Will my extreme hunger go away?

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Replies

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,348 Member
    edited April 2019
    I experience the ravenous hunger pretty frequently in maintenance, especially when eating more. I don't know how to get rid of it entirely, but I have experimented a bit and I know what makes it worse.

    Carbs and anything sweet (even erythritol) make it much, much worse. So does dehydration, stress, and working out early in the day.

    I've developed a weird system of intermittent fasting (which I'm not recommending, necessarily, but might be helpful), breaking the fast with a homemade protein shake, then keeping busy for at least an hour to let that set in (post-gym shower, laundry) before I eat dinner. If I stick to this, it really works.

    I also have found that alcohol or any other inhibition-lowering substance will make overeating inevitable and is a no-go. Even once starts a cycle that takes a lot of effort to break.

    are you using a weight trend application? What weight range are you using in maintenance?

    In my experience there is a bit of elasticity between maintaining pushing towards weight loss and maintaining pushing towards weight gain. In my case it could be as much as a couple of hundred calories a day (with a TDEE of >2900)

    Have you tried maybe "reverse dieting" by adding a few calories?

    But yes, pre-eating while cooking (i.e. not waiting till dinner to start eating) works for me too! As does loading most (about 60%) of my calories into the evening hours! Actually the eat an apple 20-30 minutes before my meal trick used to work quite well... and still does when I employ it.
  • lunchboxchuck
    lunchboxchuck Posts: 46 Member
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    I experience the ravenous hunger pretty frequently in maintenance, especially when eating more. I don't know how to get rid of it entirely, but I have experimented a bit and I know what makes it worse.

    Carbs and anything sweet (even erythritol) make it much, much worse. So does dehydration, stress, and working out early in the day.

    I've developed a weird system of intermittent fasting (which I'm not recommending, necessarily, but might be helpful), breaking the fast with a homemade protein shake, then keeping busy for at least an hour to let that set in (post-gym shower, laundry) before I eat dinner. If I stick to this, it really works.

    I also have found that alcohol or any other inhibition-lowering substance will make overeating inevitable and is a no-go. Even once starts a cycle that takes a lot of effort to break.

    are you using a weight trend application? What weight range are you using in maintenance?

    In my experience there is a bit of elasticity between maintaining pushing towards weight loss and maintaining pushing towards weight gain. In my case it could be as much as a couple of hundred calories a day (with a TDEE of >2900)

    Have you tried maybe "reverse dieting" by adding a few calories?

    But yes, pre-eating while cooking (i.e. not waiting till dinner to start eating) works for me too! As does loading most (about 60%) of my calories into the evening hours! Actually the eat an apple 20-30 minutes before my meal trick used to work quite well... and still does when I employ it.

    I'm just using Myfitnesspal's recommended calories to lose about 10 more pounds; however, I consider myself in maintenance because I've plateaued weight-wise, while losing inches. I'm a healthy weight (female, 36, 5'7, 144) and looking a little gaunt up top but still have thick legs, hence the high weight.

    I added an extra 200-300 calories over the MFP recommended a couple weeks ago, and that really kicked the hunger up and I also gained a couple pounds (despite measuring and tracking honestly). If I ate my TDEE by any estimate I've calculated online, I would gain for sure. I logged a regular day before I got serious this time, and it wasn't even that crazy (maybe Schrodinger's cat at work, though). But quitting the weekend drinking cut a whole day's worth of calories out per week, so there's that, too. And now that I have lost weight, I know my TDEE is much lower. Plus I'm aging! Boo.

    I am sort of resigned to eating what MFP thinks is weight loss to maintain this size in perpetuity. I put on weight extremely easily and even at my highest weight, was the thinnest person in my family. I was overweight by 6 years old. I don't really mind, though. When I get super hungry, it's sort of a marvel that my body is working, and I seem to have cracked the code after years of yo yo this time with the IF. The thought of eating before 6 pm is kind of gross to me now. I don't get hungry until I start eating, so I game myself by narrowing that window.
  • MadisonMolly2017
    MadisonMolly2017 Posts: 10,863 Member
    This thread. I’m learning more than I have in a year.
    THANK YOU!

    My tricks (in case they help others):

    Large breakfast
    Don’t let deficit get below 400cal at any point in day.
    Water
    Late afternoon/early evening hike min 60 mins.
    4 eating times per day.
    BF L 1/2D other1/2D
    Fiber Very High
    Sodium
    Low
    Sugar low
    Protein 15%-20% daily cals.
    Fat high 40% cals
    sat fat about 25g)

    Distraction yes! Making Art, decluttering, MFP (!), organizing art supplies, making color swatches, etc watching how-to art videos. Doing my PT. Some tv.

