Why am I so hungry

Jleigh225
Jleigh225 Posts: 49 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm a 5'3 woman with a desk job and I am trying to get back on track and I am having the hardest time. I am starting at 1600 calories to try to get used to eating less since MFP puts me even lower than that. I do everything all the articles say drink water, eat high fiber, high protein foods, don't eat refined carbs, and high nutrient dense foods. Did anyone else find the secret balance with hunger and cutting calories? Or is it just learning to suffer through it and tough it out?

Replies

  • natajane
    natajane Posts: 295 Member
    I often find I'm hungry because I'm bored or emotional - could that be the case for yourself?

    I never put it down to either of those things until I tried the 5:2 diet where you have 2 days of 500 calories. Whilst that plan wasn't for me, i learnt what real physical hunger was then, and that it comes and goes in short waves. Real short term hunger is really not so bad. Whereas emotional hunger just seems to feel more urgent and linger.

    If you can be sure what type of hunger it is, you can work out a tactic to stop it better?
  • mamafazz
    mamafazz Posts: 92 Member
    I struggle with this too. I do find if I can wait it out, the hunger will subside a little, but sometimes it is so tempting to just eat something, and then boom in 3 minutes I am over my calorie goal
  • Jleigh225
    Jleigh225 Posts: 49 Member
    Well currently my stomach is actually growling and I have a headache. I assume thats not emotional, but I know sometimes emotional eating can be strong enough to mirror physical hunger. I imagine my frustration plays into it, but I can try to look into hunger signals more.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    For me the key is to exercise so I can eat more.
  • holly_roman
    holly_roman Posts: 116 Member
    when are you eating? what times? are you eating all meals? maybe you should adjust the time you eat or split some out or add snacks. for example, I eat lunch at 11 so I save my apple from lunch until around 1 or 2 for a snack. I know it has helped me. You will have days you are HUNGRY..like eat the whole kitchen hungry, that is natural, but most days you shouldn't feel that. Most days you should feel very mild hunger. Try playing around with when you eat to see if it helps. GL.
  • mommazach
    mommazach Posts: 384 Member
    5'3" Desk job and 1200 cals a day. I end up taking walks throughout the day, even if it's only the office corridors and I also ask myself if I am actually hungry or am I just eating. I added a water app that also keeps me full of liquids. Get plenty of protein in your diet, and make sure you are not self sabotaging yourself in your attempt to lose weight. Remember why you started and make temptation go away.
  • Luizam25
    Luizam25 Posts: 87 Member
    Check your blood sugar if you are very hungry to make sure that you are in normal values.
  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,535 Member
    Even when I was working at a busy desk job, I still got 47-55 gr protein in for breakfast. It kept me from hunger pangs for a solid 5hrs till I had lunch. (6:30am breakf/11:30am lunch). Most days I ate a costco tilapia for lunch. that got me thru till early dinner (4pm). I didn't have many days that I could break away for snacks, so that's why I focused heavily on protein. (yes, it was *that* busy.)

    If I had a chance to get up and take a walk, say on slow days, I always walked around outside. If only to get fresh air and perspective. Even if it was frigid cold or bad weather. Something about fresh air!
  • lisalewis7588
    lisalewis7588 Posts: 76 Member
    For me personally, the first 3-4 days of eating less are fairly easy. Following that, I have an adjustment period of 7-10 days where I am HUNGRY ALL THE TIME and nothing can fix it. I literally have to convince myself that I'm NOT starving to death. If I can push through and make it through that while eating at a deficit, (easier said than done, that's for sure), then it's like my satiety center in my brain adjusts itself and my hunger subsides to normal levels and I continue eating at a deficit with *relative* ease (note that this is NOT SCIENTIFIC IN ANY WAY, it's just what I have personally experienced).

    So, keep at it! Sounds like you're doing everything right. Get some breath mints (like 2 calories each) and have one each time you want to eat. It helps me determine if I'm actually hungry or just bored, without blowing many calories.
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
    Jleigh225 wrote: »
    Did anyone else find the secret balance with hunger and cutting calories? Or is it just learning to suffer through it and tough it out?

