Hungry every 2 to 3 hours

zagrath769

Has anyone else experienced this?
Before changing my eating habits, I used to only eat once a day. I've been eating regularly now for about 2 weeks. I notice that approximately every 2 to 3 hours I'm hungry. I end up eating three meals and 2 snacks. I'm allowed 1290 calories per day and I'm not eating over that (even with snacks). Is this frequent hunger thing just due to my metabolism? I have a friend who told me that I'm not really hungry, but that it's a habit to eat. I don't think so. I know when I'm hungry, when my tummy growls and cramps. Anyhow, thanks for the feedback!

Lisa1971

Eat more protein! This keeps me full for at least 3-4 hours at a time.

AphelionPDX

I'm wondering this, too. My stomach growls every couple of hours. Some people say that sometimes when you think your body is telling you that you are hungry, it might just mean that you need to be more hydrated. I drink A LOT of water though.

astrampe

How tall are you and how much do you need to lose? I would eat my own fingers on 1290 cals a day..... I find that eating lots of protein and grazing every 2/3 hours keeps hunger away....

jenniferwren

sometimes it's thirst, have a pint of water and if you're still hank marvin shortly after, eat something x

zagrath769

How tall are you and how much do you need to lose? I would eat my own fingers on 1290 cals a day..... I find that eating lots of protein and grazing every 2/3 hours keeps hunger away....

I am 5 foot 3 inches and need to lose about 115 pounds. I plugged in that I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week and that's what MFP came up with for me.

lilkidtchr

If you are hungry, eat! A small light snack - maybe a veg - and wait 15 mins. That's how long it takes for your brain to realize that you put something in your stomach. I have been feeling hungry almost hourly during the work day. I eat small snacks (lowfat cheese stick, carrots, etc.) to keep myself going. I find if I ignore the hunger, I'll overeat later. Just my 2 cents

zagrath769

I find if I ignore the hunger, I'll overeat later. Just my 2 cents

Exactly. If I ignore it then I get ravenous and want to eat everything in the house. haha

mercina22

I am 5'3 and needed to lose over 100 Lbs. As you can see i have lost most of it and need another 20 or so to go. I have stayed under 1200 cals a day by eating tons of protein and veggies. and drinking TONS of no cal /carb drinks( i dont like water).. Took me almost two years but i survived. I still get hungry and have allowed some stuff back into my diet making the last 20 harder to lose.

My 2 cents Higher protien and veggies. Drink lots of fluids. Prefereably water:happy:

astrampe

How tall are you and how much do you need to lose? I would eat my own fingers on 1290 cals a day..... I find that eating lots of protein and grazing every 2/3 hours keeps hunger away....

I am 5 foot 3 inches and need to lose about 115 pounds. I plugged in that I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week and that's what MFP came up with for me.

If you have that much to lose, eat more....Eating too little this early in the game will make your weight loss come to a screeching halt too soon...And you won't keep up with it if you are hungry...Set it to 1-1.5 lbs a week, and eat back some of your exercise calories if you are hungry.....

Lleldiranne

If you're not eating more than your calorie allowance, there is nothing to worry about. I agree that more protein (some with every meal/snack) may help you to feel full longer, but that's only if you really feel like it's necessary. There is a line of thinking that says small, frequent meals may be beneficial to loss. Ultimately, though, it's calories in vs calories out.

zaxx1953

You should be getting hungry around every 3 hours....maybe 4 if you wanna stretch it.

Eat more/smaller meals.

Plus, not to pile on but you should be eating like 1000 more cals than that unless you are in a coma.

kacarter1017

I eat about every 2-3 hours and it's worked well for me. I eat protein and a whole grain for breakfast, then have a piece of fruit a few hours later. Then I have lunch, protein, lots of veggies, fruit, yogurt, whole grain something. My afternoon snack is typically nuts or a grain and a protein. Supper is whole grain, lots of veggies, protein. My evening snack is usually popcorn, chex mix, etc. Probably my least healthy of the day, but it's worked well for me. I usually have some "emergency" carrots, celery, cucumbers, grape tomatoes with me at work in case I get hungry in between. I lost and now have maintained a 40 pound weight loss with this plan. I stay around 1500 calories now, but was eating around 1300 while I was losing weight.

