always hungry, can't reach my calorie intake

booyainyoface

eat more protein! 40% carbs, 30%fat, 30% protein should help you feel a little more full...

wedge421

Plus the first week you diet you will lose a lot of weight due to water loss. It will most likely even out to a lb or 2 per week after the first week or so

NaurielR

If you are worried about going over because of your previous habits, prelog as much as possible. I log my breakfast as I'm eating, then I log my lunch and afternoon snack right behind it. Then I know how much I have left for dinner. Or I prelog my dinner at breakfast if I know what I'm going to eat that day. This keeps me within my calorie limits and I always now what I can have at each meal/snack. Be sure you are getting in fruits, veggies, dairy, protein, and carbs. I try to get a bit of each at each meal. My macros are set to 40/30/30 and 1800 calories. If you started at 3000 or so calories you may not want to go as low as 1420 starting out. Try 2000 and drop from there if you don't lose at that high a goal. It takes a long time to find and get used to what works for your body so experiment. But give each change 2-3-4 weeks. It takes time for it to show up on the scale because of normal fluctuations in your body (fluid). Do what is right for you.

I agree that pre logging your food may help. If I understand your mentality correctly (I don't want to be presumptuous, but this is my mentality as well) you're scared of going over your calorie limit, so you restrict your intake throughout the day, denying yourself food even though you're hungry and its healthy. Eating scares you. Because even when you know what you'll be eating for the entire day, you just want to be *extra* careful so that you're in your calorie goal. But then at the end of the day you have a whole bunch of calories left over. What to do with them? Eating all of them back seems like an unhealthy binge. Getting *that* full while on a diet just isn't possible, right? Besides, at night you crave unhealthy foods. Vegetables just don't seem to appealing after the sun has gone down, but that chocolate ice cream in the back of the freezer is looking mighty tasty.

If this sounds like you, prelogging could help a lot. by planning out your day in advance, you know what you're getting, You can see into the future and reassure yourself that you can eat preplanned snacks and still reach your calorie goal *without* going too much over.

Now, I'm going to say something that you've probably heard more times than you care to count. This is not a diet. This is a lifestyle. Are you going to be able to live like this every day for the rest of your life? There is no magical point at which you can drop your diet, eat what you want, and never worry about food again. Changing over to a healthy lifestyle is tough. If it weren't, McDonalds would be out of business and gyms would be fuller. Its also scary. The fear of slipping back into a detrimental lifestyle is very real. Its okay to be worried, but don't let that rule you. it will just make you obsessive. Saying things is easy and doing them is the tough part, I know, but i think my advice is sound. At least, I hope it is!

Of course, this whole post pivots on me being able to get into your head and understand what you're thinking. If i totally missed the mark, I'm sorry. Here, have a flower :flowerforyou:

SmileyFaceGuy

Puzzling OP and cryptic responses.

2hobbit1

Hi,
Took a look at you info and i think part of your problem is that you macro's are set wrong. If you are trying to stay within you protein levels as currently set then you will not be making you calorie totals and will be hungry. You need to manual set you goals. Many people use 45% carb, 30% protein, 25% fat as their macro targets.

Also look at the link below - I will bet that your calorie goal is too low as well - You should be eating between your BMR and your TDEE - the link will explain and show you how to find these numbers.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

nxd10

I'm confused too, but I think from what you've said, you're trying to do too many things at the same time.

You want to AVERAGE your nutrient and net calorie goals for the week. Some days you'll be high on protein, some low. It's better to be high on protein than high on say, fat or carbs (for different reasons).

If you're hungry, eat more and especially eat protein. It really will help you feel less hungry. After you get your calories and hunger in control, then I would worry about managing your nutrients. You can't do everything at once and you certainly can't hit ALL goals every single day.

amyLhuff

I just focus on eating my calories if I'm over in a certain area so what. Usually if I workout I eat a few of my workout calories but never all of them and if I work out I'm usually never over in any category. If I go over its usually in protien or fats cuz I do eat avocados pretty regularly. Just eat whole grains in bread and pastas lots of veggies lean meats lots of water you'll be fine you have to eat the calories first and foremost. Don't starve yourself.

Tsunami79

Thank you to all who posted, I appreciate the help. I think we can close this topic now.

louiesa55

i know how it is to be hungry all the time and not reaching you cal. goal. and being afraid of over eating and not losing the weigh that you want. just don't give up try to add a little and get as close to your goal as possible.

TheRealParisLove

I just made my diary public, you should be able to see it now.

No I do not have an eating disorder. I have always been a big eater, and I am really trying to cut down, on how much I eat, but don't want to go over my other things, like carbs, protein, & fats.

I have my carbs set to 55%, fats 30% protein 15%, should I change those.

I want over my protein today.

I was hungry and always over-eating when I started with MFP because the carbs are way too high and the protein too low. I switched to 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat and I felt much, much better. I didn't want my carbs to get too low because I do endurance training exercises, but you could reasonably get your carbs down to 20-30% if you are just doing regular cardio or resistance training without much of an issue. Just stick to lean protein like chicken breast, egg whites (mostly, some yolks make them taste better), fish, and lean cuts of meat.

Avoid luncheon meats and protein sources that are high in nitrites and sodium (like sausage, hot dogs etc.).