Always hungry, gaining weight.

RealZivaDinozzo

What am I supposed to do? I have been very, very careful about eating at a deficit of calories (1750 or under, I'm 5'10" and 280 lb), weighing everything, and I am exercising more than I have in years. (I walk, I weight lift...)

Every day for the last 5 months, I have been hungry. I wake up hungry, I go to bed hungry. I am often so hungry that I am in physical pain, and in the last week I've *gained* 3 pounds. I don't know what to do.

Do the foods you eat effect your weight loss, or is it just really a matter of maths? Can eating too much sodium actually cause you to gain weight? I would love to go to a nutritionist and find these things out, but I can't afford it.

Additionally, is fasting a useful way to kickstart weight lost?
Help. Just... help.

ravenmiss

Open your diary?

wickedpursuit

Working out will cause you to gain water weight. Too much sodium will cause you to gain water weight - if you aren't drinking enough water to flush it out, that is. So, drink water and that should help a fair bit.

What you eat is pretty important - protein and fat will keep you satiated longer, so I'd definitely suggest eating more of that! It can make a huge difference in how you feel. Also, you might want to try spacing your food out differently; it looks like you only really eat two meals... maybe try breaking it all up into several mini meals so you aren't starving? I tend to do that - three smallish meals and lots of snacks.

How long have you been doing this? Just for the 5 months or has it been longer? If it's been longer and this is a recent development (the ravenous hunger, that is), I'd suggest going to the doctor.

TheVirgoddess

How much water are you drinking?

Three pounds really isn't anything. You can fluctuate more than that in a single day.

Going over on sodium causes water weight (I think, I'm not an expert).

It would really help if you'd open your diary, even if only for a little bit.

Ika_Musume

If you're actually eating 1750 and not just BSing us you are losing weight, regardless of what your scale is reading. Losing weight takes a long time, don't expect results right away.

lisabinco

What you eat is important. Are you eating enough nutrition to fuel your activity? Perhaps, eat more nutritious food (not high calorie or high protein, but high nutrient value in relation to calories). You don't need a nutritionist to figure this out. Whole Foods has a numeric rating system on their foods that gives you from 1000 (most nutrition vs calories) to 10 or less (least nutrition vs calories).
There's nothing inherently wrong with being hungry. You should be hungry before a meal; after all, you're eating a meal because you're hungry, not because it's time to eat. (At least, that's what I'm trying to train myself to do, only eat when I'm hungry.)
That's my 2-cents. I hope you find an eating plan you can live with.

pokeythepiercer

I recently went from a very low cal diet with lots of cardio to strength training, swimming and eating more of a body builders diet still keeping track and having a deficit but not as strict.
I cannot view your diary but we are about the same size i.e. height and weight. I have switched from 2% to almond milk (unsweetened vanilla) in my cereal which I only eat whole healthy cereals like oats. Smart slower digesting carbs like brown rice will help you feel full longer and satisfy that hunger you are having. I will eat a 2 cup bowl of cereal when I am really hungry with a cup of berries and still be well under 300 calories. I had to start eating smart and filling vs binging. I also eat every three hours and drink a very large glass of water before my meal and with my meal. There are sooooo many times that people think they are hungry when in fact they are mostly thirsty.
I also changed up my cardio intensity to set the pitch on it to the highest setting after my five minute warm up. I found that the higher pitch gave me that rapid huff and puff without the running I so hate without making me feel like I was going to fly off the thing or pass out. LOL.
Changing up my workouts and diet helped me lose 45 lbs so far (about 120 days) and I am insulin resistant (PCOS)

laurenz2501

From what I can see from looking at the past few days of your diary, you aren't getting enough protein. Pay attention to your macros (protein, fiber, sodium, carbs, etc). Less carbs, less sodium and sugar. Also, what's up with breakfast? Add protein in there. Not Arizona Iced Tea. Frozen turkey sausage links...hard boiled eggs, nonfat greek yogurt or even a protein shake if you feel you can't eat too early. Hope that helps. :flowerforyou:

What you eat is important. Are you eating enough nutrition to fuel your activity? Perhaps, eat more nutritious food (not high calorie or high protein, but high nutrient value in relation to calories).

serindipte

Veggies... They will help prevent you from being as hungry without raising your calories by much.

maidentl

You're male and weigh about 80 pounds more than I do and I eat 1750 calories. You're hungry because you're not eating enough food. There are some very good posts around here about BMR and TDEE. The one I used to figure out how much to eat was this one:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/931670-bmr-and-tdee-explained-for-those-needing-a-guide

Do you weigh every day? I know it's an unpopular opinion around here to weigh daily, but if you weigh weekly and that weigh-in happens to fall on a day that you're retaining three pounds of water, you won't know that.

suejoker

Yes, what they said^^^. More specifically, when I looked through a few days of your diary, what was glaringly missing was FIBER. Fiber is very filling and very good for you. You should be getting at least 25g/day, for optimum health. Here's a sloppily formatted (sorry, I don't know how to keep formatting in here) chart of fruits & veggies, along with their fiber content:

