Still hungry? What do you do?
mobowles33
Posts: 3 Member
I've planned my meals and snacks for the day, calculated the calories, and I'm 100 calories under my max for the day. My question is, what do you guys do when you're at your calorie limit but you're legit hungry? As in, you're not head hungry but stomach growling, almost nauseous kind of hunger...suggestions? Advice? Tough love?
0
Replies
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Eat something that will be satisfying. Not chips or cookies. Try to eat something that is 100 calories but it’s ok to occasionally go over calories. In future try to exercise to have extra calories.1
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if you have been consistent lately, eat at maintenance for the day.2
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I eat something, ideally something nutritious, filling and calorie-efficient (not necessarily ultra low calorie).
Going forward, I'd encourage you to get an estimate of the calorie level at which you'd maintain your current weight. (I know that's not your intention!) You can get that by altering your MFP settings temporarily then changing them back after you have the estimate, or you can use a TDEE calculator like this one:
https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/
(That one looks scary at first, but you'll find it easy to use if you step through it methodically; and it gives much more nuanced and complete information compared to other TDEE calculators.)
When have an estimate of your current maintenance calories, that gives the useful knowledge that any time you eat below that number of calories, you can expect to lose some fat, just a bit more slowly than if you stayed within your weight loss calorie goal.
Especially early on, when you're still working out how to stay reasonably full and happy on reduced calories, it can be better to eat a little more when extra hungry, rather than white-knuckling it through and maybe triggering a later over-eating episode or even eventually giving up altogether because it's Just Too Hard.
As another thought, if super hungry, it may be worth considering whether your current weight loss rate target is too aggressive. Many people arrive here with a "lose weight fast" mentality, but if a person has a meaningful total amount of weight to lose, even fast loss will take weeks to months, maybe even a small number of years.
In my mind, that puts a priority on following a personally sustainable calorie goal and eating/activity routine. A moderate weight loss rate is likely to get us to goal weight in less calendar time than a super-fast target loss rate that results in bouts of deprivation-triggered over-eating, breaks in the action, or maybe even giving up altogether.
A common suggestion here is to keep weight loss rate in the range of 0.5%-1% of current weight per week (with a bias toward the slower end unless severely obese and under close medical supervision for deficiencies or complications), and to cut calories no more than 20% below maintenance calories. Slower is fine, too, if it makes the process more achievable.
If you're new to cutting calories (this round, anyway), I'll mention that the first couple of weeks can be a little more difficult for some of us: Our body is used to certain eating habits, and will tend to get hungry at usual eating/snack time. After a couple of weeks-ish, if the routine is right, that should settle down.
It's also a good idea to notice which days you feel more (or less) hungry, review your food/activity that day and the previous one, and think about why that day may be different. Figuring that out can help you revise your plan going forward, to feel more full more of the time.
This can be subtle: Sometimes the situation is from what we've eaten (or not eaten, since sub-par nutrition can trigger hunger pangs). Timing of eating meals/snacks or particular foods/nutrients can also matter. It can also be about sleep or stress, in that poor sleep or high stress can spike appetite through fatigue. (A fatigued body seeks energy, i.e., food.) Some people even find that some kinds of exercise increase appetite, either the same day or even the next day. Emotions, boredom or habits can also influence hunger. By paying attention, you can refine your plan, and make things easier for yourself.
Best wishes for success!
P.S. For context, I've been on MFP for going on 9 years, just under a year to lose 50-some pounds, and maintaining a healthy weight since. Comments above are based on that experience, plus learning a lot from other people here in the Community.5 -
May I ask how big of a deficit you are striving for? How quickly did you tell the MyFitnessPal guided set-up you want to lose?
Is it possible that your goal is too aggressive?
One good thing you can do if you log honestly and COMPLETELY is get a sense of what kinds of foods are calorie heavy and what kinds of foods help you feel full and stay feeling full. You can make notes about that. As you work slowly towards your goals, you can improve on your food selection to find a way of eating that provides adequate nutrition and makes you feel good!
Your diary isn't open, so nobody can see what you've been eating. You'll have to do the analysis yourself if you leave your diary closed.0 -
Water 💦1
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I eat something, ideally something nutritious, filling and calorie-efficient (not necessarily ultra low calorie).
