feeling hungry

hna84
hna84 Posts: 26 Member
edited September 25 in Health and Weight Loss
The hardest thing for me about weight loss has always been feeling hungry. Even if I eat really well and make sure to get in all my calories and a good amount of carbs, protein, and fat, I feel like my body knows that I'm trying to lose weight and it hates it! Even if my deficit is just 500 calories a day!

After a few days of the 500 calorie deficits I feel myself getting headaches, growling stomach, nautious feeling and eventually giving in and eating because the hunger just won't go away. It's like as soon as I eat those missing 500 calories I burned through exercise my body instantly feels better. I feel like it just wants me to maintain and not lose and I hate it!

I guess I'm partly venting and partly asking for feedback or thoughts. Do I just have to suck it up and be hungry? I feel like that is the only way I will lose but it's just so hard for me to go to bed with my stomach growling and then wake up feeling like I'm starving. Why won't my body just adjust to less food? :(

Replies

  • malabaugh
    malabaugh Posts: 130 Member
    Drink lots of water!
  • Perfectlycrooked
    Perfectlycrooked Posts: 275 Member
    You could try more of healthier foods, like fruits and vegetables. If your body's craving more hearty foods you could go for nuts or granola. Maybe you aren't getting enough nutrients, it's your bodys way of telling you it's a big change. It just takes some getting used to, I'm sure after awhile you'll start to feel better(:
  • feelingalone
    feelingalone Posts: 24
    I am new on here and I was surprised to see that someone else feels the same way that I do! I get so hungry that I feel like I am going to vomit. I HATE the taste of water and if I cut back on my Diet Dew, I get SEVERE headaches. I don't have any advice for you as I am too new to this. I just wanted to say thank you for your post and you are not alone. Good luck! :)
  • bwleung89
    bwleung89 Posts: 55 Member
    i had alot of that same problem with headaches and stuff so i went to a doctor and he told me that i should take a daily vitamin. It gives you any minerals you are missing and got rid of the headaches and discomfort. It really does help even with hunger. I also started to spread my meals throughout and drink alot of things like tea, water with lemon juice, or coffee. I know coffee is a diahretic but i still need my fix.
  • jrt9999
    jrt9999 Posts: 114
    What did you set your weight loss per week goal at? You should have a deficit built in which means you should eat back the 500 calories you burned through exercise.
  • Nailrep
    Nailrep Posts: 966 Member
    100 calorie bags of popcorn! Life saver for me! Just actor into your calories for the day.
  • yuliagoolia
    yuliagoolia Posts: 1
    The whole snacking in between meals really helps. I used to wait till i got hungry to eat and would end up overeating, but now i space 3 meals and 2 snacks in between and it works really well. Try to eat every few hours and yes, drink lots and lots of water!
  • jara04
    jara04 Posts: 10
    I'm not really good at dieting either, actually I attribute most of my weight loss to the radical increase in my physical activity. So, my advice to you is to eat those extra 500 calories, but at the same time try to burn at least that amount of energy in the day so that you don't have any inconvenients in your weight loss goals
  • slp2112
    slp2112 Posts: 107
    Maybe play around with how much fat/protein/carbs you're eating. E.g. carbs are digested quickly and you'll use them up because they're a fast source of energy. Fat and protein, on the other hand, don't breakdown nearly as quickly and both make you feel much fuller than carbs will. Remember that MFP is using generic equations to compute how much protein/fat/carbs you should be eating, but every body is different. So maybe going a little higher on your protein, for example, will make you feel fuller.

    Second, I don't know how many times you eat a day, but if you're not eating 6-7 times a day and are instead having three meals a day, maybe try breaking them down. By eating smaller portions but more frequently, your blood sugar remains much more constant, helping you avoid crashing and feeling really hungry (which will most likely lead to your overeating to compensate for your hunger).

    Third, it's actually good for the body to have varying intake over the course of week. Think of your daily caloric intake as a weekly average to shoot for. If, say, you should be eating 1600 calories a day, try 1650 one day, 1550 the next, 1700 another, ect.

    Lastly, denying yourself food when you're hungry can have adverse effects, including what I call "caveman mode" - your body doesn't know when it's next meal is coming, so it stores what you've already eaten, causing you to plateau or even gain weight. Have you tried eating even a small snack when you're hungry? It might give your body time to adjust.

