Help! I'm always hungry
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Lean988
Posts: 6 Member
I'm hungry all the time! I exercise most days I try not to eat them back or it feels pointless exercising only eat some I work long hours to I need to lose 5 stone only lost a few pounds I can't stick to the calories. I eat around 16/1700 I think on it just always hungry? Anyone else found this?
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Replies
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If you don't eat your exercise calories, you are not using MFP as it was designed. However, many people consider the burns to be inflated and suggest only eating a percentage, such as 50% back.
Do you track fiber and are you hitting your fiber target each day? If not, many people swap out sugar or sodium for fiber. More tips on eating foods that satiate you: http://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/fuller/understanding-satiety-feeling-full-after-a-meal.html0 -
Eat back at least half of your exercise calorie if you had MFP calculate your calories. How many pounds are you set to lose each week?0
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Yea, it's a sad reality. Just deal with it. You're not going to die. It will get better.
You are master of your own body.
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I wear a heart rate monitor then I input what I've burnt! Maybe that's the best advice just to get on with it!0
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I've had this on diets before from trying to eat too much of the 'right' foods which weren't filling me up. I've learnt to eat more protein (mostly chicken and turkey), eggs, porridge, and those 'comfort' foods I'm used to. It's possible to eat fairly normally and feel satisfied with strict calorie counting if you avoid empty calories (especially sugar).
Also, being thirsty is very similar to hunger, make sure you're getting enough water.
Try going onto a supermarket online shop and trawling your favourites for smaller portion low calorie options, don't just go for salads and veg...sometimes eating a smaller portion of something satisfying is more useful to your diet than a huge plateful of salad.
Hope you crack it, feeling hungry is a curse, but it's a sign your body isn't getting what it needs...switch things up. Good luck!1 -
I have also learned to eat more protein.1
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What I do if I"m hungry and its not time to eat is I will eat an entire cucumber or a whole head of lettuce or a giant plate of steamed vegetables. If I don't want to eat these things then I say to myself how hungry can I really be.3
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Lean988 ....Please hear me when I say ... DO NOT eat your exercise calories!
Whenever I did that I only maintained my weight. When I ate all my food calories and ignored my exercise calories I started to lose weight and have continued to do so. Whenever I need an extra snack... I keep it small from 50-100 Calories. I hope you do well on your journey.
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Lean988, The protein you need is your present body weight in kilo, expressed as grams. So, whatever you weigh, grams, of protein is what you need. Where are you with that? What is your calorie goal each day? For 5 stone overweight you should have a tdee above 2000 calories. Are you trying to eat below 1200 calories each day? If so, that won't work. Visit tdeecalculator.net and tell the truth. Your body fat percentage is between 30% and 40%. The tdee number you get is the calories you need to maintain your present weight. Choose the "cutting" option. That is the calories you need to stay below to lose 1 lb per week. It is entirely possible that you bit off more than you can chew.0
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Maybe it is about what you are eating...
Calories are very important... But macronutrients are super important. Get your body fat percentage and eat your lean body mass 1.2x in protein.
You know what makes you feel full? Eating fat. It's 60% of my diet. I cannot eat many of my calories a day but I really try. It's super difficult. Try eating less carbs. I mean a lot less. Like 5% of your overall diet. I eat lots of good fat and have most a significant amount of weight... And its maintainable.
60/35/51 -
Different people find different things filling and satisfying. Consider experimenting with the timing & composition of your eating to find the formula that's most satisfying for you.
By "timing", I mean things like whether you have or skip breakfast, whether you eat 3 bigger meals or 5-6 smaller ones, eat 3 meals plus small snacks between, save some calories for an evening snack, that sort of thing. I also include which meal(s) are calorically largest as part of timing, like whether you do best with a big breakfast vs. big dinner, or even-sized meals through the day, etc.
By "composition", I mean the mix of macronutrients (protein/fat/carb), micronutrients (vitamins/minerals/etc.) and fiber, within a healthy range of each. Some people find protein satiating, others feel full from (healthy) fats, yet others feel satisfied when they include plenty of high-volume low-calorie foods - usually these are high-fiber veggies. Some people don't feel satisfied without some carbs like bread, pasta or potatoes, while others find that eating those carbs just makes them crave more carbs.
Try a new approach for a few days. If it's an improvement, stick with it. If not, switch things up again.
It may help to review your diary at the end of each day, and see which things contributed too many calories for the amount of fullness, nutrition, or tastiness that they gave you. Replace those foods with better choices, and you'll gradually get to a more workable plan.