    If you are new, there's definitely some suffering to tough out. Your body will adjust. But for sure the suffering will have to be completely comfortable for dieting to be sustainable.

    Just learn to eat strategically. If you can handle the hunger, keep delaying it one hr at the time, or ease it with a few kernels of cashew, nuts or egg. Don't stimulate your hunger, appetite with sight, smell, thoughts of (good) foods. Coffee is your friend. It's a very powerful hunger/appetite suppressor.

  • treehopper1987
    treehopper1987 Posts: 505 Member
    I think you have to find your personal balance of nutrition. I find if I have high fiber and high protein snacks, then I do not feel as hungry. Also, I think you have to figure out if you're actually hungry. Most of the time I eat due to stress, emotional, boredom, or even just being tired can cause me to crave not-the-best-for-me foods. Is your job stressful? This could be contributing to your headaches. You could also have headaches from too little water, looking at text without proper vision correcting lenses. Headaches are caused by many things. Your stomach growling is actually just your body digesting food, not necessarily being hungry.

    Also, how long have you been dieting? Your body could still be adjusting to the lower calorie intake, so it may take a week or 2 to get used to lower calorie intake.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    When I first started I was hungry all the time. After about a week I realized that I just wanted to eat from habit. It get's better. at 1600 calories you should be able to eat all kinds a stuff. One of the things that works for me is to eat more when I'm used to eating more...if that makes sense. I eat a small breakfast and lunch (300-400 calories each) because I'm busy during the day and don't think so much about eating. That leaves me like 1000 calories for dinner and snacks, which is when I really like to eat.

    You could just be craving the stuff you cut out too. If you recently switched to eating all high nutrient, healthier stuff maybe you'd feel more satisfied if you threw some treats in there. Fill up on your veggies, fiber, lean protein and leave a couple hundred calories for something more emotionally satisfying, like chocolate or beer.
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,213 Member
    I think you should up your calories. You are 29 and probably have a decent metabolism despite your desk job. I avoid "really hungry", both because feeling miserably hungry ups the chances that I will quit, and because I strongly suspect when I go too hungry my body adjusts (I fidget less and rest more) and the gain (aka loss on the scale) doesn't justify the pain.
  • mis1022
    mis1022 Posts: 109 Member
    I agree with a previous poster that about days 3-10 are bad. Feeling hungry all the time. And now that I have been following MFP since January every now and then I get one of those days I am insatiable. So yes you push past it and realize its not real hunger.

    I also had to stop watching the cooking channel :wink:
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    I find that proteins and *fats* are important in satiety.
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
    i got hungry on lower calorie diets unless i have small snacks between meals. i budgeted the calories by cutting just a little off my meals.
  • fatfudgery
    fatfudgery Posts: 449 Member
    Jleigh225 wrote: »
    I do everything all the articles say drink water, eat high fiber, high protein foods, don't eat refined carbs, and high nutrient dense foods.

    There's your problem. You want low nutrient density if you want to feel full. 100 calories of lettuce (a very low nutrient density food) is waaay more filling than 100 calories of oil (a food that, being 100% fat, is about as calorie-dense as you can get.)
  • djpjay
    djpjay Posts: 19 Member
    If u cut down on carbs (sugar, glycogen, etc.) then u will begin to have crazy cravings, low energy, tired. To help with cravings I might have a apple, grapes, or Greek yogurt
  • Abby2205
    Abby2205 Posts: 253 Member
    A few weeks back someone described their secret: lettuce. Stupid amounts of lettuce. I figured why not try it, I like baby spinach so I put about 1.7 ounces (one third of a 5 ounce container) on a plate and put the tuna and cheese I usually have at lunch on top of it. For about 15 calories it had a surprisingly large effect on my hunger. Plus it adds a lot of Vitamin A and a little iron--sprinkle a few pumpkin seeds on top to add more.
  • Commander_Keen
    Commander_Keen Posts: 1,179 Member
    take a look at what you are eating for the day, compare it with a few days ago, when you weren't so hungry, see if nutrients are different. Maybe not enough carbs, fats or maybe salt.

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