Can someone explain the science to me?????

sbpeters93

This Monday will be 3 weeks since I've been "on program" - eating right, walking etc. As of this morning, I've lost 6 pounds. When I first started, I could eat my yogurt and drink my coffee in the morning and be good until lunch. I could eat my lunch, take a walk and be good until mid afternoon when I would eat a piece of fruit, and that would hold me until dinner. The last few days, I have been STARVED! I had to eat my lunch earlier than normal yesterday and today because I was so hungry. When I get back to my desk after my walk, I'm hungry already. I ate lunch today at 12:00. It's now 3:00. I've already had a snack of pretzel thins and I know that's not going to hold me until dinner. I'm actually shaky because I'm hungry. Can someone take a look at my Diary and let me know if I'm doing something wrong. Am I not eating enough calories throughout the day now that I'm exercising more?

TS65

If you want us to look at your diary, you'll need to make it public.

ojell

I'm on my 3rd week too, and I am in the same boat! I was doing FINE at first, but now I feel like I'm starving too.

SueInAz

You'll need to open your diary if you want people to be able to take a look. If you are exercising, be sure you're adding those calories in MFP and eating them all back. If you already are, your body could also be going through a "I think I'm being starved" phase and trying to trigger you into eating more. Eat smaller meals more often to help compensate for this. I sometimes eat 6 times a day, every 2-3 hours. I probably drive my co-workers crazy with it, to be honest, but it works for me.

sbpeters93

Oops sorry! Had it set to Friends Only. Thanks.

Unknown

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therobinator

Bottom line is that if you are hungry you are not eating enough. Try upping your total daily calorie intake until you feel comfortable.

cjnorman

You need to eat back your excercise calories.

Sumo813

I'd say if you don't already have one, getting a blood glucose meter would be good for the times you're shaky. But the starving part is probably because your metabolism is actually revving a little better now. Which of course is a good thing. Someone will probably spot any issues in the diary, but there are certain foods that will naturally cause your insulin to lower or rise. It will be a key to take a look at things like that. Of course if you've tried to cut out caffeine (I haven't looked at your diary yet, so you may not have) it could be withdrawal from that.

kk281

it takes about two or three weeks for your body to adjust to your new diet. after it has adjusted and you have burned through most of you energy stores your body will start burnign more fat which increases your metabolism. An increased metabolism will mean you are burning more calories, but will also mean you get hungrier. too deal with this i started eating a mid morning and mid afternoon snack ( haven't looked at your diary to see what your eating). the inbetween snacks i choose are usually containing protein as proteins help you feel full. also keep a big jar of pickels around and eat a pickel if you get soo hungry you can't take it. a pickel will help combat low blood sugar / insulin based hungry pangs due to the acids in the pickel and they have very little calories, especially when considering the size of them.

forgot- also i shifted most of my highest calorie meal to breakfast.

Goal_Seeker_1988

I'd say more protein. Looks clean to me but def in need of some extra protein. My friends said I eat too much sugar and I know my carb intake is on the high end so that right there carbs which is sugar leaves you feelin more hungry. I am in the same hungry / straving boat as you.

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SueInAz

The past few days you haven't been eating enough. Definitely try to add a little more protein and fiber during snack times to combat the hunger pangs. You might also try eating a bigger breakfast with some cereal and/or fruit or adding something a little more filling an hour or two after you eat your yogurt. I know when I used to eat just a yogurt for breakfast that I always felt hungry again a little while later.

jenvens

As far as what I do, is I try to make each of my meals at least 350-400 calories and 2 150 calorie snacks. I saw that on a few days you were only eating 150 calories for breakfast and lunch and that's not enough to get u thru the day!

Good luck!

anubis609

Try upping your fiber and protein throughout the day. As your metabolism increases, so does the need for more fuel. So, it's natural that your body is hungrier. There's nothing wrong with increasing your intake and creating the net deficit through exercise.

concordancia

My guess is that you are eating too many high sugar/starch items and not enough whole grains or proteins. Fiber, fat and protein will keep you full, but you have very few of them.

Fruited yogurts usually have quite a bit of sugar in them. You would feel full longer even if you just switched to yogurt and berries instead of a fruited yogurt, longer yet if you used a high fiber/ low sugar cereal with it.