    Check out this blog: http://dropitandeat.blogspot.com/

    I do not personally know the woman who writes it (I have my own nutritionist instead) but the writer is my sister's nutritionist and I've heard nothing but great things. The blog is filled with tons of VERY useful information. She's all about teaching to eat properly for a lifetime.

    Sorry for the super long reply ...
  • bethany7687
    bethany7687 Posts: 44
    Increase your fat by 100-150 calories per day with nuts, eggs, avocado and make sure you are getting adequate protein. I too have struggled with hunger on commercial diets and I know now that it is because very low fat diets, which most are, do not work for me. Fat keeps you satisfied, protein is long term fuel. Add up your protein and fat calories and try a few days of protein and fat at 60-70%. Play around with it for a few days until you can put 2 or 3 days together of comfortable eating. Our bodies are very individual and our food plan need to be also.
    Blessings,
    Bethany
  • eates
    eates Posts: 334 Member
    You could start with a smaller deficit and work your way down. Start with 1/2 lb a week and it's only 250 calorie deficit a day, maybe try that for a couple weeks & then move to 1 lb a week.
  • Natacia28
    Natacia28 Posts: 11 Member
    Portions are a big prob for me as well, definitely try eating foods with more fiber....will help make you feel full for a longer period of time, hope this helps :)
  • Spitfirex007
    Spitfirex007 Posts: 749 Member
    Something that I like to eat a lot of is about half a cup of brown rice and veggies. (I buy those bags at the store that you just throw in the microwave)

    It taste delicious, cheap, easy to make and keeps me full! Also drink plenty of water!
  • MakingAChoice
    MakingAChoice Posts: 481 Member
    I am new on here and I was surprised to see that someone else feels the same way that I do! I get so hungry that I feel like I am going to vomit. I HATE the taste of water and if I cut back on my Diet Dew, I get SEVERE headaches. I don't have any advice for you as I am too new to this. I just wanted to say thank you for your post and you are not alone. Good luck! :)

    You get severe headaches because of the caffeine addiction. Mountain Dew is one of the highest caffeine content drinks. You can either step off the Dew slowly or do like I did and go cold turkey and just take some pain killers for the headaches, they will last about 3 days.

    As far as being hungry you need to re-evaluate the foods you are eating. You need to eat complex carbs (like brown rice and rolled oats), lean protein (like chicken breast and some veggies), and fiber (fruits, whole grain breads, etc)

    Eliminate or reduce as much as possible simple carbs (white flour), refined sugars, and salt intake.

    In addition drink lots of water, even if you don't like water just suck it up and do it. It is what will flush the crap and toxins out of your body.
  • significance
    significance Posts: 436 Member
    I find I feel most hungry for the first week or two of a diet, then it really settles down and becomes easier.

    It helps to make sure you are eating low GI foods: sugar and simple carbohydrates will bounce your blood sugar around and make you hungrier. Protein, fat and complex carbs (usually high fibre) help.

    Figure out when you are getting most hungry, and when it bothers you most. I find a cup of tea mid-morning helps stave off morning hunger for me, I have an earlyish lunch and a mid- to late-afternoon snack when I get really hungry.

    Figure out what works for you psychologically. I find that if I can go to bed with a full stomach, I don't feel deprived. I don't mind being hungry earlier in the day if I know I have a decent dinner coming at the end of the day. So I have half of my total daily calories or more at dinner-time after a light breakfast and lunch. I keep a healthy and calorie-portioned snack like vita-wheats in my desk drawer so that I don't feel ill or resort to chocolate from the vending machine if I find that I have over-done it and not had enough breakfast or brought enough lunch to keep me going. (Again, this is more likely to be a problem early in the diet).

    Also, exercise not only boosts what I can eat, but also seems to reduce my appetite (in the short term, at least).
  • Jacks6688
    Jacks6688 Posts: 19
    Every morning I put 1-2 cups of whole grain cheerios into a baggie and snack on it throughout the day. I've been doing this for about two weeks and I have been amazed at how full it keeps me between meals.
  • CallMeMamaBoo
    CallMeMamaBoo Posts: 295
    http://www.jillianmichaels.com/fitness-and-diet-tips/ghrelin?xid=nl_LosingItWithJillianMichaels_20110315

    Maybe this will help?
  • Katherine_Nelson
    Katherine_Nelson Posts: 70 Member
    advice for hating the taste of water=
    -lemon juice in your water
    -crystal light packets (only like 5-20 calories!)
    anything that gives it flavor is what i use. i actually end up drinking more because i forget that its water lol.

    good luck!!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories