Ten Days in and I'm Very Hungry

AlyssaBicking

Hi all,

I started this calorie deficit ten days ago and up until today I've been doing pretty well, but today I've just been so hungry I can hardly stand it!

How have you helped yourself though the hunger of eating at a deficit?

Thank you, rockstars!

- A

AnnPT77

For me, by:

* not trying to lose weight too fast (like no more than 0.5%-1% of current weight per week, preferably toward the lower end of that)
* eating back my exercise calories, or at least a fair fraction of them, unless the amount is truly trivial
* figuring what foods, nutrients, or eating timing helped me best manage my appetite - by experimenting and noticing the results (I think the right formula is different for everyone).

It's kind of normal to be hungry sometimes in the first couple of weeks. That's partly because habit has an influence on appetite, and we're trying to change habits; and partly because we're still working on dialing in some of the above.

We need to eat fewer calories than before in order to lose weight (whether we do that by counting those calories or not). But we also need to find a routine we personally can live with reasonably happily for long enough to actually lose a meaningful total amount.

It's a bit of a balancing act, but you can figure it out!

P.S. If it's a rare extra-hungry day, just eat a bit more. If you estimate how many calories you could eat and maintain your current weight, that's a useful number to know. If you have an unusual hungry day, you can eat anywhere below that estimate, and expect to either lose weight, or at least not regain any. If eating a bit more occasionally helps you stay the course, that can be worth it.

Best wishes!

springlering62

I’d add to Ann’s excellent synopsis:

drink something

Our bodies can mistake dehydration as hunger cues. Have a glass of water, wait ten minutes, and determine if you’re still hungry or not.

If you’ve added exercise to your daily plan, make sure you’re drinking enough to replace the hydration lost through sweating and breathing heavier than normal.

cmriverside

I agree that the biggest problem(s) are the fact that you've likely cut your intake from 3000+ to something less than 1800, and your hormones and habits haven't caught up yet. They will. Every time I go to weight loss mode I experience this at first.

I also agree that a lot of people go at it too hard. Eat your exercise calories. Don't choose "Sedentary" as your Activity Level. Almost everyone is at least "Lightly Active" if they have any kind of job (yes, even work from home) or take care of a house or go to school. "Sedentary" gives you the absolute lowest calories. Faster is not better. S/he who loses weight and gets the most food wins. Truly. It's not a race, eating too little WILL cause lack of adherence and may cause you to just give up.

When/if you fall off the plan and have a day where you eat all the food, just get back at it the next day. Log it. All you've done is delay your weight loss goal, it's not a failure.

csplatt

when that happens to me, i eat maintenance calories for that day then return to the deficit the following

Retroguy2000

How big a deficit are you aiming for, and how much were you consuming before vs now?

It sounds like your body is having a shock to the system with a sudden change. It's not a race. It's OK to eat around maintenance for a day or two if you want. It's what you do on the majority of days that really counts, and this process is about building sustainable habits.

You've also chosen a tough time of year to do this. A very smart doctor on YT (BioLayne channel) recommends not dieting at this time of year, but rather setting your goal to not gain weight in the six weeks from Thanksgiving to New Year, which is when the average person gains about half of their typical annual gain.

Protein and fiber are filling. Go for that first if you can. Drink more water. Go for a casual walk.

AZAlyssa

I'm experiencing the same, particularly at night. A review of my foods told me I'm not eating enough non-starchy vegetables throughout the day, which leads me to not feel full -- despite eating healthful foods otherwise. Volume eating helps me tremendously in avoiding being over-hungry.