    Remembering how far we’ve come.#gratefulness

    Agree re: fatigue, stress...

  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    I experience the ravenous hunger pretty frequently in maintenance, especially when eating more. I don't know how to get rid of it entirely, but I have experimented a bit and I know what makes it worse.

    Carbs and anything sweet (even erythritol) make it much, much worse. So does dehydration, stress, and working out early in the day.

    I've developed a weird system of intermittent fasting (which I'm not recommending, necessarily, but might be helpful), breaking the fast with a homemade protein shake, then keeping busy for at least an hour to let that set in (post-gym shower, laundry) before I eat dinner. If I stick to this, it really works.

    I also have found that alcohol or any other inhibition-lowering substance will make overeating inevitable and is a no-go. Even once starts a cycle that takes a lot of effort to break.

    are you using a weight trend application? What weight range are you using in maintenance?

    In my experience there is a bit of elasticity between maintaining pushing towards weight loss and maintaining pushing towards weight gain. In my case it could be as much as a couple of hundred calories a day (with a TDEE of >2900)

    Have you tried maybe "reverse dieting" by adding a few calories?

    But yes, pre-eating while cooking (i.e. not waiting till dinner to start eating) works for me too! As does loading most (about 60%) of my calories into the evening hours! Actually the eat an apple 20-30 minutes before my meal trick used to work quite well... and still does when I employ it.

    I'm just using Myfitnesspal's recommended calories to lose about 10 more pounds; however, I consider myself in maintenance because I've plateaued weight-wise, while losing inches. I'm a healthy weight (female, 36, 5'7, 144) and looking a little gaunt up top but still have thick legs, hence the high weight.

    I added an extra 200-300 calories over the MFP recommended a couple weeks ago, and that really kicked the hunger up and I also gained a couple pounds (despite measuring and tracking honestly). If I ate my TDEE by any estimate I've calculated online, I would gain for sure. I logged a regular day before I got serious this time, and it wasn't even that crazy (maybe Schrodinger's cat at work, though). But quitting the weekend drinking cut a whole day's worth of calories out per week, so there's that, too. And now that I have lost weight, I know my TDEE is much lower. Plus I'm aging! Boo.

    I am sort of resigned to eating what MFP thinks is weight loss to maintain this size in perpetuity. I put on weight extremely easily and even at my highest weight, was the thinnest person in my family. I was overweight by 6 years old. I don't really mind, though. When I get super hungry, it's sort of a marvel that my body is working, and I seem to have cracked the code after years of yo yo this time with the IF. The thought of eating before 6 pm is kind of gross to me now. I don't get hungry until I start eating, so I game myself by narrowing that window.

    I think mfp might not be that far off. The error is with us. If you are estimating your food and not weighing and measuring, studies show an error rate of 35% or so. Even weighing and measuring you can be off my 5-20%. Food labels can have an be off by up to 20%. Whole foods may have different amounts of calories. Our loging might be off. Say you have an estimated tdee of 2000 cals. Let's just take a 10% error rate. You could be up to 2200 a day. What I have an idea about is consistancy.
  • rosiorama
    rosiorama Posts: 300 Member
    This is such a great thread! It’s good to hear that I’m not alone in struggling with hunger when eating around maintenance. I love all the tips offered here, and commonalities.

    I’m not quite at my goal weight, but most days I’m happy where I am - on other days I wonder about losing another 5. I just figure I’m learning about maintaining while I split days between a modest deficit and maintaining calories.

    Thanks all for sharing!

  • MadisonMolly2017
    MadisonMolly2017 Posts: 10,863 Member
    rosiorama wrote: »
    This is such a great thread! It’s good to hear that I’m not alone in struggling with hunger when eating around maintenance. I love all the tips offered here, and commonalities.

    I’m not quite at my goal weight, but most days I’m happy where I am - on other days I wonder about losing another 5. I just figure I’m learning about maintaining while I split days between a modest deficit and maintaining calories.

    Thanks all for sharing!

    @rosiorama I’m in exactly the same spot!
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
    edited April 2019
    While not completely on par with this topic, but it is something I am working on.
    https://youtu.be/RCdkZAkYhks