Why am I Still Hungry??

CasperO

Read the stickies,,,

The way this works is - in general you will lose weight in proportion to your calorie deficit.

What's a calorie deficit? It's when you take in fewer calories than your body needs.

So - MFP asked you some questions and came up with an estimate that you needed about 1800 calories a day to maintain your weight. Then you said you wanted to lose a pound a week. So MFP told you to eat 1300 a day. 1800 needed a day, and you're only eating 1300 - so a 500 calorie a day "deficit". This is 3500 a week, and a pound of fat is basically 3500 calories.

Remember that you need 1800 calories in a typical day. TYPICAL day as you described when you started. So,,, what happens if you make it an unusual day? What if you decide to climb Mt. Fuji? That's a lot of work,,, and your body will need a lot of "fuel" to do it.

So - let's guess that you climb Mt. Fuji tomorrow. On that day you do not need 1800 calories. You need your usual 1800, plus 500 more to make the climb - for a total of 2300 for the day. On the day you need the work your body burns up all that extra...

So - MFP has you set up for a 500 calorie deficit. On a regular day you eat 1300 - which is 500 less than you need, and you lose weight. So it's perfectly Ok (even recommended) that you eat 1800 on the day you climg the mountain. Your body burns up 2300 that day - you eat 1800 and you still have your 500 deficit. And you'll still lose weight. You'll also feel better and avoid starvation mode.

I eat most of my exercise calories, because I found that when I didn't I didn't lose weight and I didn't feel good. It worked for me...

theatregoddess

Read the stickies,,,

The way this works is - in general you will lose weight in proportion to your calorie deficit.

What's a calorie deficit? It's when you take in fewer calories than your body needs.

So - MFP asked you some questions and came up with an estimate that you needed about 1800 calories a day to maintain your weight. Then you said you wanted to lose a pound a week. So MFP told you to eat 1300 a day. 1800 needed a day, and you're only eating 1300 - so a 500 calorie a day "deficit". This is 3500 a week, and a pound of fat is basically 3500 calories.

Remember that you need 1800 calories in a typical day. TYPICAL day as you described when you started. So,,, what happens if you make it an unusual day? What if you decide to climb Mt. Fuji? That's a lot of work,,, and your body will need a lot of "fuel" to do it.

So - let's guess that you climb Mt. Fuji tomorrow. On that day you do not need 1800 calories. You need your usual 1800, plus 500 more to make the climb - for a total of 2300 for the day. On the day you need the work your body burns up all that extra...

So - MFP has you set up for a 500 calorie deficit. On a regular day you eat 1300 - which is 500 less than you need, and you lose weight. So it's perfectly Ok (even recommended) that you eat 1800 on the day you climg the mountain. Your body burns up 2300 that day - you eat 1800 and you still have your 500 deficit. And you'll still lose weight. You'll also feel better and avoid starvation mode.

I eat most of my exercise calories, because I found that when I didn't I didn't lose weight and I didn't feel good. It worked for me...

Sounds reasonable to me. Thanks a lot for the explanation, it makes a lot more sense now. =]

azwildcatfan94

I have been starving today. And, I know exactly why. Yesterday, I didn't eat all my calories AND I didn't eat my exercise calories. So, even though I am eating good healty foods in good combinations, I just can't get enough in me. I have already eaten the 1300 for my base today. And it is only 3:30pm. So, I have to go to the gym (well, was planning to anyway) so I can burn enough calories to "earn" dinner. I've been chewing gum and chugging water, still not satisfied.

Don't make my mistake.

mrsyac2

Drink water, high fiber rich foods - (whole grains/Whole wheat) and don't forget the Protein. You need protein in your diet.

chgudnitz

Okay, so nobody asked how many calories a day you are eating. I saw your profile, you are short and not overweight, so you need to be on a tiny deficit.

Questions:
How many calories a day are you eating?
Do you eat exercise calories?
What weight loss goal per week did you select?
Were you honest with your activity level when setting up your goals?

There's just not enough info in your first post to help you really.

Well here are some answers that might be of use.

How many cals a day are you eating? = The MFP limit for me says 1,260 calories. I try my best to follow that, but have recently been going over. Sometimes it's as little as 80 cals, other times I'm over by a few hundred!! :sick: And yet, often times I will still feel hungry!
Do you eat excersise cals? = I try not to, but sometimes (depending on what I eat) it will take up some of them. Never all, though.
What weight loss goal per weak did you select? = 1.0lb per week.
Were you honest with your activity level when setting up you goals? : Yes. I workout everyday for at least 30 mins, doing either calisthenics or cardio. And even though I am not as active right now because of my job, when I return to school I will be doing A LOT of physical activity in classes.

I hope this helps. If it does, please let me know what you think! Thanks!

~Nicole

Okay, like others said, you need to eat your exercise calories. You will not be putting weight back on that you worked to lose, you are replacing the nutrients your body just used to exercise. Casper said it too that MFP sets you a deficit, yours being 500 a day to lose 1 pound a week. I would suggest changing to 1/2 of a pound per week at your size. Just a suggestion. You probably dont have enough body fat to support the 500 deficit.

