Hungry all the time, what am I doing wrong?

Poods71

I started logging 15 days ago, have gone from 165lbs to 160lbs, so I must be doing
something right. I am not so concerned about the numbers, they will drop in time. I want
to enjoy this process and new healthy lifestyle, I dont want
to feel like I am starving all the time.

Good for you, it's nice to hear someone that is not in a rush and just want's to do it right. Try a few of the tips above like eating smaller meals more often and drinking more water and I do find that protein keeps you going longer too and hopefully that should make things better for you. Good luck :flowerforyou:

dolthack

Given the numbers you've posted you are, at best, only creating a 300/cal per day deficit because according to your exercise diary you don't do any regularly scheduled fitness. Doing nothing but cutting your calories is going to result in MAYBE half pound per week of weight loss, but given the high percentage of carbs and low percentage of fat you're eating it's no wonder you FEEL hungry all the time. By loading up on so many empty calories (especially the sugar) you're causing your insulin levels to roller coaster all day long.

Your breakfasts are ridiculously low in protein. Do you routinely go 8 hours during the day without eating anything? No. So why are you starving your body at the most crucial time of the day? Your breakfast needs to have more protein and less sugar. Stop eating oatmeal and bananas for breakfast and start eating eggs. Three scrambled eggs will give you ample protein and good fat to power you through the morning (as long as you cut out that sugar).

One of the first things I would absolutely ban you from eating would be WHITE things...sugar, potatoes, refined white flour, etc. There is virtually nothing good to be gained from eating white potatoes. Switch to sweet potatoes, lower in carbs and packed with other good nutrients.

By my calculations you're getting, on average, close to 50% of your calories from carbohydrates. Your body LOVES carbs, and when you eat that many your body LOVES to convert them to fat - because they're easy to convert to fat. Your body barely has to lift a pinky to turn excess carbs to fat. Protein and fat, on the other hand, requires a much higher metabolic load to digest and, if any are left over, convert to fat.

My personal recommendation for your calorie count balance is to keep your carb intake at around 100. Get your protein to 100G/day and your fat to around 90G/day - and start exercising! Don't go to a gym if you don't want to. But start doing something. At least once per week go for a minimum 1 hour long walk at a brisk pace. At least twice per week do some strength training (preferably 30-45 minutes before a meal). No matter what your level of strength is you can do something. Start with 3-4 pushups if that's all you can do, then when you've done 3 sets of those, do some pushups against a wall. Then do some squats. The point is, at least twice a week you need to be working large muscle groups.

bd0001

Thank you all for the advice, I am planning on doing some research today to understand what are fats, carbs etc. I thought I was eating well but I guess not. I didnt realize morning oatmeal was that bad, will try the eggs this morning instead. Everyone keeps going back to lowering carbs and increasing fats and I am now just so confused. Off i go to start googling.
Thank you all, I will update in a week, hopefully by then I will have figured all of this out.

FindingMyPerfection

Clearing up some misinformation.

One of the first things I would absolutely ban you from eating would be WHITE things...sugar, potatoes, refined white flour, etc. There is virtually nothing good to be gained from eating white potatoes. Switch to sweet potatoes, lower in carbs and packed with other good nutrients.

White carbs are not bad and don't ever need to be banned from your diet unless you don't like them or have a medical problem with them!

By my calculations you're getting, on average, close to 50% of your calories from carbohydrates. Your body LOVES carbs, and when you eat that many your body LOVES to convert them to fat - because they're easy to convert to fat. Your body barely has to lift a pinky to turn excess carbs to fat. Protein and fat, on the other hand, requires a much higher metabolic load to digest and, if any are left over, convert to fat.

There is no way to gain fat if you are in a cal deficit. True if you eat all your cals in 1 hour your body will store some of them because they are not needed at the moment but it averages out when the day goes on and your body then goes into those fat store for energy.

perfectflightisbeingthere

Speaking purely from personal experience I have been trying to meet the recommendation of eating 1g of protein every day per 1 lb of lean body mass. To achieve this I've been using protein shakes and bars to supplement my normal diet, and I've experienced a lot less hunger since. The other good advice above is to drink first if you feel hungry, and then keep it simple and stay away from all the pseudo-science...... (you may find that you need to exercise more to enable you to eat enough not to feel hungry though whilst still maintaining a deficit).

Good luck and stick with it!