1ConcreteGirl

At 5'3" and with 115 lbs to lose, you will probably lose weight eating 2000 calories a day. You are hungry because your body actually needs a lot more food than it is getting. MFP pretty much automatically assigns 1200 calories to everyone, but that's not necessarily the most accurate measure.

Calories are a unit of energy. Your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the number of calories (amount of energy) that it would take to fuel your body if you were in a coma: that is, the bare minimum energy required to make your organs function and keep you breathing.

TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is your BMR plus however many calories you use walking around, talking, getting the mail, whatever. So the total amount of energy in calories that you use in your normal daily life. Go to scooby's workshop website I have included below and figure out your TDEE (just follow the instructions). TDEE tells you how many calories you should be eating to maintain your weight at its current level.

To lose weight, you should be eating about 20% BELOW your TDEE. So if your TDEE is 1800 calories, you should be eating around 15% fewer calories to keep your body functioning efficiently and still lose weight. 20% of 1800 is 360, so subtract that and eat 1540 calories to lose weight.

Now, if you go for a walk and burn 200 calories and enter that into MFP, it gives you 200 extra calories that you earned-- you should try to eat those calories because that creates 200 calorie deficit on top of a 360 calorie deficit, so at this point you're 30% under TDEE which isn't giving your body enough calories to function efficiently.

If you end up eating over your calories on any day (doesn't matter whether you work out or not for this), by say 100 calories, you are fine, because remember, to maintain your weight you have to eat your TDEE and your calories are set at 360 under TDEE, so you still will lose weight. Maybe not as much as you wanted or as fast as you wanted, but you're still under.

So basically, you have a buffer zone. Once you figure out your TDEE, you can eat all the way up to that point and not gain any weight. TDEE is usually a lot higher than people expect, so once you figure it out for your weight/height, etc, don't freak out. Simply subtract 20% from that, make that number your goal, and don't freak out if you eat a little more, because you still have all that wiggle room up to TDEE.

Here is the website. Set your activity level as lightly active: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

Hope that helps, and I apologize if I explained anything you already know, but it's important to understand the way this works to be successful. Good luck!

cwolfman13

more protein and also, when you do carbs, make them the fibrous variety (i.e. veg, fruit, whole grains). Also, I started off with trying to lose 2Lbs per week and was miserably hungry most of the time. I switched it to 1 Lb per week and I'm rarely hungry, particularly with my current macro settings. I'd rather it take longer and be happy than take shorter and I'm miserable and can't stick to my calorie restrictions.

Firefox7275

I am 5 foot 3 inches and need to lose about 115 pounds. I plugged in that I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week and that's what MFP came up with for me.

That sounds too low, what is your basal metabolic rate and have you set your activity level correctly? If I guess you are 250 pounds (you say your goal is 150 in your profile) that makes your BMR 1800 or so - you should not be netting below that. Losing two pounds a week healthily is difficult, it means under consuming calories by 1000 a day, you absolutely have to exercise intensively and even then you need to regiment your diet to get all the nutrients your body needs for health.

Nutrients that work together to confer satiety include protein, healthy fats, fibre and water. Realistically that means eating a pile of low sugar fruits and non starchy vegetables, protein little and often, healthy fats like oily fish nuts and seeds regularly, low glycaemic index carbs like beans and lentils for any remaining calories.

1ConcreteGirl

I am 5 foot 3 inches and need to lose about 115 pounds. I plugged in that I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week and that's what MFP came up with for me.

That sounds too low, what is your basal metabolic rate and have you set your activity level correctly? If I guess you are 250 pounds (you say your goal is 150 in your profile) that makes your BMR 1800 or so - you should not be netting below that. Losing two pounds a week healthily is difficult, it means under consuming calories by 1000 a day, you absolutely have to exercise intensively and even then you need to regiment your diet to get all the nutrients your body needs for health.