Fruits Serving size Total fiber (grams)*
Raspberries 1 cup 8.0
Pear, with skin 1 medium 5.5
Apple, with skin 1 medium 4.4
Banana 1 medium 3.1
Orange 1 medium 3.1
Strawberries (halves) 1 cup 3.0
Figs, dried 2 medium 1.6
Raisins 1 ounce (60 raisins) 1.0

Legumes, nuts and seeds Serving size Total fiber (grams)*
Split peas, cooked 1 cup 16.3
Lentils, cooked 1 cup 15.6
Black beans, cooked 1 cup 15.0
Lima beans, cooked 1 cup 13.2
Baked beans, vegetarian, canned, cooked 1 cup 10.4
Sunflower seed kernels 1/4 cup 3.9
Almonds 1 ounce (23 nuts) 3.5
Pistachio nuts 1 ounce (49 nuts) 2.9
Pecans 1 ounce (19 halves) 2.7
Vegetables Serving size Total fiber (grams)*
Artichoke, cooked 1 medium 10.3
Green peas, cooked 1 cup 8.8
Broccoli, boiled 1 cup 5.1
Turnip greens, boiled 1 cup 5.0
Brussels sprouts, cooked 1 cup 4.1
Sweet corn, cooked 1 cup 4.0
Potato, with skin, baked 1 small 3.0
Tomato paste 1/4 cup 2.7
Carrot, raw 1 medium 1.7

Best of Luck!

geebusuk

If over an extended period you are gaining weight (3lb in 3 weeks could be water weight, though the period is starting to be significant, even though the weight isn't) , then you are not in a deficit.

My TDEE before cardio is at least 3000 - I could easily eat at a 1000 calorie deficit and not see the hunger issues you mention.
The only time I WAS seeing them was in relation to a intolerance - to some protein powders, it turned out.

When eating smaller amounts I do try and go for filling low calorie food.
A lot of salad with some lean meat and a bit of low calorie dressing is pretty filling compared to four squares of chocolate which meat the same calories.

spamantha57

Two things that really helped me to control my hunger:

In the beginning of 2012 it was spacing out my eating to about every 3 hours. This was a completely foreign concept to me, as I was an eater that had either 2 big meals a day, or a bunch of snacks & 1 big meal.
I would set an alarm on my phone to go off at certain times & the label I would put the calories I'd expect to consume (200-250 if it was a snack, 350 for lunch, etc.) It helped a huge amount & eventually became a regular habit that I still do (though I don't need an alarm anymore.)

The other thing was upping my protein beginning of last year. I went from about 15-20% (I was eating mostly vegan) & upped it to 25%. HUGE difference. After a few weeks I tried upping it to 30% but I felt weird so I kept it at 25%, pretty much all last year. The past few months however, I eat 30% (and sometimes 35%) and have been doing well with that too.

Also, if you eat healthy, you can eat SO MUCH MORE FOOD for little calories that fill you up. I usually eat around 1500-1600 (I'm 5'2") but on days where I end up eating only 1200, I wasn't hungry because I ate so fabulously I didn't really need to eat more to fulfill my hunger.

Jiminibee

Dude.

I am 5'10". A couple of years ago I got up to 285lbs. I know how you feel, and I know how to help you.

I am not going to waste my time writing a long post here. No offense to you or anyone else, but I do not see the advice you need given here, and it would be better if I could be direct with you.

I'm not trying to sell you anything, I'm not a beach body 'coach', I'm not a schemer or an internet marketer or anything like that. I don't want anything from you. I just saw your forum post, looked at your diary, and see some obviously changes you could implement that I believe would get that scale moving in the other direction.

PM me if you want some advice, sorry if I offended you or anyone else, and no hard feelings if you don't.

nrida

I have the same problem and always feel hungry.

I noticed when I do activities that I love and focus my time of doing good things the feeling of hunger goes away. I have to fight this huger battle for a long time. As humans we need this hungry feeling in order to push us to do great things with out lives.

Try not to consume/stress yourself on the foods your eating while making conscious choices on healthy food. like myself, start a habit of finding out when your are hungry and if there is a place where its a trigger try to avoid that situation.

I hope that helps.

MelodyandBarbells

Whoa, an OP looking for help and a public diary, great job!

Agreed with so many posts. If you're logging meticulously and really eating 1700 calories, you can up it to 2000 or possibly more and still lose weight, while not having to be so hungry all the time

Can you switch your iced tea with diet for the same effect? And yes, eat some actual breakfast? And the fiber recommendation for guys is actually 37g per day, try to focus on getting close to that and your protein goals for a while

The easiest way for me to add more protein when I started thinking of doing this was to double any protein I was eating. Chicken thighs, double it. Beans, eggs, same thing. Then you can always search forum posts and get more ideas

I notice you eat the same thing everyday. For me, in order to be successful although I have my staples, I still feel like I need to learn and try new foods, meals and recipes every so often. I could have the most perfect diet and still feel blah from time to time. Maybe it's just boredom but in your case too I would suggest you incorporate some variety and see if that doesn't help

Good luck!!

