Always starving and hungry?

transitofvenus wrote: »

Have you calculated your recommended calorie levels anywhere other than MFP? It might be that your target calories are off for your activity level. Maybe try calculating your TDEE including your workouts and see how that compares to your current calorie goals?

If everything's calculated right and it's just feeling hungry all the time, I've found that tea is really helpful for feeling satisfied even when you're super hungry. Black and green teas have caffeine, which is great for appetite suppression, and tea is so flexible as far as flavors, strength, caffeine, and how you drink it (e.g. warm with milk, iced, mixed with fruit, etc) that it stays interesting while filling you up. With no sugar or milk (or even just a little splash of whole milk) tea is a great low-calorie way to feel fuller.

I have calculated my TDEE on other sites, mostly because I was curious and they all were about the same I have bumped up my exercise a bit for a few months which is something I do normally after the holidays to lose the extra weight I gained. I agree with you that tea is super satisfying and helps a lot with the hunger! I drink 2 liters of tea every day since I don't like water and I love drinking tea. I know I would be a lot hungrier if I wasn't drinking tea.

Francl27 wrote: »

Well what I'd do is figure out your TDEE and eat at a 20% deficit... http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ gives you 1964 a day to lose 1 pound a week (moderately active setting)... so I'm not really shocked that you're starving if you're only eating 1400 a day (even if you eat 300 calories back 5x a week... that's still really a big deficit considering that your TDEE is probably 2400-2500).

I assume you're not logging your food on MFP though because your diary is empty so it's hard to see how much you're really eating.

But anyway... yeah you're eating way too little IMO.

I tried the link and at a 25% deficit for my stats, it says to lose 1.2 lbs per week, I would need to go to 1581 calories. Which isn't very far off since on MFP, I put to lose 1.5 lbs eating around 1,400-1,500 calories. Female, 77 kg, 164cm, age 23, and 3-5 hours moderate exercise. Even if I put 5-6 hours of strenuous exercise, it still says 1581 calories to burn 1.4 lbs per week. But it does says the TDEE is 2451. I didn't think trying to lose 1.2-1.5 lbs per week would be aggressive or starving myself? I know that losing 2 pounds for my weight is too overly aggressive, but I heard that for around my weight 1-1.5 lbs is doable. So I'm not sure. I also thought 1,400 to 1,500 calories per day wasn't considered too low. I had people doing 1,200 calories per day and they were telling me that my goal was too high! They also worked out and they didn't even eat back their exercise calories! But of course I could never live on 1,200 calories forever. Although maybe your right and I actually am starving my body to death because I'm simply eating too less? That would actually make the most sense since I'm constantly starving and always never satisfied. Although it is pretty strange since for the past year in a half, I've stayed around 1,400-1,500 calories and never had a problem until the last 3 months. It's funny because I feel ashamed and upset if I get to 1,600-1,700 calories (Not counting exercise calories) because I feel like I'm being a gluttonous pig. But it's strange it's just happened the last 3 months since I never had a problem before. Do you think 1.2-1.5 lbs is too aggressive for someone with my stats?

caurinus wrote: »

jenniator wrote: »

So I've been eating around my maintenance level and sometimes even above which resulted in my gaining 7 lbs in 3 months.

Ah, OK, that makes more sense. 7 lbs isn't that much. I have gained 5-6 pounds just in water weight when I switch from a calorie deficit to maintenance because of stored glycogen, and all of it will drop off again within 10 days after I go back to a calorie deficit.

jenniator wrote: »

My protein is super high which is great

I wouldn't call it super high at 27% of calories. I think protein keeps you full much better than fat does. Seriously, give 40% of calories from lean protein a try for a few days, keep the high fiber carbs, and cut fat back to 20% or so. Some days I'm double-checking my food diary to make sure I logged everything, because I am under my calorie goal for the day (at a 750 calorie deficit), but I'm not hungry.

I'm glad to hear it might just be water weight since I've been freaking out about gaining 7 lbs in only 3 months ha ha xD So I'm hopeful that it will drop off soon I thought 91 grams of protein sounded like a huge amount, but I do find that a balance of protein, carbs, and veggies help keep me the fullest. I didn't realize my fat levels were so high. It's funny because I never intended for that. I even use cooking spray instead of olive oil or butter to cut down the fat level and to say a lot of calories. I'm not sure how I would get rid of more fat since none of my foods are really fatty or anything, just the numbers add up. I do admit though that almost all the fat comes from the ground beef, so my fat levels aren't always that high since I don't eat ground beef every night. I always switch off between chicken, pork, and beef of different varieties. That is amazing though! I've never been under my calorie goal and not hungry ha ha.