Also, if you're struggling, don't try to lose too much, too fast. Perhaps you'd want to cut back your weight loss rate goal to one pound or even 1/2 pound a week at first, get used to eating at that level, adjust the timing/composition stuff, then consider whether a lower calorie goal is achievable.
You can do this!3 -
Different people find different things filling and satisfying. Consider experimenting with the timing & composition of your eating to find the formula that's most satisfying for you.
By "timing", I mean things like whether you have or skip breakfast, whether you eat 3 bigger meals or 5-6 smaller ones, eat 3 meals plus small snacks between, save some calories for an evening snack, that sort of thing. I also include which meal(s) are calorically largest as part of timing, like whether you do best with a big breakfast vs. big dinner, or even-sized meals through the day, etc.
By "composition", I mean the mix of macronutrients (protein/fat/carb), micronutrients (vitamins/minerals/etc.) and fiber, within a healthy range of each. Some people find protein satiating, others feel full from (healthy) fats, yet others feel satisfied when they include plenty of high-volume low-calorie foods - usually these are high-fiber veggies. Some people don't feel satisfied without some carbs like bread, pasta or potatoes, while others find that eating those carbs just makes them crave more carbs.
Try a new approach for a few days. If it's an improvement, stick with it. If not, switch things up again.
It may help to review your diary at the end of each day, and see which things contributed too many calories for the amount of fullness, nutrition, or tastiness that they gave you. Replace those foods with better choices, and you'll gradually get to a more workable plan.
Also, if you're struggling, don't try to lose too much, too fast. Perhaps you'd want to cut back your weight loss rate goal to one pound or even 1/2 pound a week at first, get used to eating at that level, adjust the timing/composition stuff, then consider whether a lower calorie goal is achievable.
You can do this!
^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^ I can't say it any better. ^^^^^0 -
I am eating between 1700-1800 calories myself, have you tried intermittent fasting?
When I wake up, I always skip breakfast and eat fruit and 2 cups of black coffee max. Then after 4-8 hours I eat my biggest meal of the day(1200 calories) then the rest on the evening0 -
Thank you so much for all the advice! I'm going to not rush it no point trying 1200 cals if I can't stick to it then over eat. I was thinking about 5:2 but I can only do my fasting on my days off and I like to socialise them don't know if that would fit into my lifestyle. I'm going to up my calories to lose a pound a week and up the protein to start with. Thanks for all the advice0
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Thank you so much for all the advice! I'm going to not rush it no point trying 1200 cals if I can't stick to it then over eat. I was thinking about 5:2 but I can only do my fasting on my days off and I like to socialise them don't know if that would fit into my lifestyle. I'm going to up my calories to lose a pound a week and up the protein to start with. Thanks for all the advice
Good plan.
I lost over 80 lbs in the past year, and I ate back 50-75% of the exercise calories Apple Health or Fitbit Charge HR gave me.
You've got this.0 -
SugarySweetheart wrote: »Lean988 ....Please hear me when I say ... DO NOT eat your exercise calories!
Whenever I did that I only maintained my weight. When I ate all my food calories and ignored my exercise calories I started to lose weight and have continued to do so. Whenever I need an extra snack... I keep it small from 50-100 Calories. I hope you do well on your journey.
This is terrible advice IMO. I have been eating back 50-75% of my exercise calories and still losing exactly 1lb/week.2 -
High volume food like veg, salad and soup will fill you up, protein and fat will keep you full for longer. Play with the ratios until you find what works best for you.
But you will have to accept that you will be hungry at times. Whilst too much hunger can break your willpower and be counterproductive, a little hunger is not going to hurt you.0 -
jandsstevenson887 wrote: »SugarySweetheart wrote: »Lean988 ....Please hear me when I say ... DO NOT eat your exercise calories!
Whenever I did that I only maintained my weight. When I ate all my food calories and ignored my exercise calories I started to lose weight and have continued to do so. Whenever I need an extra snack... I keep it small from 50-100 Calories. I hope you do well on your journey.
This is terrible advice IMO. I have been eating back 50-75% of my exercise calories and still losing exactly 1lb/week.
Agreed. I eat back all my calories from Fitbit and get the results I want. MFP is designed to at least eat a portion of exercise calories back. Aside from MFP's generous exercise burns, hence the suggestion to only eat back a portion if that's the method you use, it usually doesn't work for people due to their own errors on the food logging side of things.2 -
How is your protein and fat intake?
and what about water? do you drink enough of that?0
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