PS: just wanted to clarify yeah as for gaining 3 lbs I do that in a day too, so. It's just water fluctuation mostly. So I mostly focused on the fact that you feel hungry all the time.

TheVirgoddess

In my opinion, salt is the issue. Your body works constantly to keep the amount of salt and the amount of water equal. If you're ingesting lots of salt, your body will hold onto extra water for that purpose. Also long term excessive salt is pretty bad for your health in general.

I'd also try to work more fresh food in there - veggies and fruit.

Can you find a lower carb alternative to your tortillas?

And one last thing - it looks like you're drinking about 500 calories on average a day. That's kind of a lot, again - IMO.

All of the above is just based on things I've read and personal experience.

Good luck!

time4change2k14

Find a way to eat breakfast. Eating breakfast (properly) will keep you fuller longer and allow your body to fuel up for the day. You need to eat more.

pokeythepiercer

The majority of your calories are from sauces/seasonings and from a beverage. All the carbs that you are eating are simple carbs i.e. white bleached and enriched which is not healthy and quickly digested as a sugar. Simple things like NOT drinking your carbs, using seasoning packets that are low or no cal like lemon pepper or I have a really great one that is bacon mesquite. More 0 cal beverage choices like citrus green tea and water would help flush out the sodium you are retaining from the processed things you are eating. I got rid of EVERTHING WHITE in my house, day one. wrote a grocery list and had a cook day.
4 lbs hormone-free chicken
5 lbs ground beef
4 dozen hormone-free cage-free eggs
FATS
2 small jars natural peanut butter
2 large avocados
1 bag omega trail mix
1 bottle olive oil
FIBROUS CARBS AND
NUTRIENT-RICH FOODS
4 heads organic broccoli
3 large bell peppers
2 bags French green beans
1 large bag organic spinach
CARBOHYDRATES
1 bag sweet potato fries
5-lb bag sweet potatoes
2 cans black beans
6 large bananas
6 large apples
2 lbs raw oats
COOKING SPICES AND
MISC. ITEMS
Cayenne pepper
Cracked pepper
Green tea bags
Hot salsa
Coffee
Limes
Should cost about $100 which is crazy affordable & all the items are easy to prepare, & store.

Sunitagt

From the looks of your diary you're not eating enough fruits and veggies. Fiber from those helps me feel more full. Also, you're drinking a lot of your calories. I would try and switch to plain iced tea instead of sweetened, or make your own so you control how much sweetener you're using.

vismal

Find a way to eat breakfast. Eating breakfast (properly) will keep you fuller longer and allow your body to fuel up for the day. You need to eat more.

This is not true for everyone. For many people breakfast does not keep them fuller for longer. Personally once I start eating I'm hungrier as I go. Your body certainly does not require it to fuel the day. Stored fat can fuel the day. Many people find eating 1 or 2 large meals in a day to be the most satiating way to organize meals. People who do 16 hour intermittent fasting mainly do so because it helps keep them full. Most of them skip breakfast. If satiation is a problem, intermittent fasting is one avenue to consider along with altering the diet to include more satiating choices as all the others have pointed out. Don't waste calories on liquids, or sauces either. They do next to nothing for satiation.

_Figgzie_

Find a way to eat breakfast. Eating breakfast (properly) will keep you fuller longer and allow your body to fuel up for the day. You need to eat more.

all I drink is coffee in the morning and my first meal is lunch.........having to eat breakfast in order to lose weight is a myth.........if you eat 500-700 calories in the morning that is only that much less you can eat later in the day when you are most likely to really be dealing with hunger. Embrace hunger in the morning, drink coffee ( not Starbuck's crap). Coffee has been shown to have appetite reducing properties from what I've read.

MelodyandBarbells

Okay. But we don't know that the reason he doesn't eat breakfast isn't just laziness (sorry OP), as against oh I ate breakfast but it just made me hungrier. Basically if someone's hungry, my first advice is to try eating. I don't believe in white knuckling it unless you have to

segovm

Just a quick look through your diary but drop the Arizona Iced Tea and replace the calories with actual food?

conqueringsquidlette

In the non-food area, how's your sleep?

When you don't get enough sleep, your body produces too much of a hormone that makes you feel hungry and too little of another hormone that makes you feel full.

I have always noticed that starving to death all day is a sign that I haven't gotten enough sleep (assuming I have, actually, eaten enough, of course.)

LKArgh

There are days when half your calories are coming from things like tea and sauce and treats. These are still calories, and mean you cannot eat normal food and stay within your goals, so of course you are hungry. Skipping the tea alone would allow you to eat a normal small meal, and would solve the hunger issue.

I tried to also check your older entries and maybe you would benefit from talking to a dietician and getting a sample eating plan, guidelines on what to avoid etc. You are getting consistently a lot of empty calories and I also doubt your calorie counting is as accurate as you think it is.

SLLRunner

In the last week, your diary show you are way over sodium levels. It could be water retention. Give it a week or two and see what happened, because then you will now if it's water or actual weight gain.

Also, though it has nothing to do with weight gain if you are eating at a deficit, your nutrition looks pretty bad. If you clean it up and add more protein and more nutrient dense calories you will feel more satiated.