-May, but I think you're right. If I tell myself that adding 200 cals a day can stave off binge days, I'll probably be more consistent and less likely to run off the rails every 5 days.

mom23mangos

Even though you have it set to lose at .5 per month and are still eating over that, you are still losing 1lb per month including your "binge" and I use that term very loosely. That means you can get away with a daily calorie goal of 1700 or so. Try it and see if you still lose. And as someone else suggested, play around with meal timing. I'm a snacker, so I do better eating ~every 2hrs. Up the water intake as well.

stacief82

How many calories do you eat per week including your binge? Take than number and divide by 7 and try that as your new daily goal. If you were losing even with binging, then you should still lose on this new daily goal. It is the same number of weekly calories, just spread out to keep you feeling satisfied.

VeryKatie

I suspect you have your settings as "Sedentary" while you are actually lightly active (or generally that you have 1 higher activity than you have selected). Hence MFP is telling you to eat less based on your incorrect setting. I suggest changing it and eating more

AngInCanada

I exercise, not because I love it but so I can eat more

Theo166

I'd suggest the approach I took.

My first 1-2 wks focused on tracking my food and developing a new food plan, not weight loss. This allowed me to get into a rhythm but at maintenance level. I was able to build self awareness.

Since then I've dialed down my target multiple times, but it was very achievable because my meal planning keeps improving and I had more awareness of what was working for me. Work in steps as you are changing your old ingrained habits.

lemurcat12

fitbethlin wrote: »

Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »

Change your goal down to .5 pound per week. That will give you a little more calories per day.

That's actually what it's set at. 1350 cals is 0.5 lbs per week for a short person with an almost-normal body weight.

Do you exercise and eat back some exercise calories? I'm 5'3 and 125, and older than you (I am sure), and for me that would be .5 lb/week if sedentary. Even just walking around a reasonable amount would raise that up to more like 1500-1600 for .5 lb/week. (So that you lose on 1500/week makes total sense, and if you are exercising and not eating it back that explains the hunger.)

One thing people sometimes do (including me) is try to keep a low calorie goal, blow it, even out at a higher goal, but think they have to keep the low goal because they aren't losing that much. But if you had a more moderate goal you might be more consistent and so the overall weekly calories end up lower overall.

Beyond that, have you experimented with meal timing and macros? I know people say that eating lots of small meals is better for hunger but for me the opposite is true: I do much better with 3 larger and more satisfying meals. Some people even do better with 2 or 1 (I would find it hard to keep my protein and veg where I want them with fewer meals, but everyone is different).

Similarly, your macros look like they would be satiating, but people differ, and I find that satisfaction (am I eating a way I enjoy) matters more than just not being hungry. For example, I am not hungry ever on a low fat diet, but I find I am not satisfied and eventually end up blowing it. On a higher fat diet (even just 30%, so not higher than yours necessarily), I tend to be able to eat more like how I enjoy and just feel more satisfied overall. Related to this, protein is filling for me, but too much protein tends for me not to be as satisfying, because I have to cut down on fat or carbs. I tend to do better on more balanced macros with around 100 g of protein and then either more carbs or more fat (I've tried both 40%-45% carbs and 40%-45% fat (the other reduces accordingly), and both of those seem to work for me, but people are different). Point is just that you might want to experiment.