My calories are spent but I'm hungry

Robin_Anne

So, I stayed within the range today but I'm hungry (probably 5 out of 10) and could go to bed soon. I'm new to this system with tracking the calories and the added on of calories if you exercise. I didn't exercise today. Was quite lazy, actually! So, I guess I'm wondering for the people that track their caloric intake:

Option A) do you exercise to eat more
Option not eat anything (and go to bed).
Option C) respond to hunger cues and eat because I'm hungry.

I think my body is not used to this less of calories at this time of the day because night time is when I binge.

MissBernie73

If your really hungry have a piece of fruit or something light. Dont go hungry. Take it one day at a time and eventually you will work out what works for you. Maybe you need to give yourself more calories a day and try to get in some exercise even if its just a walk around the block.

Robin_Anne

Yeah, that's a good idea. I could take a quick walk and it would distract me from thinking about restriction. I just had a juice shake but maybe a handful of almonds would help. I was low on protein today. Thanks for answering!

juliana813

i usually exercise twice a day. First to burn off my breakfast calories, and the second time to burn off 1/2 my lunch calories. I would also try eating foods that are high in protein such as nuts, as they'll keep you fuller longer and make excellent snacks! If you are hungry before bed, the best thing you could eat would be fruit or yogurt or 100 calorie snacks. DO NOT eat a full meal! If you do, you won't be too hungry for breakfast. Hope i helped! x Oh also i eat back some of my exercise calories sometimes.

Robin_Anne

Thank you for pointing out to not eat a full meal. I did eat the nuts and am less hungry (it's manageable now). I keep thinking of grilling up some chicken breast but that would put me way over. Like you said, don't eat a full meal.

I'm going to go bed before I open up the fridge!

coreybooth

A tip I have learned over the past couple of year is that sometimes I mistake hunger for dehydration. A lot of time I have my food and half hour later feel hungry again, so then I just have a pint a water and then ten minutes later the hunger feeling has gone

melaniecheeks

Drink a glass of water and reassess in 20 minutes.

Robin_Anne

I should have read the water tip earlier. I've only had 4 cups today so that probably is it!!

I almost made the chicken and even googled bake time and set the oven to pre-heat--but then I stopped myself. I ended up eating a dill pickle (random, I know) cause it's zero calories and my sodium levels were under. Still wasn't enough so had a little hummus with baby carrots. Still went over on calories by 300, but better than yesterday when I was over by 3,000!

Must work on the perfection vs "to hell with it" extreme thinking.

Gotta try the water, next time!!

amakkun

If you find yourself constantly hungry at night, you could try changing your meal times or eating 4-5 smaller meals per day. It will feel like you are eating more, but you are actually eating the same amount of calories.

Good luck!

StArBeLLa87

Jog in place during those commercials burns about 100 cals on a average 150lb person per 10 mins

Mini meals work awesome too

EdTheGinge

It's ok to go over your calories every now and then, just try and stick to relatively healthy foods. Don't deny your body food, it won't be very happy and will probably get you down. Smile

runlikeananna

I save calories to combat the late night munchies. Cheap (cal wise) foods that I fall back to are blueberries, slim pasta, eggplant, tomato, cottage cheese.

holly273

Are you set to a 1200 goal? If so, and you're still hungry at the end of the day, maybe you need to reassess. You may be overdoing it, and you might find you'll do just as well (and won't beat yourself up so much from being so hungry you go over goal often) if you up your goal to something more manageable.

BeachIron

You could eat some vegetables. They are very low calorie, provide great nutrition and help stave off hunger for those moments. I keep bags of frozen available in my freezer. Besides, most of us could afford to eat more veggies.

For the most part I've always done plenty of extra cardio so I could eat more. For the last 9 months, however, I've not been able to run much due to a knee injury, and yet I've had no issue with maintaining weight and losing weight as I've wanted. The trick really is calories.

pinkraynedropjacki

Option A) do you exercise to eat more
Option not eat anything (and go to bed).
Option C) respond to hunger cues and eat because I'm hungry.


A - True & you get to eat heaps more the more you exercise

B- Why?

C- That's how you got fat in the 1st place.


My opinion...... A. How do you think I get to eat about 3000 calories a day? I still can't even eat more than about half.


