HUNGRY!!! Do I need to eat more??

officiallymrswhite
officiallymrswhite Posts: 423 Member
edited September 29 in Health and Weight Loss
I have been super hungry lately!! I am currently eating about 1250 cals/day, 150-180 carbs/day, 94 protein/day, and 40-50 fiber/day. However, I recently have bumped up my workout to running 2 miles a day and walking 2 miles a day, or meeting with my trainer (mix of cardio and strength training) for an hour. I workout on average 6 days a week. I am wondering if I need to eat more since I am doing so much? Not sure though..unless I have just been very hungry lately. (I eat a lot of fruits and veggies, whole grains, fish, chicken, and nonfat/lowfat dairy)...no cookies/candy/cake/etc. Thanks!!

***Currently 154.6lbs and 5'6"***

Replies

  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    You should be eating back some or all of your exercise calories. If MFP has you set at 1250 calories, and you're doing 500 calories of exercise, you should be eating somewhere between 1500-1750 calories each day. MFP already has your deficit built into the 1250 it's given you, if you aren't eating back what you're burning, you're increasing that deficit to possibly unhealthy levels.

    Short answer: yes, eat more!
  • trud72
    trud72 Posts: 1,912 Member
    try eating a good breakfast like porride oats which will keep you going for longer!
  • officiallymrswhite
    officiallymrswhite Posts: 423 Member
    You should be eating back some or all of your exercise calories. If MFP has you set at 1250 calories, and you're doing 500 calories of exercise, you should be eating somewhere between 1500-1750 calories each day. MFP already has your deficit built into the 1250 it's given you, if you aren't eating back what you're burning, you're increasing that deficit to possibly unhealthy levels.

    Short answer: yes, eat more!

    I usually net 1250....which is what MFP has me set at. I don't know if I should be netting more?
  • officiallymrswhite
    officiallymrswhite Posts: 423 Member
    (Double post) Sorry!
  • masonmst
    masonmst Posts: 84 Member
    I was told if I was hungry grad a handful of almonds. I hope that helps. :flowerforyou:
  • patssarah
    patssarah Posts: 146 Member
    You should definitely be eating a lot more! If you are working out that much, I would suggest eating between 1700-1800. Make sure they are good calories, if the only way to add 500 calories is with cookies you wont be doing yourself any good. Not only are you burning calories with your daily excercises, the more lean muscle you have the more calories you burn just processing and digesting food.
    Example: I wore my HRM for an entire 24 hours to see just what my body burns. It was 2700! And 550 of it was excercise. Which means my body on a regular day w/o excercise will burn 2150 calories. As long as you stay in a defecit you will lose weight.
  • shelcof
    shelcof Posts: 62 Member
    Example: I wore my HRM for an entire 24 hours to see just what my body burns. It was 2700! And 550 of it was excercise. Which means my body on a regular day w/o excercise will burn 2150 calories. As long as you stay in a defecit you will lose weight.

    wow, what a great idea. I wonder, was that number near what MFP came up for you? If not, did you see a more efficient weight loss? I just got my HRM yesterday and haven't tried it out yet. I might just start with doing this....
  • Amy_B
    Amy_B Posts: 2,317 Member
    So, you ARE eating back your exercise cals then? I know when I upped my exercise, I even upped my net calories that MFP gave me. I was up about 200-300 calories net from MFP, and I was starting to finally lose weight again (after a year long plateau).
  • patssarah
    patssarah Posts: 146 Member
    You should be eating back some or all of your exercise calories. If MFP has you set at 1250 calories, and you're doing 500 calories of exercise, you should be eating somewhere between 1500-1750 calories each day. MFP already has your deficit built into the 1250 it's given you, if you aren't eating back what you're burning, you're increasing that deficit to possibly unhealthy levels.

    Short answer: yes, eat more!

    I usually net 1250....which is what MFP has me set at. I don't know if I should be netting more?

    Didnt see that you are NETTING 1250. Still, if you are still hungry add in 100-200 extra calories a day, or change your settings to Net 1400 instead.
  • chelsifina
    chelsifina Posts: 346 Member
    You know, everyone's body is so different. It might be worth adding maybe 150 cals a day for a couple of weeks and see what happens. I find, inexplicably, that when I eat more it occasionally causes me to lose weight. I haven't yet figured out the magic key as to when eating more is best. Personally I don't think a single formula suits all bodies, and that really listening to your body and experimenting is the only way to find what is best for you.
  • Nikki_is_Knotty
    Nikki_is_Knotty Posts: 248 Member
    Do you drink a lot of water?
  • patssarah
    patssarah Posts: 146 Member
    Example: I wore my HRM for an entire 24 hours to see just what my body burns. It was 2700! And 550 of it was excercise. Which means my body on a regular day w/o excercise will burn 2150 calories. As long as you stay in a defecit you will lose weight.

    wow, what a great idea. I wonder, was that number near what MFP came up for you? If not, did you see a more efficient weight loss? I just got my HRM yesterday and haven't tried it out yet. I might just start with doing this....

    MFP had me around 1700 but I put in that I was sedentary.
    I had a body assessment at the gym and my trainer told me I burn 2100. So she was pretty right!
    Also, apparantly I have a good amount of lean muscle mass, which is why I burn about 500 extra calories a day just digesting and processing food. MUSCLE = Constant fat burning!
  • busywaterbending
    busywaterbending Posts: 844 Member
    I have to ask, are you "hungry" or do you really have a craving for the electrolytes / minerals that your body may be asking for?

    Cravings, hidden in hunger, may be your body's way of asking for nutrition, not just calories. Up your minerals and see what happens. Also, if you are craving bitter, you may need iron. Salty, you may need sodium; creamy, you may need calcium; nutty, you may need magnisium.

    These minerals are essential for maximizing your vitamin uptake as well as recovery. Up your mineral supplementation with water soluble minerals and safe ones like calcium, magnesium. Stay away from upping zinc (as it depletes you of copper), manganese (which can give you alzhiemers), or sodium (as it depletes you of potassium). Those are minerals you shouldn't take too much of with out a dietician's approval. Listen to your cravings!
  • chelsifina
    chelsifina Posts: 346 Member
    Regrading that HRM experiment, my dietician told me that an HRM is not designed to give accurate results over such long periods of time and, worn for 24 hours, will give inaccurate results. Don't know if this is right or not, but perhaps additional research would be helpful, no?
  • officiallymrswhite
    officiallymrswhite Posts: 423 Member
    Do you drink a lot of water?

    I think so, on average about 12-14 cups a day.
  • ChantalGG
    ChantalGG Posts: 2,404 Member
    Change up your food so you can eat more bulk filling stuff.
  • HankFit247
    HankFit247 Posts: 139
    You should be eating back some or all of your exercise calories. If MFP has you set at 1250 calories, and you're doing 500 calories of exercise, you should be eating somewhere between 1500-1750 calories each day. MFP already has your deficit built into the 1250 it's given you, if you aren't eating back what you're burning, you're increasing that deficit to possibly unhealthy levels.

    Short answer: yes, eat more!

    EXACTLY!
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