Today you had pretzels, the reason they are so great is because they have really simple starches that the body breaks down into sugars easily. You would be better off with cheese or another high protein snack. It sounds horrible to many folks, but I often have a tablespoon of peanut butter as a snack, if I have lots of calories left to eat, I will combine it with an apple.

Onesnap

some of the experts say to eat every few hours. I know Jillian Michaels is big on this as well as Bob from the Biggest Loser. You want to keep your engine running all day long.

On a typical workday I eat a variation of this:

- Oatmeal and coffee at 8:30
- piece of fruit at 11
- a frozen burrito or other organic meal. Often it's vegetarian (or if it involved meat it's humanely raised which has lower fat and cholesterol). So this lunch for me always involves protein and veggies.
-another piece of fruit (or a cup of berries) around 2
- low fat or no fat yogurt around 3 or 4pm
- If I dd not eat a piece of fruit after lunch, I'll have one before the gym
-Dinner with my husband, typically a meat, veg, and grain or potato.
-sometimes I have wine or beer with dinner
-Bed at 11pm

nayagan

Don't eat a large breakfast. And its not the added muscle. Muscle takes weeks to put on.

Its definitely the lack of protein. Higher protein levels and lower sugar levels will take care of hunger-pangs.

Also keep track of the amount of fiber and increase that (in terms of veggies) and you should not feel hungry. You'll also lose more weight.

Creiche

Try to eat more protein for breakfast and throughout the day. I eat plain Greek yogurt and a glass of skim milk for breakfast, and that protein helps keep the "I'm starving!" feeling from rolling in 2 hours after eating. I'd also suggest eating more for breakfast...somewhere in the 300-350 range.

MayhemModels

I like to start the day off with a egg-white omelet, the protein i think keeps me satisfied longer

sbpeters93

I guess I have to work on my breakfasts huh! I just never was much of a breakfast eater. My mornings are just too rushed (husband, 2 kids, and have to be at work at 8:00). That's why I eat a yogurt and drink a cup of coffee at my desk. Maybe I'll try adding some peanut butter toast (whole wheat bread) with it.
Thanks everyone for the help!

snowflakelaia

I see that you eat quite a lot of processed carbs: sugars and foods. Sugars do not fill you up for very long. That´s why if you took more protein and fiber rich (good and slowly digested carbs) foods: such as oatmeal, veggies, and fruit would keep you full much longer.

Remember that the body gets used to sugar and processed foods, you will crave those all the time unless you stop yourself from eating them. I am talking from experience here. ^_^ However, what it works for me, may not work for you.

Sumo813

I looked at your diary, and one thing jumps out at me. You aren't eating much for breakfast. Breakfast means to "break" the "fast" from not eating while you were sleeping. You need to jump start your metabolism for the whole day. A yogurt & a piece of toast may not cut it anymore. I usually consume 350-550 calories for my breakfast, about the same for lunch, and then my dinner is the smallest meal. Try eating something more filling in the AM, and that might help. Especially if you're exercising in the AM, you need the fuel!

Men's Health recommends at least 250 calories and no more than 500 calories for breakfast, with the majority coming from either protein or fiber. I'm sure it's similar for women.

End6ame

I guess I have to work on my breakfasts huh! I just never was much of a breakfast eater. My mornings are just too rushed (husband, 2 kids, and have to be at work at 8:00). That's why I eat a yogurt and drink a cup of coffee at my desk. Maybe I'll try adding some peanut butter toast (whole wheat bread) with it.
Thanks everyone for the help!

Hard boiled eggs are great for breakfast. Make a dozen on Sunday and you can grab them and eat them quickly throughout the week.

concordancia

I guess I have to work on my breakfasts huh! I just never was much of a breakfast eater. My mornings are just too rushed (husband, 2 kids, and have to be at work at 8:00). That's why I eat a yogurt and drink a cup of coffee at my desk. Maybe I'll try adding some peanut butter toast (whole wheat bread) with it.
Thanks everyone for the help!

