Feeling extremely hungry and unsatisfied lately. Why?

Soo about 2 months ago I went from eating 1200 calories daily to 1360, losing half a pound a week because I'm only a pound or 2 away from my goal. I started working out every single day for at least 30 minutes a day in January. I think I may have missed maybe 3 days of no exercise in the past 2 months. Sometimes I do 45 minutes or more but it's always low impact cardio, walking/treadmill, or dancing. Yesterday, in all I did a combination of different low impact cardio routines for about 2 hours. I didn't even burn off all the calories I had went over that day (I still needed to burn off about 300).

The reason I even had to attempt to burn off those calories yesterday is because lately I've been getting so hungry and always go over my calories. I have no idea why. Now it's so easy for me to go over by 500. I don't work it all off though, so at the end of the day it all just adds up, I guess. Like today, I had a Special K flatbread for breakfast, a few cookies, and soup for lunch. Then by 4 I was literally starving, I had 380 calories left but felt as if I hadn't eaten all day. I had just had the soup around 2pm. THEN my fam bought Captain Ds later and I went crazy on fish, hush puppies, fries, and shrimp. I would say I ate well over 1000 calories in that one meal. Now I don't even feel full. I actually feel as if I could eat more. No indication at all that I ate over 2000 calories today. I haven't even worked out.

I don't understand why all of a sudden I feel like whatever I eat is never enough. I'm never full for longer than 15 minutes top. I know everyone will say it has something to do with how often I work out, but like I said, although I do workout daily, I never do anything too extreme that burns many calories. If I was working out that "hard", I'd be losing weight. I've actually been stuck at the same weight for about a month now. If I am losing I'm doing it very slowly, so I doubt my exercising has anything to do with my constant hunger/appetite. My activity level is still set at sedentary too. I'm afraid to set it to lightly active. I'm a college student and I do walk back and forth to class and try my best to avoid sitting for long wherever I am, but I work from home and am generally lazy. This all happened all of a sudden. I have no idea what is going on with me or how to fix it. And yes, I get enough protein and drink enough water. So bizarre.

Replies

  • ChrysalisCove
    ChrysalisCove Posts: 975 Member
    Most likely because you are eating far below your BMR & your body IS starving for calories & nutrients. This is also why when you do eat, it starts an avalanche & you just feel hungrier. Your body is trying to say "YES. This! I need more of this!" Unless you are incredibly short 1200 or even the mid-1300s are well below your BMR, let alone your TDEE.
  • typicallyjazzy
    typicallyjazzy Posts: 41 Member
    Most likely because you are eating far below your BMR & your body IS starving for calories & nutrients. This is also why when you do eat, it starts an avalanche & you just feel hungrier. Your body is trying to say "YES. This! I need more of this!" Unless you are incredibly short 1200 or even the mid-1300s are well below your BMR, let alone your TDEE.

    I'm 5'3 and set at 1360 to lose half a pound a week. I'm 121 and trying to get down to 118 or 119. My BMR is 1285 (calculated at http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/ at a sedentary level) but yes, I do work out daily..nothing that burns many calories though.
  • Jayme2787
    Jayme2787 Posts: 12
    I've been feeling the same way lately. I work out heavier early in the week, and lightly over the weekend (based on time I have outside of work), but nothing too heavy. Is there some way to figure out more accurately then MFP does how many calories per day I should be eating? I've been relying on what this site says since all of my height/weight/activity level information is in my profile.
  • ChrysalisCove
    ChrysalisCove Posts: 975 Member
    Working out daily is not sedentary, even if the activity is light. You may want to recheck your numbers using a lightly active setting. As counterproductive as it seems, it really could help to increase your intake - including a portion of exercise calories (20-25%).

    Jayme - Try the following links:
    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/
    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/body-fat-chart.php
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
  • JeanSoCal
    JeanSoCal Posts: 23 Member
    Maybe you need more protein?
  • Jayme2787
    Jayme2787 Posts: 12
    Working out daily is not sedentary, even if the activity is light. You may want to recheck your numbers using a lightly active setting. As counterproductive as it seems, it really could help to increase your intake - including a portion of exercise calories (20-25%).

    Jayme - Try the following links:
    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/
    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/body-fat-chart.php
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    At most when calculating my calorie needs I usually use light exercise. The longest I work out for is an hour, and when I'm not exercising I'm usually on my butt since I have a sit-down job and am a student. I always feel hesitant to go higher then that. Thanks for the links, I'll check them out.
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
    Try upping you fat (will keep you satisfied longer) and decreasing your carbs (unless you are lifting really heavy and doing lots of anaerobic) you don't need too many carbs.

    Also you maybe getting insulin spikes (not saying that is the cause), but it would account for your body craving more food.

    Make sure your protein intake is up at about 1g of P to each lb of lean mass.

    Good luck.