Hungry!

What do you do when you've eaten your calories and are STARVING at the end of the day?! I came home after my workout and hubby had grilled chicken and veg ready for dinner, not an hour later I was Starving?! I had a protein shake just to shut my stomach up, but it pushed me over my daily total...normal? Should I up my daily total?

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    How many calories are you eating? With only 25 lbs to lose, your goal should be 1 lb per week and if you exercise you can eat more calories. Why do I have a feeling you are only eating 1200 calories.


    Also, lots of protein, fats and fiber do the trick on fullness, as does drinking lots of water.

    Can you open your diary too?
  • Are you eating enough FATS? If you're always feel hungry it sounds like you're on a reduced fat diet, which can make you hungry cause your missing the nutrients which give the full sensation.

    Keep saturated fats to a good low level, for me no more than 20grams of sat fats.


    Also, many people think they are hungry when they are just thirsty, so make so you're drinking enough water...


    Best of luck!
  • LishieFruit89
    LishieFruit89 Posts: 1,956 Member
    How many calories are you eating? With only 25 lbs to lose, your goal should be 1 lb per week and if you exercise you can eat more calories. Why do I have a feeling you are only eating 1200 calories.


    Also, lots of protein, fats and fiber do the trick on fullness, as does drinking lots of water.

    Can you open your diary too?

    Agreeing with Lemon here.

    Your profile says you're 45 so you lived through the diet craze of "no fat" "low fat"

    Do NOT fear the fat.
    Eating fat doesn't make you fat, eating too much makes you fat.

    Fat helps with satiety.
    So a 2% greek yogurt will keep you fuller longer than a 0% greek yogurt.
    Plus 2% has more protein and less sugar (because when they remove the fat, they replace with sugar to keep the taste the same)
  • mrsfyredude
    mrsfyredude Posts: 177 Member
    I did switch my calorie goal from 1200 (Monday) to 1450 (Tuesday) because my husband said the same thing about not eating enough, yet I was still hungry. I'm really not "avoiding" fat, I just don't naturally chose it, except cheese. :) Oh, and I hate greek yougurt, can't get past the consistency...bleh! Diary open....have at it! LOL!
  • LishieFruit89
    LishieFruit89 Posts: 1,956 Member
    I did switch my calorie goal from 1200 (Monday) to 1450 (Tuesday) because my husband said the same thing about not eating enough, yet I was still hungry. I'm really not "avoiding" fat, I just don't naturally chose it, except cheese. :) Oh, and I hate greek yougurt, can't get past the consistency...bleh! Diary open....have at it! LOL!

    No lie, I'm impressed with the fat & protein levels because most newer people on 1200cals have very low levels of that. And impressed you're eating back your exercise calories as the program is designed.

    Instead of steaming/boiling veggies, try sauteing or roasting with olive oil (or oil of choice)

    But you are only 2 days in and it will take your body a bit to get used to the lower calorie amount.

    Try trading in some of the Peppermint Mocha creamer for an extra egg at breakfast.

    Also, get a food scale if you don't have one. And create your own recipes, try not to rely on the "Gina's Homemade" or "Homemade -Grilled outside" because the info probably doesn't match exactly what YOU did.
  • PhearlessPhreaks
    PhearlessPhreaks Posts: 890 Member
    You likely need to increase your net goal. I'm guessing 1200 calories is too low. Also, drinking more water might help; sometimes our bodies mistake thirst for hunger.

    While MFP sets your calorie goal according to how much you want to lose (ie, 2lbs, 1.5lbs /wk) you should take the time to figure out your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) and BMR (basal metabolic rate). The former is the amount of energy you expend on a given day and the latter is the minimum amount of energy your body requires. To keep yourself from being genuinely hungry yet still lose weight, you ideally should be eating somewhere between those two numbers.

    Good Luck!

    ETA: try the 1450 for a few days to see if that works better. It might be what you need, and perhaps yesterday was just one of those days where you want to eat. It happens.
  • mrsfyredude
    mrsfyredude Posts: 177 Member
    that creamer the first day was unusual, I usually use a lot less or none at all! Have a food scale, and hubby and I love to saute, so no problems there, actually most of are veggies are done that way. Thanks!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    You said you got back from the gym but you didn't log your calories burned, which are supposed to eat back. Would you have gone over if you actually logged your exercise?

