1,700 Calories and hungry?!

Reinventi0n

I am a 22 year old male at 5'10 and 205 pounds. I have lost close to 20 pounds already by following the Weight Watchers program, but due to various reasons I have decided to switch to calorie counting on MFP. Currently I have my weight loss goal set to lose 2 pounds a week and at a lightly active activity level because of my job. Currently this gives me a daily calorie goal of 1,710.

1,700 calories should be an adequate amount but I tend to find myself feeling hungry throughout the day. I have been making the effort to make food choices that are higher in protein and just more wholesome overall but I have not had much improvement in feeling less hungry. I have been hearing a lot of different pieces of advice lately such as needing to eat at my BMR or TDEE. However, doing either of these would increase my calorie goal by several hundred calories and I fear that would ultimately slow down my progress. Also part of the reason why I like the idea of a lower number is that it allows for a margin or error (ex. incorrect NI at a restaurant or underestimating a portion) but if I am at a higher calorie goal I will have less room for mistakes.

I do own a FitBit and have tried to use the calorie adjustment in the past. I tend to be more active earlier in the day so the extra calories I am allotted tend to decrease as it gets later in the day. There have been several times when I use these extra calories earlier in the day to only be over my goal at the end of the day due to my decrease in activity. I get nervous with the stability of the number I am given for the calorie adjustment.

I would appreciate any suggestions you have for me. I would really like to keep my weight loss at around 2 pounds a week but I also want to feel more satisfied and less hungry. Should I stick with the calorie goal MFP gives me and just rely on the FitBit calorie adjustment? Should I up my calorie goal and eat at my BMR? Is there another option that you have found to be effective?

Thanks!

deadyankee

I'm a similar height and 1700 is enough for me, not that I am obsessive about measuring etc so it's ballpark. If I were you and I was hungry on 1700 then I'd change my goal to 1lb per week and eat more food.

Pearsquared

You're getting to the point where 2 lbs. a week is too much of a deficit. As you get closer to goal, the weight will not come off as easily, and it will be much less stress on your mind and body to lose slower rather than eat less. Weight loss should not have deadlines.

tula1980

How long has it taken you to lose that 20lb? If you've done it in less than 10 weeks then that would indicate that you are eating at more of a deficit than you think you are, which could explain the hunger.

How much weight do you have left to lose? Your BMI is currently around 29 correct? You might find that you are coming to the point where you need to reduce your deficit to 1.5lb per week weight loss, then down to 1lb. I can understand that you want to lose fat as quickly as possible but once you hit a certain point with your weight loss it's better to go slow and steady so you are losing maximum fat and minimum muscle and not just "weight".

On a more practical note, are you combining your protein with lots of fibre? Vegetables are your best friend here, they are very filling for the calories they offer because of the fibre content.

2013sk

Are you drinking enough water?

How many glasses do you drink a day?

Try and get some good filling protein snacks in

lrmall01

Just some things to consider:

- Meal composition / macros : You said you are eating more protein, which in general is good. However it is hard to know what you mean by "more". Everyone is a little different in this area and you might need to experiment to find what works for you. At 1700 calories it would be reasonable, IMHO, to just target an equal macro split (33 / 33 / 34) as a baseline. Eat that way for a week or so and see what you think. I personally dislike the default MFP macros if that is what you are using.

- Meal timing : Are you eating when you are actually hungry or eating out of habit? A common strategy here is to skip a meal, such as breakfast. I personally don't get very hungry in the morning so it is very easy for me to just have coffee and not eat until lunch. It is commonly suggested to have several small meals a day but some people do not need that many snacks. Again, self experimentation is needed to find what works for you.

Good luck!

WendyTerry420

That is enough for a woman with your stats, but men need to eat more. Seriously. I'm a woman, smaller than you, no cardio & a desk job, and I eat more than you. Come on! Eat like a man!

WendyTerry420

I'm a similar height and 1700 is enough for me, not that I am obsessive about measuring etc so it's ballpark. If I were you and I was hungry on 1700 then I'd change my goal to 1lb per week and eat more food.

^^ I'll bet you are closer to 2000 than to 1700.

allaboutthecake

Dude, you're 22 not 42. Bump up the calories. 1,700 is tiny morsels for a 22 y/o man.

deadyankee

I'm a similar height and 1700 is enough for me, not that I am obsessive about measuring etc so it's ballpark. If I were you and I was hungry on 1700 then I'd change my goal to 1lb per week and eat more food.

^^ I'll bet you are closer to 2000 than to 1700.

