Extreme Hunger

honeylissabee
honeylissabee Posts: 217 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Now, I am posting this on behalf of my friend while he's at work (since it's just easier for me to type this up right now).

He is 22 years old, around 5' 10" and weighs over 200 pounds (he's lost about 15 pound or so). Currently, he works at a grocery store 5-6 days a week (on his feet, moving around most of the day).

We're both doing Weight Watchers together, but over the past couple weeks, his hunger has been out of control. When eats a meal, it feels like he hasn't eaten in hours, and we're trying to figure out why.

Now, he is not super skilled in the kitchen (and also dislikes dealing with raw meat, etc.) and between that and working 40+ hours a week, he often doesn't feel like he has the time/energy to cook meals from scratch.

Because WW does not count fruit/veggies (they are 0 points), he doesn't track them, but I know he likes things like baby carrots, bananas, grapefruit, oranges, etc.

Day 1

Breakfast:
2 Hard Boiled Eggs

Lunch:
Store made Chef Salad
1/2 package of pretzel M&Ms (chocolate craving)

Dinner:
Cheesecake Factory Warm Asparagus Salad
Cheesecake Factory Skinnyicious Pasta Ragu

Snacks:
2 cups 479 Degree Sea Salt Caramel Popcorn
1 Deep Chocolate Vitamuffin

Day 2:

Breakfast:
2 Hard Boiled Eggs

Lunch:
Healthy Choice Ravioli Florentine Marinara
Campbells Soup at Hand Chicken and Stars

Dinner:
Panera Chopped Chicken Cobb salad with Avocado

Snacks:
Ideal Protein Soy Crisps
1 Package Black and White Cookies from Starbucks
Venti Unsweetened Iced Tea Lemonade from Starbucks

Off the top of my head, I feel the biggest problems are a lot of convenience/processed foods AND some of the meal timing. I know that he gets to work at 6:30/7AM, but often doesn't eat breakfast until his first break after 10AM. I also know that he really doesn't have time to have more than a protein shake in the morning (he can't bring himself to get up any earlier than he already does). He is still hungry around the same time whether he drinks the protein shake or not, so he usually just skips it.

Any other tips/advice?

Replies

  • Skarlet13
    Skarlet13 Posts: 146 Member
    How many calories is he eating?
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
    Any other tips/advice?

    REPLY
    How many calories is he eating?

    And, we're done here. There's not much else to say.
  • Keep_The_Laughter
    Keep_The_Laughter Posts: 183 Member
    How many calories is he eating?

    She may not have that info since he does not track fruit and veg under the WW program.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    How many calories is he eating?

    This!^ I'm assuming his "points" translate into enough calories ....but maybe not. There is a Weight Watchers group....check Community ...Groups. Maybe they can help.

    and...........what are his macros (protein, fat & carbs). Protien, fat, and fiber all help you stay longer.
  • honeylissabee
    honeylissabee Posts: 217 Member
    Weight Watchers uses carbs, fiber, fat, and protein to calculate points, but he isn't keeping a log of calories or macronutrients. That would involve weighing and measuring fruit/veggies (even though they are 0 points) just to track everything multiple times.

    On day 2, he ate around 1,575 calories excluding fruit and vegetables.

    125 grams carbs
    83 grams fat
    86 grams protein
    19 grams fiber
  • honeylissabee
    honeylissabee Posts: 217 Member
    I'm not sure about day 1 since I don't know the exact salad he had, etc (he said there wasn't any nutritional information, so he had to guestimate the points.
  • ladymiseryali
    ladymiseryali Posts: 2,555 Member
    He should probably be eating more. Also, his fat intake seems a bit low. Fat keeps you full, as does protein, so he may need to look into lowering the carbs a little bit and upping the protein/fat. How's his water intake? Sometimes we think we're hungry, when in reality we are actually thirsty.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    He should probably be eating more. Also, his fat intake seems a bit low. Fat keeps you full, as does protein, so he may need to look into lowering the carbs a little bit and upping the protein/fat. How's his water intake? Sometimes we think we're hungry, when in reality we are actually thirsty.

    His fat, at 80g+, is fine.
  • tanyatabone9
    tanyatabone9 Posts: 39 Member
    Has it subsided? Is he on here? Might be worth him bumping up his calories a little (still in deficit) and making sure he has enough fibre as well. Poor guy, sometimes these issues can be really confusing
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    A lot of the foods he's eating seem to be 'Convenience' foods these will be higher in calories but portion wise will be smaller. They are normally high in sugar and salt (especially the 'Healthy' or 'Low Fat' options). My suggestion would be some fresh home cooking where you can control it a lot more. Cut back on Muffins, cookies etc from starbucks and use the calories on foods that will fill him up
  • SKME2013
    SKME2013 Posts: 704 Member
    He should first calculate his basic metabolic rate (BMR) and TDE. Google it, there are calculators online. He should try and stay within the two numbers to lose weight.

    It is important to get enough micro nutrients in form of veggies, fruits...if he is not getting enough of those, he is starving his body.

    As said above, processed foods contain a lot of ingredients that are not good for you and that increase your cravings.
    Stef.
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    He's getting way too much pre-packaged, high calorie, low volume junk. Of course he's hungry when he's wasting his calories on crappy, small frozen dinners, muffins, and M&Ms.

    But if he wants to stick with this plan why not up the raw fruits and vegetables to counter? That'll fill him out. Just make sure he doesn't go overboard, as many on the WW Pointsplus do with fruits, and end up stalling weight loss, and even gaining.

    But overall there is so much more he could do with his diet by upping the volume of foods eaten, without upping his points. And yes, he cans still slip in his M&Ms too.
  • 302cupcake
    302cupcake Posts: 34
    He's not eating enough. Based on the stats you gave, his TDEE is at least 2600 cal per day. He probably burns more due to his job.

    He really should not be much below 2000 a day if he works such a physical job, but he would do best to discuss this with a doctor.

    At his age, eating 5-6 times a day is a good idea for staying ahead of the hunger.
  • MyFoodGod
    MyFoodGod Posts: 184 Member
    A lot of people have trouble distinguishing between hunger and emotional eating.

    Probably don't need all those sugary snacks. That can cause cravings.

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