I'm always hungry-please help!!

Diamondmortiz
Diamondmortiz Posts: 19 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have been excercising consistenly for about a month and counting calories. I started out eating 1200 calories and then realized I should probably up them since I am lifting 3 times a week and cardio/circuit 3 times a week (I burn between 5-1,000 a class). Since I upped my calories to 1300 I have literally been starving. I can eat a good size meal and then literally in an hour it's like i haven't eaten anything! Should I eat more? Or should I just stay hungry until it's my next meal because I dont want to get in the habit of eating right when I get hungry, does that make sense? I do eat my calories back, 1300 is my minimum but as you can see in my dairy I can eat between 1600-1800 a day. Also I have not been loosing any weight but I am not focusing on that, just body fat. Could I be burning so much calories that that is why I am consistenly hungry? Please help, opinions are welcome!!

Thanks!!!

Replies

  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
    Eat more. Up your cals and give it a few weeks and see what happens. Experiment with what you eat and take notes on what fills you up the best and eat that more.
  • ladybug2606
    ladybug2606 Posts: 7 Member
    your body needs fuel for your new higher (yay!) metabolism. make sure to fill up on veggies and more fibrous foods to help keep you fuller longer
  • tricksee
    tricksee Posts: 835 Member
    You're not hungry, your body just thinks you are.

    Don't give in to it and after a week you're body will get used to it.
  • Dee_84
    Dee_84 Posts: 431 Member
    If you're hungry, you need to eat more! It's your body's way of telling you that it needs more fuel.

    Look up "In place of a road map" on the forums. It will help you setting up your calorie goal and your macros.
    There's no reason to be hungry all the time.
    I eat over 1800 calories and still lose weight!
  • ddukey11
    ddukey11 Posts: 3
    Make sure your getting enough protein, start breakfast with string cheese if you have cereal. Also make sure you drink enough water it makes you feel fuller.
  • blu_meanie_ca
    blu_meanie_ca Posts: 352 Member
    Imagine that protien shake was a serving of pork. Or, the shell from your tostada salad was more veggies. I don't know that your BMR and TDEE are (if you don't know, you should). For a 10lb weight loss you are ideally looking at a very small deficit from your TDEE (about 260-300 cals a day). But, try to hit your caloric totals with real food first, and supliment only if you are having trouble hitting your target.
  • Tlindstrand
    Tlindstrand Posts: 4 Member
    Hi there,

    I struggle with the same hunger issues some days, and have found that the following really helps:

    1) Eat a small meal every 3 hours, and make SURE it includes both lean protein and good carbs (whole wheat, sweet potato, etc.)
    2) Looks like your snack a lot of times is a banana - I love them too, but eating them without protein seems to make me hungry, just like any other high-carb snack would. Maybe have them with a low-cal protein shake? (EAS Advantage is only 110 calories, but 17 g protein)
    3) I LOVE diet coke, but it makes me crazy hungry for the rest of the day! Don't know if you are a diet pop drinker, but try to give it up a few days and see if that helps.
    4) In the past when I've lost weight, I've found a "cheat" day once a week has not kept me from losing weight, as long as I've "kept it between the lines" the other 6 days of the week. Makes it a bit easier for my to watch my diet during the week if I know I have a guilt-free day to indulge lightly!

    Good luck to you - I'm not an expert by any means, but I hope this helps you.

    Tina
  • Tlindstrand
    Tlindstrand Posts: 4 Member
    P.S. Forgot to add - if you are lifting heavy, you may not show so much weight change on the scale, if the fat is being replaced by muscle. I only lost .8 lbs this past week, but worked out heavy. My measurements showed more change than the scale did, you are pretty tiny to begin with!
  • Tehameh
    Tehameh Posts: 1
    I've started working out ( a lot!) and I've noticed that I feel hungry all the bloody time as well. It's killing me. I keep a stock of snacks just about everywhere, things like fresh veggies in the house and some smoked almonds in my car. Plus, anytime I feel like snacking, I try to drink two glasses of cool water (sometimes when you feel hungry, your body is actually trying to tell you that you're feeling dehydrated). Also, this helps me snack less. Almonds are good for me, and peanuts, because I don't eat very many (maybe a small handful or two) and they don't screw up my calorie intake too much either. I think celery is a perfect snack as well.

