Why am I always hungry???

2

Replies

  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,535 Member
    Your Total Protein macro for the WHOLE DAY is horribly low. This is it right here....the problem.... Eat what ya want, but get well into the 120's mg protein every day.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    I actually lose weight even on maintenance calories. I stay hungry because I have an enormous appetite; actually, I have a fast metabolism. I am on 700 so I can lose weight as quickly as possible, because I can't stick to a diet unless I see quick results.

    Well then your post should have read "I've chosen to be hungry all the time" and not "short people have no choice but to be hungry all the time."
  • Sizethree4Ever
    Sizethree4Ever Posts: 120 Member
    Life is unfair. You, me, and nearly everyone else who is our height-- I am 5' 3 1/2"-- has to feel hungry all the time in order to reach, and to maintain, our ideal weight. My ideal weight is 112 and I already know I face a lifetime of hungry days to maintain 112. What works best for me is to save all my calories for one meal at the end of the day. That way, at least I can feel halfway-full once a day! Also, once I start eating I am hungry the rest of the day-- more so than if I wait to eat until late in the day. It's s trigger! AND, I find I am far less hungry if I make sure a good many of my calories come from fat. A 150-calorie tiny bag of chips is way more satisfying than a huge giant plate full of weeds!!:bigsmile:

    Same here..
  • Galatea_Stone
    Galatea_Stone Posts: 2,037 Member
    I actually lose weight even on maintenance calories. I stay hungry because I have an enormous appetite; actually, I have a fast metabolism. I am on 700 so I can lose weight as quickly as possible, because I can't stick to a diet unless I see quick results.

    If you lose weight on maintenance calories, then you're not eating at maintenance. It means that your deficit calories are higher than you think.

    People who lose weight quickly by starving themselves tend to gain it back quickly. It's why doctors, the people of MFP, and studies keep saying to go slow for lasting success.

    OP, as others have said, get more protein and fiber into your diet. You need to up your protein macro and decrease your carb macro. Particularly on lifting days. Save the extra carbs for days that are strictly cardio.
  • SingingSingleTracker
    SingingSingleTracker Posts: 1,866 Member
    My maintenance calories usually say I should eat around 2000 calories a day, but I am STARVING an hour or 2 after every meal or snack. I try stay just a bit under 2000 since some sites say 1900-1700 to maintain. Is my metabolism faster than these sites are guessing? I'm 5'4, around 110lbs, 18 years old, I run/do other cardio 4-5 times a week and do weights/body weight exercises 3-5 times a week. Besides that I just lay around all day. I don't remember a time I have been fully satisfied! And yes, I'm drinking enough water.

    Quick question: Is this hunger you feel a head hunger, or an actual stomach hunger? "Laying around all day" will certainly play tricks and games with your mind to create that dreaded head hunger (boredom, so let's eat). You should eat if you feel stomach hunger, but avoid the head hunger stuff as it is the devil.
  • PetulantOne
    PetulantOne Posts: 2,131 Member
    Life is unfair. You, me, and nearly everyone else who is our height-- I am 5' 3 1/2"-- has to feel hungry all the time in order to reach, and to maintain, our ideal weight. My ideal weight is 112 and I already know I face a lifetime of hungry days to maintain 112. What works best for me is to save all my calories for one meal at the end of the day. That way, at least I can feel halfway-full once a day! Also, once I start eating I am hungry the rest of the day-- more so than if I wait to eat until late in the day. It's s trigger! AND, I find I am far less hungry if I make sure a good many of my calories come from fat. A 150-calorie tiny bag of chips is way more satisfying than a huge giant plate full of weeds!!:bigsmile:

    I'm 5' 3 and I maintain my weight at around 2,300 calories a day. I hardly ever feel hungry.
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
    I actually lose weight even on maintenance calories. I stay hungry because I have an enormous appetite; actually, I have a fast metabolism. I am on 700 so I can lose weight as quickly as possible, because I can't stick to a diet unless I see quick results.
    you don't see anything wrong with this approach???
  • paytenpar
    paytenpar Posts: 34 Member
    I didn't read all of the replies, but EAT PROTEIN! it is seriously one of the most amazing things because it keeps you feeling full for so long. :)
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    Life is unfair. You, me, and nearly everyone else who is our height-- I am 5' 3 1/2"-- has to feel hungry all the time in order to reach, and to maintain, our ideal weight. My ideal weight is 112 and I already know I face a lifetime of hungry days to maintain 112. What works best for me is to save all my calories for one meal at the end of the day. That way, at least I can feel halfway-full once a day! Also, once I start eating I am hungry the rest of the day-- more so than if I wait to eat until late in the day. It's s trigger! AND, I find I am far less hungry if I make sure a good many of my calories come from fat. A 150-calorie tiny bag of chips is way more satisfying than a huge giant plate full of weeds!!:bigsmile:

    nonsense.

