Terrified of being hungry

Francl27 · February 2015

I've been stalling 3 pounds from my goal for 7 months... My main issue is that I've just got way hungrier since I got there, and that I don't do hunger well... Half the time, it will make me nauseous and dizzy, so I've been having a very hard time sticking to a deficit because of it (I've always been very sensitive to hormonal changes and it's just got worse as I lost weight). Basically there are 2 weeks a month when I'm a normal person and don't mind being hungry and can eat a normal amount of food without feeling hungry and deprived, moderation is easy etc... and the rest of the times I NEED to eat and resisting cravings is much harder. It sucks.

Is anyone in the same boat? I drink water all day, eat plenty of protein and veggies, meet my fat goal pretty much every day too... It just seems the only times lately that I've really felt content was on the days when I ate over my TDEE. I mean yes, I eat treats, but so did I a year ago and I had no problem sticking to 1600 calories, and now it seems I can't even stick to 2200 calories anymore. So I have to avoid them for now, which kinda sucks, but I hate being hungry more.

Just wondering if anyone else is in the same boat... I'll definitely talk to my doctor about it next time I see her.

ryanhorn · February 2015

I'm not a professional, but when I was losing weight, I've found that sometimes you just need to put the goal for a deficit on the back burner for a little bit and listen to your body. Over the year and a half that I lost 100 lbs, I probably had 5 or 6 weeks where I just put trying to get a deficit aside to make sure my body was fueled and was getting the food it wanted, and in the end, it didn't make a difference.

In the long run, I feel like it does a world of good to just take a little week break and see what happens when you listen to your body's cycles instead of trying to hit certain goals. Even if you gain some weight, you've already been so successful in the past, so you know you'll be able to do it again! Your body knows what it needs moreso than the MyFitnessPal calculator.

Just my two cents. Good luck!

yesimpson · February 2015

I think I kind of know the type of hunger you mean - I only experience it if I'm on my period or very anaemic, and when my blood sugar drops too far I feel I NEED to eat or I'll faint or vomit. You can't really work around it, so I can't imagine how annoying it must be to experience that more regularly, and I basically just give myself licence to overeat a little then as it's only usually 2-3 days a month. Obviously not a day-to-day tactic! I think the doctor is a very sensible port of call.

Couple of questions:

- do you exercise a lot and not eat back those calories?
- do you space your meals out or do you practice some form of intermittent fasting?
- is losing that last 3lbs really important, or is your concern here more that you don't want to put on weight? I can't imagine, unless you're really really short, that 3lbs will make much difference at all to how you look/feel, and it might not be worth it if trying to get there is making you feel ill and stressing you out.

jenncornelsen · February 2015

hi there! as far as hormonal side of your convo i can relate. i can do good for 3 weeks and not feel hungry...then that one week i want to eat everything all day long. usually that week i feel happy if i dont see a gain! frustrating indeed.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics · February 2015

I've seen several of these threads from you and I'm just curious-- why are you still trying to lose 3 lbs? It's not very much, still within the range of normal fluctuations. Seems like you've been making yourself miserable over a negligible amount of weight for months now.

Remind me what your workout routine is like?

Francl27 · February 2015

Right now I'm more worried I'm going to gain weight honestly. I'd like to lose a bit more though because I still have too much fat in my lower back. I'm 5'5" and 133 pounds so it's not like it's a very aggressive goal. But the issue is that lately, even my maintenance calories haven't seemed to be enough.

My workout routine right now is Les Mills Combat, so 3 cardio workouts of 30,45 or 60 minutes, two HIITs workout of 30 minutes (with some weight training, or I lift extra weights), and 2 rest days, during which I've been either doing some spinning (just burning 180 calories or so) or shoveling snow. Before that it was 30 minutes a day in average of lifting/elliptical (HIITs)/treadmill with a rest day once in a while. I'm a SAHM so doing random chores in the house during the day, groceries etc, but sitting a lot too.

I've been eating 2200 calories in average the last few months, and pretty much maintained my weight since June, more or less a pound (not counting PMS gain obviously).

I mean, I'm not in denial and I know that some of my issues are that I eat too many sweets, and I'm going to try to cut it down significantly, but even on my 'good' days, I'm often hungry and not even wanting sweets, just needing something substantial to fill me up so I stop feeling so miserable.

My diary is open, but it's been pretty bad, with PMS and all (and Valentine Day and my mom bringing bags and bags of sweets from France yesterday). But you can see that even on days when I have huge lunches (I'm talking a pound of veggies at a time), I still need a snack after, it's ridiculous!

Maitria · February 2015

I would focus your weight loss efforts on those two weeks a month where you feel like you can and focus on maintenance the rest of the time.

LKArgh · February 2015

It sounds like you need to figure out how to maintain the weight you currently have. You are right to worry, if these last days are how things tend to be when you are not extra careful, you will start gaining fast. With the food you are logging, I cannot imagine this really is hunger. Perhaps boredom? Your profile says you are a stay at home mother, so maybe staying home is not working for you? Perhaps you need a routine change?

cheshirecatastrophe · February 2015

So I get where you're coming from with the hunger. I go from satisfied to lightheaded and nauseated *almost* instantly. Coupled with a complete inability to think about anything besides food. The only saving grace for me is that it has started to just...shut off sometime in the evening. Otherwise there's no way I'd be holding to any kind of deficit.

I do find it works better for me to be a grazer and eat more little stuff rather than big meals. It kind of sucks, because I can't whomp a pint of Ben&Jerry's even after a long run

, but it's working for me as far as weight control goes.

One thing I wanted to point out, though--you said you're terrified of gaining weight. Well, you've been eating at pretty darn nice (to me, at least) maintenance calories for awhile and haven't gained. Even with your crazy hungry weeks. I'd say that's a pretty good sign so far, an accomplishment worth recognizing!

toronto88 · February 2015

Francl27 wrote: »

My workout routine right now is Les Mills Combat, so 3 cardio workouts of 30,45 or 60 minutes, two HIITs workout of 30 minutes (with some weight training, or I lift extra weights), and 2 rest days, during which I've been either doing some spinning (just burning 180 calories or so) or shoveling snow. Before that it was 30 minutes a day in average of lifting/elliptical (HIITs)/treadmill with a rest day once in a while. I'm a SAHM so doing random chores in the house during the day, groceries etc, but sitting a lot too.

You might be getting too tired/hungry from all of your exercising. I've had periods of time where I have gotten really tired and it ended up being from overexercising (long cardio workouts, HIIT, and weights). Also when I was really active (especially weights and HIIT) I was so hungry all the time and it was hard to lose weight because I felt like I was starving and would end up overeating. And I was tired from the workouts so I would end up being more sedentary throughout the rest of the day.
That much cardio, plus HIITx2 and weights and exercising a bit on your rest days might be too much. HIIT zaps so much energy. Maybe switching to 2 combats and 2 HIITS and 1 day just weights and 2 rest days (with more rest) would be good. Or combat x 3, 1 HIIT, 1 day weights and 2 days rest. Or just take an extra rest day every couple weeks when your body seems to need it. On your rest days you could lower your calorie intake and focus on really healthy eating.
Just some ideas!

DigitalDiana · February 2015

Usually when you are craving/starving... your body is telling you something....
A couple of options then.... multivitamin, and get your iron levels checked, or get a vitamin assay ( done with blood work from your health care provider) and see what your body is lacking.... it might make a difference.

Terrified of being hungry

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