I can't stop eating

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DaphneSW
DaphneSW Posts: 117 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all!

So i'm trying to stick within 1500 calories per day and I have been crazy struggling to say the least. I will do some sort of exercise everyday and I end up eating back all the calories earned from exercise so i'll end up with almost 2000 calories on a normal day.

How on earth do you guys stop at a reasonable amount. I get so hungry that I just NEED food!! I've also been eating healthy things such as quinoa, or salads, and heaps of fruit/veg but I will get hungry so quicky!! couple times a week will eat something bad (one serving of chocolate) but that is a tiny proportion of my food.
I'm usually the kind of person who will eat until i'm stuffed - perhaps not the best habit but i'm trying to break out of it! Do I need to take time for my stomach to shrink? Do I have a high metabolism?

Any advice? The struggle is real and it's so frustrating when I end up eating back calories I worked so hard to shed
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Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Is your calorie goal from MFP? If so, it's designed for you to eat back exercise calories. Your calorie goal has a deficit built in.

    Are you getting enough protein? Are you getting enough fat? When I don't get enough of these, I struggle with hunger. Are you eliminating too many foods you enjoy? There is nothing inherently bad about chocolate.
  • DaphneSW
    DaphneSW Posts: 117 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Is your calorie goal from MFP? If so, it's designed for you to eat back exercise calories. Your calorie goal has a deficit built in.

    Are you getting enough protein? Are you getting enough fat? When I don't get enough of these, I struggle with hunger. Are you eliminating too many foods you enjoy? There is nothing inherently bad about chocolate.

    Indeed - the calorie goal is from mfp!
    I understand that it is designed to eat back exercise, but it would still be ideal for me to not 'waste' all the calories lost from my exercise, you feel?

    You do highlight a good point about protein and fat though. Based on my recent diary entries I tend to eat many carbs but not much protein so that is something I should definitely re think
  • ivylaurenolsen
    ivylaurenolsen Posts: 56 Member
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    Girl, I am struggling with this same thing right now! Ya, making sure you're getting enough nutrients, especially protein, is important. I have been learning that as I've been trying to live off off a bunch of low-calorie, low-nutrient foods like popcorn and I find that I am hungry all the time! Also, if you're like me, you eat most of your calories at night. So what I try to do is save most of my calories for then by having a light breakfast and lunch. Good luck! I know it's a struggle!
  • Jecka987
    Jecka987 Posts: 47 Member
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    Protein and Fat will definitely help keep you full for longer. And you shouldn't be scared to eat your exercise calories, if you are logging perfectly you should be able to eat them all - I understand the desire for some buffer though but definitely eat most of them! Question - are you losing weight? If so then try eating a little more and see if you keep losing. Don't get so hung up on the right numbers if you are still heading towards your goal and making progress then you are all good I say :)
  • DaphneSW
    DaphneSW Posts: 117 Member
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    ivylaurenolsen wrote: »
    Girl, I am struggling with this same thing right now! Ya, making sure you're getting enough nutrients, especially protein, is important. I have been learning that as I've been trying to live off off a bunch of low-calorie, low-nutrient foods like popcorn and I find that I am hungry all the time! Also, if you're like me, you eat most of your calories at night. So what I try to do is save most of my calories for then by having a light breakfast and lunch. Good luck! I know it's a struggle!

    Oh man, I'm so glad you know the feels! It really sucks! Feeling hungry is actually the worst feeling.

    Unfortunately I'm not one to be able to eat a light breakfast or lunch because that just makes me h-angry throughout the day haha. It's not ideal!
    What kind of meals have you been eating? I've recently been trying to convert to pescatarian with a goal of being vegetarian eventually. It's not working out well so far :p
  • DaphneSW
    DaphneSW Posts: 117 Member
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    Jecka987 wrote: »
    Protein and Fat will definitely help keep you full for longer. And you shouldn't be scared to eat your exercise calories, if you are logging perfectly you should be able to eat them all - I understand the desire for some buffer though but definitely eat most of them! Question - are you losing weight? If so then try eating a little more and see if you keep losing. Don't get so hung up on the right numbers if you are still heading towards your goal and making progress then you are all good I say :)

    That's a valid point!
    It's hard for me to say if i've been losing weight yet as I've only been going hard at this for less than a month. I have indeed noticed less chin/neck fat - however this could be a result of decreased bloating from eating fairly clean.
  • kirstenb13
    kirstenb13 Posts: 181 Member
    edited February 2016
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    How long have you been eating 1500-2000? And what's your weight loss during that time? For me I have to/can eat pretty much all my exercise calories back or I lose at a much faster rate than I want. So I would just assess from your data if that's even something you need to worry about.
    For the hunger, it takes a little bit of playing around with different types of food to find what keeps you full the longest, so I would just experiment. Protein is a big one for many people, but fiber is also really important (at least to me). Quinoa, fruits and salads wouldn't last very long for me either, but how about oats or greek yogurt? Veggies with a little cheese? These things are really filling for me, just try to find foods that work for you.
  • RA60172
    RA60172 Posts: 137 Member
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    When I feel hungry and I know I probably shouldn't be hungry again so soon, I set a timer on my phone to delay eating. Two months ago I started setting it for five minutes and I've now worked my way up to an hour. If I'm still hungry when the timer goes off, I eat. And like a previous poster said, chocolate isn't bad. I have a little dark chocolate every day. It's a good source of magnesium!
  • DaphneSW
    DaphneSW Posts: 117 Member
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    RA60172 wrote: »
    When I feel hungry and I know I probably shouldn't be hungry again so soon, I set a timer on my phone to delay eating. Two months ago I started setting it for five minutes and I've now worked my way up to an hour. If I'm still hungry when the timer goes off, I eat. And like a previous poster said, chocolate isn't bad. I have a little dark chocolate every day. It's a good source of magnesium!