BTW that pickle is NOT zero calories. Water & air are the ONLY zero calorie items on the planet. Everything else has something.

Robin_Anne

I'm set at 1280 per day which factors out to a 2 lb. Loss per week?

I love all the suggestions and tips everyone is giving. Taking it all to heart. I might make a bulleted list of all these tips and post to fridge so I don't forget them!

ggxx100

Now normally I always suggest following hunger cues..however, since your intention is to essentially retrain your body to expect less food (I'm guessing) I'd either go for a light walk or snack on some blueberries. I also will whip up a frozen banana in the food processor and throw in some cocoa powder for a late night snack

RawCarrots

I'm new too so try not to comment when they are so many already successful people around, but here is my experience so far far (40 days today, hey me!)

Do you have your cals set up adequately, if you have set up for 1.5-2lb a week and you are hungry maybe go for 1lb a week (no idea about your weight, etc as can't see your profile) But as much as I hate all those posts of "Eat more"(like whf wants to eat more when they want to lose weight?! ) I have to admit that setting up 1.5lb a week for me at the start was over-ambitious. Weight did come off that fast, first two weeks were brilliant, but I now find myself obsessing over counting all day long, worrying if I have enough calories left for 5 nuts... that's no way to live :-) I now have to face increasing my calories with 200 to get me to more manageable level and I know I'll probably gain few pounds in the next to weeks, it nearly kills me mentally. Wish I had been more realistic at the start, buy hey, we all learn :-). So make sure you are at a good starting point

Water is your friend! Many days two glasses of water has bought me another hour to get me to dinner time.
Protein does keep you full for longer, I still need to work on increasing protein in my diet.
Handful of nuts are mostly fat but will get you another hour or so. I love being able to nibble on them during the day.
Lots of vegetables - they add volume so fill you in, yet have very low calories.


I made a promise to myself that I won't go hungry. I personally prefer few nuts that fruit as my carbs are always quite high as it is, but my rule is as long as I've eaten healthy food all day long if I'm still hungry I eat some more. I usually ask myself am I hungry enough to eat spinich or brocolli (not fond on either:-) ), if answer is yes than I'm truly hungry and I do eat

Good luck and add me if you need more friends

RawCarrots

You posted while I was typing :-)

BeachIron

I'm set at 1280 per day which factors out to a 2 lb. Loss per week?

I love all the suggestions and tips everyone is giving. Taking it all to heart. I might make a bulleted list of all these tips and post to fridge so I don't forget them!

Two pounds a week is an ambitious goal. Try to keep in mind that if you want to keep the weight off permanently that you need to focus on getting rid of old habits and replacing them with sustainable good ones. Give yourself time to lose the weight, there really is no reason to rush.

If you're struggling with this, cut back to a loss of 1 pound a week and make sure you're doing some strength training. You'll feel better and maintain more lean body mass as you lose.

Nutella91

i hope your cal limits are not 1200

minihaak

1280 is quite low... no wonder you feel hungry. If you are looking at reassessing your goals check out the in place of a road map forum post.

Linuraleal

A lot of good tips here. I have to repeat some of them, because for me, they really do work.

1) Drink water when feeling hungry - often I mistake being hungry for simply being thirsty
2) Add more proteins into your diet - makes you feel fuller, longer - I am a vegetarian, so I drink protein shakes
3) Don't start too optimistic with the diet - think of it long term. Don't go from eating 3000 calories a day to 1200 next day - think long term

And I think what is most important as well, is to look at this as a journey. What works for some, might not work for you. If you are extremely hungry one day and you exceed your daily calorie need, don't panic. Just look at what you have eaten that day, and see where you can make improvements. I find that if I have a day of a lot of carbs, I get hungry in the evening. If I have had a lot of proteins and fats, I am having difficulty reaching my calorie need for the day as I'll feel full whole afternoon and evening. I will then adjust the next day to make sure I am within an acceptable level.

AnJulNZ

If it were me, I'd change that 2lb/week to 1lb a week because I hate being hungry and weightloss is a long-term thing.

My calories per day are at 1500. I try to plan my day out before lunch so I know what I can eat during the rest of the day. I usually eat most of my exercise calories back - the more I exercise the more I can eat, and I find I'm often not as hungry.