Going forward, I'd encourage you to get an estimate of the calorie level at which you'd maintain your current weight. (I know that's not your intention!) You can get that by altering your MFP settings temporarily then changing them back after you have the estimate, or you can use a TDEE calculator like this one:
https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/
(That one looks scary at first, but you'll find it easy to use if you step through it methodically; and it gives much more nuanced and complete information compared to other TDEE calculators.)
When have an estimate of your current maintenance calories, that gives the useful knowledge that any time you eat below that number of calories, you can expect to lose some fat, just a bit more slowly than if you stayed within your weight loss calorie goal.
Especially early on, when you're still working out how to stay reasonably full and happy on reduced calories, it can be better to eat a little more when extra hungry, rather than white-knuckling it through and maybe triggering a later over-eating episode or even eventually giving up altogether because it's Just Too Hard.
As another thought, if super hungry, it may be worth considering whether your current weight loss rate target is too aggressive. Many people arrive here with a "lose weight fast" mentality, but if a person has a meaningful total amount of weight to lose, even fast loss will take weeks to months, maybe even a small number of years.
In my mind, that puts a priority on following a personally sustainable calorie goal and eating/activity routine. A moderate weight loss rate is likely to get us to goal weight in less calendar time than a super-fast target loss rate that results in bouts of deprivation-triggered over-eating, breaks in the action, or maybe even giving up altogether.
A common suggestion here is to keep weight loss rate in the range of 0.5%-1% of current weight per week (with a bias toward the slower end unless severely obese and under close medical supervision for deficiencies or complications), and to cut calories no more than 20% below maintenance calories. Slower is fine, too, if it makes the process more achievable.
If you're new to cutting calories (this round, anyway), I'll mention that the first couple of weeks can be a little more difficult for some of us: Our body is used to certain eating habits, and will tend to get hungry at usual eating/snack time. After a couple of weeks-ish, if the routine is right, that should settle down.
It's also a good idea to notice which days you feel more (or less) hungry, review your food/activity that day and the previous one, and think about why that day may be different. Figuring that out can help you revise your plan going forward, to feel more full more of the time.
This can be subtle: Sometimes the situation is from what we've eaten (or not eaten, since sub-par nutrition can trigger hunger pangs). Timing of eating meals/snacks or particular foods/nutrients can also matter. It can also be about sleep or stress, in that poor sleep or high stress can spike appetite through fatigue. (A fatigued body seeks energy, i.e., food.) Some people even find that some kinds of exercise increase appetite, either the same day or even the next day. Emotions, boredom or habits can also influence hunger. By paying attention, you can refine your plan, and make things easier for yourself.
Best wishes for success!
P.S. For context, I've been on MFP for going on 9 years, just under a year to lose 50-some pounds, and maintaining a healthy weight since. Comments above are based on that experience, plus learning a lot from other people here in the Community.
Thank you so so much! I think my biggest problem is figuring out which foods will sit longer on my stomach verses those that have the same calorie count but do absolutely nothing for me. Most days I'm absolutely fine while others are more of a struggle. I'm glad you mentioned fatigue being a factor because I was feeling quite a bit run down yesterday. I appreciate the help and guidance more than you know1 -
May I ask how big of a deficit you are striving for? How quickly did you tell the MyFitnessPal guided set-up you want to lose?
Is it possible that your goal is too aggressive?
One good thing you can do if you log honestly and COMPLETELY is get a sense of what kinds of foods are calorie heavy and what kinds of foods help you feel full and stay feeling full. You can make notes about that. As you work slowly towards your goals, you can improve on your food selection to find a way of eating that provides adequate nutrition and makes you feel good!
Your diary isn't open, so nobody can see what you've been eating. You'll have to do the analysis yourself if you leave your diary closed.
