Will my extreme hunger go away?

2

Replies

  • Tolstolobik
    Tolstolobik Posts: 78 Member
    psychod787 wrote: »
    PAV8888 wrote: »

    But on the other hand knowing that what she's feeling is a normal reaction and that some time eating at a normal maintenance diet will go a long way towards alleviating the intensity of what she's feeling may give her enough hope to stay the course of eating as close to maintenance as possible so that she can retain most of her loss as opposed to giving up in despair.



    This^. I have reached maintenance at the end of last year. Since raising my calories (mind you I was eating at a very moderate deficit while losing fat) my body (hormones?) don't know what satiety is. Most days I am white-knuckling hunger. I am constantly trying to find most-satiating foods/combinations. I do get reprieve now and again...but most of the time I am food focused. I wish I was never overweight and that my body didn't fight me to go back to the weight I was from about the age 15 thorough mid 30-ies. The struggle is real!

    Well... I think we all wish were not obese or overweight, but it is what it is. My intention was not to promote disrepair to OP, just the reality for some of us currently. Will things improve? Who knows? Will I give up? Hell no! OP, give it hell! I an pulling for you.

    We'll keep on fighting!
  • staticsplit
    staticsplit Posts: 538 Member
    Interesting additional insight, all.
  • Tolstolobik
    Tolstolobik Posts: 78 Member
    zefanyya wrote: »
    Thank you all for the support! I will try to maintain at maintenance levels! U guys have been a great help!
    Great plan Zephaniah! One day at a time! Some days will be challenging and some days will be a walk in the park. On days when hunger is not extreme I bank a few exercise calories (I walk for exercise and couple of days a week I challenge my muscles a bit with resistance exercises, push ups/squats type of thing) for special occasions/weekends. You are not alone!
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,255 Member
    everyone gave great advise & insight, it helped me too. I'd just like to share one thing...sometimes, like tonight I'm extra hungry so I volume eat. I cut up a large amount of lettuce & chopped up a ground chuck patty, added cheese, olives, onions, one egg & zero calorie dressing. I got so full but not a lot of calories. You can do this with veggies too. There's a volume eater's thread on here that gives me ideas
  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    When I feel hungry and it is outside of my usual meal times, I first try to find out if I am actually "hungry" or "thirsty". Usually a good cuppa will do the trick.
  • zefanyya
    zefanyya Posts: 9 Member
    @Cahgetsfit i am feeling this too. Yesterday i just had a massive binge. I dont know if its my starvation talking or if it is just me emotional eating. Its caused me great depression. I havent been weighing myself at all since the beginning of the weight loss and dont know if i should actually.
  • zefanyya
    zefanyya Posts: 9 Member
    Its like my cravings for the things that i’ve restricted in the past are so high now. Its begining to scare me
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,913 Member
    HotFrieZ wrote: »
    I have been through this too. Took me a LONG time to get over. I spent years restricting and then binging. I was lucky enough to maintain a normal weight despite these habits. Anyway, I did a couple things that helped me get over it. 1. I upped my maintenance calories. Most calculators tell me I maintain about 200-500 lower than I actually do. 2. I upped my fat intake. 3. I stopped freaking out if I went over by 100-400 calories here and there. True maintenance should be flexible. You will have hungry days but then you’ll have the opposite eventually once you are out of that initial phase of getting over the restriction.

    I recommend reading up on intuitive eating and using some of those principles to help guide you. I know I may get burned at the stake for this, but I think combining intuitive eating and tracking can be a really good combination for weight maintenance. For example, if I’m truly hungry, I’m going to let myself eat something. However, with the knowledge you gain from tracking, you can say to yourself, sure that cupcake sounds good right now but I already had one today and it didn’t really fill me up. And it was a lot of calories and sugar (which is fine to eat but it’s good to find balance). Maybe I’ll try some fruit and yogurt instead.

    I also think the calories in some foods aren’t intuitive, like olive oil, caloric drinks, etc. Do I still have these things? Sure but I’m not naively thinking that olive oil doesn’t count and using 500 cals worth of it to sautéed veggies.

    I spent months at the beginning eating a little over maintenance to get over the restriction and gained maybe 3 lbs that eventually went away. I had to get it though my head that going over by a little to feel satisfied was way better than binging. And then from there I slowly became less crazy around food and didn’t feel like a bottomless pit anymore. I’m not perfect, but I’ve maintained a healthy weight for over 2 years with relative ease after all of that. Good luck! Combine the knowledge you are getting from your body with the knowledge in your brain and you will be good.

    thank you!
  • MadisonMolly2017
    MadisonMolly2017 Posts: 10,863 Member
    HotFrieZ wrote: »
    I have been through this too. Took me a LONG time to get over. I spent years restricting and then binging. I was lucky enough to maintain a normal weight despite these habits. Anyway, I did a couple things that helped me get over it. 1. I upped my maintenance calories. Most calculators tell me I maintain about 200-500 lower than I actually do. 2. I upped my fat intake. 3. I stopped freaking out if I went over by 100-400 calories here and there. True maintenance should be flexible. You will have hungry days but then you’ll have the opposite eventually once you are out of that initial phase of getting over the restriction.

    I recommend reading up on intuitive eating and using some of those principles to help guide you. I know I may get burned at the stake for this, but I think combining intuitive eating and tracking can be a really good combination for weight maintenance. For example, if I’m truly hungry, I’m going to let myself eat something. However, with the knowledge you gain from tracking, you can say to yourself, sure that cupcake sounds good right now but I already had one today and it didn’t really fill me up. And it was a lot of calories and sugar (which is fine to eat but it’s good to find balance). Maybe I’ll try some fruit and yogurt instead.

    I also think the calories in some foods aren’t intuitive, like olive oil, caloric drinks, etc. Do I still have these things? Sure but I’m not naively thinking that olive oil doesn’t count and using 500 cals worth of it to sautéed veggies.

    I spent months at the beginning eating a little over maintenance to get over the restriction and gained maybe 3 lbs that eventually went away. I had to get it though my head that going over by a little to feel satisfied was way better than binging. And then from there I slowly became less crazy around food and didn’t feel like a bottomless pit anymore. I’m not perfect, but I’ve maintained a healthy weight for over 2 years with relative ease after all of that. Good luck! Combine the knowledge you are getting from your body with the knowledge in your brain and you will be good.

    @HotFrieZ
    This, and many of the other posts, are SUCH important posts!

    Essential info for folks, like me, who are slowly moving into that quasi last few pounds-maintenance land.

    I lost weight with a small daily deficit, mostly created by part of my exercise burn & the other part I ate! 😂

    I never thought I could lose on so many calories, but I could if I accepted slow weight loss (Max 1lb per week) over 40 months - 75 lbs - early 60’s.

    I also have had my macros 40F/40-45C/15-20P for most of my journey. Curbs the hunger pains.

    Thank you again. I will refer to this post often as I venture forward.