eating more is making me hungry

CarvedTones

I was eating way too little when i first joined mfp and started tracking. I gained a lot of the weight I am losing from bingeing and when I flipped the switch to diet mode, I started by pretty much starving myself in September and October. So I have two polar opposite eating disorders that I have flipped between several times as I have yoyoed over the years.

I have been working on getting back into the healthy range and have been eating ~1500 calories a day for over a week now. I have become convinced that I need to lose the rest of the weight slower to have much chance of breaking my cycle.

The odd thing is that when I was eating way too little, I didn't feel hungry most of the time. I had killed my appetite. I am taking one med that has a side effect of diminished appetite that plays into it.

Once I was convinced to ramp it up I started allowing myself treats that I had cut out completely before and I think some of the sweets are to blame for the hunger. I had a fun size Baby Ruth and a Hershey's Nugget a little while ago and I enjoyed them but now I am hungrier than I was before I ate them.

I turn 59 later this month, 5' 8.5", currently 182 aiming for under 165. I am somewhere between sedentary and lightly active. My rate of loss during the unhealthy stretch stayed pretty consistent and pretty much in line with calculations so my metabolism seems unaffected by that. I did lose more lean body mass than i would like, though.

I don't want to go back to denying myself treats, but I may have gone overboard in introducing them to push my calories up. I think I need to eat more rounded meals. I am also playing with fire eating certain treats that I have binge history with, but my resolve is holding up pretty well so far. there are a few specific items that I will not eat again though.

I welcome any feedback on how you are able to indulge a little without feeling hungrier. In the back of my mind I have some concern that the hunger may be a latent binge urge rather than a physical hunger, if that makes any sense.

leggup

1,500 calories is the bare minimum for a man, so you are NOT eating at a rate for slow loss; you're eating at the most extreme end. It's 1,200 minimum for women, 1,500 minimum for men.

You have 17 lbs left to lose to achieve your goal of 165 lbs. You should have your MFP goal set to no more than 1 lb/week. Generally, once you have fewer than 20 lbs to lose it's better to do .5-.75 lbs/week. Losing 1 lb/week is probably about 1,600 calories for you. I would look at the difference between 1 lb and .5 lb and perhaps pick a goal that cuts the difference. That will likely be around 1,700-1,800 calories, which should give you more room for treats.

Pre-log all your food. Even if you have to adjust your portions during the day, it will help you figure out how many calories from treats can be worked in without having a day of chocolate every day. About once a month I would say that most of my calories for the day come from alcohol (YIKES). However, on a day-to-day, I try to leave myself 150-300 calories for treats. I don't always end up deciding on eating them. I'll often save 200 calories for 4 squares of dark chocolate only to feel more in the mood for some toast with cinnamon and butter. Feeling like I have the option to 'indulge' was a game changer for me.

CarvedTones

According to the calorie calculator I used, I would have to limit myself to less than 1500 to lose a pound a week, so 1500 is a level to lose less than a pound a week. Not much under a pound, but under. I pre log lunch a lot, but it can be harder with dinner. On every one of the last several days, the last thing I have is a snack chosen to use up what's left so I don't fall short. Ice cream with pecans works well because I can vary the amount of either to hit the count. I don't have a problem making room for snacks; I have a problem with snacks making me hungry.

leggup

CarvedTones wrote: »

According to the calorie calculator I used, I would have to limit myself to less than 1500 to lose a pound a week, so 1500 is a level to lose less than a pound a week. Not much under a pound, but under. I pre log lunch a lot, but it can be harder with dinner. On every one of the last several days, the last thing I have is a snack chosen to use up what's left so I don't fall short. Ice cream with pecans works well because I can vary the amount of either to hit the count. I don't have a problem making room for snacks; I have a problem with snacks making me hungry.

What does MFP's calculator say?

CarvedTones

leggup wrote: »

CarvedTones wrote: »

According to the calorie calculator I used, I would have to limit myself to less than 1500 to lose a pound a week, so 1500 is a level to lose less than a pound a week. Not much under a pound, but under. I pre log lunch a lot, but it can be harder with dinner. On every one of the last several days, the last thing I have is a snack chosen to use up what's left so I don't fall short. Ice cream with pecans works well because I can vary the amount of either to hit the count. I don't have a problem making room for snacks; I have a problem with snacks making me hungry.

What does MFP's calculator say?

Set at 1 pound it says to net 1520. So there is some variance but not a lot. I am not sure you understand how hard it was/is to work through my paranoia about eating more to get to this level. I won't go higher until I have lost some weight so I believe I will make progress eating this much.