    Hope this helps! And good luck on all your working out! Sounds amazing.
  • lself0924
    lself0924 Posts: 113 Member
    Hi there,

    I struggle with the same hunger issues some days, and have found that the following really helps:

    1) Eat a small meal every 3 hours, and make SURE it includes both lean protein and good carbs (whole wheat, sweet potato, etc.)
    2) Looks like your snack a lot of times is a banana - I love them too, but eating them without protein seems to make me hungry, just like any other high-carb snack would. Maybe have them with a low-cal protein shake? (EAS Advantage is only 110 calories, but 17 g protein)
    3) I LOVE diet coke, but it makes me crazy hungry for the rest of the day! Don't know if you are a diet pop drinker, but try to give it up a few days and see if that helps.
    4) In the past when I've lost weight, I've found a "cheat" day once a week has not kept me from losing weight, as long as I've "kept it between the lines" the other 6 days of the week. Makes it a bit easier for my to watch my diet during the week if I know I have a guilt-free day to indulge lightly!

    Good luck to you - I'm not an expert by any means, but I hope this helps you.

    Tina

    I agree with this. Eat smaller more often. No expert either but I am losing.
  • kellicci
    kellicci Posts: 409 Member
    The quick answer is yes, eat more. 1300 should be about the bare minimum for you I doubt your BMR is much higher or lower than that. But when you exercise like you are you need food to fuel your body. When you feel extra hungry make sure you're eating protein. Protein will help fill you up and will fuel those muscles you've been working. If you're using a HRM you can safely eat back every extra calorie you earn from a workout...if using the database here or other estimates I would say only eat about half of them back those estimates are usually too high.
  • ATT949
    ATT949 Posts: 1,245 Member
    Could I be burning so much calories that that is why I am consistenly hungry?

    That's part of it.

    I started losing weight at 295 @ 6' 1" and I ate 800 to 1k net cals/day most days (my diary is public so you can check the entries for Dec 2010 through, perhaps, mid-2011). I got hungry, as best I can recall, four times in the 7 months that it took me to lose 95 pounds.

    The secret?

    There isn't a "secret". ;-)

    You'll see that I had a higher percentage of protein in my diet than in a normal diet. Protein (and fat) takes longer to digest than carbs, it gives a feeling of satiety, and, in the case of protein, it requires more calories to digest than fat or carbs so the net cals that you're getting from a given mass of food is lower than with carbs or fats.

    In so far as eating more to lose weight - wow, that's still being tossed around here…

    I you gain weight by eating less, one of two things is happening:

    1 - You're not eating less*
    2 - You've invented perpetual motion.


    *the inaccuracies in food portions, food calorie content, and calorie consumption are eye opening.

    Eat less. Exercise more.

    It's simple. Not easy for a lot of folks but it is simple.
  • mzthiknez
    mzthiknez Posts: 37 Member
    try seeing a weight management doctor in your area... who supplies Adipex or Phentermine supplements... they work... trust me
  • _chiaroscuro
    _chiaroscuro Posts: 1,340 Member
    I calculated my TDEE for sedentary activity level, subtracted 20%, and ended up with 1500 as a calorie goal plus eating exercise back. If that sounds like Greek to you check this thread out and maybe find out your numbers:

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

    I eat whatever I want (I love junk and good stuff), feel content, and I've lost 6 pounds in 5 weeks. It's slower than it could be, but I'm not relying on gimmicks and I'm not feeling stabby, which I was on 1200.
  • demorelli
    demorelli Posts: 508 Member
    Try using a DTEE calculator other than mfp's and make sure your activity level is correctly listed. Setting your calories to 429 below that number will give you about a pound a week loss and will probably still be over what you're eating now.
  • triff14
    triff14 Posts: 129 Member
    I calculated my TDEE for sedentary activity level, subtracted 20%, and ended up with 1500 as a calorie goal plus eating exercise back. If that sounds like Greek to you check this thread out and maybe find out your numbers:

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

    I eat whatever I want (I love junk and good stuff), feel content, and I've lost 6 pounds in 5 weeks. It's slower than it could be, but I'm not relying on gimmicks and I'm not feeling stabby, which I was on 1200.

    Yes this is a great way :) You should allow yourself to listen to your body and eat when you're hungry!
  • MeMyCatsandI
    MeMyCatsandI Posts: 704 Member
    try seeing a weight management doctor in your area... who supplies Adipex or Phentermine supplements... they work... trust me
    Do not listen to this!
  • _chiaroscuro
    _chiaroscuro Posts: 1,340 Member
    try seeing a weight management doctor in your area... who supplies Adipex or Phentermine supplements... they work... trust me
    Do not listen to this!
    Whoa, missed that one. Yeah don't do that.

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