    This is a really cool idea and one I will definitely need to try out!
  • DaphneSW
    DaphneSW Posts: 117 Member
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    kirstenb13 wrote: »
    How long have you been eating 1500-2000? And what's your weight loss during that time? For me I have to/can eat pretty much all my exercise calories back or I lose at a much faster rate than I want. So I would just assess from your data if that's even something you need to worry about.
    For the hunger, it takes a little bit of playing around with different types of food to find what keeps you full the longest, so I would just experiment. Protein is a big one for many people, but fiber is also really important (at least to me). Quinoa, fruits and salads wouldn't last very long for me either, but how about oats or greek yogurt? Veggies with a little cheese? These things are really filling for me, just try to find foods that work for you.

    I haven't been doing it for very long, only 3 or so weeks if not less where I've been focusing on it.
    Because it has been a short time it's hard for me to say whether I have lost weight so I'll need to give it more time.

    I've been obsessed with greek yoghurt and oats for breakfasts and I agree that those days I have that I feel fuller for longer. I could potentially consider eating that more often :)
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    I found that after about 3 or 4 weeks of toughing it out, the hunger got much more manageable.
  • gcaracciolo2
    gcaracciolo2 Posts: 130 Member
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    What I found that works as an experiment is to break your meals down into many small ones (greater than 6 a day).

    While you do this, pay extra attention to when you are satisfied (not full). I'm not going to lie, its tough to do but it does a good job of teaching you when to stop eating when satisfied compared to being stuffed. Once you get a handle on that you can branch off to an eating routine that works for you.
  • Larissa_NY
    Larissa_NY Posts: 495 Member
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    I mean, there's really no other answer here than "Quit eating so much."

    That sounds facile, but if you let yourself be hungry you'll find out pretty quickly that it's not the end of the world; do something to take your mind off it, and it's not even a particularly unpleasant sensation. Unless you live in pretty dire economic circumstances and are literally in danger of starving to death or going blind from malnutrition, you don't NEED food. You WANT food. There's a big difference.

    Also, eating until you're stuffed is, as you seem to recognize, something you choose to do. You can also choose not to. After a while of stopping when you're satisfied instead of eating until you're overstuffed, you'll stop thinking of that overstuffed feeling as pleasant.

    TL;DR: this too shall pass. You'll get used to eating less food - but only if you actually do eat less food instead of telling yourself you absolutely must have more.
  • Rocknut53
    Rocknut53 Posts: 1,794 Member
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    bwogilvie wrote: »
    I found that after about 3 or 4 weeks of toughing it out, the hunger got much more manageable.

    It only took me a couple weeks. One thing I do is eat really slowly, savor every bite. Also, if you've eaten and know you're not really hungry, go for a walk or find something to distract you from your demanding stomach.
  • firstplace21
    firstplace21 Posts: 5 Member
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    The hunger that you're feeling might not be hunger at all but thirst. Drink lots of water. Think of yourself in a thinner sexy looking body everytime you feel hungry. That might prevent you from eating too much :)
  • rmntrose2
    rmntrose2 Posts: 8 Member
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    I agree with checking your water intake. If you get into a very strong habit of drinking water, it might be the first thing your mind will want to satisfy you. I used to be addicted to drinking water. This habit helped me immensely to control my hunger. Now I'm working on getting back in to this habbit myself. Also, if you have a picture of yourself at the weight you want to be at (or close) It might help with motivation to overcome these hunger cycles.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    edited February 2016
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    I have followed a more "volumetric" style of eating for probably 7-8 years now. Counting calories is essential, but check out the volume of your meals. For breakfasts I usually have 1/4 of an entire cake pan egg bake (loaded with veggies and smaller amounts of meat and/or cheese) for 150 cals. Lunches can easily equal 150-250 cals for large portions of stir fry, soup, stew, chili, curry, and more because they just have crazy amounts of added veggies. We also do a lot of stuffed vegetables (spaghetti squash, peppers, eggplant or zucchini boats, portobello mushroom caps, etc) and a lot of noodled or riced vegetable based dishes like www.inspiralized.com
  • ScoobaChick
    ScoobaChick Posts: 184 Member
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    I usually eat back about half of my exercise calories that way I feel better about making progress. I find protein bars really help me keep hunger in check (and whey protein shakes too). You need something your body will take some time to digest.

    Honestly after a month or so I don't feel hungry so much. If I do I log a light snack (I'm into Ryvita crackerbread with butter right now) and see if I can make it to my next meal and if not I have another light snack but I try to give it at least 20 minutes after the first snack to decided whether I am really still hungry or if it is just a craving.
  • hk7468
    hk7468 Posts: 1 Member
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    I'm trying to lose weight, but I have chronic daily migraines that are triggered by hunger/not eating (among other things). Because of this, I've become fearful of becoming hungry, because I don't want to end up in pain. Any suggestions to help keep me fuller, longer, thus allowing me to possibly lose weight?
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    If the point is to eat back exercise calories why wouldn't you?

    You aren't adequately fueling your body

    Eat back 50% of calories from MFP database it overestimates for most
    Fix your protein and fats levels
    And stop reinventing the wheel...it's designed to eat them back, it doesn't make it better not to, it makes it worse

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