    I'm 5'2 and rarely feel hungry - you're hungry because you eat 700 cals a day. End of.

    If you have to struggle and starve to stay at 112 maybe that is not your idea weight. That is no way to live.

    You are already at a healthy weight so are just trying to lose vanity pounds - and choose to do so by starving yourself, your situation is really not relevant to the op, and saying you have to stave if you are short is stupid and wrong.

    You are choosing to be hungry. You don't have to be.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    My maintenance calories usually say I should eat around 2000 calories a day, but I am STARVING an hour or 2 after every meal or snack. I try stay just a bit under 2000 since some sites say 1900-1700 to maintain. Is my metabolism faster than these sites are guessing? I'm 5'4, around 110lbs, 18 years old, I run/do other cardio 4-5 times a week and do weights/body weight exercises 3-5 times a week. Besides that I just lay around all day. I don't remember a time I have been fully satisfied! And yes, I'm drinking enough water.

    Quick question: Is this hunger you feel a head hunger, or an actual stomach hunger? "Laying around all day" will certainly play tricks and games with your mind to create that dreaded head hunger (boredom, so let's eat). You should eat if you feel stomach hunger, but avoid the head hunger stuff as it is the devil.

    Totally agree with this.

    Also eat more protein and fats :bigsmile:
  • ge105
    ge105 Posts: 268 Member
    Life is unfair. You, me, and nearly everyone else who is our height-- I am 5' 3 1/2"-- has to feel hungry all the time in order to reach, and to maintain, our ideal weight. My ideal weight is 112 and I already know I face a lifetime of hungry days to maintain 112. What works best for me is to save all my calories for one meal at the end of the day. That way, at least I can feel halfway-full once a day! Also, once I start eating I am hungry the rest of the day-- more so than if I wait to eat until late in the day. It's s trigger! AND, I find I am far less hungry if I make sure a good many of my calories come from fat. A 150-calorie tiny bag of chips is way more satisfying than a huge giant plate full of weeds!!:bigsmile:

    I don't find this to be true. Granted my ideal weight is 125, but I never go hungry and I maintain on around 2000 calories.. You don't have to eat 700 calories per day. And if you do, you need to see a doctor because something is wrong.

    I'm with you. 5ft- been eating 1900 @ ~113lbs. I don't exercise a crazy amount either.
  • gypsy_spirit
    gypsy_spirit Posts: 2,107 Member
    I actually lose weight even on maintenance calories. I stay hungry because I have an enormous appetite; actually, I have a fast metabolism. I am on 700 so I can lose weight as quickly as possible, because I can't stick to a diet unless I see quick results.

    Best of luck with that plan. Because I am close to your age (56), I'm curious how many times you have lost this same weight, if any? I used to abuse my body like this, too. When I was younger it was the way magazines/tv portrayed dieting - if you weren't starving - it wasn't working.

    It took me a while (with the help of much younger/smarter people on MFP) to see I was doing it wrong.

    Read this link. It will help you understand that eating 700 calories a day is not healthy. Good luck.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • Cryptonomnomicon
    Cryptonomnomicon Posts: 848 Member
    I actually lose weight even on maintenance calories. I stay hungry because I have an enormous appetite; actually, I have a fast metabolism. I am on 700 so I can lose weight as quickly as possible, because I can't stick to a diet unless I see quick results.
    hojt8kC.jpg
  • Calories VS volume is a challenge for sure. A Big Mac value meal for example is one meal packs a HUGE calorie punch, but if you eat healthy foods, veggies, whole grains and lean meats you can eat more food by volume, with same calories. For example:

    Frack cant remember how to post images >_<

    tumblr_inline_ml4pavIHmM1r8gcu2_zps6c0c8c17.jpg
  • smallpalehuman
    smallpalehuman Posts: 38 Member
    Life is unfair. You, me, and nearly everyone else who is our height-- I am 5' 3 1/2"-- has to feel hungry all the time in order to reach, and to maintain, our ideal weight. My ideal weight is 112 and I already know I face a lifetime of hungry days to maintain 112. What works best for me is to save all my calories for one meal at the end of the day. That way, at least I can feel halfway-full once a day! Also, once I start eating I am hungry the rest of the day-- more so than if I wait to eat until late in the day. It's s trigger! AND, I find I am far less hungry if I make sure a good many of my calories come from fat. A 150-calorie tiny bag of chips is way more satisfying than a huge giant plate full of weeds!!:bigsmile:


    are you exercising and not eating back calories?
    have the same issue being 4'11" ... only 1200 calories allowed .. this week I;'m using the sleeping defence - putting myself to bed super early to avoid the kitchen

    I'm also 4ft11 :)

    I used to think I could ONLY have 1200 calories a day back when I thought low-calorie/low-fat was the only way to lose weight. I felt restricted and hangry all the time.

