WHY AM I NOT HUNGRY?

mtlprs · October 2013

Hi I was wondering if I'm the only one NOT hungry. I am on a 1770 calorie day menu. I do 30 minutes of cardio a day (according to MFP and my bike computer, I burn about 530 calories). I hardly ever reach my goal of 1770 calories and when you factor in my calories burned, I come in way under...sometimes below 1000 cals. I'm still losing weight (1-2 lbs a week). When I look at the numbers I should be very hungry each day, yet I am not. Before you ask, yes I check my portions well, even if I factor in a 15% for error, I still come in under......Am I the only one like this???? Am I doing something wrong or right???

Karyn1120 · October 2013

Is your diet heavy in protein? I've found that higher protein diets help curb my hunger - a lot!

I'm under my calorie goal most days too. I don't think you're doing anything wrong.

deksgrl · October 2013

Hunger is controlled by certain hormones. If you have been under eating, then this hormone doesn't signal hunger after awhile. This could be one reason. Another reason could be that you are getting an adequate amount of Carbs/Fat/Protein. Healthy fats tend to help with being satisfied.

Jericha1992 · October 2013

Me neither.

Maybe your body just doesn't need that many calories. My net goal is 1240, and I'm usually pretty good. It's hard on some days when I don't exercise (thus don't have any wiggle room), but by and large, after a short period of adjustment, I'm totally alright.

I also feel a little weird when MFP posters go on about how a 1200 calorie diet is impossible and you'd be starving yourself... but I'm totally fine.

I guess everyone's body reacts a little differently.

Hmm. :ohwell:

_EndGame_ · October 2013

Me neither.

Maybe your body just doesn't need that many calories. My net goal is 1240, and I'm usually pretty good. It's hard on some days when I don't exercise (thus don't have any wiggle room), but by and large, after a short period of adjustment, I'm totally alright.

I also feel a little weird when MFP posters go on about how a 1200 calorie diet is impossible and you'd be starving yourself... but I'm totally fine.

I guess everyone's body reacts a little differently.

Hmm. :ohwell:

1200 calories is dinner for me.

How you can NOT be hungry on such a low amount of calories is beyond me!

emAZn · October 2013

1240 is fine if you eat your exercise calories back evens out to about the same as eating your TDEE-% for your weight loss goal. Some people just like to eat the same amount of calories per day and some like to eat their exercise calories back. What ever works for every special snowflake.

emAZn · October 2013

[/quote]

1200 calories is dinner for me.

How you can NOT be hungry on such a low amount of calories is beyond me!
[/quote]

You're also a young male who's TDEE is I'm guessing somewhere around 2500+ calories even with weight loss.. my calories at maintenance would be somewhere around 1700 so some of us don't get to eat a 1200 calorie dinner

I miss chipotle...

jeffd247 · October 2013

I'm good on like 1800 calories, and I'm not a small dude. I think my TDEE with a 20% reduction is closer to 2500.

I'm hungry in the morning, but usually not to hungry later on. I've tried to add calories through out the day to space them out. For example I started adding more fruit to my smoothies or more yogurt or I'll take 10 extra almonds for lunch, etc, etc. This way, when I am eating, I'm only eating a little bit more... but not above my daily goal.

LaurnWhit · October 2013

It's called adaptation. Your body gets used to eating at low calories...sooner or later you'll have lower energy and thinks it's normal. My sister is doing this right now... eating very little everyday and stating "I'm just not hungry"....while she continued to lose weight but now that she isn't losing any more weight and she is stalled. She can't eat less so her only option is to workout more and more and its a horrible cycle. She is my identical twin and I weigh 15 pounds less than her and I eat 2000-2100 calories a day. I feel like I'm starving if I only eat 1500 calories a day because my body adapted to 2000 calories to fuel me.

I_Will_End_You · October 2013

You probably aren't burning over 500 calories on an exercise bike in 30 minutes, btw. MFP is always VERY high, and the reads on machines are generally not accurate, also.

emAZn · October 2013

You probably aren't burning over 500 calories on an exercise bike in 30 minutes, btw. MFP is always VERY high, and the reads on machines are generally not accurate, also.

This! if you are eating your exercise calories back, get an accurate heart rate monitor!

Francl27 · October 2013

I agree that 500 calories in 30 minutes is highly doubtful.