It's entirely possible my goal may be aggressive. I had a gastric sleeve back in 2019. I lost more weight before my procedure than I ever did after. I followed my plan to the letter and lost 14 pounds the first month, 11 the month after, and no more after that. I went back to my surgeon for help and was met with a stern lecture by the dietician, told it was entirely my fault, and sent home. No advice, nothing. Then I had some traumatizing life events and gave up....which brought me back to square one. This time around, I really just went back to the original calorie goal that my old family doctor had put me on and it's not terrible, but 5 years later....it's definitely harder this time around. Not impossible though! I know I can do this, I just feel like I'm re-learning everything1 -
mobowles33 wrote: »I've planned my meals and snacks for the day, calculated the calories, and I'm 100 calories under my max for the day. My question is, what do you guys do when you're at your calorie limit but you're legit hungry? As in, you're not head hungry but stomach growling, almost nauseous kind of hunger...suggestions? Advice? Tough love?
First, I would take care of the hunger. Eat something nutritious and log it. Exercising some helps too if the hunger is really disguised carb cravings. To me, going over my calories for a day or two is less of a concern then that I might get hungry enough to cram a bunch of not so good snacks in my mouth. Then I would try to figure out how I managed to let myself get so hungry in the first place. Was I more active than normal lately? Did I eat something that set off cravings? Had I not been eating enough to fuel my energy expenditure? If I can identify the cause it can be guarded against in the future. Otherwise I just try to keep on my eating plan as long as that plan has been working.
I don't like being hungry so I try not to reach that point. It still happens, but it makes losing weight much harder then it needs to be. Life events come along and make it hard on us too.
Good luck!2 -
Tea with a little honey/ Warm water/ a bowl of brocolli with some sauerkraut helped recently.
You may need to consider increasing your daily calories, I had to and it worked out pretty good for me.1 -
First time around, I stuck hard and fast to the aggressive 1200 calories MFP gave me. It didn't matter if I burned extra calories, I figured 1200 was it. I lost 35 pounds pretty quickly, but was sooo hungry.
And I've gained it all back.
So this time I made my MFP goal less aggressive. I know now that my maintenance calories intake is around 1800 if I don't move at all during the day, but because I exercise 30 minutes a day and walk a lot naturally (at least 9,000-12,000 steps) my daily calorie burn is around 2600 calories. So clearly 1200 was WAY too low for me. Now I know better. And now as I'm losing at a more reasonable rate, I'm never hungry. Or if I am, I eat and fix it while still staying within my goals.
Take a look at what you are actually burning. At some point you can calculate this based on how fast you are losing weight. Or get an apple watch, it will straight up tell you (seems pretty accurate based on my findings).
Also, find the foods that make your tummy happy. I find fat (like avocados) and lots of protein make me feel good, plus lots of veggies for volume.
Hope that helps.
3 -
Eat steamed vegetable of your choice.. A cup of broccoli is 30 calories.. a cup of celery cut is 14 calories. You most likely know the answer to your question.. if you think about it..0
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mobowles33 wrote: »I eat something, ideally something nutritious, filling and calorie-efficient (not necessarily ultra low calorie).
Going forward, I'd encourage you to get an estimate of the calorie level at which you'd maintain your current weight. (I know that's not your intention!) You can get that by altering your MFP settings temporarily then changing them back after you have the estimate, or you can use a TDEE calculator like this one:
https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/
(That one looks scary at first, but you'll find it easy to use if you step through it methodically; and it gives much more nuanced and complete information compared to other TDEE calculators.)
When have an estimate of your current maintenance calories, that gives the useful knowledge that any time you eat below that number of calories, you can expect to lose some fat, just a bit more slowly than if you stayed within your weight loss calorie goal.
Especially early on, when you're still working out how to stay reasonably full and happy on reduced calories, it can be better to eat a little more when extra hungry, rather than white-knuckling it through and maybe triggering a later over-eating episode or even eventually giving up altogether because it's Just Too Hard.
As another thought, if super hungry, it may be worth considering whether your current weight loss rate target is too aggressive. Many people arrive here with a "lose weight fast" mentality, but if a person has a meaningful total amount of weight to lose, even fast loss will take weeks to months, maybe even a small number of years.
In my mind, that puts a priority on following a personally sustainable calorie goal and eating/activity routine. A moderate weight loss rate is likely to get us to goal weight in less calendar time than a super-fast target loss rate that results in bouts of deprivation-triggered over-eating, breaks in the action, or maybe even giving up altogether.