    Now I eat around 1400-1500 calories a day (give or take a few hundred) and all of those calories come from whole foods.

    I eat: organic/grass fed meat, lots of organic vegetables, some fruit -mainly berries, nuts & plenty of good fats (yes, that includes butter!)

    I don't eat: sugary/artificially sweetened beverages, processed junk food, refined/processed oils or anything labelled low-fat/diet.

    I'm eating more, losing weight and I look and feel healthier than ever before :)


    are you exercising and eating back your calories?

    I don't log my exercise, so I have no idea what I 'eat back' - I take long walks, do low level aerobic activity, some strength training and occasionally sprint.

    I should have pointed out that I do not restrict my calories, I only log them to keep an eye on my macros. 1400-1500 isn't my calorie goal but the amount of calories I consume in a day when eating intuitively.
  • aedreana
    aedreana Posts: 979 Member
    I have to eat approximately 3900 calories/day to feel comfortably full. And if I eat 3900 calories per day, I gain about 2 pounds per month. The reason I have a history of not maintaining weight loss success is that I was too often preoccupied with survival-- lifelong rock-bottom poverty as well as off-and-on homelessness living on the streets. My unstable weight reflected the instability of my life. I began dieting at age 14 in 1967 and averaged 2 major diets per year until 1996 when I started smoking cigarettes. Cigarettes help suppress my appetite. I only rarely had to diet after I started smoking-- until 2010. For right around 30 years, my ideal weight had been between 131 and 135. I hit menopause in 2006..By 2010, my weight-- which did not change-- redistributed. I had to reevaluate my ideal weight, because menopause changed me from an hourglass into an apple. So now, my best weight is 112. Coincidentally, that is the same weight I was at age 12 and 13! So I gained back to 131 in 2011, again in 2012, and to 127 in 2013, and dieted back down to 112 each time. I believe I could maintain if I knew exactly how many calories to eat. I tried the standard formula of 15 calories per pound per day (1680); however, I lost weight, albeit slowly, a pound or two per week I guess-- down to 108 one time, down to 109 the other time..I don't like being that thin because I lose too much volume in my bustline. However, the vanity pounds I am working on now are essential! BECAUSE, menopause shifted all my weight to my waistline. I chose 112 in order to have a waistline, and still have a bustline.
  • My maintenance calories usually say I should eat around 2000 calories a day, but I am STARVING an hour or 2 after every meal or snack. I try stay just a bit under 2000 since some sites say 1900-1700 to maintain. Is my metabolism faster than these sites are guessing? I'm 5'4, around 110lbs, 18 years old, I run/do other cardio 4-5 times a week and do weights/body weight exercises 3-5 times a week. Besides that I just lay around all day. I don't remember a time I have been fully satisfied! And yes, I'm drinking enough water.

    Cut your carbs and increase your good fats and proteins. Google ketosis. You'll stop being hungry.
    Carbohydrates cause blood sugar surges and drops, making you feel hungry and dizzy all the time. Your body probably doesn' deal with carbohydrates very well.
  • cebreisch
    cebreisch Posts: 1,340 Member
    I remember saying that to my dietician once....I was staying within the numbers, but was HUNGRY.

    She suggested increasing my fiber intake. It helped LOTS.

    I started getting Chocolite Protein Bars (www.healthsmartfoods.com). You can usually find discount codes at www.retailmenot.com too. I like the triple chocolate fudge. My husband likes the cashew caramel and the peanut butter. They're about 100 calories, have about 9-10 g protein and 9-10 g fiber. They're also sugar free/gluten free. I usually have 1 or 2 a day.

    The next month after I started doing that, my fiber went dramatically up, my sugar intake plummeted, and I lost 12 pounds that month.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
    I actually lose weight even on maintenance calories. I stay hungry because I have an enormous appetite; actually, I have a fast metabolism. I am on 700 so I can lose weight as quickly as possible, because I can't stick to a diet unless I see quick results.
    As an older lady this is even more foolish than a teen doing it. Goodbye bones and any semblance of non-essential muscle, hello weak heart.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    Life is unfair. You, me, and nearly everyone else who is our height-- I am 5' 3 1/2"-- has to feel hungry all the time in order to reach, and to maintain, our ideal weight.

    this is absolute BS. If you're hungry all the time, you're doing it wrong.

