So I've been hungry....Why?

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stonel94
stonel94 Posts: 550 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So, I wanted to see more of a reduction in body fat percentage and since I don't really have much time to add cardio I reduced my calorie intake by 100 calories, I've been super hungry since. But the problem is...on days I work, like today, I was on my feet walking around and stuff from 10-5:15 with only 1 30 min break so clearly i burned some calories here (I have my MFP settings at sedentary and just add my exercise and make my own calorie and macro goals) but I have no way to know how many calories this burns and how much to eat back, so on days I work if I go over a little bit I usually don't bother to log it but it kinda makes me think maybe it's why i haven't been reducing that much. Anyways, any suggestions as to what to do?

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  • stonel94
    stonel94 Posts: 550 Member
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    anyone?
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    Eat more.
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
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    So, I wanted to see more of a reduction in body fat percentage and since I don't really have much time to add cardio I reduced my calorie intake by 100 calories, I've been super hungry since. But the problem is...on days I work, like today, I was on my feet walking around and stuff from 10-5:15 with only 1 30 min break so clearly i burned some calories here (I have my MFP settings at sedentary and just add my exercise and make my own calorie and macro goals) but I have no way to know how many calories this burns and how much to eat back, so on days I work if I go over a little bit I usually don't bother to log it but it kinda makes me think maybe it's why i haven't been reducing that much. Anyways, any suggestions as to what to do?

    Don't set it to sedentary if you're not working a desk job? Go with lightly active if you're on your feet all day at work and continue to log your intentional exercise. Having the right job activity level will help.
  • stonel94
    stonel94 Posts: 550 Member
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    I have it as sedentary and I DO NOT go by what MFP suggests, i manually set my calories and macro goals doing my TDEE minus whatever I want to lose or something and put those calories in and then do 40% 30% 30% for carbs fat and protein. so changing the activity level on here wouldn't help, my calories are already at or above what that would be I'm sure. I was at 1600 for a long time and felt to be getting "skinny fat" so I upped it to 1800 where I definitely got more muscular and reduced body fat but then it slowed down a bit so I just dropped it by 100 calories but I've been working more too so I think the hunger must be related.
  • jaggerhawks
    jaggerhawks Posts: 187 Member
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    People need to learn to listen to their hunger signals. If you're legitimately hungry, you need to eat more, no questions asked. Adjust your intake to properly match your activity level, especially if you're on your feet at work.
  • stonel94
    stonel94 Posts: 550 Member
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    I have been eating more when I'm still hungry and not worrying about going over my calories a bit, but I feel it would be easy to go over too much, so the question here was not only why, but also what to do, how can I know how many to eat, the activity level adjustment on here wouldn't help, anything else?
  • jaggerhawks
    jaggerhawks Posts: 187 Member
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    What to do if you're still hungry? Eat just enough so your hunger has subsided, if you don't want to go over too much.

    You can know how many calories to eat based on your weight loss goals and activity levels. If the activity level adjustment won't help you, I'm not sure what will.
  • 2marsuccess
    2marsuccess Posts: 12
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    I highly recommend the fitbit. It's a tiny high tech pedometer that can sync with mfp as well as all your devices and is very motivating. It also doesn't fall off. It sounds like you do a lot of walking, so this would make you feel good about your exercise.

    Re calories, sometimes it's the things you don't think of that add up such as oil for stir frying, etc.
    i just started this app today, so I'm looking forward to holding myself accountable for my mindless eating/snacking. I'm also trying homemade, healthy smoothies as a snack to see if that can get me through my 4:00 hungries. Sometimes drinking water first will help to distinguish whether you're hungry or thirsty or at least might make the food seem more filling.
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    Fat is extremely important in satiety and it's essential so I think a good place to start is to hit your fat goal each day. Some days you're eating less than 25g of fat which seems extremely low to me and not healthful. If you wanted to exceed the 50ish grams of fat your macros are set at that would be just fine too. Good luck figuring out the balance that works for you. :)
  • dangerousdumpling
    dangerousdumpling Posts: 1,109 Member
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    You could go up to the next activity level on work days and see how that works for you.
  • Hexahedra
    Hexahedra Posts: 894 Member
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    You could go up to the next activity level on work days and see how that works for you.
    This.

    Even the most accurate BMR formula is just an approximation based on statistics. To get to your exact calorie expenditure, you will need to experiment. Up your TDEE one notch and try it for a couple of weeks. If your weight loss stalls, reduce it by 100 cals two weeks at a time until you begin to lose again.

    By the way, when you eat at a deficit by definition you are starving your body a little, so some hunger from time to time is natural. Another strategy is to time your biggest meal to anticipate it. I tend to be hungry after my evening workout, so I eat relatively light breakfast and lunch while loading up on dinner.
  • winelover18
    winelover18 Posts: 10
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    Fat is extremely important in satiety and it's essential so I think a good place to start is to hit your fat goal each day. Some days you're eating less than 25g of fat which seems extremely low to me and not healthful. If you wanted to exceed the 50ish grams of fat your macros are set at that would be just fine too. Good luck figuring out the balance that works for you. :)

    I agree! I feel much more satiated when I have a little avocado, olive oil or even *gasp* butter in my meals. Just a teaspoon here and there helps so much. Also, are you eating enough fiber? I know fiber enhances the feeling of "fullness" as well.

    You could wear a heart rate monitor during your work and see how many calories you burn, then add those into what you eat daily and eat back some of them. That could help out your feelings of hunger if you haven't tried it already!
  • stonel94
    stonel94 Posts: 550 Member
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    I agree! I feel much more satiated when I have a little avocado, olive oil or even *gasp* butter in my meals. Just a teaspoon here and there helps so much. Also, are you eating enough fiber? I know fiber enhances the feeling of "fullness" as well.

    You could wear a heart rate monitor during your work and see how many calories you burn, then add those into what you eat daily and eat back some of them. That could help out your feelings of hunger if you haven't tried it already!

    If you looked at my food diary you'll see I eat a lot of sauteed veggies and chicken, I cook these in olive oil, so I do get some fat this way I just don't log it because it's hard to say how much it is, I just use enough to keep everything from sticking.

    I have been eating a lower fat diet lately though (not really on purpose though...just what's available really) so maybe I'll try to eat more fat.
  • arl1286
    arl1286 Posts: 276 Member
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    Lift weights. Increased muscle mass= decreased body fat percentage.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
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    I agree! I feel much more satiated when I have a little avocado, olive oil or even *gasp* butter in my meals. Just a teaspoon here and there helps so much. Also, are you eating enough fiber? I know fiber enhances the feeling of "fullness" as well.

    You could wear a heart rate monitor during your work and see how many calories you burn, then add those into what you eat daily and eat back some of them. That could help out your feelings of hunger if you haven't tried it already!

    If you looked at my food diary you'll see I eat a lot of sauteed veggies and chicken, I cook these in olive oil, so I do get some fat this way I just don't log it because it's hard to say how much it is, I just use enough to keep everything from sticking.

    I have been eating a lower fat diet lately though (not really on purpose though...just what's available really) so maybe I'll try to eat more fat.

    Why aren't you measuring how much oil? How can you know how many calories you are actually getting without measuring or weighing?
  • misssixty60
    misssixty60 Posts: 24
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    How often are you eating? Maybe thats the culprit?
  • Symonep
    Symonep Posts: 181 Member
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    Buy a FitBit, they are only $69

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