I don't doubt it, but if I was estimating and aiming for 2000 then I'd be closer to 2500. :drinker:

Basically I work on a ballpark basis and it works fine for me. It's not like I have a tonne of weight to shift, it's more about just being broadly aware and fitter for me. I'd have looked for a My Weightloss Pal app if I was only bothered about calorie counting.

Francl27

Switch to a smaller deficit. 2 lbs a week is too much for a lot of people.

chezjuan

A quick calculation puts your TDEE at about 2325 if you were completely sedentary (desk job/no exercise). Your BMR is around 1940. If you up your calories to 1950, you could maintain a 1 lb. a week loss and not be as hungry, especially if you include a decent amount of protein in your meals. 1lb a week is not a bad rate of loss at all.

If you are worried about error, invest in a food scale and weigh/measure everything (if you don't already).

ETA: if your job makes you lightly active, you can increase your calories even more, but the calculator I used was based on planned exercise not daily activity levels.

Chadomaniac

I'm a similar height and 1700 is enough for me, not that I am obsessive about measuring etc so it's ballpark. If I were you and I was hungry on 1700 then I'd change my goal to 1lb per week and eat more food.

^^ I'll bet you are closer to 2000 than to 1700.

Ya guys quite the BS

Everyone is different aswel

And I can confidently say that 1700 calories for a 5'10 205lb guy is far too much of a deficit . U probably need more than 2000 like the above poster said .
Work it out and use the trial and error method to calculate your TRUE TDEE

nxd10

Dude, you're 22 not 42. Bump up the calories. 1,700 is tiny morsels for a 22 y/o man.

Let's assume MFP knows what it's talking about. We're all different.

I do agree though that dropping to one pound a week at this point makes more sense.

I also know that more protein and lower carbs makes me much less hungry. Easy-to-process carbs like sugar, white flour, white rice give you fast energy that can cause insulin spikes that make you hungry. This is why eating oatmeal or waffles with maple syrup are really filling and you're starving 2 hours later.

More protein, slower to digest carbs (less processed grains, etc.) and keeping your carbs to maybe 40% (not hard to do) and you can eat the same calories and be much less hungry.

I also highly recommend EATING when you feel hungry. Just not a lot. Have nuts with you and when you get hungry eat 5 of them. Good food, staves the hungers off, and you can work it into your calorie plan.

lindsaymarcin

Are you drinking enough water?

How many glasses do you drink a day?

Try and get some good filling protein snacks in

lindsaymarcin

this! Make sure you get in a ton of water it will help you feel full

howardheilweil

If what you say is accurate and you are eating below your BMR, you are severely undereating. If you know what your TDEE is, you should set your daily calorie intake approx. 500 below that.

WendyTerry420

I'm a similar height and 1700 is enough for me, not that I am obsessive about measuring etc so it's ballpark. If I were you and I was hungry on 1700 then I'd change my goal to 1lb per week and eat more food.

^^ I'll bet you are closer to 2000 than to 1700.

I don't doubt it, but if I was estimating and aiming for 2000 then I'd be closer to 2500. :drinker:

Basically I work on a ballpark basis and it works fine for me. It's not like I have a tonne of weight to shift, it's more about just being broadly aware and fitter for me. I'd have looked for a My Weightloss Pal app if I was only bothered about calorie counting.

I shoot for 2500 at maintenance, so I know what you mean. I don't log except when I am trying to lose.

sjp_511

I agree with many of the above responses. Lower your goal to 1-1.5 lbs/weeks and eat more.

High protein is good - it is much more filling than carbs. I also recommend lots of fruit and veggies. You can eat a lot of volume for very few calories.

Reinventi0n

That is enough for a woman with your stats, but men need to eat more. Seriously. I'm a woman, smaller than you, no cardio & a desk job, and I eat more than you. Come on! Eat like a man!

As of right now I have just been following what MFP recommends.

I know I have to accept that I should probably have a slower rate of weight loss, but at the same time I would love to have most of this weight off by the summer so I am not completely miserable this year. If I am for a loss of 1 pound per week I would not reach goal until close to the end of this year.

If I do chose to bump up my calories, should I just eat close to my BMR? Or would be better to just use the MFP recommendation and rely on the FitBit calorie adjustment for how many extra calories to eat?

Reinventi0n

Are you drinking enough water?

How many glasses do you drink a day?

Try and get some good filling protein snacks in

I probably could stand to drink more water during the day. I would probably say that I have on average about 5-7 glasses of water daily.