    I'm 5'2". I was only hungry for a few days at the beginning of this - then I sorted out how to had higher volume foods that were low-cal, and made sure I got enough protein and fats (because those leave you feeling full for longer)
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    sorry if someone asked already or you answered but:

    Do you eat all your exercise calories back?

    I get too hungry to do my diet unless I work out for an hour a day then eat all of the exercise calories back.

    I eat back all of my exercise calories. If you're not confident on the number for your calorie burn, eat at least 1/2 of them back.
  • debbcross
    debbcross Posts: 3
    IS IT "HEAD HUNGER?"
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    I have to eat approximately 3900 calories/day to feel comfortably full. And if I eat 3900 calories per day, I gain about 2 pounds per month. The reason I have a history of not maintaining weight loss success is that I was too often preoccupied with survival-- lifelong rock-bottom poverty as well as off-and-on homelessness living on the streets. My unstable weight reflected the instability of my life. I began dieting at age 14 in 1967 and averaged 2 major diets per year until 1996 when I started smoking cigarettes. Cigarettes help suppress my appetite. I only rarely had to diet after I started smoking-- until 2010. For right around 30 years, my ideal weight had been between 131 and 135. I hit menopause in 2006..By 2010, my weight-- which did not change-- redistributed. I had to reevaluate my ideal weight, because menopause changed me from an hourglass into an apple. So now, my best weight is 112. Coincidentally, that is the same weight I was at age 12 and 13! So I gained back to 131 in 2011, again in 2012, and to 127 in 2013, and dieted back down to 112 each time. I believe I could maintain if I knew exactly how many calories to eat. I tried the standard formula of 15 calories per pound per day (1680); however, I lost weight, albeit slowly, a pound or two per week I guess-- down to 108 one time, down to 109 the other time..I don't like being that thin because I lose too much volume in my bustline. However, the vanity pounds I am working on now are essential! BECAUSE, menopause shifted all my weight to my waistline. I chose 112 in order to have a waistline, and still have a bustline.

    No they are not essential lbs they are vanity lbs.

    And weighing what you did at 12/13 isn't healthy at all :noway:

    You constantly yo yo every year because you are dropping your calories too low then reacting by eventually going to high. Classic yo yo dieting.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    Life is unfair. You, me, and nearly everyone else who is our height-- I am 5' 3 1/2"-- has to feel hungry all the time in order to reach, and to maintain, our ideal weight.
    That's really not true.

    +1

    I am NEVER hungry. I eat well. (Don't use this week as a reference, I'm cutting for a competition :tongue: )
  • figuu
    figuu Posts: 20
    IS IT "HEAD HUNGER?"
    Stomach is rumbling!
    To the other answers, upped my protein.
    And to the OTHER answers, DONT STARVE YOURSELVES!
  • mjock2
    mjock2 Posts: 4 Member
    I find that drinking a glass a water before the meal helps and during. Putting the fork down between bites is a must! I believe that I sometimes consume my food intake too quickly which can cause me to overeat. I work out a lot, but recently injured my ankle running and I am really having to watch my calorie intake even more than before. I like to eat especially when I am burning serious calories. :smile:
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
    I just ran your numbers on the Scooby workshop and the lowest that you should be eating on maintenance seems to be 2316...weight lifting IS considered part of the equation. If you are hungry, then EAT - especially protein and carbs.
  • Maitria
    Maitria Posts: 439 Member
    You said that you try to stay between 1700-1900. What's your weight doing? Are you maintaining or still losing slowly?

    At 110 lbs at 5'4, you've got nothing to lose by giving the 2000 calories a fair shot. (You may gain some water weight initially, give it some time.)
  • figuu
    figuu Posts: 20
    You said that you try to stay between 1700-1900. What's your weight doing? Are you maintaining or still losing slowly?

    At 110 lbs at 5'4, you've got nothing to lose by giving the 2000 calories a fair shot. (You may gain some water weight initially, give it some time.)
    I haven't weighed myself in a long time so that's why I said around 110, give or take a few. Might as well try!
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Life is unfair. You, me, and nearly everyone else who is our height-- I am 5' 3 1/2"-- has to feel hungry all the time in order to reach, and to maintain, our ideal weight.

    Acute hunger is fine and shouldn't be feared. Chronic hunger is not fine nor is it normal nor is it necessary for everyone.