Ravenous

ruststar

Last night I woke up at 3 AM because I was STARVING - I felt like there was hole gnawing through my stomach. I got up and had a bowl of cereal and went back to bed. When I got up at 6:30 there it was again, so I had my usual oatmeal with almond butter, usually an incredibly filling breakfast. At work I felt the same gnawing hunger at 9 AM, so I went to the cafeteria and got some protein to help fill me up - not the best choices, but it seemed to do the trick. Unfortunately that additional meal added an extra 500 calories to my day and the dominos of bad choices kept falling. I'm still only 500 calories over - I didn't go too crazy, but I don't understand where that incredible, ravenous hunger came from.

I recently upped my calories because I thought I was undereating - while sticking to 1200 calories I was only losing .8 pounds per week instead of 2, and other sites I've checked consistently suggested a much higher amount for my BMR (between 1650 and 1800 - 200 pounds, 65 inches) while still being in a caloric deficit, even at the sedentary level. I haven't been at this long enough to have been in starvation mode, but something didn't seem right. I hope I don't experience that again. Has anybody else experienced this or have an explanation for that kind of hunger? It's the first time I've felt that kind of hunger since being on MFP - in fact, not since I went through a brief bout of starving myself as a teenager more than 20 years ago (I only lasted three weeks, thank goodness). Is it because I upped my calories? I was doing just fine sticking to 1200 net calories, but I don't know if it's healthy for me.

paced2day

May seem dramatic, but hormones and 'that time of the month' will leave me absolutely ravenous with mad crazy cravings- maybe you could wait it out a bit and see if the whole where you're at on the cycle thing makes a difference. ?

absolament

I think you are right... you probably weren't getting enough nutrition. Good thing your body speaks clearly to you...
When I'm usually close to or a bit under calories for a few days and my body wants to eat a little more, I let it happen.

I had my weight loss set to 1 pound a week when I started and it was too aggressive. I knew it after a week. Then I went to 1/2 pound ate my calories back. Worked like a charm and I actually (on average) lost a pound a week.

I'm in maintenance mode now.

lodro

Last night I woke up at 3 AM because I was STARVING - I felt like there was hole gnawing through my stomach. I got up and had a bowl of cereal and went back to bed. When I got up at 6:30 there it was again, so I had my usual oatmeal with almond butter, usually an incredibly filling breakfast. At work I felt the same gnawing hunger at 9 AM, so I went to the cafeteria and got some protein to help fill me up - not the best choices, but it seemed to do the trick. Unfortunately that additional meal added an extra 500 calories to my day and the dominos of bad choices kept falling. I'm still only 500 calories over - I didn't go too crazy, but I don't understand where that incredible, ravenous hunger came from.

I recently upped my calories because I thought I was undereating - while sticking to 1200 calories I was only losing .8 pounds per week instead of 2, and other sites I've checked consistently suggested a much higher amount for my BMR (between 1650 and 1800 - 200 pounds, 65 inches) while still being in a caloric deficit, even at the sedentary level. I haven't been at this long enough to have been in starvation mode, but something didn't seem right. I hope I don't experience that again. Has anybody else experienced this or have an explanation for that kind of hunger? It's the first time I've felt that kind of hunger since being on MFP - in fact, not since I went through a brief bout of starving myself as a teenager more than 20 years ago (I only lasted three weeks, thank goodness). Is it because I upped my calories? I was doing just fine sticking to 1200 net calories, but I don't know if it's healthy for me.

my guess is that you're eating a lot of carbohydrate. what happened in the night was: you took something that spiked your blood sugar, insulin kicked in, lowering it drastically, the insulin gave you feelings of hunger, you took something high in carbohydrate, etc. Protein breaks the cycle, because then you're controlling blood sugar.

ruststar

I don't get any monthly visitors thanks to the miracles of birth control methods - haven't for 5 years. Plus, I have not felt something like this - true stomach growling intense hunger - in decades.

ruststar

my guess is that you're eating a lot of carbohydrate. what happened in the night was: you took something that spiked your blood sugar, insulin kicked in, lowering it drastically, the insulin gave you feelings of hunger, you took something high in carbohydrate, etc. Protein breaks the cycle, because then you're controlling blood sugar.

I just looked at my diary and I think you may be right - the day before I'd had something carb heavy for dinner and I haven't eaten like that in almost two months. Maybe my body just wasn't used to that anymore.

seansquared

Without knowing your bodyfat %, you really cannot know your target macros. I made a spreadsheet that will tell me what you need for macros at 500 and 750 cal deficits on a 40/40/20 diet (pro/fat/carb) as well as a Ketogenic diet (65/30/5). Obtain your BF%, if you don't have it already, and post it here and I'll send you the info.

Also, "gnawing hunger" generally means an empty stomach. Contrary to popular belief, going to bed hungry is actually counterproductive to weight loss. You did the right thing by eating, although a 500 cal meal may have been overdoing it (but whatever, you gotta' figure it out somehow!)

lodro

The answer usually lies in the last meal you had before bed, at night. And the timing of it. If that was a high-carbohydrate snack at 10 PM, you may well wake up very hungry in the middle of the night. If your last meal was high on protein, and you stop eating at around 8PM, your blood sugar regulates much better.

dylanco

Seems the type of carbs would also be important to consider. Would veggies or slow carbs be better before dinner than white/fast carbs like pasta, potatoes, bread, pastries, or rice?


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools

ruststar

Without knowing your bodyfat %, you really cannot know your target macros. I made a spreadsheet that will tell me what you need for macros at 500 and 750 cal deficits on a 40/40/20 diet (pro/fat/carb) as well as a Ketogenic diet (65/30/5). Obtain your BF%, if you don't have it already, and post it here and I'll send you the info.

Also, "gnawing hunger" generally means an empty stomach. Contrary to popular belief, going to bed hungry is actually counterproductive to weight loss. You did the right thing by eating, although a 500 cal meal may have been overdoing it (but whatever, you gotta' figure it out somehow!)

I tried two different calculators and got 27 and 29% body fat. Split the difference and go for 28%?

seansquared

I tried two different calculators and got 27 and 29% body fat. Split the difference and go for 28%?

Sounds good!. I'd recommend getting a cloth tape and learning to calculate your bodyfat % too. Will come in handy as the pounds start to drop as you will want to continually modify your macro needs downward monthly (to ensure you keep losing weight at a continuous rate, of course).

Anyway, here's the readout:

Maintenance 2140.58
Loss Max 1640.58
Loss Min 1390.58

Macronutrient Needs (Norm - 40/40/20) / Cals / Grams
Fat Min / 556 / 62
Fat Max / 656 / 73

Protein Min / 556 / 139
Protein Max / 656 / 164

Carb Min / 278 / 70
Carb Max / 328 / 82

Macronutrient Needs (Keto 65/35/5) / Cals / Grams
Fat Min / 904 / 100
Fat Max / 1,066 / 118

Protein Min / 417 / 104
Protein Max / 492 / 123

Carb Min / 70 / 17
Carb Max / 82 / 21



Looks like you should be shooting for 1500 cals a day on average, with a little under or a little over perfectly OK.

I think MyFitnessPal defaults to more of a 40/30/30 which is OK but tends to be too loosey-goosey on carbs for most people, hence the 40/40/20 recommendation. I'd stay away from Keto unless you're already doing it or intend on putting in the research time up front, as it's pretty demanding.


Any probs reading that (the formatting isn't spectacular, sorry!) just click my portrait and send me a message and I'll try to clarify!

And good luck on your goals!