    Also keep in mind that with 25lbs to go you should be aiming for a maximum of a 1 lb/week weight loss. This may give you more cals if you are set to lose more already
  • Collier78
    Collier78 Posts: 811 Member
    I did switch my calorie goal from 1200 (Monday) to 1450 (Tuesday) because my husband said the same thing about not eating enough, yet I was still hungry. I'm really not "avoiding" fat, I just don't naturally chose it, except cheese. :) Oh, and I hate greek yougurt, can't get past the consistency...bleh! Diary open....have at it! LOL!

    No lie, I'm impressed with the fat & protein levels because most newer people on 1200cals have very low levels of that. And impressed you're eating back your exercise calories as the program is designed.

    Instead of steaming/boiling veggies, try sauteing or roasting with olive oil (or oil of choice)

    But you are only 2 days in and it will take your body a bit to get used to the lower calorie amount.

    Try trading in some of the Peppermint Mocha creamer for an extra egg at breakfast.

    Also, get a food scale if you don't have one. And create your own recipes, try not to rely on the "Gina's Homemade" or "Homemade -Grilled outside" because the info probably doesn't match exactly what YOU did.

    What she said! :drinker:
  • LishieFruit89
    LishieFruit89 Posts: 1,956 Member
    that creamer the first day was unusual, I usually use a lot less or none at all! Have a food scale, and hubby and I love to saute, so no problems there, actually most of are veggies are done that way. Thanks!

    So when you do that, weigh the amount of veggies you're using, measure your oil, and enter the info as a recipe for yourself.
    And then figure out the servings.
    I'd do by grams since you're also cooking for hubby.

    So say, you ended up with 300g of cooked veggies, I'd say there are 300 servings.
    And if you put 80g of the veggies on your plate, you have 80 servings of it.
    Easier and more accurate than measuring cups especially since you're cooking for 2
  • mrsfyredude
    mrsfyredude Posts: 177 Member
    :( Yes I did.
  • mrsfyredude
    mrsfyredude Posts: 177 Member
    You said you got back from the gym but you didn't log your calories burned, which are supposed to eat back. Would you have gone over if you actually logged your exercise?

    Also keep in mind that with 25lbs to go you should be aiming for a maximum of a 1 lb/week weight loss. This may give you more cals if you are set to lose more already


    :( yes I did
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Use http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ with a 20% deficit to determine how much you should eat. MFP is annoying because you're supposed to eat back exercise calories, but you never know how many calories you're burning.

    I'm guessing you can probably eat more.
  • mrsfyredude
    mrsfyredude Posts: 177 Member
    Use http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ with a 20% deficit to determine how much you should eat. MFP is annoying because you're supposed to eat back exercise calories, but you never know how many calories you're burning.

    I'm guessing you can probably eat more.

    I did, and it said I should be eating around 1800 for a .9lb per week loss....seems like a lot of food for such a little bit of weight.
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
    Protein and fat and a moderate deficit will help curb hunger. Also, make sure you're getting enough fiber and veggies (also filling). That said, even if you do eat well, sometimes you just get extra hungry some days. If I get that way, I'll wait a half hour or so, and have some water or tea first to make sure it's actual hunger and not just I-feel-like-eating or I'm-bored or I'm-tired. If it's legit hunger then I'm not super keen on denying my body nutrition or fuel. I'll have a reasonable snack (200 cal or so) with a mix of protein/fat/carbs and don't worry about going over.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    Use http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ with a 20% deficit to determine how much you should eat. MFP is annoying because you're supposed to eat back exercise calories, but you never know how many calories you're burning.

    I'm guessing you can probably eat more.

    I did, and it said I should be eating around 1800 for a .9lb per week loss....seems like a lot of food for such a little bit of weight.

    1800 is about normal for many active women. Reference below.


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/506349-women-who-eat-more-than-1800-calories-a-day


    BTW, what is your height and weight anyways as well as your workout routine? And if you can lose weight at 1800, why not eat that much. I always laugh at how many women I know have perception of what constitutes as a lot of calories because they constantly hear that 1200 is a magical number.


    The nice thing is, if you do lose at 1800, then you maintain around 2200-2300... and that will be a great time.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    If you're active, you'll spend more energy. Just think of what you were eating before, and how much, and how long it took you to gain the weight (remember, 3500 calories is one pound). When you look at it that way, it makes more sense that you really don't have to starve yourself to lose weight.