Do this, eat your exercise calories, mix in good healthy vegies and lean protein and you will see an amazing difference. Hope some of us gave you something to help.

jpier4

I have been trying to follow the limits and guidelines of the Food Diary, but lately I have been going over. My problem is that I'm still hungry, even after eating what should be enough. I thought that maybe it was because I was eating the wrong kinds of food, but I have been very careful in watching what I eat. I try to have a little variety, so that I get the right types of nutrients, but I don't know what else I should be eating. Then I thought maybe it's because I'm not eating enough. But according to the limits set for me on MFP, I actually went over. So now, I'm at a loss.

Here is a breakdown of what I usually eat during the day:
Breakfast - something small like an Equate Ultra Weight Loss Shake, a Bagel, or small bowl of cereal w/ fat free milk, etc.
Snack (around 9:00/9:30am) - I heard it's a good idea to eat small throughout the day, plus I usually get very hungry mid-morning, so I'll have a Nutri-Grain bar, Quaker Oatmeal bar, or other type of granola bar.
Lunch - a sandwhich (PB&J, Turkey/Ham w/ or w/o a slice of cheese and miracle whip, or other type of sandwhich) on wheat bread. Then I'll have something small like an apple, granola bar, cheese stick, carrot, etc. And a bottled water.
Snack (around 3pm) - once again, eat something small to keep my body going throughout the day like a carrot(s), granola bar, etc.
Dinner - I try to keep it light, but this is when I'm most hungry, so it's hard. I tend to eat a lot of meat, but it's lean. I'll often times have rice, corn, cottage cheese, etc. as a side.

I try to eat according to serving size, but sometimes I'm just still hungry. Is this normal, should I just let the hunger pass because my body is adjusting to eating less? Or should I eat until I actually feel full? Not stuffed, just satisfied. Please let me know if you have any ideas as to why this is, and how I should go about dealings with it.

Thank you!
Nicole

Some of what I see may have already been posted. (I didn't read everything) but 2 things jumped out at me. First, get some protein in your breakfast. Some egg whites and turkey bacon. Maybe some all natural PB on some wheat toast. Protein helps provide a good feeling of fullness plus supplies the body with an energy boost to start the day. Second (speaking of protein) You may not be getting enough of it altogether. A good rule of thumb is to consume 1 gram of protein per every pound of your goal body weight. Protein powders (smoothies) help achieve your protein intake and also leave a lasting effect of fullness. You may have to change your goals here at myfitnesspal to get more protein into your diet.

stormieweather

Remember that MFP cuts your calories FOR you depending on what you say you want to lose.

If you were to go to say...http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/calories-burned...and calculate what you need on a daily basis, you'd come up with approximately 2200 calories to maintain a somewhat active lifestyle and a weight of 130 lbs at 19 yrs of age and 5'2" tall.

Further, lets say you do not care to reduce your daily food intake below 2200. You could go work out, go running, jogging, cycling, whatever...and burn up enough extra calories to lose a bit of weight. So you ate 2200 and burned 500 through exercise to equal 1700 calories to run your machine...err...body. Everything is hunky dory!

But if you're not sure of how much you can/will exercise or simply cannot get in the exercise, you could just reduce the calories you eat. Safely taking off 500 a day would equal 3500 a week, or 1 pound. You'd be needing 1700 calories now to carefully lose that weight without exercising. Still no problem, at least until you lose the weight and have no muscles .

However, lets say you jump in with both feet...reduce your calories down to 1200 or 1300 and THEN, go exercise too!? You subtract the 500 or so exercise calories from the 1300 you ate, and you are left with a mere 800 calories to fuel your stuttering, exhausted, starving body. The metabolism goes into emergency save mode and refuses to burn fat cells so you lose zero weight. In fact, just about every time a single spare calorie enters your mouth, it gets stored as fat, like a chipmunk getting ready for a long, barren winter. :bigsmile: .

You're hungry because you're hungry. Your body isn't getting enough nutrition. There are several stickied threads with all this said in a better way than my lame attempt to explain it, but it helped me to write it all out anyway, lol.

lawallkate

WATER WATER WATER:drinker:

weaklink109

Regarding gum. For those who say it helps them, I am not going to argue the point, BUT in order to be of any value, it needs to be SUGARLESS.

For myself, if I am fighting hunger the LAST thing I want is a piece of gum. All that chewing stimulates the digestive processes, and as a result, for me, anyway, I end up feeling EMPTIER, not fuller.:grumble:

The only time I ever chew gum (always sugarless) is when I have eaten too much, and want to reduce that feeling of fullness. (This was in the "old days" BMFP (before MFP). I watch my portions like a hawk now, and the payoff is never feeling stuffed.

Now this is just me, but if you are using gum to fight hunger and feel like the battle is not leaning in your favor, maybe my story will give you a clue as to why.

Lots of good advice in this post about protein in the morning, and avoiding processed low protein high carb foods.

Good luck to all in their journey.:drinker: :drinker:

azwildcatfan94

I have heard that it is especially important to eat your exercise calories when you have less than 10 pounds to lose. At that amount, you have less spare fuel (fat) sitting around. Also, your body really wants to hang on to the fat that is left.