Meeting Caloric intake..

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rjacs188
rjacs188 Posts: 9
in Food and Nutrition
Hi! I've been meeting my calorie intake and some days under... lately I've been hungry even though I have been eating the same amounts as the previous week. My exercise is also the same. I'm not skimping nor do I only eat salad. I guess what I am asking is should I up my calories for the day?

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  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    No. You need to eat more foods with protein or foods with higher protein percentages. Protein is what keeps you full longer. Also, fruits are great for this and some are fiber-rich too so that's a bonus. :)
  • rjacs188
    rjacs188 Posts: 9
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    Funny you mention that... I've been over protein, and fiber and everything else is w/in acceptable ranges. See how I'm a bit loss on this. I'm eating what I'm suppose to but I'm still hungry which really sucks. =p
  • Dom_m
    Dom_m Posts: 336 Member
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    Protein keeping you full is, as far as I can tell, a myth perpetrated by the meat industry and providers of protein supplements.

    You're feeling hungry probably because your metabolism is rising. This happened to me. The first week or two on MFP felt like non-stop eating! It was like a constant quest to find more food. Then there wasn't time in the day to eat it all! After a couple of weeks of eating like that, I started feeling hungry again, but I noticed it was a bit different to how I used to feel hungry.

    What I used to think of as hunger was closer to craving. I doubt I'd ever really noticed actual hunger before. Now if I skip a meal I notice the lack in energy, and I associate that with hunger. I can tell a craving for what it is, and usually I ignore it, or sometimes I indulge it.

    Basically, what you're feeling is probably health. Embrace it. It might seem weird for a bit, but your body will get used to it and you'll come to feel pity for everyone who doesn't have it and wonder about how you left that group behind ;)
  • FireMonkey
    FireMonkey Posts: 500 Member
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    No, it's not a myth, but it's not as simplistic as that either. My nephew was a Type 1 brittle diabetic, meaning his blood sugar was hard to control. When his blood sugar went really low, usually early in the morning, he would eat some fast acting carbs to get his blood sugar back up. However this also triggers an insulin release - as much as a Type 1 diabetic's pancreas can still manage to produce a little insulin - and as a result his blood sugar went even lower. So he had to take protein together with his carbs to prevent the blood sugar from spiking and then crashing. An increase in your insulin levels triggers hunger, but if you have some protein on board the spike in blood sugar and insulin won't be as high. That's what protein does.
  • rjacs188
    rjacs188 Posts: 9
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    Hi! Thanks for all the responses. Ha! My metabolism has never been high, but it does fit. Thanks I will take all that you guys have written and figure out what it's really happening. =)

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