Nutrients that work together to confer satiety include protein, healthy fats, fibre and water. Realistically that means eating a pile of low sugar fruits and non starchy vegetables, protein little and often, healthy fats like oily fish nuts and seeds regularly, low glycaemic index carbs like beans and lentils for any remaining calories.

Actually, with 115 lbs to lose, OP will probably end up losing MORE than 2 lbs per week at around 1800 calories, and loss will slow as goal weight is apporached.

Danalynne03

This is normal. Be patient. Eat something every couple of hours. This is a big change for you. Make sure to have protein like peanut butter, then some fiber like an apple or an orange then a few crackers or carbs. You are balancing your blood sugar by eating several mini meals per day. Happy to help if you need more info. Congrats on your initial weight loss!

raynavee

That's normal. You're supposed to snack between meals to keep your metabolism up. I used to eat only once a day as well, and that was at night. Now, I find that once I started eating breakfast everyday, that I'm eating every 2-3 hours. This is a good thing. If you aren't getting hungry, it means that you aren't burning the calories that you're eating... which of course means you wouldn't be losing the weight. I have 101 pounds I need to shed, I have a daily allowance of 1800 calories (I'm almost 6' tall), but I find that I can't even get close to eating that many (I average between 1200-1400 a day). I agree, more protein is a must. Protein fills you up better. Eat tuna (if you like it)! That's what I do. Also, eat veggies. Veggies fill you up and are so low in calories that it's kinda ridiculous. One cup of broccoli is only 30 calories! As long as you're eating healthy snacks, you have nothing to worry about. I keep veggies, non-fat yogurt, fruit cups and almonds on hand at all time. Make sure the fruit is in 100% juice with no added sugar and that the nuts are all natural (no salts or sugars added). Also, make sure you consume at least a cup of water every time you eat!

janiesue101

You may want to up your calories so you dont go into starvation mode and plateau sooner than later.(1 pound per week). I'm also 5 3 and have lost a total of 93 pounds and would like to lose 40 -50 more. I also eat three meals and two snacks on the days that I work and change it up a little on my days off. I try to keep my snacks under 200 cal. and so far losing around 1 pound pre week.

zagrath769

have you set your activity level correctly?

I set it to 60 minutes a week of working out (that means going to "Curves" twice a week).

raynavee

Does it actually say 1200 on your daily limit, or are you going by when you finish your journal entry and it says that you're consuming too few calories? Because at 5'3" 250 lbs, 1200 is WAY too low of a limit. I'd say change it to 1500-1600 for awhile, you'll still lose the weight!

HokieMama4

I eat 6 times a day: Breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, evening snack. I'm currently eating 1300-1700cals a day and burning 300-600 most days. I try to net right at 1200.

Firefox7275

have you set your activity level correctly?

I set it to 60 minutes a week of working out (that means going to "Curves" twice a week).

Are you doing anything else, your 10000 steps a day for example? What level have you set it to - sedentary, lightly active?

katiefridley

I think this is normal as you are probably choosing naturally low calorie foods if you are seeking out healthier options. A little hunger is okay, just don't let it go too long. Have a healthy snack! Up your calories if ti becoming a problem.

gaylynn35

You are doing right by eating every 2-3 hours. I eat around 1200-1400 calories a day and I have 3 meals and usually 3 snacks. It is good for you to eat less more frequently than to eat a whole lot at one sitting. Just keep doing what you are doing.

zagrath769

have you set your activity level correctly?

I set it to 60 minutes a week of working out (that means going to "Curves" twice a week).

What level have you set it to - sedentary, lightly active?

I have COPD (lung disease) and am on oxygen 24/7 so I knew I'd only be able to go to Curves and work out 2 (3 at the most) times a week for 1/2 an hour each time (that's all they allow). I set my activity level to Sedentary.