Any guesses as to why I'm so RIDICULOUSLY hungry?

Only ate healthy foods? Microwave meals and sushi aren't exactly going to be filling you up.

Try more vegetables, or more food with larger volume for lower calories.

Your body is getting used to your new regime. And hormones, stress, and exercise all have an impact. I find that I'll go through cycles like that. Just stick to your guns with the healthy choices. You're building habits now - - and you are working on retraining not only your body but your mind as well. Making the healthy choices isn't always easy but it sounds like you're committed to working at that!

Alright, I have a legitimate question here.

This morning, I woke up to my stomach growling loudly. You know that feeling when your stomach is totally empty? That absolutely FAMISHED feeling? Yes, that's how I've felt for most of today.

I ate a nice big breakfast, drank LOTS of water and tea, had a side salad and a healthy choice meal for lunch, sushi for dinner, and some whole grain bread with peanut butter for a snack. I went OVER on my protein, so it's not like I'm not eating substantially.

I'm very perplexed as to why I'm feeling so hungry today. Could it be that my metabolism is speeding up? Am I burning calories more efficiently or something?

I went way over on my calories for today, but I ate ONLY healthy foods and I only ate when I was feeling hungry.

Can anyone try to explain this to me? I am new to this whole fitness thing. I might need some direction/help so that I'm not feeling starved all day again!

Being on a calorie deficit is hard. You can't do this journey on will power alone. You must set up your environment for success. Have a team around you in your real life, not just online. Get trigger foods out of the house. It will take some sacrifice and it's not easy. You might have to say no to some social events sometimes.

Too many changes at once can be hard on some people. I've always eaten healthy so it easy for me to simply eat less. Eating at a calorie deficit is hard on people; even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such. Everyone is different. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others, this is not right or wrong, it just is. Stress in your life affects your hunger hormones; lack of sleep, fatigue, job stress, family stress, financial stress, etc. Add in emotional eating issues and it gets even more complicated. Most people can only handle so much change/stress at once, they try to do too much and fail. Sometimes it might be a better strategy to eat at maintenance and make some small changes first, it really depends on how much stress you are taking in at the moment.

For me it's all about a calorie budget. I had less of a budget available when I was losing weight, more to spend now that I'm maintaining and all the tools I used for weight loss come into play for the rest of my life maintaining.

When you have accumulated excess fat, you have accumulated a debt. It is hard to pay off the debt (you have less calories to spend). If you are sitting next to someone your same gender and height and they are not overweight and you are, they get to eat more than you (have more calories to spend) because they are debt free. You have less calories to spend because you are paying off your debt.

It doesn't seem fair to have to eat less and feel a little hunger. It's hard to face the truth of it, very hard. It's not fun. It's drudgery at times. But if you learn to enjoy your smaller amounts of food (necessary to lose weight, since the reason we got fat in the first place was eating too much whether we knew it or not), and rejoice in your victories it can be done.

I had the same problem over the summer- worked a desk job and ate constantly, but I always seemed to be hungry! I tried adding a lot of protein, fiber, and fruit. Have you tried greek yogurt? It tastes really good (even though it looks weird at first- you just have to mix it up) and it has a ton of protein. You could always try just snacking throughout the day- having fruit and veggies so you won't blow up your calorie intake, but you won't constantly feel like your stomach is getting ready to digest itself.

Can you open your diary so that we can help give you some better advice?

^This.

Can you open your diary so that we can help give you some better advice?

Pretty much this.

The calorie deficit is probably too large. We won't be able to tell until the diary is open. How many calories do you usually consume on any given day and also how much do you usually burn on average from exercise?

You could just take the eating disorder approach and learn to love the way an empty stomach feels. Its pretty good for weightloss, but you have to eat like 8 super small meals a day (anything bigger makes you feel sick.)

You could just take the eating disorder approach and learn to love the way an empty stomach feels. Its pretty good for weightloss, but you have to eat like 8 super small meals a day (anything bigger makes you feel sick.)

im sure taking an eating disorder approach is a brilliant idea.

smh -.-

Place seems to be overrun with that approach but I know that is what dieting can do to us if we aren't careful.

Ok OP sending friends request if you're game

You could just take the eating disorder approach and learn to love the way an empty stomach feels. Its pretty good for weightloss, but you have to eat like 8 super small meals a day (anything bigger makes you feel sick.)

I hope this is a joke.

From your diary that thing that stands out is that you could up the veggies so you get more fibre. The ready meals aren't great for that. Probably could eat a little more protein too.

What is your TDEE? Maybe you are too far below that calorie wise. You certainly aren't on a VLCD but it still may be too low for you.

Did you have a good workout today? On my big workout days I'm starving!!! Haha. So I tend to eat higher on those days

PMS, trust me. PMS or being tired. I am always HUNGRY when I have PMS.... like I can't stop.

I think one reason our appetites go up when it starts to get cold is because our bodies are trying to prepare us for winter. Squirrels gather nuts, bears prepare to hibernate, we fatten up.

There is a difference between being hungry and craving food. Certain foods that I eat make me want to eat more, while others fill me up. High carb foods like bread, potato, rice, and anything sugary trigger a craving response that feels a lot like being hungry. High protein with some fat foods fill me up and stick with me and don't trigger the craving type of hunger.

My theory is that once the body burns through the carbs you have eaten it is ready for you to eat again, so it doesn't have to change over and start burning fat. So when suddenly your body is telling you to eat when your mind says you ate recently, this may be the exact time you don't want to! When you eat less carby foods, your body is in fat burning mode already, and the cravings are not as common or strong.

When i feel like this I eat broccoli or green beans. Have them always in my fridge just in case. These are only things making me full and almost without calories,