That being said, I was that way at first... not hungry. It didn't last, lol!

mynewlife10 · October 2013

Hi I was wondering if I'm the only one NOT hungry. I am on a 1770 calorie day menu. I do 30 minutes of cardio a day (according to MFP and my bike computer, I burn about 530 calories). I hardly ever reach my goal of 1770 calories and when you factor in my calories burned, I come in way under...sometimes below 1000 cals. I'm still losing weight (1-2 lbs a week). When I look at the numbers I should be very hungry each day, yet I am not. Before you ask, yes I check my portions well, even if I factor in a 15% for error, I still come in under......Am I the only one like this???? Am I doing something wrong or right???

I have had this happen. In fact, my very first week it was like that and I didn't even want to see food. You are not doing anything wrong - it's just your body talking to you and being revved without you needing to eat all that much. As for the calories burned - I also had this issue with a high number, but I now (at the advice of other people here on MFP) follow what the elliptical says. 30 minutes for me = approx. 260 calories burned, depending on my resistance, etc.

I would let your body do its thing and revisit in a week. If you feel good physically, mentally and you are losing weight then keep doing what you are doing.

mynewlife10 · October 2013

I also feel a little weird when MFP posters go on about how a 1200 calorie diet is impossible and you'd be starving yourself... but I'm totally fine.

^^^ I agree with you. I would know if I was starving myself, wouldn't you know if you were doing the same to you? Each to his or her own.

Jericha1992 · October 2013

1200 calories is dinner for me.

How you can NOT be hungry on such a low amount of calories is beyond me!

I'm a medium-statured female with a sedentary lifestyle, so I just don't require that many to start with. And I'm trying to lose 2lbs/week.

I do eat back my exercise calories, though, so depending on how good of a workout I had on any given day, my gross calories may be closer to 1800 (using the calorie number on the machines, not MFP).

cwolfman13 · October 2013

1 - you're probably not burning 500 + calories with 30 minutes of exercise...if anything, you need to deduct your BMR calories from that...but even then, that's a mighty burn for 30 minutes. I'm a 183 Lb male @ 5'10" and at most might burn 350 calories or so in 30 minutes of fairly intense exercise.

2 - Your hunger signals are hormonal...the primary hormone involved is leptin. When you eat less, leptin levels decrease and signal your brain that you are not hungry. This is why anorexics can eat 500 calories and claim not to be hungry...it's basically an evolutionary response to ward off the discomforts of not having enough food available.

Conversely, someone who overeats consistently will have higher levels of leptin which signal the brain that they are hungry...despite the fact that they've already consumed a monstrous amount of food and calories. This is why obese individuals can eat seemingly endless amounts of food without ever really getting full or feeling full for long.

In either case..if you are dieting or overeating, your leptin levels are jacked and hunger cues are not an accurate way to determine whether you need food or not.

yoovie · October 2013

probably because you aren't applying yourself to any activities that would require some serious fuel to complete it.

i mean, i barely break 1000 usually too- but i try to.

if i have to lift 1.25x my bodyweight the next morning, im going to eat more so i can be strong enough.

if i dont care about anything and have no desire to be strong - sure - who cares if im hungry or not.

but there are things that i want to be able to do, so i fuel them.

maybe you just dont need more cause you wouldnt do anything with the fuel anyway?

Cheechos · October 2013

1 - you're probably not burning 500 + calories with 30 minutes of exercise...if anything, you need to deduct your BMR calories from that...but even then, that's a mighty burn for 30 minutes. I'm a 183 Lb male @ 5'10" and at most might burn 350 calories or so in 30 minutes of fairly intense exercise.

2 - Your hunger signals are hormonal...the primary hormone involved is leptin. When you eat less, leptin levels decrease and signal your brain that you are not hungry. This is why anorexics can eat 500 calories and claim not to be hungry...it's basically an evolutionary response to ward off the discomforts of not having enough food available.

QFT.

OP, if you want to start eating to goal, make a meal plan for yourself and follow the scheduled meals so that you're hitting your goals every day. I went through a similar issue as you when I previously started losing weight. I went through a month in which I thought eating 1200 calories a day was too hard, but once you stick to your calorie goal and make it a priority to hit it every day then your appetite will adjust.

WHY AM I NOT HUNGRY?

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