Why am I always so hungry?

My first guess is not enough protein, but your diary is closed. I can't be much more helpful though... what fills me up is pretty much things you don't eat.

I am the same way. I have always been that way my whole life. How much water do you drink? I just try to fill in the gaps with water. Especially when I have already had a huge meal but I am still hungry. I just drink water and say to myself that I am full. You could look into using TDEE instead of the mfp way. That way you would have the same amount of calories every day because you workout calorie burns are spread out over the week. iifym.com is a good website and also you could check out the Eat, Train, Progress group and the Eat More to Weigh Less group for more info on TDEE.

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Ok, I've been using MFP for about 9 months now. I've lost a decent amount of weight and I'm actually pretty happy with maintaining, I set my goal accordingly. I run most days of the week, and most always eat back my calories which I'm ok with. But I'm always soo incredibly hungry. I try to eat when I'm actually hungry and do have some off days when I eat a few candy bars instead of a good lunch but I don't understand why? Has anyone else had this problem? I work at a register about 4 hours a day and sit in my office for another 4. I understand on the days where I go for a decent length run that I may eat 3000 calories a day, and again I'm ok as long as I'm using them up but what about the days I don't run? If I still feel starving all the time I'll still eat 3000 calories. I'm a vegetarian but still eat pretty healthy, am I doing something wrong? Any insight on this would be appreciated!
My food diary is open to criticism, lol

I m not surprised that you are hungry and wonder if you are still losing and how much water you are retaining . You eat too much processed sweets, mostly consisting of cereal or flour ( Cocoa Crispies bars, Nut Clusters , pizza etc ),, snack & chocolate bars. Yesterday you ate 1100 of them and the day before 1500 and that is more or less how you eat in general. And while salt is no longer the evil we thought it was, eating as much as 5000 mg over what you should has definitely an influence on how your body works..
During the last week you had only one day when you were within your calories, but on other days you went over by as much as 500-over 2000 calories without eating anything that could remotely be called " a meal " ( good protein, more vegetables, a variety of foods in general ).
Eating more than you should for weight loss is of course your decision, but eating so much nutritionally poor food like cereal and sugar....is not good to keep your hunger in check and for any kind of serious exercise, which btw you don't seem to log.
I am not advocating that you eat clean, but to not be hungry while eating all those calories you need to up your protein, or at least eat at the levels you chose ( you are usually under....sometimes by as much as 70% ) and also ingest more beneficial fat.
I am willing to bet that that will make a big difference.

I've noticed most days MFP says I need as much as 120 grams of protein a day, which seems like a lot to me. I eat lots of Greek yogurt and veggie burgers which are both high in protein. I don't seem to ever seem to meet that goal. I know when I run I need more protein but that seems like an unobtainable Goal. I guess I should work on that. Most of the time I eat "ok" during the day and my snacks are me not being able to go to sleep because my tummy is rumbling, I even wake up in the middle of the night hungry. I try to tell myself it's all in my head but after I stay awake for an hour feeling hungry I just go eat a bowl of cereal. I have been logging all my runs, and some nutrients I'm always low on, fat and cholesterol, others like fiber, iron, and calcium I'm always over on.
I will try some of the vegetarian forums and also looking up my tdee? Thank you all for your responses, it definitely gives me something to think about!

Most folks find that MFP's baseline protein recommendations are pretty low, compared to typical recommendations from other sources. Also, note that fat content in food is strongly associated with its satiety, so that being 'always low on' fat is probably a direct cause for why you're feeling hungry.

I don't know about eating 3000 calories and still being hungry, but if you wake up hungry at night feel free to grab a snack or eat before bed or whatever. No need to tell yourself that hunger is in your mind. If you're hungry, eat! But I do agree you need to work on finding foods that are more satisfying for you. It can be a very personal journey. A lot of things people say should make me satisfied don't always work. For example , for breakfast some have Greek yogurt, etc, but generally speaking if I have any liquidy foods for breakfast my tummy is grumbling within an hour. Sausage and eggs on the other hand, I'm good for three. In fact I had to stop buying Greek yogurt and some other foods altogether because while they were an excellent source of X nutrient, they just couldn't keep me satisfied for long, so I have to classify them as a treat and only get them when I want one.

It can be WORK to figure out good nutrition and also what keeps you satisfied longer. But being the lean mean athlete that you are, I know you can do it. Good luck!!

you need more protein!

Throw in some greek yogurt with your fruit or some hard boiled eggs with veggies, grilled chicken with sweet baked potato and veggies. Just try to eat more complex carbs, it keeps you full longer. Have your simply carbs if you like but eat more complex to balance it out and you will see the difference.

I eat whatever I want, cookies, chips, ice cream you name it I eat it, However I try to eat more complex carbs but when I have that craving of chips I'll have a small serving. But usually when I eat more of my complex carbs I don't crave the good stuff Hope that helps

I would like to start out by asking a few questions:

How many glasses of water are you drinking each day?

Do you eat at the same time each day or does it vary?

How long do you wait between meals/snacks?

You are getting plenty of protein so that should not be the problem, make sure to monitor this especially before you work out.

Also, make sure you are focusing on eating healthy fats such as almonds, coconut oil, and avocados.

Have you had your blood glucose checked? If not, do you ever get symptoms such as dizzy spells, ringing in the ears, see "stars", heart palpitations, etc when you go too long between meals or perhaps eat something very high in carbs or sugar?
I see that you eat a very high carb diet; make sure the food you are eating is low on the glycemic index to avoid blood sugar spikes. When the blood sugar rises it causes your body to produce more insulin and your body will need more food to balance out these sugar levels.

Good luck and remember that if you suspect this problem is health related to see your family doctor.

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