My partner loves breakfast, so I get up earlier now to get it (well not always, I can sleep in and get out of the house at the same time as him if I have a grab and go breakfast). However, in the past when I wanted to force myself to eat breakfast I had a couple of tricks:

-egg and cheese on a sandwich thin
-protein shake - make sure it is one that has some fiber and low sugar. I have recently found Full Bar Fit Shakes
-milk with instant coffee at home and then something I pick up on my way to work (VERY DANGEROUS)

Woodman725

I looked at your diary, and one thing jumps out at me. You aren't eating much for breakfast. Breakfast means to "break" the "fast" from not eating while you were sleeping. You need to jump start your metabolism for the whole day. A yogurt & a piece of toast may not cut it anymore. I usually consume 350-550 calories for my breakfast, about the same for lunch, and then my dinner is the smallest meal. Try eating something more filling in the AM, and that might help. Especially if you're exercising in the AM, you need the fuel!

100% agree. I was reading others, so I didn't say the same thing. I know it's tough sometimes, but try not to eat as much for dinner. I have been eating about a third(maybe less) of my daily calories for breakfast. I also have a small mid morning snack and an afternoon snack and try to eat the same or less for dinner than lunch. I usually try to save 100 or so cals for desert. You may notice also that when you eat a bigger breakfast, you will be more hungry still because starting the day with a good breakfast will help your metabolism too which will make you feel more hungry. I would also suggest trying to eat as close to your allotted calories as you can +/- 100. If you have exercise calories in there and aren't comfortable that the number is very accurate, then at least eat most of them back. You shouldn't have more than 300 calories left over for the day unless of course you had a crazy big workout or were sick or something. One day way under isn't gonna destroy you or anything. I doubt you have gained enough muscle in 3 weeks to really cause what you are seeing, unless you are doing a lot of weights or heavy cardio, which I may have missed.

2 pounds a week is right on track, I wouldn't be upset with that. Great job staying the course and Good luck!

mielikkibz

i have a container of oatmeal in my desk for those mornings that I don't get up to eat my egg & toast & bacon. . .I didn't dig too far into your dairy(at work LOL), but the breakfast was a biggie, along with the huge dinner you had yesterday. ..spread the food you ate yesterday to all your meals.

and take more veggies. . munch on them

End6ame

I looked at your diary, and one thing jumps out at me. You aren't eating much for breakfast. Breakfast means to "break" the "fast" from not eating while you were sleeping. You need to jump start your metabolism for the whole day. A yogurt & a piece of toast may not cut it anymore. I usually consume 350-550 calories for my breakfast, about the same for lunch, and then my dinner is the smallest meal. Try eating something more filling in the AM, and that might help. Especially if you're exercising in the AM, you need the fuel!

100% agree. I was reading others, so I didn't say the same thing. I know it's tough sometimes, but try not to eat as much for dinner. I have been eating about a third(maybe less) of my daily calories for breakfast. I also have a small mid morning snack and an afternoon snack and try to eat the same or less for dinner than lunch. I usually try to save 100 or so cals for desert. You may notice also that when you eat a bigger breakfast, you will be more hungry still because starting the day with a good breakfast will help your metabolism too which will make you feel more hungry. I would also suggest trying to eat as close to your allotted calories as you can +/- 100. If you have exercise calories in there and aren't comfortable that the number is very accurate, then at least eat most of them back. You shouldn't have more than 300 calories left over for the day unless of course you had a crazy big workout or were sick or something. One day way under isn't gonna destroy you or anything. I doubt you have gained enough muscle in 3 weeks to really cause what you are seeing, unless you are doing a lot of weights or heavy cardio, which I may have missed.

2 pounds a week is right on track, I wouldn't be upset with that. Great job staying the course and Good luck!

She did not gain muscle. You will not gain muscle by accident, you have to try to and it is not as easy as everyone seems to think it is by these statements. Especially in three weeks; it takes time and work.

jessicaj_824

I used to always get like this. I've been working with a trainer and she has had me change the type of food I ate and said I was having too much sugar. She set my sugar max at 25 grams for the day and have been keeping that for a few weeks now. I have noticed since that my appetite has been regulated and I don't get shakes anymore - even during TOM. In looking at your diary I see you already have 88 grams today and have not logged what you plan to have for dinner. Watch the yogurts, fruit and salad dressings as well as any processed food you eat for the sugar contents. It's hard at first but it's doable.