And yes, make sure you're getting enough water. Good luck

SquidgySquidge

I was still hungry last night after eating my dinner.

So I done a 20 minute Jillian Michaels video from Youtube, I then had enough calories for a snack.
Sometimes though a cup of tea or a glass of water can take away my hunger, it's worth drinking something before you eat to see if it helps.

amy1612

I should have read the water tip earlier. I've only had 4 cups today so that probably is it!!

I almost made the chicken and even googled bake time and set the oven to pre-heat--but then I stopped myself. I ended up eating a dill pickle (random, I know) cause it's zero calories and my sodium levels were under. Still wasn't enough so had a little hummus with baby carrots. Still went over on calories by 300, but better than yesterday when I was over by 3,000!

Must work on the perfection vs "to hell with it" extreme thinking.

Gotta try the water, next time!!

You could have had the chicken breast for around 150cals and been over by less Never assume just because something is more of a 'meal' that you shouldnt have it. Also, I agree that 1280 cals is VERY low, if you're hungry, EAT THE FOOD!

lambchoplewis

Go to bed hungry!!! I do this a lot as I log my food, exercise and weight in morning. Yes, I weigh myself every morning as it stops me from stuffing things in my mouth. I know I will have to face the scale in morning. I get out of kitchen after dinner. If I get hungry, I take a bath, go to bed early and just think about how much easier this is than being hungry in middle of day. You fall asleep and voila - congratulate yourself the next day on keeping on track. This type of positive reinforcement will help you eventually want to wake up ready for b'fast instead of being pissed at yourself for giving in and falling asleep.

SGSmallman

I'm set at 1280 per day which factors out to a 2 lb. Loss per week?

I love all the suggestions and tips everyone is giving. Taking it all to heart. I might make a bulleted list of all these tips and post to fridge so I don't forget them!

That is way too low now wonder you're going over and beating yourself up about it.

Rwad up about BMR AND TDEE- you're practically starving yourself and are craving fatty foods that will help you make up the difference leading to binges.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937709-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0

For you id recommend eating your TDEE - 30% which i can guarantee will be double your current intake.

Since I've been following my TDEE and using a deficit i've lost a lot of weight and i don't binge. you'll need to reset your metabolism so give it a few weeks and then the lbs and inches will fly off.

SGSmallman

I'm set at 1280 per day which factors out to a 2 lb. Loss per week?

I love all the suggestions and tips everyone is giving. Taking it all to heart. I might make a bulleted list of all these tips and post to fridge so I don't forget them!

That is way too low now wonder you're going over and beating yourself up about it.

Rwad up about BMR AND TDEE- you're practically starving yourself and are craving fatty foods that will help you make up the difference leading to binges.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937709-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0

For you id recommend eating your TDEE - 30% which i can guarantee will be double your current intake.

Since I've been following my TDEE and using a deficit i've lost a lot of weight and i don't binge. you'll need to reset your metabolism so give it a few weeks and then the lbs and inches will fly off.

Adding on from this i lift heavy and i lose 2 lbs a week of FAT, this wont keep up forever i know but im gaining muscle which is speeding up my metabolism to burn more.

it's not about losing weight as that equals muscle, bone, water and fat your goal should be to lose FAT

sijomial

Option A is a positive option.

Mainly though I would agree with the others about changing your weight loss goal.
Being successful trying to lose 1lb a week is much better than trying to lose 2lbs a week and failing while feeling constantly hungry and miserable.

Susan_fessler

I get hungry at night sometimes also. My calorie limit is 1200 on anything I look at and that is losing 1 pound a week if I change that is does not go up. I had the same issue with Weight Watchers I always have the lowest points possible I think it's because I am short. I do crossfit 5 days a week before work and starting training for a 5k this week. I use to play roller derby and skater 3 hours 3 days a week. I use almost all my exercise calories or I don't lose any weight. I use a fitbit to monitor my exercise and it has seemed to work out really well. Great snacks are the 100 calorie nut packs, I get the cinnamon flavor and the chipotle flavor depending on if I want something sweet or salty. I also drink coffee or tea something hot seems to fill me up . Another trick is to brush your teeth because food just does not taste that good after that. It takes the body a while to get use to the lower calories but it does and eventually you find yourself trying to eat things to meet your calorie goal.