Always hungry, am I doing something wrong?

SarahFionda
SarahFionda Posts: 2 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there! I'm looking for some advice, I'm female, 5'2" and weigh 144lbs and use my Fitbit HR linked with MFP to track exercise. When I've checked out my TDEE, it came up as 1562 for maintenance but to drop a pound a week from food takes me down to 1062!
I have problems exercising due to joint pain (I'm under a hospital referral for RA) so I mainly walk and log my steps, I've gone from 3k a day to 5.5k a day (shameful I know but at least it's an improvement) and frankly I could eat my arm off most days by the time I go to bed! Is this normal until I get to grips with eating well or have I worked something out incorrectly?

Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    Yep, you need to eat more. read this link

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10257474/starting-out-restarting-basics-inside/p1
  • tlflag1620
    tlflag1620 Posts: 1,358 Member
    At 5' 2" and 144 lbs you are just into the overweight category (bmi of about 26, 25 is the cutoff between "normal" and "overweight"). So you really don't have a lot of weight to lose. If your goal is less than 20 lbs away, aiming for a half lb per week loss makes sense. Yes it will take a bit longer, but you'll have an easier time adhering to your calorie goal, so you will be more likely to see success. So the first thing I'd suggest is consider taking it slower. The second thing is, regardless of goals, women should not eat less than 1200 calories per day, to insure they are getting adequate nutrition. On 1062 calories, of course you are hungry!

    If you find you are still quite hungry on a 1200 cal per day diet, then it is time to play with macros - focusing on getting enough fat, fiber, and protein can help you feel more satiated. You may also want to play with meal timing- many people are hungrier later in the day (I'm one of them) and so they eat less for breakfast and lunch and save most of their calories for dinner and/or an evening snack. But the bottom line is that you are simply eating too few calories and that is why you are hungry.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,249 Member
    You can't expect to lose a pound a week at your weight. 0.5lbs/week is the most you can do. At that TDEE (mine is about the same) you can make only about 200-300cals/day deficit AT MOST. Of course you will be hungry at 1000cals a day. Everyone would be.
  • debtay123
    debtay123 Posts: 1,327 Member
    Yeah ITA with the others- when you are short like we are...LOL... then we have to realize that "slow and steady" wins the race. I have found that when I eat a lot of nonstarcy veggies that I can eat a whole lot more. This season of the yea is great becuase there are tons of fruits and veggies which are wonderful I am NOT saying be vegetarian or anything but I AM saying that you can eat more when you eat more whole foods- although it does NOT matter what you eat but IF you are in a deficit. I found when I changed my macros from what MFP defaults to- and changed it to 50% carbs(which I eat mainly fruits veggies whole grains etc, 25%protein and 25 % fats- it works for me- YOU might need different macros- play around with it for a few weeks and SEE when you start losing.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,434 Member
    I would definitely move your goal up to 1200 at least and not try for 1 pound. With only 20 pounds to lose .5 pound a week is fine. If you are finding yourself still hungry then I agree that it is time to look at your macros. While I'm a firm believer that you can eat whatever you want if it is in your calorie goal, it does help to eat certain foods to keep you full and satisfied. I find that protien and fiber help me to stay full longer. For breakfast, I could have a donut and a cup of coffee with sugar and cream for 270 calories or I could have 2 boiled eggs and 2 cups of coffee with sugar and cream for 280 calories. The eggs will keep me full until lunchtime (even if I only have one cup of coffee), but with the donut I will be hungry again long before lunch. So even though the donut fits my goal, I rarely choose to have it. Try to find what types of food keep you full and eat more of those. It might be protien or adding some fats will help.

    And don't think that going from 3K to 5.5K is shameful. That is a great improvement especially if you have RA.
  • megomerrett
    megomerrett Posts: 446 Member
    Hi, I'm 5'1" and my heaviest most recently was 11 stone 4lb. I'm at 10 stone 9 now and still going but I'm not hungry. I understand you can't do as much physical activity as some could but is there any more you could do than the walking? I'm not a great swimmer but I've enjoyed aqua aerobics in the past.

    Food wise I'm on 1200 and it's fine for me. I think it's also about what you eat sk making sure you're eating real food that keeps you full for longer. I prefer having less full fat milk than more skimmed milk - if that makes sense. Protein rich foods, whole grains - that sort of thing.

    Make sure you're drinking enough water too.
  • SarahFionda
    SarahFionda Posts: 2 Member
    Thanks for the feedback everyone! I do think I need to look at when I'm eating, like lots of people I do better with a larger meal at tea time than a hefty breakfast and what I'm eating in order to feel full for longer. Also macros confuse me totally so I have some reading to do this evening! Who knew being short would be this problematic for weight loss lol
  • TnTWalter
    TnTWalter Posts: 344 Member
    can you add in some lifting? also macros are confusing but it really helps to get more protein and get most of your carb from veggies and fruits, etc. Also water helps a lot and plain tea to curb appetite. I am also hungry all the time too. Good luck. You can do it!
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