Why am I still hungry?

mattellis2

Joined MFP about 5 months back. Been pretty diligent (wife says OCD) about keeping up with things that I eat and logging the exercise that I complete. Been keeping track of calories burned based on a HRM's output. Been over my daily budget 2-3 times in the last 5 months. Been eating only things I prepare, and going light on the sodium...usually around 1500 mg/day. Lots of fruits, vegetables, chicken, a little red meat, and some homemade bread and pasta are my staples. I am generally eating about 50-60 grams fat/day, lots of carbs and 80 grams of protein.

So when I joined, I started out eating about 1600 calories/day, and burning about 4-5k a week between bike rides and other activities. Lost about 25 lbs, and changed my settings to maintain my current weight about a month ago. That bumped me up to about 2200 calories a day, but I was still losing at that rate, so I jumped up to 2300 or so. That seems to have me stabilized as far weight (seem to float up or down 2-3 lbs. or so), but I find that I am hungry a lot of the time. I don't understand why I am hungry when consuming 2300 calories, and I wasn't particularly when I was around eating around 1600.

fwiw, i am pretty scrawny...my little bathroom scale has me at about 10% body fat and 18 BMI. I know it isn't a super accurate way to measure body fat, and BMI can be meaningless.

suggestions or thoughts?

kmtetour

I don't have any specific suggestions other than trying to talk to a nutritionist. They can give you healthy ideas and follow up with you to make sure their suggestions are working or help you try other things.

ttrotter1960

Actually the problem may not be hunger . . . . it may be thirst. Dehydration will at first manifest itself as a hunger-like symptom. When you feel hungry between meals drink about a 10 to 12oz of water. That may solve your problem.

If that doesn't work then break your calorie allottment into 5 or 6 meals a day. They will be smaller meals but you will find that you will be less hungry because there is always food on your stomach.

bethdris

Since you went to maintainance, have you changed the foods you eat? Are you eating smaller meals more often, or bigger meals 3x a day...I find I graze most of the day. I am on maintainace too. I try to make my breakfast on of my bigger meals.

Look back at what you ate before, and compare it. Are you drinking enough water??

mattellis2

thought about the thirst thing too...but i don't think that is culprit. i drink water only, with an occasional cup of milk on cereal or a glass of orange juice.

my scale has me at about 66% water, which i understand is pretty decent for a 33 year old guy. again, i don't know how accurate the scale thing can be, but i have seen a couple of % increase since i have started tracking.

ETA: beth, grazing describes it perfectly. breakfast is usually 350 cals or so...oatmeal, honey and a banana. lunch is about 700, as is dinner. snacking fills in the rest. i have been trying to eat something every couple of hours but it doesn't really satiate me.

darklord48

I agree on breaking down your meals into more times per day. The same amount of food spread out more will allow your stomach to shrink more, so it will take less food for you to feel full. I noticed that for myself when I switched to eating more times per day, even though I eat the same number of calories.

Bridget28152723

Hey there, So your hungry a lot? Either your body just needs more calories or something else is going on. I for instance have hyperthyroidism , and a symptom of it can be being hungry all the time-it sucks! Are you on any meds, vitamins or supplements that might increase your appetite? If not maybe you could get some labs done if you find it not going away...just a thought! good luck!

maillemaker

If you're hungry, eat less carbs and more protein.

ttrotter1960

Actually the problem may not be hunger . . . . it may be thirst. Dehydration will at first manifest itself as a hunger-like symptom. When you feel hungry between meals drink about a 10 to 12oz of water. That may solve your problem.

If that doesn't work then break your calorie allottment into 5 or 6 meals a day. They will be smaller meals but you will find that you will be less hungry because there is always food on your stomach.

AND . . . if those don't work it may just be habit! Don't laugh but I know a guy who went to a behavioral therapist and lost almost 200lbs! His problems for the most part, were deeply ingrained bad habits.

LorinaLynn

If you're as you described yourself as "pretty scrawny," maybe this is your body's way of saying, "I wanna be bigger than this!" You might be trying to maintain at too small of a size.

Not only that, 80g protein isn't very much. I aim for 100g most days.

innerfashionista

thought about the thirst thing too...but i don't think that is culprit. i drink water only, with an occasional cup of milk on cereal or a glass of orange juice.

my scale has me at about 66% water, which i understand is pretty decent for a 33 year old guy. again, i don't know how accurate the scale thing can be, but i have seen a couple of % increase since i have started tracking.

ETA: beth, grazing describes it perfectly. breakfast is usually 350 cals or so...oatmeal, honey and a banana. lunch is about 700, as is dinner. snacking fills in the rest. i have been trying to eat something every couple of hours but it doesn't really satiate me.

Try to spread your calories out - think more of 300-400 calories (or whatever the math works out to) 5 or 6 times a day. 80g of protein, like Lorina said, really isn't that much. It's the one category I personally strive to go over.