CarvedTones

September was a lot like October, when I joined mfp and started tracking. I have been working on bringing the calories up to a healthy level for a few weeks.

AliceDark

Appetite is really variable. My experience has been generally that when I up my calories, I'll feel hungrier for about a week or so and then it seems to stabilize. (I also tend to feel less hungry for at least a couple of weeks when I cut my calories). I would be patient and wait for your appetite to adjust if you can stand it, but I'd also focus on incorporating foods that are more filling in the meantime. Maybe looking into volume eating might be a good idea for you? (Not sure if this would be a trigger for bingeing for you). If you can find treats that allow you to eat a larger volume of food (things like popcorn, or maybe fruit with light whipped cream), that might help you feel less hungry.

cwolfman13

Hunger is hormone driven...when you underfeed, you down turn a lot of hormones, including hunger hormones...this is how anorexics can claim to be not hungry eating very little...they're not lying...they're hormones are out of wack.

When you start eating more, you start to up turn those hormones and bring them back to where they should be. This hunger is temporary in my experience. I had the same thing happen when I went to maintenance...started eating more and was ravenous for a couple of weeks.

This is also why I tell everyone to relax when they're worried they'll never be able to eat maintenance because they're "full" on so little...don't worry...start eating more, and the hunger will come as you re-regulate your hormones.

cmriverside

Both of the last two posts are exactly how it worked for me, too. (AliceDark and cwolfman)

...and yeah sugary things makes me want to eat more.

CarvedTones

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Hunger is hormone driven...when you underfeed, you down turn a lot of hormones, including hunger hormones...this is how anorexics can claim to be not hungry eating very little...they're not lying...they're hormones are out of wack.

When you start eating more, you start to up turn those hormones and bring them back to where they should be. This hunger is temporary in my experience. I had the same thing happen when I went to maintenance...started eating more and was ravenous for a couple of weeks.

This is also why I tell everyone to relax when they're worried they'll never be able to eat maintenance because they're "full" on so little...don't worry...start eating more, and the hunger will come as you re-regulate your hormones.

I know about killing hunger by eating too little. If you look at my October entries, and even early November, you will see I know more about that than is healthy. I am not anorexic; I have a history of binge eating. The classic binge eating yoyo cycle is to stop the urge to binge by killing hunger with under eating. The weight drops to the set goal and I try to eat normally again and end up binge eating. I think that's why feeling hungry while I am still trying to lose worries me. Starving to keep from being hungry is not a sustainable solution to keep the binge urge at bay. I am trying to break this stupid cycle by eating more normally before I get to goal when the urge is countered by the strong desire to get to the goal. I know if I give in and under eat to get there I am far more likely to binge again. I just wish I didn't feel the hunger while trying to adjust to this. I know even 1500 isn't "normal" and won't be what my maintenance level will be, but I have to make progress to keep from giving up and giving in. I am an adult; I should be able to be in charge of this instead of some stupid urge and paranoia that is all in my head. It's not that simple.

mjmcfo

I’m with you. It seems for me the more I work out the more I want to eat and unfortunately it’s not always good eating. But too much of good food is bad too! So I’m just trying to get a handle on this hunger. I’m up 10lbs in 7months. I don’t want to continue this trend, I should be going the other way on the scale. Now instead of having only 15 lbs to goal I’m at 25. Not happy!

jsminer827

While we have a different set of circumstances, I find that processed carbs make me hungrier and I find that I have less resolve with each passing day if I give into the temptation even once. I usually pre-log everything and thinking about the treat that I am going to have after dinner or in the afternoon before I hit the gym (usually something carb-ey) can usually sustain my self-control. The key afterwards is to be busy...

Sometimes I know that I'm not going to be satisfied with a single fun-sized snickers and so I have also worked to find things that are enjoyable and sweet or salty or whatever the craving might be which are lower calorie... for example, I often substitute a chocolate covered granola bar in place of the snickers which means I basically get to eat a full size candy bar with the same calories as the fun size candy bar which means I am filling up on somthing at least slightly more nutritious to try and stave off the effect of the sugary processed carb that I really wanted.

It's a tough row to hoe, I binged myself to unhealthy proportions and trying to unlearn that behavior has been a big struggle for me. Especially during this season of excess... I have had some stumbles, but I'm doing everything I can to reward myself without busting the gains I've worked so hard for in the last six months.

Not sure any of this helps... but I can commiserate and I'm always looking for something that will work for me too.