A common suggestion here is to keep weight loss rate in the range of 0.5%-1% of current weight per week (with a bias toward the slower end unless severely obese and under close medical supervision for deficiencies or complications), and to cut calories no more than 20% below maintenance calories. Slower is fine, too, if it makes the process more achievable.
If you're new to cutting calories (this round, anyway), I'll mention that the first couple of weeks can be a little more difficult for some of us: Our body is used to certain eating habits, and will tend to get hungry at usual eating/snack time. After a couple of weeks-ish, if the routine is right, that should settle down.
It's also a good idea to notice which days you feel more (or less) hungry, review your food/activity that day and the previous one, and think about why that day may be different. Figuring that out can help you revise your plan going forward, to feel more full more of the time.
This can be subtle: Sometimes the situation is from what we've eaten (or not eaten, since sub-par nutrition can trigger hunger pangs). Timing of eating meals/snacks or particular foods/nutrients can also matter. It can also be about sleep or stress, in that poor sleep or high stress can spike appetite through fatigue. (A fatigued body seeks energy, i.e., food.) Some people even find that some kinds of exercise increase appetite, either the same day or even the next day. Emotions, boredom or habits can also influence hunger. By paying attention, you can refine your plan, and make things easier for yourself.
Best wishes for success!
P.S. For context, I've been on MFP for going on 9 years, just under a year to lose 50-some pounds, and maintaining a healthy weight since. Comments above are based on that experience, plus learning a lot from other people here in the Community.
Thank you so so much! I think my biggest problem is figuring out which foods will sit longer on my stomach verses those that have the same calorie count but do absolutely nothing for me. Most days I'm absolutely fine while others are more of a struggle. I'm glad you mentioned fatigue being a factor because I was feeling quite a bit run down yesterday. I appreciate the help and guidance more than you know
@mobowles33, to the bolded: That's a thing you can figure out, if you review your diary, experiment with alternative eating patterns (food choice, timing), and learn your body's needs. Give yourself some grace when starting up, give yourself time and space for that learning to take place.
If you eat somewhat over goal sometimes while learning, in order to keep the process doable, that will be fine. In the long run, having invested that time and patience in learning will pay off.
IMO (speaking from the perspective of around year 8 at a healthy weight after 30 years of overweight/obesity), the big prize to be had here is learning patterns of eating and moving that we can keep up long term, ideally forever, to stay at a healthy weight. White-knuckling it through something that isn't quite working doesn't advance that goal. Figuring out how to stay reasonably full and happy on appropriate calories does advance that goal.
Just don't quit. Not quitting is absolutely crucial. If you eat over goal, even eat over maintenance calories, just get back on the hunt for the sustainable process, and do that as soon as humanly achievable for you. If the extra eating wasn't worthwhile in the cold light afterward, figure out how to tweak your plan to avoid future repeats. Keep going with the revised plan.
Some people will tell you to hold the line on your calorie goal, no matter what - to tough it out and stick with your original plan. Maybe that's the right answer for some, but it may not the right answer for everyone.
Sure, it's wrong to fall into "I've already blown it so I might as well eat all the things". But anytime you eat below maintenance calories, you're losing weight, and that's plenty good enough to make progress. Learning your body's patterns alongside, you'll figure out what calorie level really works for you, and what eating/activity patterns best support it. That will cement the progress in place. Progress matters more than committing to some specific formula.
Trying to stick exactly with a too-difficult pattern for too long . . . tends to lead to quitting. Quitting is the one thing that totally and universally won't work.
Just my opinions, obviously.
Best wishes!
2 -
the MFP calorie budget is an average. you could need to eat more calories, and you don't want to go to far under or you lose muscle, not just fat.
when i first started with MFP with my old account in 2014, i cut my calories back from what was probably 2400 a day to the 1200 MFP gave me - btw, i'm 5'4" and female. when i woke the next morning, i was so dizzy and weak that i had to grab a wall or i'd have fallen. it took me more than 2 weeks to adjust to the lower calories. part of what helped me was not eating on my old schedule. i budgeted some calories throughout the day for before bed so i could enjoy some food at the end of the day - including plenty of protein and some fat - before bed, which ended the extreme dizziness i had been waking with.1
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